1976 – Speedway / Speedway IV

From pong-story.com “In 1976, Universal Research Laboratories, Inc. (URL) contracted Omnetics to design a quite advanced chip: the F4301. The chip was so complex that it could not fit on a single silicon dice. Therefore, two dice were mounted on a thick film substrate and connected together. The F4301 chip played two Ball & Paddle variants and two car racing games. The car games were a major addition which no other Ball & Paddle chip played. The F4301 games could be played by up to four players (“human mode”), and the Ball & Paddle games could also be played against the system (“robot” mode) with variable “intelligence” (paddle reaction time). Interestingly, the F-4301 inherited the Ball & Paddle circuits used in the URL Video Action 3 system. The VA-3 circuit board shows what got integrated in the F-4301 chipset to play the Ball & Paddle games. URL used the F4301 chip in their Indy 500 system (also known as Video Action 4, model S100) released in 1976. URL also had an order from Sears, which released that game in limited amount under the same name and model (see the URL page for more information). Sears also used the F4301 in the Speedway and Speedway IV systems. Ricochet Electronic, already known for their very successful Ball & Paddle system (model MT-1A), used it in Formula 500 (Model MT-5A). Some european systems also used this chip: Interton Video 2800 (Germany), MBO Tele-Ball VIII (Germany), etc. MBO’s Tele-Ball VIII had a rare feature: it also included the AY-3-8500 chip. Thus, the F-4301 only served for playing the two car racing games.”