VideoSport MK2

Name: VideoSport MK2
Type: Dedicated Console
Manufacturer: VideoSport Ltd. / Redbourn Plastics – St. Albans (Hertfordshire, UK)
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 1975
Release Date: March 1975

Original Price/Found Prices:

  • £37.50 GBP (Mail-order via Metropolitan Warehouse Ltd – 22/03/1975)
  • £34.72 GBP + VAT (Henry’s – 05/1975)
  • £32.50 GBP (Argos – Fall 1975)
  • £29.50 GBP + VAT (Henry’s – 06/1976)

Games: 3 games
Technology: No CPU, discrete circuitry with TTL chips and transistors.
Availability: 1975 – 1977
Units Produced: ~10,000?

VideoSport MK2 is a dedicated console produced by Redbourn/Videosport Ltd., launched in 1975 in the United Kingdom. It was one of the earliest European home consoles.

History

Very little is known about this rare system.

Various sources across the internet, including reputable sites such as Pong-Story, mention that the console was a product of Henry’s (a household appliance retailer). However, I believe based on my experience that Henry’s was a distributor rather than the actual manufacturer.

While it is possible for the manufacturer and distributor to be the same company, in most cases, they are separate businesses. The lack of any mention of Henry’s (or any other company) on the console, its manual, or packaging led me to personally question whether Henry’s was truly behind the VideoSport MK2.

To my surprise, I found an advertisement for the VideoSport MK2 dated March 22, 1975. However, it was not distributed by Henry’s but sold via mail order through Metropolitan Warehouse Ltd.

Searching for information about Metropolitan Warehouse Ltd. yielded nothing. Looking up its address, I discovered that it was a small company that no longer exists. Interestingly, the premises have changed functions three times in the last 15 years.

However, this was still a distributor, confirming that Henry’s was not the sole seller of the console, contrary to previous beliefs.

The first Henry’s advertisement for the VideoSport MK2 appeared in Elektor of May 1975, two months later. This suggests that the manufacturer made a distribution agreement with Henry’s between March and May 1975.

The console was also sold through major retailer Argos, further proving that Henry’s was never the exclusive distributor, let alone the manufacturer.

All of this concerns distributors, but what about the most important aspect—the manufacturer.

One day, while discussing old electronics and television magazines from the 1970s with my friend Marçal Mora Cantallops (RetroMaquinitas), he sent me several scans of interesting articles from Weekly Television Digest with Consumer Electronics. Among them was a report about Magnavox suing Bally, Midway, Seeburg, and other companies for releasing Pong-style machines without paying for licenses. At the end of the paragraph, there was a particularly intriguing detail: a list of European companies licensed by Magnavox.

Weekly Television Digest with Consumer Electronics Vol. 15 No. 48 (December 1, 1975)
Courtesy of yuberus (Archive.org)

The companies on the list were mostly well-known, except for one I had never heard of before: Redbourn from the UK.

A quick Google search yielded no relevant results—only unrelated businesses sharing the same name. Given the UK origin and the 1975 timeframe, I suspected that Redbourn might be linked to the VideoSport MK2 or perhaps another console that never made it to market. It was hard to tell.

While preparing this article, I came across a VideoSport MK2 unit sold on an auction site that included something never seen before—a warranty card!

Unfortunately, the photo quality is poor, but two company names are distinguishable: VideoSport Ltd. and Redbourn Plastics Ltd.

After much effort deciphering the addresses, I finally identified them:

VideoSport Ltd.
53 Alexandra Road
Saint Albans
AL1 3AX

Redbourn Plastics Ltd.
Ashwell Street
Saint Albans
AL3 5JY

Both companies were located in Saint Albans, near London. Checking their addresses on Google Maps, I found they were both in residential areas, similar to Metropolitan Warehouse Ltd. Searching government records for both companies yielded almost no results. Clearly, these were small businesses that disappeared long ago.

Further research into Redbourn Plastics uncovered a December 1974 news report about a fire at its facility. This article revealed that Redbourn’s sales director was Frank McGeown, though I could not find further information about him.

Redbourn Plastics specialized in plastic manufacturing, making it highly likely that they produced the console’s distinctive casing. However, I found absolutely no information about VideoSport Ltd. Based on the warranty card, I assume they handled technical support, possibly as a company spun off from Redbourn. This might explain why Redbourn, not VideoSport, held the Magnavox license.

Given the local nature and small scale of these companies, it is reasonable to speculate that VideoSport also assembled the consoles. However, due to a lack of corroborated sources, this cannot be confirmed definitively. In any case, the VideoSport MK2 achieved modest success.

It remained on sale until 1977, when consoles using integrated chips became mainstream.

Features

Courtesy of Pong-Story

The console is very basic and includes three selectable games:

  • Football: Each player controls a barrier with a goal.
  • Tennis
  • Hole in the Wall: Identical to Tennis, but the left paddle is inverted and controls a hole in the barrier.

The controllers feature two knobs for vertical and horizontal movement, along with a ball serve button.

Versions

Related links

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