Pierre LeFrance #1 Posted March 8, 2002 I got an RCA Studio 2 yesterday, its a cool system! I like really old stuff like that. Does anyone here know of any really good games for it? All I have so far is Black Jack and Space Invaders. [ 03-08-2002: Message edited by: Pierre LeFrance ] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geogray #2 Posted March 9, 2002 DOH! Space Invaders? I was not aware that RCA released this game for Studio II. Is it a cartridge? Don't forget the 5 built in games! Bowling was my favorite. Ya know, I had five of these consoles at one time! Now I have zero. Sigh. What was I thinking? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pierre LeFrance #3 Posted March 9, 2002 Yes, Space Invaders IS for RS2, and it is a cartridge. Blackjack is VERY hard to play!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
liquid_sky #4 Posted March 9, 2002 Ok got this from the Studio @ FAQ. Im confused as well. Cartridge List Andrew Kreig has the most complete cartridge list for the Studio II, this is his list. C Common These carts can be found fairly easily at thrift stores, in sale posts on the 'Net, or in Atari vendor catalogs (yes there still are some vendors!). U Uncommon A little harder to find, but they pop up on the 'Net frequently. R Rare Very elusive to find carts. Some vendors still have them in stock, but they are generally more expensive ER Extremely These are very, very hard to find. They usually have a very low production run. Consider yourself very lucky to come across one! PR Prototype Never formally released. Only pre-release prototypes exist. The ultimate rarity! FW Game is included in firmware on the RCA Studio II. code: Manufacturer Cart # Title Rarity Dumped RCA 18V403 77 Baseball (TV Arcade IV) U Y RCA 18V700 Biorhythm (TV Mystic Series) ER N RCA 18V600 77 Blackjack (TV Casino I) U Y RCA 5008331 Demonstration Cart ER N RCA 18V401 76 Fun with Numbers (TV Arcade II) R N RCA 18V405 Gunfighter/Moonship Battle (TV Arcade) ER N RCA 18V501 Math Fun (TV School House II) R N RCA 18V400 76 Space War (TV Arcade I) R Y RCA 18V404 Speedway/Tag (TV Arcade ?) R Y RCA 18V402 77 Tennis/Squash (TV Arcade III) C Y RCA n/a Tester 1 (Diagnostic Cart) ER N RCA 18V500 76 TV School House I R N RCA FW Bowling - Y RCA FW Patterns - Y RCA FW Doodle - Y RCA FW Freeway - Y RCA FW Adding - Y My guess is that Space War is Space Invaders? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pierre LeFrance #5 Posted March 9, 2002 Yeah, bowling is pretty cool. And yes, I DO have Space Invaders. Is it possible the guy that sold me this gave me fake cartridges? I dont think its THAT likley, I mean, its a little block that shoots things that resemble the aliens for the Atari version... I think its space invaders. THe cartidge says "Space Invaders". If I could find a screenshot, I'd put it up to show... but I cant find any! (d'oh...) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
liquid_sky #6 Posted March 9, 2002 Weird. Could you scan the cart? Maybe that list isnt as complate as we think? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Atari #7 Posted March 10, 2002 Are the graphics better or worse than the 2600's ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pierre LeFrance #8 Posted March 10, 2002 quote: Originally posted by King Atari: Are the graphics better or worse than the 2600's ? you were kidding right? Of Course ya were! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geogray #9 Posted March 10, 2002 Pierre, I don't think anyone doubts you. It is just surprising that Space Invaders would be in a legit cart from RCA. They stopped producing them in 1977. Space Invaders did not come out until 1979 or 1980. There WAS a CHIP-8 version of Space Invaders that Paul Robson (I think) had written a few years ago. There was even a PacMan written in CHIP-8. CHIP-8 btw, was the 'language' used in the Studio-II. It is a cross between assembler-like and tiny basic. Very crude, but you could write full blown video games in something like 512 BYTES of ram. Amazing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geogray #10 Posted March 10, 2002 Well, folks, I went back to get the URL to the CHIP-8 site and discovered that the PacMan game was in SuperChip8-that was NOT in the Studio II. SuperChip is an enhanced CHIP designed to deal with 'high'resolution graphics: 128X64, I think. Anyway, here's the url: http://home.worldnet.fr/~winter/chip8/chip8.htm Sorry for my poor memory. Oh yeah, I forgot about the JOUST and Tetris games written in Chip/SuperChip. What a gas! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geogray #11 Posted March 10, 2002 Heck, I forgot about the Studio II emulator written by Mr. Robson: http://www.classicgaming.com/studio2/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
liquid_sky #12 Posted March 10, 2002 im just plain confused.. if space invaders was a homebrew/modern game, was it burned on an EPROM cart that you have? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geogray #13 Posted March 10, 2002 It's not too far a stretch to have it in an eprom. If I remember correctly, the carts were rather simplistic and used eproms you could buy at Radio Shack (which, btw, also sold the Studio II) for a few bucks. One could take an existing cart and either reprogram or replace the eprom...I remember my father was going to undertake the task of turning a Studio II into a little computer with BASIC burned into a cartridge. He never did...he built a real computer instead (based on the Signetics 2650-the same chip in the Emerson Arcadia.) These little memory lane trips are quite enjoyable! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
liquid_sky #14 Posted March 11, 2002 That woulda been something to see. Do you know how he planned to get keyboard input once BASIC was burned to an eprom? This is quuite interesting and very cool. Me and my dad would go fishing togather.. thats not nearly as cool as modding an RCA studio 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geogray #15 Posted March 11, 2002 Keyboard...hmmm...we're talking 25 years here! I *THINK* he was going to use the cartridge bus. I vaguely, and I mean vaguely, remember something about all or part of the cartridge bus being or containing something like today's serial port. I don't recall for sure. On one of those Studio II web sites, there is a hardware section. It may tell you for sure. I was only like 13 or so when this was going on, so I probably am remembering these details incorrectly (and I am not hardware person anyway.) Heck, he could have done something with the two keypads. The basic interpreter he was going to use was designed, initially, for one of those funky hex keypads anyway. Kind of like the Bally Astrocade: it had a version of Basic that you keyed in the source using the funky hexpad. Each key could have 4 or 5 different meanings ala Sinclair ZX80 (now THERE is a cool computer!) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pierre LeFrance #16 Posted March 11, 2002 Heh, man I'd like to see what Pac-man looked like Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pierre LeFrance #17 Posted March 11, 2002 quote: Originally posted by George Gray: Pierre, I don't think anyone doubts you. It is just surprising that Space Invaders would be in a legit cart from RCA. They stopped producing them in 1977. Space Invaders did not come out until 1979 or 1980. There WAS a CHIP-8 version of Space Invaders that Paul Robson (I think) had written a few years ago. There was even a PacMan written in CHIP-8. CHIP-8 btw, was the 'language' used in the Studio-II. It is a cross between assembler-like and tiny basic. Very crude, but you could write full blown video games in something like 512 BYTES of ram. Amazing. Sweet! I wonder if there are any ROM hacks... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hubie The Cube Master #18 Posted March 22, 2002 How cool... someone besides me who actually likes the RCA Studio 2... yes I have one too, I didn't know Space Invaders was out though... . Or if it IS out for it... but its still a great system! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nateo #19 Posted March 22, 2002 Does anyone know about how much one of these things cost? It sounds like a neat system to have. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hubie The Cube Master #20 Posted March 24, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Nateo: Does anyone know about how much one of these things cost? It sounds like a neat system to have. I got mine by looking in a guy's trash can. I thought I saw an Atari, but it ended up being a WORKING RCA Studio 2. Bet that helped you Nateo. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hubie The Cube Master #21 Posted March 24, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Pierre LeFrance: Blackjack is VERY hard to play!!! I have to agree here, Blackjack is very hard. Harder than the 2600's Blackjack Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Slocum #22 Posted March 27, 2002 It appears that Space Invaders is a RCA Studio II homebrew. The same guy also did Combat and Hockey. Here's the guy's page: Paul Robson -Paul Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ubersaurus #23 Posted March 27, 2002 That seems to be pretty cool, that you got a homebrew like that. Wodner if its the future of atari homebrews ;p Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
autismuk #24 Posted March 28, 2002 Hi. I am the RCA Studio 2 man There is no real Space Invaders or anything resembling it for the Studio 2, available commercially. There is a very basic shooting game, but it's nothing like space invaders. There is a fairly easy way to determine the origin of Pierre's game. If you visit the website www.classicgaming.com/studio2 there is a 'Emulator Screenshots' link and it shows a picture of the game. There are 7 rows of 4 invaders, shields, a base and they animate. It is recognisably Invaders, within the graphic limitations of the Studio 2. There is no other game for the S2 that looks remotely like this, even static, all their games are 99% the 'internal code' which resembles the Chip8 system to some extent. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geogray #25 Posted March 29, 2002 Mr. Robson reads this board! Very cool. This man has contributed a great deal to the emulation world (Thanks, Paul!!) I think he was one of the developers of the Odyssey emulator (not the O2, but the original ANALOG device.) Now, how about a Studio II emulator emulating that Odyssey? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
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