Astrocade
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| Manufacturer |
Bally Manufacturing Astrovision |
|---|---|
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Second generation |
| Release date | 1977 |
| Introductory price | US$299 (equivalent to $1,182 in 2016) |
| Discontinued | 1983 |
| CPU | Zilog Z80 clocked at 1.789 MHz |
| Memory | RAM: 4k-64k (with external modules) RAM, 8k ROM |
| Removable storage | ROM cartridge |
| Graphics | 160×102 (8 colors), 160×88 (2 colors), 320×204 |
The Astrocade is a second generation home video game console and simple computer system designed by a team at Midway, at that time the videogame division of Bally. It was marketed only for a limited time before Bally decided to exit the market. The rights were later picked up by a third-party company, who re-released it and sold it until around 1984. The Astrocade is particularly notable for its very powerful graphics capabilities for the time of release, and for the difficulty in accessing those capabilities.
In the late 1970s Midway contracted Dave Nutting Associates to design a video display chip that could be used in all of their videogame systems, from standup arcade games, to a home computer system. The system Nutting delivered was used in most of Midway's classic arcade games of the era, including Gorf and Wizard of Wor.
Originally referred to as the Bally Home Library Computer, it was released in 1977 but available only through mail order. Delays in the production meant none of the units actually shipped until 1978, and by this time the machine had been renamed the Bally Professional Arcade. In this form it sold mostly at computer stores and had little retail exposure (unlike the Atari VCS). In 1979 Bally grew less interested in the arcade market and decided to sell off their Consumer Products Division, including development and production of the game console.
At about the same time a 3rd party group had been unsuccessfully attempting to bring their own console design to market as the Astrovision. A corporate buyer from Montgomery Ward who was in charge of the Bally system put the two groups in contact, and a deal was eventually arranged. In 1981 they re-released the unit with the BASIC cartridge included for free, this time known as the Bally Computer System, and then changed the name again in 1982 to Astrocade. It sold under this name until the video game crash of 1983, and then disappeared around 1985.
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