The AY-3-8500 "Ball & Paddle" integrated circuit (IC, or "chip") was the first in a series of ICs from General Instrument designed for the consumer video game market. These chips output video to an RF modulator, which would then display the game on a domestic television set. It was introduced in 1976, Coleco becoming the first customer, having been introduced to the IC development by Ralph H. Baer. The lineup was later known as the GIMINI series. Approximately 5 million 8500s were sold and used in hundreds of different consoles. The 8500 contained six selectable games — tennis (a.k.a. Pong), hockey (or soccer), squash, practice (single-player Pong), and two shooting games. The 8500 was the 625-line PAL version and the 8500-1 was the 525-line NTSC version. A minimum number of external components were needed to build a complete system. The video was in black-and-white, although it was possible to colorize the game by using an additional chip, the AY-3-8515. The 8500 was later updated with the AY-3-8550, which used formerly unused pins on the 8500 to add two-axis control with a joystick instead of the more typical single-axis (up and down) control with a paddle. It was otherwise similar and played the same games, and could also be used with the 8515 for color support. The AY-3-8610, also known as the "Superstar", added several new games and required the new AY-3-8615 for color support. As the games console market moved to ROM cartridges in the late 1970s, GI introduced the AY-3-8900, a separate video display controller intended to be used with their own CP1610 microprocessor. Although entirely different than the 8500 line, they were also considered part of the GIMINI lineup.

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