Fairchild Channel F


The Fairchild Channel F, short for "Channel Fun," was the first programmable ROM cartridge–based video game console, and the first console to use a microprocessor. It was released by Fairchild Semiconductor in November 1976 across North America at a retail price of. It was also released in Japan in October the following year. It was originally named "Video Entertainment System," but when Atari, Inc. released its Video Computer System the next year, Fairchild changed the name for its machine, although they continued to use the old name alongside it.
By 1977, the Fairchild Channel F had sold about 250,000 units, trailing behind sales of the VCS.
In 1983, the production of the system discontinued.

History

In 1974, Alpex Computer Corporation employees Wallace Kirschner and Lawrence Haskel developed a home video game prototype consisting of a base unit centered on an Intel 8080 microprocessor and interchangeable circuit boards containing ROM chips that could be plugged into the base unit. The duo attempted to interest several television manufacturers in the system, but were unsuccessful. Next, they contacted a buyer at Fairchild, which sent engineer Jerry Lawson to evaluate the system. Lawson was impressed by the system and suggested Fairchild license the technology, which the company did in January 1976.
Lawson worked with industrial designer Nick Talesfore and mechanical engineer Ron Smith to turn the prototype into a viable project. Changes included replacing the 8080 with Fairchild's own F8 CPU, adapting the prototypes complex keyboard controls into a single control stick, and encasing the ROM circuit boards in a plastic cartridges reminiscent of 8-track tapes. Talesfore was responsible for the design of the hand controllers, console, and video game cartridges; Smith was responsible for the mechanical engineering of the video cartridges and controllers.

Channel F System II

Sometime in 1979, Zircon International bought the rights to the Channel F and released the re-designed console as the Channel F System II to compete with Atari's VCS. This re-designed System II was completed by Nick Talesfore at Fairchild. He was the same industrial designer who designed the original game console. Only six new games were released after the debut of the second system before its demise, several of which were developed at Fairchild before they sold it off.
The major changes were in design, with the controllers removable from the base unit instead of being wired directly into it; the controller storage was moved to the rear of the unit, and the sound was now mixed into the RF TV signal so the unit no longer needed a speaker. Electronics was also simplified with custom logic chips instead of standard logic resulting in a much smaller circuit board. This version also featured a simpler and more modern-looking case design.

Discontinuation

Following the video game crash of 1983, Fairchild left the market.

Licensed variants

A number of licensed versions were released in Europe, including the Luxor Video Entertainment System in Sweden, Adman Grandstand Video Entertainment Computer in the UK, the SABA Videoplay, ITT Telematch Processor and Nordmende Color TelePlay µP from Germany, and the Dumont Videoplay and Barco Challenger from the Barco/Dumont company in Italy and Belgium.

Design

The F8 was very complex compared to the typical integrated circuits of the day and had more inputs and outputs than other contemporary chips. Because chip packaging was not initially available with enough pins, the F8 used in the original form of the VES/Channel F was instead fabricated as a pair of chips that had to be used together to form a complete CPU. However, due to the F8's design, there was a considerable savings in terms of pins that enabled the inclusion of 64 bytes of internal scratchpad RAM. A single-chip variant of the F8 was used by both the System II and the VideoBrain computer system.
The Channel F is able to use one plane of graphics and one of four background colors per line, with three plot colors to choose from that turned into white if the background is set to black, at a resolution of 128 × 64, with approximately 102 × 58 pixels visible and help from 64 bytes of system RAM, half the amount of the later Atari 2600. The Maze game required 1K of on-cartridge static RAM, adding to the cost to manufacture it. The Chess game contained considerably more on-cartridge RAM than that. The F8 processor at the heart of the console is able to produce enough AI to allow for player versus computer matches, a first in console history. All previous machines required a human opponent. Tic-Tac-Toe on Videocart-1 had this feature, it was only for one player against the machine. The same is true for the chess game, which would have very long turn times for the computer as the game progressed.
In the original unit, sound is played through an internal speaker, rather than the TV set. However, the System II passed sound to the television through the RF modulator.

Controllers

The controllers are a joystick without a base; the main body is a large handgrip with a triangular "cap" on top, the top being the portion that actually moved for eight-way directional control. It could be used as both a joystick and paddle, and not only could it be pushed down to operate as a fire button, it could be pulled up as well. The model 1 unit contained a small compartment for storing the controllers when moving it. The System II featured detachable controllers and had two holders at the back to wind the cable around and to store the controller in. Zircon later offered a special control that featured an action button on the front of the joystick. It was marketed by Zircon as "Channel F Jet-Stick" in a letter sent out to registered owners before Christmas 1982.
The functions printed on the console is how they work in the built-in games and also some of the original games: all buttons are controlled by the programming and can be used for anything the programmer decides.
One feature unique of the console is the 'hold' button, which allows the player to freeze the game, change the time or change the speed of the game. The hold function is not universal.
Despite the failure of the Channel F, the joystick's design was so popular—Creative Computing called it "outstanding"— that Zircon also released an Atari joystick port-compatible version, the Video Command Joystick, first released without the extra fire button. Before that, only the downwards plunge motion was connected and acted as the fire button; the pull-up and twist actions were not connected to anything.

Technical specifications

Original Channel F technical specifications:
Twenty-seven cartridges, termed "Videocarts", were officially released to consumers in the United States during the ownership of Fairchild and Zircon, the first twenty-one of which were released by Fairchild. Several of these cartridges were capable of playing more than one game and were typically priced at $19.95. The Videocarts were yellow and approximately the size and overall texture of an 8 track cartridge. They usually featured colorful label artwork. The earlier artwork was created by nationally known artist Tom Kamifuji and art directed by Nick Talesfore. The console contained two built-in games, Tennis and Hockey, which were both advanced Pong clones. In Hockey, the reflecting bar could be changed to diagonals by twisting the controller and could move all over the playing field. Tennis was much like the original Pong.
A sales brochure from 1978 listed "Keyboard Videocarts" for sale. The three shown were K-1 Casino Poker, K-2 Space Odyssey, and K-3 Pro-Football. These were intended to use the Keyboard accessory. All further brochures, released after Zircon took over Fairchild, never listed this accessory nor anything called a Keyboard Videocart.
There was one additional cartridge released numbered Videocart-51 and simply titled "Demo 1". This Videocart was shown in a single sales brochure released shortly after Zircon acquired the company. It was never listed for sale after this single brochure which was used in the winter of 1979.
TitleRelease dateGenre
Democart1976System demonstration
Hockey 1976Sports
Tennis 1976Sports
Videocart-1: Tic-Tac-Toe, Shooting Gallery, Doodle, Quadra-Doodle1976Trivia, shooter
Videocart-2: Desert Fox, Shooting Gallery1976Action, shooter
Videocart-3: Video Blackjack1976Gambling
Videocart-4: Spitfire1977Action, shooter
Videocart-5: Space War1977Action, shooter
Videocart-6: Math Quiz I 1977Educational
Videocart-7: Math Quiz II 1977Educational
Videocart-8: Magic Numbers 1977Trivia
Videocart-9: Drag Race1977Racing
Videocart-10: Maze, Jailbreak, Blind-Man's-Bluff, Trailblazer1977Maze
Videocart-11: Backgammon, Acey-Deucey1977Trivia
Videocart-12: Baseball1977Sports
Videocart-13: Robot War, Torpedo Alley1977Platform, action
Videocart-14: Sonar Search1977Strategy
Videocart-15: Memory Match 1, Memory Match 21978Puzzle
Videocart-16: Dodge' It1978Platform, action
Videocart-17: Pinball Challenge1978Pinball
Videocart-18: Hangman1978Puzzle
Videocart-19: Checkers1978Trivia
Videocart-20: Video Whizball1978Miscellaneous
Videocart-21: Bowling1978Sports
Videocart-22: Slot Machine1980Gambling
Videocart-23: Galactic Space Wars1980Action, shooter
Videocart-24: Pro Football1981Sports
Videocart-25: Casino Poker1981Gambling
Videocart-26: Alien Invasion1981Action, shooter

Unreleased carts:
Other official carts:
German electronics manufacturer SABA also released a few compatible carts different from the original carts: translation in Videocart-1 Tic-Tac-Toe to German words; Videocart-3 released with different abbreviations ; Videocart-18 changed graphics and German word list; and SABA 20, a chess game released only by SABA.
A clone of Pac-Man for the Channel F was released in 2009.

Reception

reviewed 32 games in his book Ken Uston's Guide to Buying and Beating the Home Video Games in 1982, and rated some of the Channel F's titles highly; of these, Alien Invasion and Video Whizball were considered by Uston to be "the finest adult cartridges currently available for the Fairchild Channel F System". The games on a whole, however, rated last on his survey of over 200 games for the Atari, Intellivision, Astrocade and Odyssey consoles, and contemporary games were rated "Average" with future Channel F games rated "below average". Uston rated almost one-half of the Channel F games as "high in interest" and called that "an impressive proportion" and further noted that "Some of the Channel F cartridges are timeless; no matter what technological developments occur, they will continue to be of interest." His overall conclusion was that the games "serve a limited, but useful, purpose" and that the "strength of the Channel F offering is in its excellent educational line for children".
In 1983, after Zircon announced its discontinuation of the Channel F, Video Games reviewed the console. Calling it "the system nobody knows", the magazine described its graphics and sounds as "somewhat primitive by today's standards". It described Space War as perhaps "the most antiquated game of its type still on the market", and rated the 25 games for the console with an average grade of three on a scale from one to ten. The magazine stated, however, that Fairchild "managed to create some fascinating games, even by today's standards", calling Casino Royale "the best card game, from blackjack to bridge, made for any TV-game system". It also favorably reviewed Dodge-It, Robot War, and Whizball, but concluded that only those interested in nostalgia, video game collecting, or card games would purchase the Channel F in 1983.