Console / Games
The Atari 2600 hardware was based on the MOS Technology 6507 chip, offering a maximum resolution of 160 x 192 pixels (NTSC), 128 colors, 128 bytes of RAM with 4 kB on cartridges (64 kB via bank switching). The design experienced many makeovers and revisions during its 14-year production history, from the original "heavy sixer" to the Atari 2600 Jr. at the end. The system also has many controllers and third-party peripherals.
Great success of the event, which took place in Rome in 2019, with the name of VCFI (Vintage Computer Festival Italia). On this occasion we had the opportunity to host many characters from this fantastic world, including the famous Allen Acorn, of which we had the opportunity to meet him and get us to sign a console!
Atari 2600 JR. The 1986 model has a smaller, cost-reduced form factor with an Atari 7800-like appearance. It was advertised as a budget gaming system (under $49.99) with the ability to run a large collection of games. Released after the video game crash of 1983, and after the North American launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System, the 2600 was supported with new games and television commercials promoting "The fun is back!". Atari released several minor stylistic variations: the "large rainbow" (shown), "short rainbow", and an all-black version sold only in Ireland. Later European versions include a joypad.
The Atari XE Video Game System (Atari XEGS) is an industrial redesign of the Atari 65XE home computer and the final model in the Atari 8-bit
computer series. It was released by Atari Corporation in 1987 and marketed as a home video game console alongside the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega's Master System, and Atari's own Atari 7800. The XEGS is compatible with existing Atari 8-bit computer hardware and software. Without keyboard, the system operates as a stand-alone game console. With the keyboard, it boots identically to the Atari XE computers. Atari packaged the XEGS as a basic set consisting of only the console and joystick, and as a deluxe set consisting of the console, keyboard, CX40 joystick, and XG-1 light gun.
1000 games for your color TV (NE 74 Year 1981)
By structuring microprocessors, it's possible to create an infinite number of
video games, similar to those we're used to seeing in any bar, with the advantage of being able to use your home
TV for this purpose. It doesn't matter whether it's black and white or color. So, in the evening,
instead of going out, as you've been saying, with a pocket full of 100-lire coins to go play in bars, you can stay
at home, sitting in front of the TV and playing for free with
your friends, mostly being able to modify the game at any time by simply inserting a different ROM into the socket.
Nuova Elettronica N.74 (1981) Nuova Elettronica
Model: Amaze-a-Tron
Battery: 4 x 1,5 C + 2 x 9 volt
AC adapter:
Year: 1979
Chip: TMS1000 / MP3301
Info: Amaze-A-Tron is an electronic board game with eight variations that revolve around a hidden computer-generated maze. The board consists of a five-by-five grid of squares numbered 1 to 25.
At the beginning of the "Opposite Start" game variation, the computer selects a starting square (identified by number) for each player. The players then race to see who can get through the maze first and reach the opponent's starting square, through trial and error. The players alternate taking turns moving through the maze. A player can move through any number of squares until the player runs into a wall, at which point the other player gets to take a turn.
There are two solitaire maze games and six two-player games. In the "Blind Alley" variations, the maze includes dead-ends that force a player to backtrack to get back on the correct path. In the "Back to Start" variations, when a player runs into a wall the player's pawn is returned to the starting square, adding a memory element to the game. In the standard "Maze" game, both players start on the same square and are racing to reach the same destination square.
The plastic game board features a two-digit LED readout, red and green LED's (which correspond to the color of the opposing playing pieces), and a storage compartment for the four playing pieces (plastic pawns and start/finish space markers). A 9-volt battery or AC adapter is required.
Model: Autoracer
Battery: 1 x 9 volt
AC adapter:
Year: 1976
Chip: TMS
Info:AutoRacer Mattel Auto Race was released in 1976, and was the first Mattel Electronics handheld game made available to the public (and is also the first ever all-electronic handheld, using no moving parts, just electronic components).
Model: Bank Shot
Battery: 6 x AA
AC adapter:
Year: 1980
Chip: TMS1400 / MP7313
Info: Bank Shot Electronic Handheld Pool Game By Parker Brothers, Model No. 3600, Takes 6 AA Batteries, Copyright 1980
Model: Battle Ship
Battery: 4 x 1,5 AA
AC adapter:
Year: 1979
Chip: TMS1000 / MP3208 , SN76477
Info: Battle Ship. MB Electronics in the 1979 develops and markets the futuristic version of the classic board game Battaglia Navale, with the use of Texas Instruments chips (TMS1000=MP3208 and SN76477), the miracle of electronics once again keeps its promises, colored buttons, electronic sounds and lights, are the strength of Sink the Fleet - this is the title of the game chosen by MB -. On the packaging the term computer is mentioned several times, powerful microcomputer, which was a jaw-dropping thing for the children of that time.
Instructions:
The With the game off, set the LOAD / GO selector to LOAD and then turn the machine on with the ON / OFF selector. For each of the two players, position the yellow and blue cursors respectively on CM (Clear Memory) and on CLE (CLear Entry) and press them; by doing so you erase the memory. Now you can start programming the positions of the fleets, entering all the positions occupied by all the ships; for example if you have the aircraft carrier positioned horizontally from A1 to A5, you must enter the five positions A1, A2, A3, A4, A5: position the blue cursor on the letter A and press it, then position the yellow cursor on number 1 and press it , finally press the red FIRE button; then move the yellow cursor to number 2 and press FIRE, then to number 3 and press FIRE, number 4 + FIRE, number 5 + FIRE; so you have memorized the position of the aircraft carrier.
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Model: Big Trak
Battery: 4 x 1,5 C + 2 x 9 volt
AC adapter:
Year: 1979
Chip: TMS1000 / MP3301
Info: BIG TRAK / bigtrak is a programmable toy electric vehicle created by Milton Bradley in 1979, resembling a futuristic Sci-Fi tank / utility vehicle. The original Big Trak was a six-wheeled (two-wheel drive) tank with a front-mounted blue "photon beam" headlamp, and a keypad on top. The toy could remember up to 16 commands, which it then executed in sequence. There also was an optional cargo trailer accessory, with the UK version being white to match its colour scheme; once hooked to the Bigtrak, this trailer could be programmed to dump its payload.
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Model: Tabletop Defender Strikes
Battery: 6 x type c alkaline
AC adapter:
Year: 1983
Chip: MP6361
Info:This is a rare game that I have searched for a lot. Texas instruments CPU, color VFD display, really interesting, too bad it was broken ... Inside the pcb has a code HP-839B, the broken circuit is the usual switching that generates the various voltages for operation. The two transistors were broken the 2sc1815 case TO92 and the gray transistor without writing, replaced with a BD135 case TO126. Satisfied ...
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Model: Entex Poker
Battery: 4 x AA
AC adapter:
Year: 1979
Chip: TMS1000 / MP2105 Display: Vfd (vacuum fluorescent display)
Info: Vintage Electronic Poker Handheld Game by Entex Industries, Made in Japan, Copyright 1979
Model: Entex Soccer
Battery: 6 x AA
AC adapter:
Year: 1979
Chip: TMS1100 / MP0158
Info: Produced in 1979 and made in Taiwan, it features two game modes: in "car" mode, a single player must reach the goal area (last row of LEDs) and attempt a shot on goal by pressing the "soccer" button. In "man" mode, two players compete, taking turns attacking while the other defends. The player with the ball is identified by the brightest LED.
Model: Entex Space Invader
Battery: 6 x AA
AC adapter:
Year: 1980
Chip: TMS1100 / MP1211 / COPL44 Display : LED
Info: Entex handheld Space Invader game, their version of the popular arcade game. The black version is copyright 1980 (and was designed/programmed by Entex Tokyo), the grey one is copyright 1981 (and was re-designed and re-programmed by Rick Dyer & AMS, thus it has some differences in appearence and gameplay) (note also that the gray one was made from a slightly different mold). Interesting note: the second wasn't supposed to be gray, someone accidently trans-posed 2 numbers on the paperwork where the Pantone color code was listed (it was supposed to be the same black color). Over 800,000 Space Invaders were produced, which is impressive considering a company was happy to have a production of 100,000.
Model: Merlin
Battery: 1 x 9 volt
AC adapter:
Year: 1980
Chip: TMS1100 / MP3404
Info: Merlin (also known as Merlin The Electronic Wizard, stylized as MERLIN) is a handheld electronic game first made by Parker Brothers in 1978.
The game was invented by former NASA employee Bob Doyle, his wife Holly, and brother-in-law Wendl Thomis.Merlin is notable as one of the earliest and most popular handheld games, selling over 5 million units during its initial run, as well as one of the most long-lived, remaining popular throughout the 1980s. A version of the game was re-released in 2004 by the Milton Bradley Company.
Wikipedia - Merlin Parker Brothers
Model: Monkey See
Battery: 9 volt
AC adapter:
Year: 1985
Chip: TMS1000 / MP0271
Info:This wonderful educational toy is not related to Texas Instruments. It is just for comparision with the rare MATH MAGIC and its sibling WIZ-A-TRON. With this MONKEY SEE Radio Shack changed from the original "calculator chip" MM5780 to a pre-programmed 4-bit microcontroller from Texas Instruments.
Model: Mr MUS-I-CAL
Battery: 9 volt
AC adapter: no
Year: 1979
Chip: TMS1000/MP3206
Info:
Model: Robot Logo 
Battery: 4 x 1,5 C+ 2 x 9 volt
AC adapter:
Year: 1982
Chip: TMS5100 / MP3468 / CM62191
Info: Talking radio-controlled, 6 minutes of speech with more than 40 sentences, led lights and backward movement by pressing the remote control
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Model: Simon
Battery: 1 x 9 volt
AC adapter:
Year: 1978
Chip: TMS1000 / MP3226
Info:The Simon is an electronic game of short-term memory skill invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison, working for toy design firm Marvin Glass and Associates, with software programming by Lenny Cope. The device creates a series of tones and lights and requires a user to repeat the sequence. If the user succeeds, the series becomes progressively longer and more complex. Once the user fails or the time limit runs out, the game is over. The original version was manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley and later by Hasbro after it took over Milton Bradley. Much of the assembly language code was written by Charles Kapps, who taught computer science at Temple University and also wrote one of the first books on the theory of computer programming. Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City and was an immediate success, becoming a pop culture symbol of the 1970s and 1980s.
Model: Star Trekulator
Battery: 4 x AA
AC adapter:
Year: 1976
Chip: TMS0855
Info:Vintage Mego Corporation 1976 Star Trek The Original Series Star Trekulator Electronic Calculator Of The Future. Released by Mego Corporation in 1976 as part of their series of Star Trek Toys and Action Figures. This fantastic Star Trekulator is a working replica of the calculator used aboard the USS Enterprise. It adds, subtracts, divides, multiples, figures square root and percentages at the flick of a switch. Watch the console flash the computer lights on the bridge of the Enterprise as you work. Great for homework and all your important calculations. Every time you press the total button, your answerappears on the display screen accompanied by Star Trek alarm sounds. A winner any way you add it up.
Model: Total Control 4
Battery: 2 x 9 volt battery
AC adapter:
Year: 1981
Chip: TMS1400 / MP7334
Info:Colecos Total Control 4 is a simple Tabletop, offering a range of multiplayer games with a sport-focus through various "cartridges". These cartridges actually do not contain any ROM or the like, but just some soldered path manipulating the LED-output on the tabletop. The "cartridges" serve as overlays as well.
The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. The hardware was designed by a small team led by Ralph H. Baer at Sanders Associates, while Magnavox completed development and released it in the United States in September 1972 and overseas the following year. The Odyssey consists of a white, black, and brown box that connects to a television set, and two rectangular controllers attached by wires. It is capable of displaying three square dots and one line of varying height on the screen in monochrome black and white, with differing behavior for the dots depending on the game played. Players place plastic overlays on the screen to display additional visual elements for each game, and the one or two players for each game control their dots with the knobs and buttons on the controller in accordance with the rules given for the game. The console cannot generate audio or track scores. 
The Odyssey console came packaged with dice, paper money, and other board game paraphernalia to accompany the games, while a peripheral controller—the first video game light gun—was sold separately.
The idea for a video game console was conceived by Baer in August 1966. Over the next three years he, along with Bill Harrison and Bill Rusch, created seven successive prototype consoles. The seventh, known as the Brown Box, was shown to several manufacturers before Magnavox agreed to produce it in January 1971. After releasing the console through their dealerships, Magnavox sold 69,000 units in its first calendar year and 350,000 by the time the console was discontinued in 1975. 
The console spawned the Odyssey series of dedicated consoles as well as the 1978 Magnavox Odyssey 2. One of the 28 games made for the system, a ping pong game, was an inspiration for Atari's successful 1972 Pong arcade game, in turn driving sales of the Odyssey. Patents by Baer and the other developers for the system and the games, including what was termed by a judge as "the pioneering patent of the video game art", formed the basis of a series of lawsuits spanning 20 years, earning Sanders and Magnavox over US$100 million. The release of the Odyssey marked the beginning of the first generation of video game consoles and was an early part of the rise of the commercial video game industry.
The Magnavox Odyssey 2 (stylized as Magnavox Odyssey²), also known as Philips Odyssey 2, is a second generation home video game console that was released in 1978. It was sold in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7000, in Brazil and Peru as the Philips Odyssey and in Japan as Odyssey2 (オデッセイ2 odessei2). The Odyssey 2 was one of the five major home consoles prior to the 1983 video game market crash, along with Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Intellivision and ColecoVision.
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The Microvision (also known as the Milton Bradley Microvision or MB Microvision) is the first handheld game console that used.jpg)
interchangeable cartridges and in this sense is reprogrammable. It was released by the Milton Bradley Company in November 1979 for a retail price of $49.99.
The Microvision was designed by Jay Smith, the engineer who would later design the Vectrex video game console. The Microvision's combination of portability and cartridge-based system (it uses a Texas Instruments CHIP TMS1100 aka MP xxxxx).jpg)
led to moderate success, with Smith Engineering grossing $15 million in the system's first year of release. However, very few cartridges, a small screen, and a lack of support from established home video game companies led to its demise in 1981. According to Satoru Okada, Nintendo's former head of R&D1, the Microvision gave birth to the Game Boy , the sequel to Game & Watch, after Nintendo designed with the Microvision's limitations in mind.
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CHIP MP3479 |
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CHIP MP3496 |
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CHIP MP34047 |
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CHIP MP3457 |
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CHIP MP3474 |
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CHIP MP3454 |
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CHIP MP3475 |
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CHIP MP3455 |
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CHIP MP34009 |
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CHIP MP3481 |
Super NES. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo,Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania and 1993 in South America. In Japan, it is called the Super Famicom (SFC). In South Korea, it is called the Super Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics. The system was released in Brazil on August 30, 1993, by Playtronic. In Russia and CIS, the system was distributed by Steepler from 1994 until 1996. Although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent cartridges for one version from being used in other versions.
Donated from Marco Santini (IT)
The Ping-o-Tronic is a first generation video game console produced by Zanussi and released under the Sèleco brand in late 1974. In the game mode it is similar to Pong. It was the first console of Italian production. In December 1974 it was on sale for 49,000 lire.
TMS 1965 PONG in chip
In 1975, Atari and Magnavox started selling improved systems using integrated circuits. Magnavox used several Texas Instruments (TI) chips, which replicated the design of the first Odyssey, itself based on 1967 transistor circuits. Atari, however, had the smart idea of designing the first "PONG in a chip" device, but these Atari chips were not available to other manufacturers, thus limitating the market considerably. Most Atari systems used a different chip because of the different games and features. Of course, a few discrete components interfaced the chip to the other parts of the system: the video modulator, the player controls, etc. These chips replaced most of the numerous components used in the early analog and digital systems. Although Atari chips were a smart design, the idea of integrating complex circuits into a single chip was a common idea at that time, and other video game manufacturers soon released their own video game chips.
Texas Instruments (TI) had an important role in 1975 since Magnavox asked the manufacturer to design a special chip set for the Odyssey 100 and later models. Each chip had a special function: paddle generator, collision detection, on-screen scoring, etc. They are detailed in the table at the end of this page. These chips were the SN764xx. It was possible to combine these chips to design a customised Ball & Paddle games, and even a Spacewar game.
Later, TI copied the Executive Games Television Tennis circuits and integrated them into a new chip: the SN76410N. This chip was very unsuccessfull and very few systems used it: Tele-Match 3300R, Ricochet Super Pro (model MT-4A), and Venture Electronics Video Sports VS-5. David Winter asked Glen Dash (who designed the Television Tennis) how this came to his attention. His reply was crystal clear: "The Tennis game was absolutely same, so much that it had the same bugs as my original design".
Because all these chips were unsuccessfull, TI decided to release another type of chip in 1977: the TMS-1955 and TMS-1965, both pin compatible with the GI AY-3-8500, hence a better success.
My first computer game, was built by a colleague of my father, using just the the Texas Instruments TMS1965 microprocessor, the year 1977 !
The first Italain's console to use the TMS1965 !
Telegames Pong
In 1975, Atari started looking for ways to distribute their new home “Pong” system, but it wasn’t easy finding a distributor due to the track record that Magnavox had with the Odyssey. Retailers felt the price of the system was too expensive to draw an interest from the general public. After being rejected by numerous toys and electronics manufacturers Atari tried contacting Sears & Roebuck to see if they would have any better luck trying to work out a distribution agreement. They were directed to Tom Quinn who was the buyer for Sears’ sporting goods department, and he expressed interest but wanted the system demonstrated for a few executives first. Al Alcorn travelled to Chicago to demonstrate the pong home system prototype for the Sears executives and despite some minor technical issues with the prototype was able to obtain their approval.
Now that the executives gave their blessing, Quinn started to work with Nolan Bushnell to see if they could reach an agreement. Quinn wanted exclusive rights to the system as well as 150,000 systems before the holiday season. Bushnell agreed to the terms even though he knew that Atari would not be able to produce 150,000 units with their current facility. Atari acquired a new factory through funding by venture capitalist Don Valentine in order to produce the promised 150,000 units for Sears. In the end Atari was able to fulfill the order for Sears. All systems manufactured in 1975 were branded with Sears’ “Tele-Games” name but in 1976 Atari started releasing a version under their own brand name.
The success of home pong just like the video arcade version resulted in a multitude of clone pong consoles. Unlike the Magnavox Odyssey the home pong console and the clone consoles were only able to play one game “Pong”. Even with the limited ability of playing just one game the Pong systems became extremely popular and easily outsold the Odyssey.
Sears’ first venture into video games was very successful and they decided to continue the partnership with Atari expanding the tele-games brand by offering other video game systems with built in games. Atari continued to manufacture systems branding them with the Sears Tele-Games brand and by early 1977 many systems with built in games were released under both the Atari brand and the Sears Tele-Games brand.
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Raspberry Pi
Audio Guide
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Raspberry Pi is an innovative platform that, since its launch in 2012, has opened up new opportunities for makers of all levels and for those who want to learn to program without spending too much. It is characterized by all the qualities appreciated by professionals and hobbyists: it is economical, complete, compact and easy to configure. Chances are you've already heard of it, thanks to its popularity, dedicated books and magazines, and its distinctive raspberry logo. Whether you're interested in Computer Science or Electronics, Raspberry Pi offers endless possibilities for learning and experimentation. Beyond the technical aspects, Raspberry Pi can be seen as a "miniature computer", an entire hardware system enclosed in a single board. Born in England with the aim of promoting programming and computer culture, its extraordinary success has paved the way for countless other uses. Taking this initial mission into account, the motto that appears on the project's homepage is particularly significant: “Our mission is to put the power of programming and digital creation in the hands of people around the world.” This phrase perfectly sums up the essence of a tool that has fueled global creativity, without political, social or economic barriers, a path also followed by the BBC micro:bit, another successful British project.
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We used it to emulate our TI-99/4A via software, here we loaded the Texas Instruments game MunchMan.
The Vectrex is an 8-bit console designed by Smith Engineering and distributed by General Consumer Electric (a subsidiary of General Electric), and later by the Milton Bradley Company. The Vectrex was the only home console to make hardware use of vector graphics (the same as bar classics such as Space Wars, Asteroids, Battlezone and Tempest) to play games on the integrated screen. Vectrex was also sold in the Japanese market under the name Bandai Vectrex Kousokusen.
FAILURES
Problem encountered: With the Sweep Clean game some dots to eat in the game are not at the same distance.
With the game inserted BEDLAM, the menu appears but the game crashes immediately
Solution: IC204 RAM broken.
CARTRIDGE 128 PROGRAMS
Cartridge V.1.0 with demo e games
list programs
.jpg "Olivetti Valentine")
.jpg "APPLE")
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