T E L E F U N (tm) Telefun is a technique that allows television viewers, through their telephones, to play videogames on broadcast television. INTRODUCTION What the Telefun concept does is look at the various entertainment/ telecommunications technologies as pieces in a puzzle and figures out a way to cheaply put them together in an enterainmnet package. A linking of the technologies changes broadcast television as a medium. The pieces are: A) Television B) Telephone C) Video Games By definition, every TV viewer has a TV set. There is a better than 99% chance that the TV viewer also has a telephone. There is alaso an eneormous linklihood that the viewer has played or is very intereset in video games. Moreover, the odds are equally good that the viewer either secretly or overtly would to be on television. Video games is the intersection where all the media technologies and desires interconnect. How can TV broadcasters let there viewers become active, dynamic participants in a game show at a very low cost? How do we give the viewer the ability to play a video game on broadcast TV in the comfort of his home at NO COST to the viewer? The answer is quite literally at the tips of your fingers. The telephone. The Touch-Tone telephone. Think os the telephone keypad as a joystick. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 * 0 # Each key has a tone that is unique. Each of the numbers and symbols can be mode to represent a dynamic action, the sort of dynamic action that has made video games so successful and profitable. TELEFUN is interactive television. For example, picture a TELEFUN version of PAC-MAN, the popular maze game. All thats necessary to play PAC-MAN are the 2 4 6 8 directional keys to guide the creature through the maze. The TELEFUN keyboard is as versatile as a video games joystick. All games that require a joystick and blaster button are TELEFUN compatible. Admittedly the technology is not as good, but for the relationship between the quality of games and the quality of play, TELEFUN offers the best-least cost route to network games that currently exists. The TELEFUN BLACK BOX provides the missing piece in the technology puzzle. Unlike cable and personal computer networks which insist on large user investments, TELEFUN utilizes an existing service: the TOUCH-TONE phone. All that is needed now is a technology that can interpret TOUCH-TONE signals in a way that creates interaction between viewers and broadcasters. TELEFUN, relying on state-of-the-art integrated circuit design, translates TOUCH-TONE signals into video game actions. A broadcaster with a TELEFUN BLACK BOX opens his channel to viewer participation by offering a video games arena to the audience. In other words, by merely installing the TELEFUN BLACK BOX the broadcaster creates an opportunity viewers have never had before, at absolutely no cost to them. The TELEFUN BLACK BOX connects (with no modifications) to existing phone lines and plugs directly into all of the following personal com- puter/video games hardware systems: *Atari 2600 VCS *Mattel Intellivision *Coleco Vision *Atari 400/800 personal computers *Commodore VIC-20 and *Commodore 64 personal computers *most existing coin-operated arcade video games This does not rule out the creation of custom-designed display systems or compatibility with future systems. This versatility means that the newest, the latest, the best and the classic in video games can be played with TELEFUN. Some of these games include: *PAC-MAN *DONKEY KONG *DEFENDER *ZAXXON *FROGGER *PONG *etc. In essence, these games provide TELEFUN's 'programming.' Custom designed games for TELEFUN create a new dimension of opprotunity and play for broadcasters and their viewers. We offer several suggestions on TELEFUN GAMES and program formats. Not incidentally, TELEFUN is more than just a technique. It can be a window of opportunity for broadcasters seeking a piece of the lucrative video games/personal computer/software/ telecommunications advertising dollar - advertising that, ADWEEK estimates, is the fastest growing industry sector. TELEFUN targets the upscale demographics of TOUCH-TONE households while simultaneously appealing to the advertisers best equipped to pay for them.