APF TV Fun

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APF TV Fun
APF TV Fun (model 442) - 1977.jpg
APF TV Fun (model 442)
Developer APF Electronics Inc.
Manufacturer APF Electronics Inc
Type Dedicated console
Generation First generation
Release dateApril 1976;43 years ago (1976-04) [1]
CPU AY-3-8500 chipset from General Instruments [2]
DisplayVertical orientation, black-and-white raster display, standard resolution
SoundAmplified mono (one channel)
Successor APF-MP1000

The APF TV Fun home video game consoles are a series of dedicated consoles manufactured by APF Electronics Inc. and built in Japan starting in 1976. The systems were among the first built on the General Instrument 'Pong on a chip', the AY-3-8500, that allowed many manufacturers to compete against the Atari home pong. The APF TV Fun consoles were one of the eraliest pong clone consoles.

A home video game console, or simply home console, is a video game device that is primarily used for home gamers, as opposed to in arcades or some other commercial establishment. Home consoles are one type of video game consoles, in contrast to the handheld game consoles which are smaller and portable, allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place, along with microconsoles and dedicated consoles.

A dedicated console is a video game console that is dedicated to a built-in game or games, and is not equipped for additional games, via ROM cartridges, discs or other digital media. Dedicated consoles were very popular in the early age of home video game consoles in the early and mid-1970s.

APF Electronics, Inc. was a publicly traded company in the United States dedicated to consumer electronics. The company's name comes from the initials of the two brothers who founded the company, Al & Phil Friedman.

The TV Fun package is the first excursion of APF into the video game market; APF was formerly a calculator and other small electronics developer. It was sold at Sears under the name Hockey Jockari. TV Fun was followed up by the 8 bit APF-MP1000 in 1978 and then APF Imagination Machine in 1979. These were made to compete in the 2nd generation of early ROM cartridge consoles, namely the Atari VCS.

APF-MP1000 video game console

The APF Microcomputer System is a second generation 8-bit cartridge-based home video game console released in October 1978 by APF Electronics Inc with six cartridges. The console is often referred to M-1000 or MP-1000, which are the two model numbers of the console. The controllers are non-detachable joysticks which also have numeric keypads. The APF-MP1000 comes built-in with the game Rocket Patrol. The APF-MP1000 is a part of the APF Imagination Machine.

APF Imagination Machine video game console

The APF Imagination Machine is a combination home video game console and computer system released by APF Electronics Inc. in late 1979. It has two separate components, the APF-M1000 game system, and an add-on docking bay with full sized typewriter keyboard and tape drive. The APF-M1000 was built specifically to compete with the Atari 2600. The full APF Imagination Machine, including the APF-M1000 console and the IM-1 computer component, originally sold for around US$700.

Atari 2600 Video game console

The Atari 2600, originally sold as the Atari Video Computer System or Atari VCS until November 1982, is a home video game console from Atari, Inc. Released on September 11, 1977, it is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and games contained on ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. This contrasts with the older model of having dedicated hardware that could play only those games that were physically built into the unit. The 2600 was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge: initially Combat, and later Pac-Man.

Models

APF TV Fun being played APF TV Fun (with paddle model).jpg
APF TV Fun being played

Most or all TV Fun consoles were manufactured in Japan. APF also sold a 'Match' system, which was in a different, more boxy woodgrain cabinet. This had two detachable wired controllers, based on the same General Instruments chip.

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References

  1. Video games. Put your backhand on TV, By Cindy Morgan, Popular Mechanics, Oct 1976, Page 80, Picture and listed in table: ...APF TV Fun / Price: $90 / Number of Players: 1-2 / .../ Color: no / ... / Remarks: Manual or auto-serve; ball angle selection...
  2. "Museum: APF TV Fun (Model 401)". Old-Computers.com. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  3. 1 2 "APF TV Fun (#401A)". Vidgame.net. 2008-07-05. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved 2012-03-29. (Archived via Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Kaplan, Deeny, ed. (Winter 1978). "The Video Games". Video (Buyer's Guide). Reese Communications. 1 (1): 17–30. ISSN   0147-8907.
  5. 1 2 Kaplan, Deeny, ed. (Winter 1979). "Video Games". Video (Buyer's Guide). Reese Communications. 2 (1): 33–42. ISSN   0147-8907.