Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk III
 | |
| The Grandstand wordmark used on the late-1970s TV-game boxes. No photograph of a TV Game 2600 Mk III has been found | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Adman Grandstand (Adam Imports); made in Hong Kong according to Wikipedia[1] |
| Type | Dedicated home video game console (Pong-type TV game) |
| Released | 1977 to 1979 (Wikipedia's range)[1] |
| CPU | Not known; the listed games match the General Instrument AY-3-8500 |
| Memory | None |
| Storage | None |
| Display | RF output to a television, black and white[1] |
| Sound | Not documented |
| Input | Not documented |
| Power | Not documented |
| OS / Firmware | None |
| Model no. | 2600 Mk III |
The Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk III (Adman Grandstand T.V. Game 2600 Mk. III) is a black-and-white, six-game Pong-type TV game listed by Wikipedia among the Hong Kong-made consoles that Adam Imports sold under the Adman Grandstand name between 1977 and 1979.[1] No photograph, museum record, leaflet, box or label of one has been found. Its colour counterpart by name, the Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk III, is documented by a museum record and a collector's photographs,[2][3] and much of what can usefully be said about the 2600 Mk III is how to tell whether a console is one.
History
[edit | edit source]Wikipedia's table gives the "Adman Grandstand T.V. Game 2600 Mk. III" as black and white, with six games (tennis, football, squash, practice, skeet and target), made in Hong Kong, 1977 to 1979. The row has no image, developer or source, and was added in June 2021 with the other Hong Kong models.[1] A Spanish collector's 2023 list of the Grandstand consoles groups the 2600 models as a six-game series without naming the Mk III separately.[4]
Grandstand's documented pairs suggest how the name may fit. The TVG-2600 Mk II is the black-and-white version of the colour TVG-3600 Mk II, with the same panel and game key but no COLOUR legend.[5] The colour 3600 Mk III uses the Mk II's case with a restyled panel and a single game slider.[3] A 2600 Mk III would on that pattern be a black-and-white 3600 Mk III, but no source shows one, and Wikipedia gives both Mk III models the same six games.[1]
Games
[edit | edit source]| 2600 Mk III (Wikipedia) | 3600 Mk III (Wikipedia) | 3600 Mk III panel (photographed) |
|---|---|---|
| Tennis | Tennis | TENNIS |
| Football | Football/Hockey | SOCCER |
| Squash | Squash | SQUASH |
| Practice | Practice | PRACTICE |
| Skeet | Skeet | TARGET-1 |
| Target | Target | TARGET-2 |
The photographed 3600 Mk III's panel says TARGET-1 and TARGET-2, not skeet and target.[3] Those six names, four bat-and-ball games and two target games, are the six games of General Instrument's AY-3-8500,[6] so that chip, or a pin-compatible one, is the likely candidate for both Mk III models; no board photograph of either has been published, and no source explains Wikipedia's "Skeet".
Identifying a 2600 Mk III
[edit | edit source]Record, with photographs, anything that would confirm a console as a 2600 Mk III:
- the model name on the front strip and on the base label (the 3600 Mk III's front strip reads "COLOUR TV GAME 3600 MK III");[3]
- whether the base label reads "COLOR TV GAME", as the 3600 Mk II and Mk III labels do, or something else;[3][7]
- the game selector: a single slider, as on the 3600 Mk III, or the Mk II's separate A/C and B/D switches;[3][5]
- the names printed beside the target games, which would settle the skeet question;
- the light gun sockets and the gun, if any.
Power
[edit | edit source]No source gives the 2600 Mk III's supply. The 3600 Mk III's base label asks for six UM-2 (C) cells or a 9 V 100 mA adaptor, its cells sit in two rows of three in a compartment in the base, and its adaptor socket is in the side of the case;[3] check whether your console matches before relying on any of that. Measure the adaptor socket's polarity against the battery contacts before connecting anything, and remove the cells for storage; see Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage if they have leaked.
Repair
[edit | edit source]No service manual, schematic, parts list or repair report for the 2600 Mk III has been found. Its repair guides:
- Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk III General Maintenance: identifying the model, and care of a console built like the 3600 Mk III if yours is one.
- Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk III Troubleshooting Guide: power-on behaviour, reference values for the AY-3-8500, and a symptom table.
- Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk III Capacitor Replacement Guide: why no values can be given, and how to record and replace the capacitors.
Documentation
[edit | edit source]None found.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Grandstand TV Game 3600 Mk III, the documented colour Mk III
- Grandstand TV Game 2600 Mk II
- Grandstand TV Game 2600
- Category:Grandstand
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Wikipedia, "Grandstand (game manufacturer)", table of integrated Pong consoles (retrieved 2026-10-19): "Adman Grandstand T.V. Game 2600 Mk. III", black and white, six games (Tennis, Football, Squash, Practice, Skeet and Target), made in Hong Kong, 1977 to 1979; "Adman Grandstand Colour T.V. Game 3600 Mk. III", colour, six games (Tennis, Football/Hockey, Squash, Practice, Skeet and Target). The 2600 Mk III row has no image, developer or source; it was added on 27 June 2021 (page history).
- ↑ Centre for Computing History, "Adman Grandstand 3600 Mk III TV Game", CH50705 (retrieved 2026-10-19): a museum record of the colour 3600 Mk III.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Ian Hill, "Colour TV Game 3600 MKIII", Ian's Retro Museum (retrieved 2026-10-19): "the same form factor (and name) as the Grandstand 3600 Mk2 but with a restyled control panel", with "a simple slide switch rather than the overly complicated double switch system of the previous version"; "one side has the external power connector". Photographs read at full size: front strip "ADMAN GRANDSTAND COLOUR TV GAME 3600 MK III"; six-position slider with TENNIS, SQUASH, TARGET-1, SOCCER, PRACTICE, TARGET-2; GUN sockets on the panel; base label "COLOR TV GAME ... BATTERY: UM-2 x 6 OR AC ADAPTOR (9V / 100 MA) ... MADE IN HONG KONG"; battery compartment holding two rows of three cells.
- ↑ José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, "Adman Grandstand TV Game 3600 MK II Colour (1978)", Retro Ordenadores Orty (collector's blog, in Spanish), 23 November 2023 (retrieved 2026-10-19): the Hong Kong-made Grandstand consoles included the "serie 2600 (6 juegos)".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The two photographs on the Centre for Computing History record CH22783 (retrieved 2026-10-19), examined at the largest size offered: the TVG-2600 Mk II panel with separate GAME SELECT switches A/C and B/D and a game key, laid out as on the TVG-3600 Mk II but without the COLOUR legend.
- ↑ General Instrument Corporation, GIMINI TV Game Circuits, January 1978, p. 6, PDF hosted by Pong-Story (retrieved 2026-10-19): the AY-3-8500's six games, rifle game 1, rifle game 2, tennis, soccer, squash and practice.
- ↑ Photograph by José Antonio Ortigueira Amor, File:Adman Grandstand 3600 MK II Colour (15).jpg (CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons): TVG-3600 Mk II base label headed "COLOR TV-GAME".
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