Why ‘Hockey’ for Channel-F is the ‘Pong’ permutation to write home about

[Rev. Rob]

The aggressive sport from the Great White North had its earliest faithful digital incarnation from an unlikely source, Fairchild’s Channel F game console.

 

While it never was able to emulate Atari’s success, sales, developers, or graphics, the Channel F did have the most advanced controller of any console in the world until Nintendo introduced the D-pad.

 

Unlike its contemporaries, 2600 and Odyssey2, Channel F’s controller essentially had four action buttons versus the standard one, even though it had no actual “buttons” at all.

 

The “hand controller,” as it was called, can be held in either the left or right hand. The triangular head can be tilted in eight ways for directional control. Sounds pretty typical so far, but that’s not all.

 

The “head” can be twisted either left or right for additional action. That’s two buttons. Finally, the top of the hand-controller can be plunged-in or pulled-up to perform separate actions. The third and forth buttons. This system allows for exceptionally intuitive and innovative control; and Hockey, one of the consoles’ built in games, was the perfect recipient.

 

 

In the game, players have full field movement, as with most hockey-esque games of the era. However, Channel F’s advanced control system made the game more like being on the ice than any other home system at the time could dare to dream.

 

By using the twisting motion of the controller’s triangular head, the angle of the character on screen could be altered to 45o and 60o. This allowed for the player to have explicit control of the direction that the puck would travel, and would never have to guess. Only the goalie sends the puck flying in wild directions.

 

In hockey, one important aspect of the game is the power play. In a power play, one team rushes the side of the opposing team. With Hockey for Channel F, the plunge and pull special functions of the hard controller allows for the player to independently control the up and down movement of the goalie regardless of the location of the main character. A perfect power play can be executed without leaving the net unguarded.

 

 

While the simplistic three color display and low resolution do nothing to set the Channel F’s flagship built-in game apart from its competitors, the forward thinking and unique controller and control scheme would live on in the spirit of innovation that makes the gaming industry great today.

 

Though hours of fun can be had over thirty years later, the only drawback of the game is that it does not have a single player option. Perhaps some inventive homebrewer can take up the challenge. After all, if the F8 could power the Cray supercomputers used the US military, it should be able to play a game of simple hockey.

Edited July 23, 2007 by Rev. Rob

[Segataritensoftii]

I have an original model Channel F with that game. I never thought much about it, but that's probably because my brother doesn't want to play it with me. I don't get to play multiplayer very often. That said, I think getting the game on cartridge so people with newer model Channel Fs could play it would be a fantastic start to spreading the word about this game. We need to get the homebrew scene on Channel F started again. I'll set to work resurrecting the VESwiki while you look for more F8 documentation. Another thing I'd like to have on the new VESwiki is documentation on the Videobrain and other F8 based devices. This would probably make the VESwiki's name have to change to the F8wiki, to reflect the broader spectrum of F8 based platforms we're covering.

[Bruce Tomlin]

If you want any hope of bringing the "Channel F hombrew community" to reality, the first thing you need is for someone to make a bus interface chip for the F8. This not only requires latching/incrementing the program counter like the Intellivision, but the bus interface must also handle adding the offeset for relative branches. This would require a programmable logic device with a few dozen macrocells and 30-40 pins, and someone who knows enough Verilog or VHDL to create the design.

[Rev. Rob]

Well, clearly someone has to get started on that.

[swlovinist]

I enjoyed your presentation of the Channel F. The system is truly the black sheep of vintage video game collecting. With so many pot shots done about the system, it is refreshing to see someone who had obviously played it a bit. If you havent checked out previous Classic gaming expo speakers, several years ago there was an awsome speaker(and founder?) on the Channel F. His name eludes me, but he was an excellent speaker.

[potatohead]

Great review of an under appreciated system.

 

I had one of these, with nearly all the carts at one point. Gave it to some friends, who really liked it at the time. (mid 80's) This game is just great, glad to see somebody else who has played it.

 

There is another one I can't recall the name of, but it's like pong, in that players have paddles. But they shoot, and you push this big block back and forth into goals. It's probably one of the best titles. Maybe you have that one and can jog my memory.

 

At one point, I had wired up a spare Fairchild controller to the Atari. Playing Asteroids was just a kick. Turn and move to orient the ship, then just slap the controller silly, trying to hit some rocks before needing to move again. It completely changed the game.

[Bruce Tomlin]

At one point, I had wired up a spare Fairchild controller to the Atari. Playing Asteroids was just a kick. Turn and move to orient the ship, then just slap the controller silly, trying to hit some rocks before needing to move again. It completely changed the game.

But you have to be careful, because I'm pretty sure that one of those "extra" directions will short out the 5 volts power supply in the Atari! ZZZAP!

[Impaler_26]

Yup, i also like the Channel F. I had a Saba Videoplay (german Channel F) and really enjoyed Labyrinth, Völkerball (Dodge It), Torpedo, Robot Hunt and a few others.

 

potatohead Posted Today, 6:00 PM

There is another one I can't recall the name of, but it's like pong, in that players have paddles. But they shoot, and you push this big block back and forth into goals. It's probably one of the best titles. Maybe you have that one and can jog my memory.

 

That can only be 'Video Whizball'.

[FND]

If you havent checked out previous Classic gaming expo speakers, several years ago there was an awsome speaker(and founder?) on the Channel F. His name eludes me, but he was an excellent speaker.

 

That would have been Jerry Lawson

 

Here is a link to my web page with links to some Google Video's with Jerry Lawson done by SHALLOW INN FILMS

 

There is also an audio file from the 2K4 CGE interview with Jerry Lawson that can be found on Digital Press web site

 

http://www.fndcollectables.com/CHANNEL_F_I...interviews.html

 

FND

[potatohead]

Yep.

 

That's the one. Just begging to be the next killer bB game.

 

Re: Shorting. Yep. It can happen. No biggie to measure what goes where though. That's exactly what was done back then.

Edited July 25, 2007 by potatohead

[Rev. Rob]

I enjoyed your presentation of the Channel F. The system is truly the black sheep of vintage video game collecting. With so many pot shots done about the system, it is refreshing to see someone who had obviously played it a bit. If you havent checked out previous Classic gaming expo speakers, several years ago there was an awsome speaker(and founder?) on the Channel F. His name eludes me, but he was an excellent speaker.

 

 

Great review of an under appreciated system.

 

I had one of these, with nearly all the carts at one point. Gave it to some friends, who really liked it at the time. (mid 80's) This game is just great, glad to see somebody else who has played it.

 

There is another one I can't recall the name of, but it's like pong, in that players have paddles. But they shoot, and you push this big block back and forth into goals. It's probably one of the best titles. Maybe you have that one and can jog my memory.

 

At one point, I had wired up a spare Fairchild controller to the Atari. Playing Asteroids was just a kick. Turn and move to orient the ship, then just slap the controller silly, trying to hit some rocks before needing to move again. It completely changed the game.

 

Hey, thanks guys.

 

My review of the console its self can be found here: http://www.revrob.com/content/view/66/49/

[potatohead]

You're welcome!

 

I enjoy following this stuff. Those of us, who are into computing, are getting to be like those that also like cars! It only gets better with age too, that's the beauty of it.

 

The number of two player games, where a world is presented for players to interact and compete in, is fairly high all things considered on the Channel F Anyone else notice this?

 

IMHO, the sharp limits of the system are partly responsible. It does not have enough resources to really immerse someone. The Channel F sits right there on the edge, almost enough to be the focus, but not quite, unlike the VCS and later consoles. I think that could make an interesting topic for somebody who studies gaming in general. Where are the boundaries in this? How much needs to be brought to the table to make a game interesting for a single player?

 

This question makes the Channel F interesting on a few levels. At the time it was released, gaming was largely a shared experience. Pre video games, cards, board games, sports, etc... nearly all multi-player things.

 

The Bally machine was potent enough to entertain on it's own. One person, the machine and the game.

 

Other systems really were not potent enough for this. The analog / discrete PONG games were clearly two player deals, lacking depth enough to be self entertaining as a primary focus.

 

Channel F sits right there in the middle. Lots of great innovations, carts, cool controllers, color. Lots of minuses too. Limited RAM and compute power. Limited resolution and sound.

 

What if they had doubled the resolution, or had permitted more RAM? Would either of those things added, make the crossing?

Edited July 26, 2007 by potatohead

[MrRetroGamer]

I have an original model Channel F with that game. That said, I think getting the game on cartridge so people with newer model Channel Fs could play it would be a fantastic start to spreading the word about this game.

 

I'm pretty sure that both the Original Channel F and the System II had this game built in, along with tennis.