The Entertainment Computer System (ECS) was an add-on peripheral for the
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. I ...
. It was
Mattel Electronics
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. In 1984, ...
' second attempt at creating a peripheral to upgrade the
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. I ...
into a home computer, and was rushed into production to appease the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
after they began fining Mattel for false advertising following consumer complaints about the repeated delays in releasing the originally planned Intellivision Keyboard Component add-on.
The ECS includes the Computer Module, Music Synthesizer, and additional hand controllers; each sold separately. Any Intellivision Master Component is compatible and a requirement to use the system. A second requirement is a cartridge plugged into the ECS, although any ECS or
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. I ...
cartridge will do; pressing anything on the Intellivision hand controllers will then bring up the three-option menu of BASIC, CARTRIDGE or MUSIC.
[Parrish, "Mattel Entertainment Computer Module FAQ," May 7, 2001.]
History
When Mattel Electronics originally released the
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. I ...
in late 1979, they advertised that the
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. I ...
— unlike its primary rival, the
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...
(then known as the Atari VCS) — would be upgradeable to a fully functional home computer via a hardware add-on accessory called the Keyboard Component,
internally sometimes called the "Blue Whale" or the "Intelliputer".
Many potential buyers were excited by the notion (especially parents, who liked the idea of a machine that could be turned into an educational tool, or at least something more useful and practical than just a game-playing system), and many bought Intellivisions on that basis alone.
The planned Keyboard Component would have offered a 16kB of RAM (expandable to an unprecedented 8 megabytes), built-in cassette storage for programs and data (plus a simultaneous audio track that could be played under computer control), an optional 40-column thermal printer, and a secondary CPU to run all of these expanded features independently of the Intellivision's CP1610 processor. While the planned Keyboard Component was an ambitious design, it had reliability problems that proved difficult to overcome, and it was far too expensive to manufacture and sell. The Keyboard Component — originally planned for a 1981 release — was continually delayed and pushed back as Mattel's engineering group, headed by David "Papa Intellivision" Chandler, kept going back to the drawing board trying to find ways to overcome these problems.
Eventually, complaints from Intellivision owners who had chosen to buy the Intellivision specifically on the promise of a "Coming Soon!" personal-computer upgrade caught the attention of the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
(FTC), which launched an investigation of Mattel Electronics for fraud and false advertising. Mattel tried to claim that the Keyboard Component was a real product that was still being test-marketed, and even released a small number of Keyboard Components and a handful of software titles to a few select retail stores (as well as offering them via mail-order to any customers who complained loudly enough) in order to support this claim. The FTC was not impressed and finally, in mid-1982, imposed a fine of $10,000 per day until the promised computer upgrade was in full retail distribution.
Mattel Electronics already had a "plan B" in progress. Increasingly concerned that the Keyboard Component division might never actually produce a sellable product, in mid-1981 Mattel Electronics' management set up a competing internal engineering team headed by Richard Chang. Ostensibly, this group was working on a low-cost add-on called the BASIC Development System, or BDS, which would be sold as an educational device to introduce kids to the concepts of computer programming via a simplified color-coded BASIC interpreter and an inexpensive keyboard. Only a few people within Mattel knew the team's ''real'' mission: to either fix the Keyboard Component, or replace it.
Chang's "Design & Development" group (who had to keep the project's real purpose a closely guarded secret among themselves, fearing that if Chandler found out about it he would use his influence at Mattel, Inc. to get the project killed) eventually came up with an alternative to the Keyboard Component. Originally dubbed the LUCKI (from "Low User-Cost Keyboard Interface"), it lacked many of the sophisticated features envisioned for the original Keyboard Component: instead of a full 16kB of RAM, it only offered a mere 2kB (not all of which was actually available to the user); the cassette interface was stripped down to the bare essential needed to save and load data (and was now an optional extra, rather than built-in), and there was no secondary CPU. Still, it fulfilled the original promises—turn the Intellivision into a computer, make it possible to write programs and store them to tape, and interface with a printer—well enough to allow Mattel to claim that they had delivered the promised computer upgrade and, it was hoped, to get the FTC and its $10,000/day fine off Mattel's back.
On the plus side, the ECS ''did'' include a built-in BASIC that was somewhat functional, if idiosyncratic and occasionally buggy, and a second AY-3-8910 sound chip which expanded the system's audio capabilities to six-voice synthesized sound and, when paired with the optional 49-key Music Synthesizer keyboard, could potentially turn the Intellivision into a polyphonic synthesizer for playing, recording, or learning music. It would also allow two additional hand-held Game Controllers to be connected in place of the alphanumeric keyboard, which opened up the possibility of four-player games.
In the fall of 1982, the LUCKI—now renamed the Entertainment Computer System, or ECS—was presented at the annual sales meeting, officially signaling the end of the ill-fated Keyboard Component project. (Although it didn't go quietly. Not only did Mattel have to agree to buy back all of the existing Keyboard Components, but the manufacturer which had been contracted to make the Keyboards (Compro, Inc.) promptly sued Mattel for $10 million claiming breach of contract, fraud, and nonpayment for the last 1,300 units.
At least a number were modified (and dubbed internally "Black Whales") to use as part of development systems for creation of
Intellivision
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. I ...
software.
) A new advertising campaign was hastily rushed onto the air in time for the 1982 Christmas season, promising once again that a home-computer upgrade was just around the corner, and the ECS itself was shown to the public at the January 1983 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. A few months later, the ECS hit the market, and the FTC agreed to drop the $10K/day fines.
By the time the ECS made its retail debut, an internal shake-up at the top levels of Mattel Electronics' management had caused the company's focus to shift away from hardware add-ons in favor of software, and the ECS received very little further marketing push. Further hardware developments, including a planned Program Expander that would have added another 16kB of RAM and a more sophisticated, fully featured Extended-BASIC to the system, were halted, and in the end only a half-dozen titles were released for the ECS.
Hardware
* ECS EXEC/BASIC ROM, containing the built-in BASIC programming language and additional BIOS routines to handle the added hardware features (12K)
* additional 2kB of system RAM, of which about 1.5K is available for BASIC programming (supposedly, the system could be further expanded to as much as 64kB with add-on memory modules, but no such modules ever made it to production)
* AY-3-8917 sound chip (similar to the sound chip used in the Intellivision), doubling the system's audio and controller capability
* an audio tape recorder interface with two 3.5mm mono jacks and one 2.5mm jack for optional tape control. It is compatible with the
Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:
Astrology
* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainme ...
Data Recorder, but requires a different cable than the
Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:
Astrology
* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainme ...
, and is also compatible with most cassette recorders with MIC, EAR and REM jacks.
* auxiliary jack for a serial printer connection (
Mattel Aquarius
Aquarius is a home computer designed by Radofin and released by Mattel Electronics in 1983. Based on the Zilog Z80 microprocessor, the system has a rubber chiclet keyboard, 4K of RAM, and a subset of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. It connects to a te ...
compatible), 3.5mm stereo jack that is RS-232C compatible, where tip is data transmit, ring is DSR/DCD, sleeve is ground, 1200 baud, 8 data bits, 2 stop bits, and no parity
* two
DE-9
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems.
Description, n ...
ports for the alphanumeric Computer Keyboard, the Music Synthesizer keyboard, or two additional Intellivision Game Controllers
What was included
* Computer Adaptor add-on module (plugged into the Intellivision)
* alphanumeric 49 key Computer Keyboard
* AC adapter, Input 120 V, 60 Hz, 17 VA; Output 10 VAC, 1.0 amp. The connector is a size larger than the Intellivision II connector.
* spiral-bound "Computer Module Owner's Guide", including a language reference for the built-in BASIC
Optional add-ons
* "Step-By-Step Guide to Home Computing" programming guide (available via
mail order
Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:
* Sending an order form in the mail
* Placing a telephone call
* Placing ...
)
* Music Synthesizer 49-key music keyboard
* extra Intellivision game controllers (for 4-player games)
* data cassette drive
* 40-column thermal printer
(Note: the latter two options were never actually marketed with Intellivision/ECS boxes and logos. The system would use the same cassette and printer units which were being sold for the
Mattel Aquarius
Aquarius is a home computer designed by Radofin and released by Mattel Electronics in 1983. Based on the Zilog Z80 microprocessor, the system has a rubber chiclet keyboard, 4K of RAM, and a subset of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. It connects to a te ...
home computer, but this fact seems to have not been widely advertised by Mattel.)
Games
Initially, at least a half-dozen ECS-supporting software titles were slated to roll out along with the ECS, with more to follow.
Unfortunately, as noted above, by the time the ECS made its retail debut in 1983 a new management team had taken over at Mattel Electronics which was no longer interested in selling or promoting hardware add-ons, which they viewed as money-losers that had tied up too much of the company's capital for too little return. (Perhaps not without some justification, given the history of the long-delayed, never-released Keyboard Component and the lower-than-expected sales of the
Intellivoice
The Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module, commonly abbreviated as Intellivoice, is an adapter for the Intellivision, Mattel's home video game console, that utilizes a voice synthesizer to generate audible speech. The Intellivoice is a large, brow ...
module.) The Marketing and Applications departments were also not particularly enthusiastic about the ECS unit,
since it really didn't add any revolutionary features to the system and it was a struggle to come up with game ideas that would justify requiring the user to have one.
As a result, the ECS was not well-promoted, and few of the planned software titles were released before Richard Chang's "Design & Development" group was closed down in August 1983, effectively halting further work on ECS-supporting titles. A very few titles that were already well in progress were eventually completed, but none of them made it to production before Mattel Electronics ceased operations in January 1984.
Released Titles
* The Jetsons' Ways With Words, a/k/a Jetsons' Word Fun (educational title)
* Melody Blaster (Music Synthesizer game title)
* Mind Strike (strategy game title)
* Mr. BASIC Meets Bits 'N Bytes (educational game title)
* Scooby Doo's Maze Chase (strategy / maze game title)
* World Series Major League Baseball (sports title)
''Melody Blaster'' was the only title ever released for the Music Synthesizer add-on unit.
''Mr. BASIC Meets Bits 'N Bytes'' plays without the ECS Computer Module with BASIC commands support disabled.
Unreleased Titles
* BASIC Programmer (educational/productivity title, unfinished)
* Doubles Tennis (4-player sports title, unfinished)
* Flintstones Keyboard Fun (educational title, completed but unreleased)
* Game Factory (educational/productivity title, completed but unreleased)
* Melody Maker (Music Synthesizer title, unfinished)
* Music Conductor (Music Synthesizer title, unfinished)
* Number Jumble (educational title, completed but unreleased)
* Super NFL Football (sports title, completed but unreleased)
* Super NASL Soccer (4-player sports title, completed but unreleased)
''Number Jumble'' plays without the Computer Module.
''Super NASL Soccer'' was eventually released as World Cup Soccer by Mattel Electronics' French division, which reformed under the name Nice Ideas when Mattel Electronics was shut down. ''World Cup Soccer'' was sold as a standard Intellivision cartridge but does support ECS 4-player with the Computer Adaptor and extra game controllers.
Keywords in ECS BASIC
The BASIC keywords built into the ECS, discussed at length in the manual, are a maximum of four characters long. Some ECS BASIC keywords are simply a truncation or abbreviation of the standard BASIC terms, e.g. "print" becomes PRIN, "input" becomes INPU, and "gosub" becomes GSUB. The ECS will display help menus covering its commands: type MENU 0 for monitor commands, MENU 1 for BASIC keywords, MENU 2 for BASIC functions, and MENU 3 for BASIC routines.
Eight sprites at a time may be SHOWn or GRABbed from a storehouse of such images in each individual Intellivision cartridge, and such sprites can then be manipulated by changing their colors (1 color available per sprite), doubling their height or width, flipping their shape to a mirror image, creating motion sequences, and so forth. However, the sprites are only "borrowed" and cannot be integrated into the user's own program unless the same cartridge is on board when the program is run.
Video
In BASIC mode, the display on the ECS is 20 columns across (while the maximum program line length is 39 characters), and any text is shown in all capital letters. The normal text color is black against a green background. Color codes are used by the ECS to mark different elements of a program as each line is entered or (in immediate mode) executed. The color-coding scheme, which is explained in the back of the manual or can be discerned from direct observation, is useful in determining how the ECS understood (or misunderstood) any command. As to graphics, the background screen is composed of 240 "cards" (20 wide by 12 high, numbered 0 to 239, each composed of 8x8 pixels), in a choice of one of 16 colors (eight primary and eight pastel). Eight sprites at a time may be SHOWn or GRABbed from a storehouse of such images in each individual Intellivision cartridge, and such sprites can then be manipulated by changing their colors (1 color available per sprite), doubling their height or width, flipping their shape to a mirror image, creating motion sequences, and so forth. However, the sprites are only "borrowed" and cannot be integrated into the user's own program unless the same cartridge is on board when the program is run. (Professional programmers found ways to create the illusion of putting more than eight sprites on the Intellivision screen at the same time through multiplexing-- redefining and repositioning a single object from one frame to the next and back again, resulting in flickering images of two objects-- and sequencing graphics RAM to animate background cards.)
Interfacing
For 600-baud cassette tape recorder access to load and save programs, the ECS has jacks marked OUT TO TAPE, IN FROM TAPE, and REMOTE. While almost any recorder with similar ports can be used, Mattel marketed the Aquarius Data Recorder for use with the ECS, and that unit has the appropriate sockets (labeled MIC, EAR and REM). To attach to the ECS, three straight-through cables are needed, two with mini-plugs on both ends and one with sub-mini-plugs on both ends (for the REMOTE connection).
Tape access on the ECS is supported by BASIC keywords for loading (CLOD), saving (CSAV) and verifying (CVRF). The Intellivision hand controllers are pressed to advance through the SET-GO-SAVE/LOAD/VERF sequence. While programs can be saved and accessed without file names, file names up to four characters long (e.g., CSAV PROG) are supported (quote marks are not used around the file names), and the computer will search for the named program to load or verify.
The printer interface, being the AUX jack, is the same as on the
Mattel Aquarius
Aquarius is a home computer designed by Radofin and released by Mattel Electronics in 1983. Based on the Zilog Z80 microprocessor, the system has a rubber chiclet keyboard, 4K of RAM, and a subset of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. It connects to a te ...
: a mini-stereo socket with just 3 lines. The Aquarius printers could be used with the ECS, and came with their own cables. However, the ECS like the Aquarius used standard
RS-232C
In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such ...
serial signals (±12VDC), so it was possible to interface many RS-232C serial printers.
The ECS/Aquarius used a 1200
baud rate
In telecommunication and electronics, baud (; symbol: Bd) is a common unit of measurement of symbol rate, which is one of the components that determine the speed of communication over a data channel.
It is the unit for symbol rate or modul ...
, 8 data bits, 2 stop bits, and no parity; the printer needed to be set to these selections with no
line feed
Newline (frequently called line ending, end of line (EOL), next line (NEL) or line break) is a control character or sequence of control characters in character encoding specifications such as ASCII, EBCDIC, Unicode, etc. This character, or a ...
(sometimes called "
carriage return
A carriage return, sometimes known as a cartridge return and often shortened to CR, or return, is a control character or mechanism used to reset a device's position to the beginning of a line of text. It is closely associated with the line feed ...
only", "CR", "new line invalid", or "line feed inhibit"), and Busy/Ready instead of X-on/X-off.
Typical serial printers had
DB-25
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems.
Description, no ...
interfaces; some had
DE-9
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems.
Description, n ...
interfaces; and, some
Radio Shack
RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921.
At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...
(RS) printers had round 4-pin female
DIN connector
The DIN connector is an electrical connector that was standardized by the ' (DIN), the German Institute for Standards, in the early 1970s. The male DIN connectors (plugs) feature a 13.2 mm diameter metal shield with a notch that limits the ...
serial interfaces (with the pin sockets numbered left-to-right: 4, 3, 2, 1). The proper cable for connecting such a printer is as follows:
MINI-STEREO PLUG
DB-25
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems.
Description, no ...
DE-9
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smallest connectors used on computer systems.
Description, n ...
RS FUNCTION
Tip/Center of Plug Pin 3 Pin 2 Pin 4 Data to Printer
Middle of Plug Pin 20 Pin 4 Pin 2 Printer Busy/Ready
Base/Outside Pin 7 Pin 5 Pin 3 Signal Ground
To access the printer, the command sequence is:
D=-1
CALL OUTP
and to cancel the access:
D=1
CALL OUTP
References
{{Mattel
Intellivision
Products introduced in 1982
Video game console add-ons