Geti 3220 is a Pong machine based on AY-3-8500 from late 70s (I found dates from 1977 to 1980). It's one of the first generation consoles of videogames. It was made in the Gorenje Elrad factory in Gornja Radgona (Prlekija, Eastern Slovenia) and is, as far as I know, the only Pong console serially produced in Slovenia, which at the time costed half of months wage (anecdotally).
There are also some Slovenian self built Pong machines around, as a result of published build instructions in SAM magazine.
Example of self built pong machine. (image from www.elektronik.si)
(image from www.elektronik.si)
Console
The machine itself is very well built, with a metal body, high quality buttons and an AC plug.
Majority of Pong machines from this era were battery run with optional AC adapter, Geti 3220 has a hardwired AC plug and internal transformer, which is an oddity.
Back side reveals 2 detachable controller ports marked A and B, KANAL potentiometer allows to fine tune the signal, "EL.PUŠKA" allows the connection of the light gun accessory and a hard wired RF cable and 220V AC connector.
The controllers were detachable, which is also an oddity and it shows the high build quality. Cheaper machines had hardwired controllers, making them less serviceable.
Slider version of the controllers.
A look inside, the big IC is AY-3-8500, the hearth of the machine with a date code 7709, confirming the around 1977 release date. (image from www.elektronik.si)
Variants
During my research I found at least 2 variants of the machine:
one without the sliders on the housing and spinners on the controllers
one with sliders on the housing and on the controllers
Games
Games included were:
Practice - called Squash
Squash - called Pelota
Tennis - called Tenis
Soccer - called Hokej
Light gun 1 - called El.Puška I
Light gun 2 - called El.Puška II
These are all the games that are included on AY-3-8500 system on a chip. No custom logic was implemented on this machine.
Light gun
It was probably sold separately, as there is no space in the box and this was common practice at the time. The connector appears to be a standard 5-pin DIN.
El.Puška, standard 5-pin DIN connector.
Geti in action
Recently a young blogger made a video about it, unfortunately the blog is in Slovenian, but could still offer an interesting insight.
Gorenje Elrad
Gorenje Elrad was a factory of antennas and high frequency devices founded in 1973 in Gornja Radgona (however I found the upper picture dated to 1970, so this is not confirmed), Eastern Slovenia. It was part of the Gorenje group that makes house appliances and still exists today (this is a different company with the same name, founded in 1996 ). In the best of times it had around 1500 people employed over multiple departments. Gorenje Elrad was in business until 1989. In 1996 Elrad International Group was founded that still exists today and they are involved in Electronic Manufacturing Services.
Trivia: Geti controllers use the same housing used in some antenna models.
Some of the other products from Gorenje Elrad:
Resources:
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