Early Keyboard Component video

[Ron The Cat]

Found this early demo video of the keyboard component on youtube

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppYK29cHygQ

 

Especially interesting

- the cassette deck is not flush with the unit and is positioned differently. Maybe they were still trying to get a deck to fit nearly inside ? Or maybe the deck was not running at all at that point.

- Pic of the space battle cartridge has "Battlestar Galactia" above its title

- the keyboard software demos seem very bare bones or seem more complex in some of the video compared to the final product. Not having seen them run in the flesh maybe someone else can judge.

Edited November 23, 2018 by Ron The Cat

[+DZ-Jay]

Found this early demo video of the keyboard component on youtube

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppYK29cHygQ

 

Especially interesting

- the cassette deck is not flush with the unit and is positioned differently. Maybe they were still trying to get a deck to fit nearly inside ? Or maybe the deck was not running at all at that point.

- Pic of the space battle cartridge has "Battlestar Galactia" above its title

- the keyboard software demos seem very bare bones or seem more complex in some of the video compared to the final product. Not having seen them run in the flesh maybe someone else can judge.

 

I believe that the unit in the video is a fancy mock-up. Notice that there is no transport mechanism inside; the tape just plops in. Also, the KB software videos are probably graphical renderings created outside the machine -- with the obvious exception to the "Conversation French" title screen. Even the physical fitness program does not look like the screenshots of the Jack LaLanne software (it's not even called that in this video, so perhaps branding and licensing had not been done yet). The animation looks more like a cartoon than a computer graphics sequence.

 

Perhaps neither the software nor the hardware were ready at the time of producing the marketing video, or maybe not completed to a point in which it could reliably show off their capabilities.

 

-dZ.

Edited November 23, 2018 by DZ-Jay

[mr_me]

That video was probably made in 1978 and shown at 1979 CES. Notice how the scrolling in NFL Football is messed up; maybe it was using an early version of the stic.

[+DZ-Jay]

That video was probably made in 1978 and shown at 1979 CES. Notice how the scrolling in NFL Football is messed up; maybe it was using an early version of the stic.

 

Yes, there are a lot of glitches in some of those games. The Armored Battle game has sprites flickering and distorting as they fire.

[+Lathe26]

Also, the microphone is different and so is the typing keys. The real KC keyboard keys are a mix of colors, not all white as in the video. The keys on the right side in the video include LF, CR, Rub Out, and a blank key; these don't match the real keys.

[boxpressed]

Someone should make a hack of Space Battle to realize that awesome Battlestar Galactica game.

[+DZ-Jay]

Someone should make a hack of Space Battle to realize that awesome Battlestar Galactica game.

 

I think the game would be the same. I believe they had finished the game and re-branded it when the licensing went through. This is why the enemy ships look like Cylon Fighters.

 

-dZ.

[boxpressed]

 

I think the game would be the same. I believe they had finished the game and re-branded it when the licensing went through. This is why the enemy ships look like Cylon Fighters.

 

-dZ.

 

That's what I'd heard. I was thinking of maybe just a hacked title screen and the CIB box/label treatment for the cart.

[+DZ-Jay]

 

That's what I'd heard. I was thinking of maybe just a hacked title screen and the CIB box/label treatment for the cart.

 

Ah.

[David Rolfe]

This video shows some rare views of actual working Keyboard Component software. Too bad we don't get to see Mimi's face; that was wonderfully animated and synchronized. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ_GXfKzVlY&feature=youtu.be&t=215

[IMBerzerk]

Looks like it was some kind of presentation video for intro marketing? Seems like a lot of the games they show playing were very different from the released versions. The Blackjack and Poker, and Football certainly look different.

[Walter Ives]

On 11/23/2018 at 6:13 AM, DZ-Jay said:

I believe that the unit in the video is a fancy mock-up.

You believe correctly. As the world's leading toymaker Mattel had a premier model shop manned by highly-skilled elves.

On 11/23/2018 at 6:13 AM, DZ-Jay said:

Perhaps neither the software nor the hardware were ready at the time of producing the marketing video, or maybe not completed to a point in which it could reliably show off their capabilities.

Zero work had been done on Keyboard Component electronics or software at the time this video was made. Zot. Nada. Nil. Not even a delta-less-than-epsilon. 'Twas but a gleam in Rochlis' eye, reflected in Chandler's heart and sold to the innocents in corporate management.

On 11/23/2018 at 7:24 AM, mr_me said:

That video was probably made in 1978 and shown at 1979 CES. Notice how the scrolling in NFL Football is messed up; maybe it was using an early version of the stic.

The video was definitely made in late 1978 and shown at both 1979 Winter CES and Toy Fair. The game video was recorded from a STIC emulator like the one Harrower is posing with in that picture in EE Times. If you study the tape very carefully you can see that active picture is 160 pixels wide. Football was far from finished; some of the field titling was added in post-production. The video was time-base corrected as well.

On 11/23/2018 at 6:13 AM, DZ-Jay said:

Also, the KB software videos are probably graphical renderings created outside the machine...

Not "probably," "definitely."