Unisonic Products Corporation
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Founded | 1970s |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | United States, Japan |
| Products | Calculators, CRT television sets, dedicated video game consoles, digital watches, telephones, answering machines, digital alarm clocks |
Unisonic Products Corporation was a U.S.-based manufacturer and distributor of consumer electronics operating from the 1970s through the 1990s. The company was headquartered in New York City and relied on production facilities located primarily in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan within East Asia. Its product portfolio encompassed various electronic devices such as calculators, CRT television sets, dedicated video game consoles, digital watches, telephones, answering machines, and digital alarm clocks.
In 1991, Unisonic was subject to legal action initiated by Franklin Electronic Publishers due to allegations of deceptive advertising practices.
Electronic game calculators
Between the late 1970s and early 1980s, Unisonic introduced digital calculators that integrated a quartz clock mechanism with built-in electronic gaming features. Prominent examples from this era included the Casino 7 and Mickey Mouse Space Quiz (FS-2024) models released in 1976, followed by the 21 (21-P1B) in 1977, which incorporated a blackjack game. The Casino 7 and 21 utilized vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) technology for their screens, whereas the Mickey Mouse Space Quiz employed green and red light-emitting diode (LED) indicators to provide quiz feedback.
Entry into the video game console sector
In the late 1970s, Unisonic ventured into the consumer video game console market with a lineup of dedicated systems inspired primarily by Atari's 1975 Home Pong design. Their initial release, the Sportsman T101 (1976), offered four selectable games, came equipped with two paddle controllers, and included a light gun accessory. Over 1976 and 1977, the company rolled out multiple variants aimed at the United States market.
Consistent with many Pong clones of that period, Unisonic's consoles were built around General Instrument's AY-3-8500-001 integrated circuit, which provided seven game options. Units without a light gun featured four games: Practice, Squash, Hockey, and Tennis. The Tournament 150 model introduced a light gun accessory and expanded its game selection by adding Skeet and Target.
In 1978, Unisonic released its final Pong system named Olympian 2600. This console supported ten games and utilized omnidirectional joysticks. It was powered by the AY-3-8600 chip complemented by the AY-3-8615 for color graphics capabilities.
Also in 1978, Unisonic launched the Champion 2711 console, which stood out as it was based on General Instrument's Gimini "Mid-Range 8950" reference platform. This system featured a 16-bit CP-1610 CPU and used the AY-3-8800 chip to handle both video output and sound generation. However, its display was limited to white alphanumeric characters alongside colored card symbols on a split green background. Such constraints confined software development largely to card games. The console came with built-in Blackjack and Baccarat titles and supported four cartridge-based games—three variations of card games plus an educational title named Arithmetic Primer. Manufactured in small quantities, it was marketed in both the United States and Japan (where it was branded as "Casino TV Games") but did not achieve commercial success, rendering it a rare collector's item today.
Meanwhile, Atari had already introduced its Video Computer System (Atari 2600) several months before the Olympian 2600's debut and maintained dominance over the North American video game console market until the industry downturn in 1983.
| Model name | Model number |
Year of release |
Number of selectable games |
Light gun | Manufactured in | Integrated circuit(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sportsman T101 | T101 | 1976 | 4 | No | Hong Kong | AY-3-8500 |
| Tournament 100 | T100 | 1976 | 4 | No | Hong Kong | AY-3-8500 |
| Tournament 102 | T102 | 1976 | 3 | No | Hong Kong | Template:Dunno |
| Tournament 150 | T150 | 1976 | 6 | Yes | Hong Kong | AY-3-8500 |
| Tournament 200 | Template:Dunno | 1976 | 4 | No | Hong Kong | AY-3-8500 |
| Tournament 1000 | T-1000 | 1977 | 4 | No | Hong Kong | AY-3-8500 |
| Tournament 2000 | T2000-JR | 1977 | 6 | Yes | Japan | AY-3-8500 |
| Tournament 2501 | Template:Dunno | 1977 | 6 | Yes | Template:Dunno | AY-3-8500 |
| Olympian 2600 | Template:Dunno | 1978 | 10 | Yes | Japan | AY-3-8600 AY-3-8615 (color) |
| Champion 2711 | Template:Dunno | 1978 | 2Template:Ref | No | Template:Dunno | CP-1610 CPU AY-3-8800 (video/sound) |
See also
References
- The Farmer's Character and Advertising Phones – M – showcases two Mickey Mouse telephones produced by Unisonic in 1983 and 1988. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- Pong Picture Page Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- Compilation of Pong consoles and clones from Pong-Story.com. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- Pong, the Video Game by Atari, Inc. from Arcade-History.com. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- Pong integrated in a chip, sourced from PONG-Story.com. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
- Articles with short description
- Defunct computer companies based in New York (state)
- Defunct electronics companies of the United States
- Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City
- Defunct technology companies based in New York City
- Defunct video game companies of the United States
- Video game companies based in New York City
- Watch brands