KJS TV Game - part 2

Hi folks!

On April 08, 2019, i posted this: (http://discreteconsoles.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-sharp-kjs-tv-game-xg-102.html) and i wrote that i didn't have this console...well it was true until last week as i finally brought one (ARGH...COULD....NOT....RESIST...BUYING.....IT!!!...LOL!!!), so now i have one but still don't know where to put it as this thing is quite huge: 19 5/8" x 15 3/4" x 7 1/4" and weights about 16 pounds...now that's a big console!

Here's a few pictures of this beast:

 

 100 Yens a game, which is the equivalent of $1 USD

Player 2 paddle 

The main panel 

Player 1 paddle and reset button 

Sounds get out by a speaker which is behind the paddle of Player 1

So after i have received it, took some pictures of it and began to open it to see what was inside this thing:

Side panel, which contain the mechanical coin counter 

 Coin slot and counter and at the bottom, the coin tray

 Left side on the console

 Top of the console

 Err...still haven't translated what's on the sticker.

 The back on the console

 VHF and UHF connectors...you don't see those on newer TV's and consoles! But could this console be able to play in Europe as the frequency is 50 or 60 Hertz ? Hummm....

 VHF outpout with Channel select; L-CH is Channel 1 and H-CH is Channel 2. And if you want to play this console in North America (Canada, United States and Mexico), you need to select Channel 95 to be able to play.

Sweet! Can plug a TV or monitor if you ever have both wall plugs used. 

 After removing the back panel: the inside of the console!

That is only the power supply and the RF modulator, oh and also the timer once you inserted a 100 Yens coin because you have  8 minutes and 20 seconds before the console shuts itself down. 

The RF modulator 

The timer circuit and power supply 

The board of the main panel (with the game module removed) 

The back of the coin counter

Now the fun begins! Here's the game module and the dedicated chips it uses:

 Front of the Game Module - And as you can see, on all the dedicated game chips, you have right after the General Instrument logo (GI), the year and month when a chip was fabricated so they all start with "78" which means 1978. So this console was either released by the end of 1978 or in the beginning of 1979.

Back of the Game Module

The AY-3-8610-1 dedicated game chip (or PC-501 - Supersportic) 

The Football/Soccer game from the 8610 (Sports - Game 1) 

The Basketball game from the 8610 (Sports - Game 2)

The AY-3-8606-1 dedicated game chip 9 (or PC-506 - Wipeout)

 The "Break-In 1" game from the 8606 (Block - Game 1)

The "Break-In 2" game from the 8606 (Block - Game 2)

The AY-3-8603-1 dedicated game chip (or PC-504 - Grand Prix/Race Car) 

The game for 1 player (Car Race - Game 1) 

The game for 2 players (Car Race - Game 2)

And the AY-3-8615 Color Converter

So this makes a total of 6 games (not 5 like previously mentioned). But what is strange is that all the games have the same colors. The only game which has the right colors is the Car Race games as they are the same color displayed on a Bandai TV-Jack Add-On 5000, the rest uses different colors which are provided by the AY-3-8615. That will be another story for another time.

And finally (for today), here's a picture of how i hooked up the console with Video & Audio output:

For Audio, i just hook it up on one the the speaker terminals (which i usually never do this but the audio source on the game module is very weak) and for the video, just plug in in the video output of the game module, easy as pie!

And here's a video recorded with an Adesso AV-200 USB gizmo:

The colors are very bright and we see thin static lines, this is what is outputted on the video output of the game module. Next time, i'll go right to the video source (the AY-3-8615 pin #5)

Until next, take care folks!

Chip-8 for the Studio II - part 3

Hi folks!

The last update on the subject was on January 30, 2017 but the "Hello World" i have tried wasn't working properly and it always nagged me since then. After making research, i finally may have found the problem i have with "Hello World" as the author (Thomas Daley) of the Chip-8 emulator Kiwi8" find an interesting "Quirk" as he wrote this on his Github page:

Shift Quirk: Shift instructions 0x8XY6 and 0x8XYE originally shift register VY and store results in register VX. Some Chip-8 programs incorrectly assume that the VX register is shifted by this instruction, and VY remains unmodified. Enabling this quirk cause VX to be shifted and VY remains untouched.

So in the Kiwi8 and the Octo ....., both emulator makes the "Hello World" as a single row of garbage on the top of the screen but if you uses the "shift quirk", then you end up seeing the "Hello World" correctly.

Go here: http://johnearnest.github.io/Octo/index.html?key=uOQJTu8Y and after you will see the "Hello World" program make it's garbage row. Then click on the big X in the left upper screen

And you will go to the "compiling/debugging" page (that's how i call it) and then click on "Toolbox" in the right upper corner:

and after, you will see the Toolbox:

and then, click on "Options" in the right-down corner:

and after, click/choose under compability:

and finally, click on "Run":

and you will see "Hello World" as it should be!

But my main problem is how the heck do i make it work on a real machine like the RCA Studio II or VIP ?? I may have found the problem but still haven't find the solution on how to correct it as i'm no programmer...sigh!

But...i know how to use an hex editor...go figure !! LOL!!!

Until next folks, take care! =)

New Milton Bradley Microvision homebrew game

Hi folks!

Just to report that there is a new Microvision homebrew game available called "Tetris" by Azya52 and it's been done 11 months ago (August 2018). Here's a screenshot with the MVEM emulator:

The author "Azya52" also made two others games: Octopus and Micro Bird (aka Flappy Bird) but those aren't compiled as they are still in ASM and both were also done in August 2018 (no update since then).

You can download "Tetris" in BIN format and also the two other games in ASM. Get everything here: https://github.com/azya52/microvision. Note that you can play the game as the file is in the "TMS1xxx/Tetris" folder, there is a ZIP file called "MVEMwithTetris.zip" so you can play the Tetris homebrew right away.

If someone can compiled Octopus & Micro Bird, please send me a copy of the BIN's so i can add them here (Thanks in advanced!).

Have fun folks! =)

1st Generation (Pong & Dedicated) game consoles repository

Hi folks,

I am in the process of uploading all the game consoles manuals of the 1st generation that i have accumulated over the past 20 years (and more) all over the Internet on so many web sites that more than half are gone in the mist of time.

For today, i am just uploading any Pong game consoles sold in North America (about 26 for now) and later on i will upload Pong consoles from Japan, Europe and South America. And this is not counting the "Discrete" ones, Pong-Cartridge (GI 8600 game systems), Standalones and accessories.

Let's just say it will be the biggest repository/database of many 1st Generation game consoles and hoping that it will be helpful for many of you and that it will grow bigger with time.

Here's the URL for all of you curious or in need of a game manual: https://archive.org/details/1stGenPong

And if you are on a quest of finding a game manual for a Wrist Watch Game (say Nelsonic Legend of Zelda) which i have also uploaded today more than 50 WWG's game manuals or in need of a service manual or electronic game manual, then i invite you to check out my library over on "Archive.org"

Until next time, take care folks! =)

55 Wrist Watch Game manuals now available!

Hi folks!

It's been 1 and a half year i haven't posted here...OMG that time flies!!!

I am in the process of uploading 55 Wrist Watch Game manuals like Nelsonic Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Casio, Star Trek, etc...that i either have/owned or found over various web site for the past 20 years.

I wanted to make the biggest database of Wrist Watch Games called "Slytronic Wristwatch Games Database" but never found the time to do it as i have as today (July 1st, 2019) over 50 Gigs of files regarding only Wrist Watch Games.

So i hope this repository will help anyone out there and if any of you have a copy of any manual not listed on Archive.org, please contact me so i can add new manuals to share with everyone.

So until next, take care folks! =)

P.S.: The URL is here: https://archive.org/details/wwg_20190701

And i have uploaded many videos of WWG's on Youtube if you are curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyzpkfbdwvM&list=PLAon6SCAS8QZt27Yy5IX8tMIPsElG3srF

The "Sharp KJS TV Game XG-102"

Hi again folks,

Today i want to show the Sharp KJS TV Game XG-102 which was only released in Japan around 1977-1979 and was a "hotel (?)" game console which you inserted a 100 Yens coins and you could choose between 3 games (err...four actually).

Now this is the game console and by the looks of it, it's pretty heavy and bulky and looks like abit like a CB Radio with it's two green paddles.

Here's the front panel closer:

If you look closely, the first switch (on the left) is for the sound (built-in speaker) which you can either select "Low" (up position) and "High" (down position). The second switch (between the left switch and the big dial) is the "Game Select" which you can choose between two games variations "Game 1" and "Game 2".

The big dial in the middle is to select which game you wanna play: Block, Car Race or Sports and the last switch (to the far right) is the TV/Game Select which is a momentary switch ("TV" in up position and "Game" when pressed down).

Now as for the games: The first is "Block" which is game #3 (Break-In 1) on the GI AY-3-8606-1:

The second game is "Car Race" which is one of the 2 games (1 or 2 players) on the GI AY-3-8603-1:

And the third game is "Sports" which is either "Football/Soccer":

Or "Basketball".  Hockey and Basketball are games in the GI AY-3-8600-1 & AY-3-8610-1.

So this game console has three dedicated games chips and if you mod it, you can easily make a A/V output and play other built-in games in both the AY-3-8606-1 and AY-3-8600-1 (with extra switches).

I saw a few passed by on Yahoo Japan Auction and they usually end around 10,000 Yens (about $100 US) but shipping this beast to North America is a hefty sum as it cost about $150-200.

I wanted one for quite a while but thanks to the seller "taka868686", most of the pictures here comes from his auction (all except the first picture) so now i know exactly which dedicated chip are in this console (but would be nice to see the game board inside). And NO...i don't have this console in my collection since i already have the dedicated chips and have no space for this huge console.

So if you have at least $300 to spare and like BIG (and strange) game console than check out Yahoo Auction Japan as this game console is auction until April 13, 2019. If you missed it, there will be another one in the following weeks as it's the forth one i've saw in the past two months.

And before closing this post, here's more pictures of the console...enjoy!