ubersaurus Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 Update: I've gotten the wav files from the archivist - apparently he had them already from the initial digitization attempt and had attached the wrong files. They're both too large to attach on atariage, but I've provided them to Ekeefe for the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekeefe Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 Hello, I downloaded the new files. I will have a look. ED Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulrobson Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 There's a lot of machines this could be. There is a sequence of them starting with System00 (TTL CPU) various FREDs (1801 CPU) Cosmac ELF/VIP (1802 CPU). The 1801 is a 1802 without the long branch/skip, most of the shift rotates and load without advance. There are also different version of Chip-8 - at least three, the one that is well known that is part of the VIP, The Studio 2 version and the Fred version which is called FEL-1. Joyce W seems to have been programming all of them. They are all different ; though FEL-1 is much closer to Chip 8 graphically. FRED 2 (the naming is a bit vague as to what is what) was produced in small numbers (about 20) to demonstrate to potential buyers. To confuse matters furthers, the FRED papers I acquired from Hagley also have a design for a Cosmac Coin-Operated machine (1801 based) which appears to have been constructed at some point but got no further. It is interesting how different things could have been if different management decisions had been made in respect of the 180x stuff. This stuff predates Space Invaders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersaurus Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Any good way to determine which hardware the file was made for/materials to look for at the Hagley that could help narrow it down? With 30-odd tapes, I imagine there are programs in there for all those flavors of hardware, and it would be great to be able to narrow it down for each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 So, cluelessness, money laundering, trolling, or just trting views for his other listings? : https://m.ebay.com/itm/RCA-Studio-II-2-Math-Fun-Game-Box-Manual-/282691928224?hash=item41d1c080a0%3Ag%3AwkMAAOSwFfhZ360O&_trkparms=pageci%253A0ae88c99-af7b-11e7-a48e-74dbd1805da6%257Cparentrq%253A11d7a37515f0a9cbc20a2fa9fffc4220%257Ciid%253A1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersaurus Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 I set up a dropbox folder with the wav files. 01 is the side labeled Tag-Bowling, 02 is Swords. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ngogb8xl8zyv44q/AADIWoc2nV3w9KPZZJtkxS_Sa?dl=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Well, now we all know that REAL designation for Gunfighter/Moonship Battle is TV Arcade V and Speedway/Tag is TV Arcade VI! Maybe somebody could make a slighter larger than normal outer box repro with slightly changed sticker art reflecting the real designations that can slide over actual copies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Anyone ever heard of "Video Mate" before? Whatever this mysterious system was, it sure looks familiar... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Now, we knew that there was at least one arcade machine that RCA tested out in at least one shopping mall in NJ, but it is neat to see that there were multiple ones, some mysterious images with different cabinets, and two of which were a Mines game and another an arcade version of Swords (also called Fredotronic- anybody ever seen this before?). Here's a few photos, including one apparently taken on location at whatever actual arcade they were tested at! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Contemporary (1977) photo screenshots of Studio III (!) games in all their full color glory! And, since we all know that the Studio III tech did find its way into the various Clone systems, this is what they would have actually looked like to somebody playing them back in the day. Also serves as yet more proof of the US origins of the clone games and hardware. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 It also occurs to me just now that those above images would be useful to those maintain the various emulators as far as proper color appearance would go- we might be able to make the emulators slightly more accurate in terms of correct color display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Anyone else ever seen this alternative System Manual cover? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 It also occurs to me just now that those above images would be useful to those maintain the various emulators as far as proper color appearance would go- we might be able to make the emulators slightly more accurate in terms of correct color display. I would be concerned that the photo may have faded and/or the colour shifted in the past 40+ years, and so it is no longer a completely true representation of the original screen colours. For example, I have seen colour film (slides/transparencies) from Expo 1967 that looks like it was shot through a red filter. Now, we knew that there was at least one arcade machine that RCA tested out in at least one shopping mall in NJ, but it is neat to see that there were multiple ones, some mysterious images with different cabinets, and two of which were a Mines game and another an arcade version of Swords (also called Fredotronic- anybody ever seen this before?). Here's a few photos, including one apparently taken on location at whatever actual arcade they were tested at! Does the tall, white system in the middle remind anyone else of a more-angular/square Computer Space console? Thanks for posting these photos! All sorts of wonderful stuff is hidden in various archives, awaiting discovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 (edited) As for accurate emulation, isn't taking actual screenshots from the working clone models enough to set the palette correctly, or do you believe more in a 40+ year old photo than in brand new screenshots from aged hardware? Edit: Or that the Studio III would've had a somewhat different palette than the PAL clones display? Edited October 20, 2017 by carlsson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Internal sales reports, especially from the time, aren't too common to come by. This one in particular has a few interesting stats: Out of at least 177,000plus Studio II units known to have been manufactured (going by known Serial Numbers) only around 53,000-64,000 were sold from February of 1977 to January of 1978. For those systems that were sold, the attach rate for game sales was apparently .77, or less than 1 game cartridge sold per system. Of all the Cartridge sales, 65% were from the TV Arcade Series, 18% were copies of Blackjack, 16% Schoolhouse I and II, and 1% were copies of Biorhythm. This last bit ought to be the final bit of proof, on top of all the other evidence, that Bingo was NEVER even sold, as they don't even mention it, only Blackjack, as there was no other released game in the TV Casino Series. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersaurus Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 As for accurate emulation, isn't taking actual screenshots from the working clone models enough to set the palette correctly, or do you believe more in a 40+ year old photo than in brand new screenshots from aged hardware? Depends on whether or not the palette was changed at all from when these were taken to when the clone systems were produced. Aren't most of the clone systems PAL? That would probably necessitate some kind of internal tweaks to accommodate. For what it's worth, I think it's reasonable to include this palette as an option in emulators as "in-development Studio III" if for no other reason than it looks way less garish than what's on the emulators now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Did the Studio II sales pretty much end after January 1978, so it is not possible that Bingo had a very limited release later the same year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 It should be noted that the colours on the Biorhythm box much better correspond to the on-screen colours when I run it on my Conic M1200 than how they correspond to the above photo. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubersaurus Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Based on that sales doc, could we suggest Feb. 15 as the "official" launch date of the Studio II? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 RCA Studio IV (yes, IV- they got that far!) Document number 1: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Did the Studio II sales pretty much end after January 1978, so it is not possible that Bingo had a very limited release later the same year? It's absolutely not possible that it had even a limited release. There'll be more posted further down, but suffice it to say it was only planned to be among the games for the Studio III, all of which would also have been backwards compatible with the Studio II. At long last Bingo can absolutely be ruled out as a Studio II game- the two (ever) known copies are simply mock-up samples. But stay tuned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 RCA Studio IV (!) Document # 2- they're even talking about an RCA Studio V in it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Who cares about Studio IV when there even is a Studio V on the horizon? That is rather spectacular, if RCA had three sequels in development to the existing Studio II. Or perhaps that is standard in the business, to have very many lines of hardware in development and time will tell which one to release? It doesn't say much about the graphics specs, except for the 16x16 colour map whatever it means. Four way joysticks had been an improvement over the keypads but why not go for eight way right away, as Atari and Fairchild already had released theirs at the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 Final upload: apparently, somebody back in the day was thoughtful enough to type up all of the manuals for the Studio II AND Studio III games into one handy reference document. We all know the Studio III games were never released here in the US, but DID see releases for the overseas clones. How all that happened remains mysterious, but this should be the final proof that they all did originate here in the US, and were originally Studio III programs. It would also serve to indicate that at least manuals and cartridge mock ups existed at one point (look at the Bingo sample pics) for US versions- hopefully, these still exist somewhere. Given the timeframe of the documents, this would also be the first ever Star Wars videogame ever made. Amazing to realize that they actually intended to release these by those exact names here in the US! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 In some ways, it is shame that the Studio II did not come with color right out of the gate. While it probably wouldn't have made a difference in the long run (it was so behind 2600 and Channel F it wasn't even funny), it would have given the console a better chance in life. However, as it is, it remains a brief footnote in gaming history now. Contemporary (1977) photo screenshots of Studio III (!) games in all their full color glory! And, since we all know that the Studio III tech did find its way into the various Clone systems, this is what they would have actually looked like to somebody playing them back in the day. Also serves as yet more proof of the US origins of the clone games and hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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