The RCA Studio II is a video game console made by RCA that debuted in January 1977. The graphics of Studio II games were black and white[1] and resembled those of earlier Pong consoles and their clones. The Studio II also did not have joysticks or similar game controllers but instead used two ten button keypads that were built into the console itself. This made two player games difficult because the players would be forced to hold the console and sit extremely close. The console was capable of making simple beep sounds with slight variations in tone and length.
One distinct feature of the Studio II was its five built-in games. Another was its use of a switchbox that relayed both the modulated RF signal of the console's video to the television set while powering the console with DC power. This type of switchbox would not be seen again until the Atari 5200.
The Studio II was not a successful product; the previously released Fairchild Channel F made it was obsolete at launch and it suffered a final decisive blow when the superior (to both) Atari 2600 console was released only 10 months later. It was discontinued in 1979.[2]
The name "Studio II" is a reference to RCA's then-famous recording studios. The RCA Studio II was named as to represent a second studio in which artists could create productions for RCA.[citation needed]
[edit] System specs
- RCA 1802 microprocessor, 1.78 MHz
- 2 KB ROM (includes the five built-in games)
- 512 bytes RAM
- RCA CDP 1861 "Pixie" video chip, 64x32, monochrome graphics [3]
[edit] Studio II built-in games
- Addition
- Bowling
- Doodle
- Freeway
- Patterns[3]
[edit] Studio II cartridge game titles
- Baseball
- Bingo (extremely rare, possibly only a prototype)
- Biorhythm
- Blackjack
- Fun with Numbers
- Gunfighter / Moonship Battle
- Spacewar
- Speedway / Tag
- Tennis / Squash
- TV Schoolhouse I
- TV Schoolhouse II[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Kent, Steven L. (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4.
- ^ "Player 3 Stage 1: Pixel Boxes". The Dot Eaters. http://www.thedoteaters.com/p3_stage1.php.
- ^ a b "RCA Studio 2 Technical Information". Archived from the original on 2009-04-15. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20090415051408/http://studio2.classicgaming.gamespy.com/techinfo.htm.
- ^ http://videogames.org/html/RCAStuff/studio2.lst
[edit] External links
