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from Wikipedia:

The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s. It was released by Atari Corporation in 1985. The “ST” officially stands for “Sixteen/Thirty-two”, which referred to the Motorola 68000′s 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals.

The Atari ST was part of the 16/32 bit generation of home computers, based on the Motorola 68000 CPU, with 512 KB of RAM or more, and 3½” single density double sided floppy disks as storage (nominally 720KB). It was similar to other contemporary machines which used the Motorola 68000, the Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga. Although the Macintosh was the first widely available computer with a graphical user interface (GUI), it was limited to a monochromatic display on a smaller built-in monitor.

Preceding the Amiga’s commercial release by almost two months, the Atari ST was the first computer to come with a fully bit-mapped color GUI, using a version of Digital Research’s GEM released that February. It was also the first home computer with integrated MIDI support.

The ST was primarily a competitor to the Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga systems. This platform rivalry was often reflected by the owners and was most prominent in the Demo Scene. Where the Amiga had custom processors which gave it the edge in the games and video market, the ST was generally cheaper, had a slightly faster CPU, and had a high-resolution monochrome display mode, ideal for business and CAD.

Thanks to its built-in MIDI ports it enjoyed success as a music sequencer and controller of musical instruments among amateurs and professionals alike, being used in concert by bands such as Tangerine Dream, Fatboy Slim and 90s UK dance act 808 State. In some markets, particularly Germany, the machine gained a strong foothold as a small business machine for CAD and Desktop publishing work.

The ST was later superseded by the Atari TT and Falcon computers. Since Atari pulled out of the computer market there has been a market for powerful TOS-based machines (clones). Like most “retro” computers the Atari enjoys support in the emulator scene.

source: wikipedia atari-forum

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from Wikipedia:

Coleco prototyped a fourth expansion module intended to provide compatibility with Mattel’s Intellivision, but this was never released.

Two controller expansions were also available. First was the Roller Controller, a trackball packaged with a port of the arcade game Slither, a Centipede clone and meant to be used with some dedicated games like Victory or to enhance the gameplay of previously published cartridges which benefitted from its trackball system (like Wargames).

The second was the Super Action Controller Set, resembling a pair of boxing gloves each with joystick and numeric keypad on top and a series of buttons along the grip. It came with the game Super Action Baseball and saw later release of the Rocky Super Action Boxing, and a port of Front Line.

source: wikipedia

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from Vintagecomputing:

And you thought video game controllers were over-complicated these days; this one requires five (slightly-pudgy child) hands just to use it properly.

Take a look at this bad boy: four trigger buttons on the pistol-like grip (one per finger), twelve buttons in the overlay-friendly numeric keypad matrix on top, a one-dimensional “speed roller” wheel near the back, and an extremely flaccid red-knobbed joystick crowning it all.

Combine this with the futuristic look of a gaudy black space gauntlet that literally engulfs your hand, and you’ve got the ColecoVision Super Action Controller.

This marvel of controlling technology came in sets of two with a “Super Action Game” included — Super Action Baseball or Rocky Super Action Boxing.

source: vintagecomputing.com

Cartridges list:

• Fathom by Imagic.
• Rocky Super Action Boxing by United Artists Corporation + Joystick Sticker.

click here for the CBS Coleco Vision category.

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from Wikipedia:

Expansion modules, from its introduction, Coleco had touted a hardware add-on called the Expansion Module #1 which made the ColecoVision compatible with the industry-leading Atari 2600. Functionally, this gave the ColecoVision the largest software library of any console of its day.

The expansion module prompted legal action from Atari, but Atari was unable to stop sales of the module because the 2600 could be reproduced with standard parts. Coleco was also able to design and market the Gemini game system which was an exact clone of the 2600, but with combined joystick/paddle controllers.

source: wikipedia

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from Wikipedia:

Planning of the ZX Spectrum+ started in June 1984, and the machine was released in October the same year. This 48 KB Spectrum introduced a new QL-style case with an injection-moulded keyboard and a reset button.

Electronically, it was identical to the previous 48 KB model. It retailed for £179.95. A DIY conversion-kit for older machines was also available. Early on, the machine outsold the rubber-key model 2:1; however, some retailers reported a failure rate of up to 30%, compared with a more usual 5-6%.

source: wikipedia

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Download Acorn product brochure.

from Wikipedia:

The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Designed with an emphasis on education it was notable for its ruggedness, expandability and the quality of its operating system. The Acorn Proton was a pre-existing project at Acorn to succeed the Atom home computer.

It was then submitted for, and won, the Literacy Project tender for a computer to accompany the TV programmes and literature. Renamed the BBC Micro, the platform was chosen by most schools and became a cornerstone of computing in British education in the 1980s, changing Acorn’s fortunes. It was also moderately successful as a home computer in the United Kingdom despite its high cost. The machine was directly involved in the development of the ARM architecture which sees widespread use in embedded systems as of 2009.

While nine models were eventually produced with the BBC brand, the term “BBC Micro” is usually colloquially used to refer to the first six (Model A, B, B+64 and B+128, Master 128, Master compact), with the later models referred to as the Archimedes series.

In the early 1980s, the BBC started what became known as the BBC Computer Literacy Project. The project was initiated partly in response[1] to an extremely influential ITV documentary series The Mighty Micro, in which Dr Christopher Evans from the National Physical Laboratory predicted the coming (micro) computer revolution and its impact on the economy, industry, and lifestyle of the United Kingdom.

source: wikipedia bbc games archives bbcdocs.com retroclinic.com

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from Modojo:

Back in the old days, and we’re talking pre-1989, pre-GameBoy. The only way to get your handheld fix was from Nintendo’s Game & Watch games, their innumerable clones, and from the not-quite-so-handheld tabletop games.

These compact video games came around in the late 70′s and all kinds of Western and Eastern toy companies got in on the act. By the early 80′s there was, as was the case with the home videogame sector, a glut of samey games, with not a great deal to differentiate the gameplay on offer. So, how does a company make a product stand out of the crowd? Why, gimmicks, of course!

The Tomytronic games were at the time the ultimate in playground prestige, they cost more than other games, and heck, they were about as future as a 6 year old could get their hands on. You felt like you were Luke Skywalker looking through his crazy space binoculars.

They even came with a neckstrap so that you’d never have to physically put the game down in between bouts, which believe me, when you first got one, you didn’t want to do very often.

source: modojo.com

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from Wikipedia:

Sinclair developed the ZX Spectrum 128 (code-named Derby) in conjunction with their Spanish distributor Investrónica. Investrónica had helped adapt the ZX Spectrum+ to the Spanish market after the Spanish government introduced a special tax on all computers with 64 KB RAM or less which did not support the Spanish alphabet (such as ñ) and show messages in Spanish.

New features included 128 KB RAM, three-channel audio via the AY-3-8912 chip, MIDI compatibility, an RS-232 serial port, an RGB monitor port, 32 KB of ROM including an improved BASIC editor, and an external keypad.

The machine was simultaneously presented for the first time and launched in September 1985 at the SIMO ’85 trade show in Spain, with a price of 44,250 pesetas. Because of the large amount of unsold Spectrum+ models, Sinclair decided not to start selling in the UK until January 1986 at a price of £179.95. No external keypad was available for the UK release, although the ROM routines to use it and the port itself, which was hastily renamed “AUX”, remained.

source: wikipedia

Autopsy:

• Powersupply 6 volt DC v1.2A with positive tip polarity.

from Wikipedia:

The Speak & Spell line is a series of electronic handheld educational toys created by Texas Instruments that consist of a speech synthesizer, a keyboard, and a receptor slot to receive one of a collection of ROM game library modules (collectively covered under US patent 3934233 ).

The first Speak & Spell was introduced at the summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1978, making it one of the earliest handheld electronic devices with a visual display to use interchangeable game cartridges.

The Speak & Spell was created by a small team of engineers led by Paul Breedlove, himself an engineer, with Texas Instruments (TI) during the late 1970s. Development began in 1976 with an initial budget of $25,000, as an outgrowth of TI’s research into speech synthesis.

The completed proof version of the first console utilized TI’s trademarked Solid State Speech technology to store full words in a solid state format similar to the manner in which calculators of the time stored numbers. Additionally purchased cartridges (called expansion modules) could be inserted behind the battery receptacle to provide new solid state libraries and new games.

This represented the first time an educational toy utilized speech that was not recorded on tape or phonograph record (as with Mattel’s See ‘n Say line or the earlier Chatty Cathy dolls).

source: wikipedia speaknspell.co.uk

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Cartridges list:

• Mouse Trap by Exidy.
• Zaxxon by Sega.
• Carnival by Sega.
• Lady Bug by Universal.
• Donkey Kong by Nintendo.

click here for the CBS Coleco Vision category.

source: wikipedia

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from Wikpedia:

The Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module was an adapter for the Intellivision, Mattel’s home gaming console, that utilized a voice synthesizer to generate audible speech.

The Intellivoice was a large, brown cartridge that plugged into the Intellivision’s side-mounted cartridge slot; games specifically designed for the device could then be inserted into a slot provided on the right-hand side of the module.

An International version of the Intellivoice was planned, but never released. The Intellivoice was discontinued in 1983 due to poor sales, with only five titles released with support for the device.

source: wikipedia

Cartridges list:

• Radiola Videopac #35 – Billiard American.
• Radiola Videopac #33 – Les Acrobates.
• Radiola Videopac #24 – Flipper Game.
• Philips Videopac #10 – Golf.

click here for the Philips Videopac G7000 category.

Autopsy:

The Philips CM8833 has an RGB connector which can accept both analogue and digital RGB signal and a RCA connector for Composite signal.

Download: Philips CM8833 Service Manual (2323)