Now i know why Q*Bert says @!#?@!

Ever wondered why the heck Q*Bert says "@!#?@! " ? Well usually it's because when he get caught, he swears or says "damn!" in Qbertian (i think...). Well, if you ever check out the magazine "Electronic Games" of June 1983 (page 41) and the July 1983 (also page 41), you'll see these adverts of Q*Bert:

Notice how Q*Bert is drawn in June 1983 ?? Good Grief!! (like Charlie Brown would say), looks like Q*Bert has swallowed a huge sour gumball and that he's on a few Redbull booster drinks! What the heck happened ?!?!

All i can say is thanks the Video Games Gods that the June 1983 version of Q*Bert was never officially adopted!! So now you know the story behind the "@!#?@!" to why Q*Bert says this....heck! I would too say @!#?@! if i looked like that (the June 83 look).

Would be cool to know the story behind of what happened at Parker Brothers back then...

Tandy/Memorex VIS MD-2500

Usually, i just put here game consoles or systems that are usually not emulated from the first generation of video games, but this time it is a game system from the 4th generation (well...game system is pretty stretching it) called the Tandy/Memorex VIS (Video Information System) MD-2500.

To make a story short, this "wanna-be" educational system is now rare to find and sought after even if i would classify it as "Worst Game System EVER!!" but this is still part of the video game history and is also a great part about computer history since it has a "Modular Windows" for an operating system. Actually, it has a Windows 3.1 modified inside two EPROMS.

The BIOS of this system has two EPROMS labeled P513BK0B and P513BK1B which are 16-BIT (512K each in size) 27C240, and now these two EPROMS are now dumped but still need to be verified to see if both are good dumps. And if they are good then we need to wait that someone makes a driver for the MAME (MESS) to be finally preserved (Hey, even if i think it's the worst game system ever, it's still need to be preserved for historical purpose).

Here's a few pictures (and guts):

And pictures of the controller:

And here's a few screen shots of he BIOS in HEX (binary file) code:

And here's the link to the BIOS dump of the Tandy/Memorex VIS MD-2500

I will post soon scans of the VIS manual and Compton manual, until then take care folks! =)

Download Electronic Games Stuffs!

Either i disappear for more than two months and the blog is getting dusty OR i'm on a rampage (lol!). I've uploaded on archive.org (you can click HERE or on the right side menu) some manual scans, overlays and control panel displays. I also uploaded two vintage books about electronic games.

Here's the list:

* Coleco Total Control 4 (all 4 overlays scans)
* EDI Le Game (all overlays, sheets and manuals)
* Ideal Toy Electron 12 (all 6 overlays and manual)
* Masudaya Toys Galaxy Game/Maxtron Space Arcade (Front Panel Display)
* Mego Star Trek Phaser Battle (complete manual sheet - in 6 parts)
* U.S. Games Super Sports 4 (all 4 overlays - newer edition)
* Vtech Game Machine 2 (manual scan by blue6demon)
* Waddingtons Game Machine (all display and control panel overlays)

and finally, two books:
* Microprocessor Controlled Toys Games - How They Work
* The Complete Guide to Electronic Games

Have fun downloading!

Ideal Toy Electron12

So what's the heck is this electronic game ?

To a collector, that is pretty rare but for a gamer....totally sucks! This was released in 1981 as an electronic multi-games but even with 12 games, it still sucks. heck...i had more fun scanning the cardboard overlays and the manual then playing with this.

Check out the pictures:

And here's two pictures from the Ideal Toy Corporation 1981 catalog:

"Get ready for round-the-clock fun with Electron 12,..." Yeah...sure...a round-the-clock in 60 seconds max is more like it. So why the hell i'm trashing this game ? The fact that they sold a chaser game as an electronic game...that's why! Check out the guts of this wanna-be game:

That's it! That's the whole electronic circuit! 

And the final "nail in the coffin" is they say 12 games but in fact there is only 6 cardboard overlays:

And how can i end this post without a video:

But if you truly want to make your own Electron 12, just make a quick search on Google under "Led chaser circuit" and generally, you'll find either with a LM3914 or a CD4017 chaser circuit. Just use 5 LED's and you'll have your own Electron 12.

Oh and course, you will need the manual and scan of the overlays which will be upload on archive.org later today. Just check later in the right side of this blog under "Downloads - Electronic Games Stuffs" to download the overlays and the manual. I will also upload in the same "archive" scans and manuals of other electronic games like: Coleco Total Control 4, US Games Super Sports 4, etc.

Handheld L.E.D. CPU's

I have a few electronic handheld games with L.E.D. displays which i did open up and noted the CPU inside them. Here's a small list hoping that might help the MESS team someday:

* Bandai Champion Racer = (Hitachi) HD38134
* Entex Blast It = (TI) MP0230
* Entex Space Invaders = (Black = MP1211) and (Grey=COPL444) **Both Emulated**
* Coleco Bowl-A-Tronic = (TI) MB4014
* Mattel Gravity = (Rockwell) B6102-11
* Maxtron Space Arcade (or Galaxy Game 2001) = (TI) TMS1000NL
* Parker Brothers Slit Second = (TI) TMS1400 **Emulated**
* Parker Brothers Wild Fire = (TI) TMS1400NL **Emulated**
* Ramtex/Romtec UFO Invader/Block Buster = (GI) PIC1655A
* Tandy Championship Golf = (Hitachi) HD38135
* Tomy Powerhouse Pinball = (TI) MP1180
* Tandy Space Shot = (Hitachi)) HD38138S
* U.S. Games Space Cruiser (2in1 game) = (TI) MP1209
* Entex Hockey/Soccer = (TI) TMS1000NL
* Coleco Total Control 4 (or US. Games Super Sports) = (TI) TMS1400 **Emulated**
* Parker Brothers Merlin = (TI) TMS1100 **Emulated**
* Parker Brothers Bank Shot = (TI) TMS1400 **Emulated**
* Atari touch Me = (GI) PIC1655A-053
* E.R.S. Auto Race = 69- 10836R (7934 = 1979, 34th week)

and these i don't have anymore:
* Coleco Zodiac = (TI) TMS1100NL(MP3435)
* Tandy Championship Football = (TI) TMS1100NL (MP1504)
* Entex Electronic Baseball = (TI) TMS1000NLP (MP0914)
* Coleco Head-to-Head Baseball = (TI) TMS1170NLN (MP1625-N2)
* Milton Bradley Lightfight = COP421L-MLA/N
* Ideal Toy Maniac = (GI) PIC1655A-036   **Emulated**
* Ideal Toys Electron12 = ITC 4E04449-0000 (8109)

 The last one in the list will be the next post. =)

Unisonic Champion 2711 (part 2)

Just tested out the lilBro.rom (exec/PAC-01 conversion) by decle on Atari Age and i can say he's done a great job! I tried with with MAME 0.167 (yup, same version as the first released of the Unisonic Champion 2711 driver) and here's two screenshots:

A bit confusing to see Champion 2711 games on the Intellivision but i'm glad to see this rare game system being preserved on his Big Brother! =)

For those who wants to try out the lilBro.rom, first download it and put the rom into the ROMS file in MAME with the intv.zip (INTV BIOS pack) and make a BAT file with this line:

MAME intv -window -resolution 756X960@60 -video ddraw -cart roms/lilBro.rom

It will say "illegal resolution value" but it works or you can put this resolution instead: 378X480@60 (the same resolution i took the screenshots) .

Can't wait to see the other PACs to be converted and where this project will lead to. Maybe we even see unreleased Champion 2711 games done on the Intellivision ? Like That would be sssooo cool! =)

EOL (for now...)

Unisonic Champion 2711

Some of you are thinking..."What the heck (or &%?%) is a Unisonic Champion 2711 ??"

Well it is one of the most obscure and weirdest game system ever released...yes released!
Here's a picture of the beast:

I won't go into much details as i wrote a FAQ about this unknown game system. Just go to the menu under "Links" and click on "Unisonic Champion 2711 FAQ" to learn all the information there is.

In the FAQ, i wrote that one day the Champion 2711 will be dumped and emulated...well it's been a couple of months now that it's been done. I sold a dead Champion 2711 to "plgDavid" and lent him all the cartridges so he can dump everything and he also made the driver for MAME (MESS is now part of MAME if you didn't know). Since MESS 0.167 (ahh damn..MAME!), now you can try out the Unisonic Champion 2711 and if you need the BIOS and the carts ROMS then you're in luck because they are now available in the "Archives" section and the file is "unichamp.zip" that you need to put in your MAME ROMS section.

You can check videos of each game PACs right here (or on my Youtube channel):

And now, "decle" from Atari Age forums is trying to convert/adapt all the games of the Unisonic champion 2711 to the Mattel Intellivision!! That is so great!

You can read all about it here: Li'l Bro - A Unisonic Champion Simulator for the INTV
and even download the PAC-01 conversion in ROM format for the JzIntv or other Intellivision emulators.

This i a great time that we live in now as many game consoles/systems are digitally preserved for historical purpose (and also to play...HEH!). =)