Telstar Galaxy
The Telstar Galaxy was released in 1977 and it was the only Telstar that used the AY-3-8600 chip, along with the AY-3-8615 chip for color graphics. This machine allowed up to 4 players, adding two extra paddles. The way that telstar accomplished this was to enable two sets of paddles alternatively on even and odd frames. The frame rate was sufficiently high to not affect gameplay.
The galaxy also had a unique option to play against a "robot", what we call an AI today. This was implemented in TTL logic and chips, and offered a new dimension to game-play. This makes the Telstar Galaxy a rare machine to find these days as it is a collectors item.
The AY-3-8610 "Superstar" IC
The AY-3-8610 "Ball & Paddle" chip was a major upgrade from General Instruments. It played more games than it's predecessor with higher quality graphics. The chip was named "Superstar" by the team at General Instruments. The chip itself displayed games in black and white, but by adding the AY-3-8615 companion chip, games could be output in color.
The AY-3-8610 contained ten built in games:
- Tennis/Pong
- Soccer/Hockey
- Squash
- Practice game
- Gridball
- Handball
- Basketball
- Basketball Practice
- Two player target
- Single Player target
The AY-3-8610 had a completely different pinout from the 8500 and in addition, it needed an external crystal oscillator. The synchronization pin was removed, but it retained two separate video out pins.