XVII
THE SIX-IN-ONE TV GAME CHIP
LES PENNER
General Instrument Corp.
Hicksville, New York
The AY38500 six-game chip was the first single-chip LSI standard product to be made available to a broad base of video game manufacturers. This n-channel MOS chip was virtually single-handedly responsible for the millions of home video games that were sold in 1976, and for putting video games in the economical home-game category.
The first samples of the AY38500 were supplied to customers in February and March of 1976. The one millionth chip was shipped in August of 1976. In January, 1977, the seven millionth chip was shipped. It is anticipated that GI will continue to be shipping between 1 and 1.2 million circuits of this type per month.
There are actually two versions of the IC –– one for use in the 525-line, 60 half-frames-per-second NTSC system TV sets made in the U. S. and one designed for the 625-line, 50 half-frames-per-second PAL system employed in Europe.
The success of the AY38500 resulted from immediate acceptance by small to intermediate size companies, not the giants of the electronics industry or the established games manufacturers. These companies had the courage to arrange for financing and to extend themselves to venture into new areas.
Development of the AY38500 actually began in 1975 at GI's plant in Glenrothes, Scotland. The circuit was not the result of brilliant market forecasting or product planning. It is one or more of a dozen projects involving custom LSI that were underway at that time. The work was initiated for a European television manufacturing company which wanted to use it in its set. The original development work was based on meeting the European TV standard.
About the time that the European engineering group had reached the breadboard stage but prior to implement composite drawings for the MOS LSI chip, General Instrument decided to initiate a parallel effort to develop a chip which would meet the U. S. standard.
A team of 15 engineers in Hicksville, NY was put on the project.
To produce the game chips, p-channel wafer production facilities that had been set up to fabricate calculator chips were converted to produce n-channel game chips.
The need to increase high-speed testing capability was the next problem to be dealt with. After talking to various test equipment manufacturers, it was decided that the Macrodata
A Molex exhibit at Gametronics.
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