The 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System is a
second-generation home video game console
A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...
released by European company
Radofin in
1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
. It is part of a group of software-compatible consoles which include the
Interton VC 4000 and the
Voltmace Database. The 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System included its power pack inside the console instead of an exterior power pack.
Specifications
*
CPU
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, log ...
:
8-bit
In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data bu ...
Signetics 2650
The Signetics 2650 was an 8-bit microprocessor introduced in July 1975. According to Adam Osborne's book ''An Introduction to Microprocessors Vol 2: Some Real Products'', it was "the most minicomputer-like" of the microprocessors available at the ...
AI at 0.887 MHz
* Programmable video interface:
Signetics 2636N at 3.58 MHz. This chipset was less powerful than the later model Signetics 2637N used in the
Arcadia 2001.
* Data
Memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...
: 43 bytes
Graphics
*
Sprites: 4 single colour sprites (1 can be 8 colours)
* 1 score line displaying 4
BCD digits
* Background consisting of a series of alternating lines
Misc
* The early games cartridges used a 2 KB ROM, later ones, such as Activision branded ones, up to 8 KB
* Very basic arcade machine sound
User programming
An expensive £49 (equivalent to £288.01 in 2025 pounds) Hobby Module was available which gave 6.5 kilobits of user-programmable memory and had a 5-pin DIN socket to allow software to be saved to a cassette tape player. This converted the unit into halfway between a home computer and an ordinary gaming console.
The user had to be familiar with programming in Signetics 2650 assembly language and the unconventional ways and register architecture of the Signetics 2650 processor.
Released versions
The console was produced by different companies and sold with different names. Although all variants have identical computational hardware, changes to the dimensions of the cartridge slot on some variants result in cartridges not always being interchangeable between systems. The following is a table of the console variants grouped by cartridge compatibility.
Games
Although, not much information is known about the release dates of the cartridges, the total number of the games should be 59 (33 games released by Radofin between 1977 and 1978, 19 games for the Interton VC 4000 and compatibles after 1978, and 7 more games released around 1980).
References
External links
IGDB.com entry& 1292 APVS games list (With accurate explanation for misconception of the earlier 1976 release)
SHAMELESSLIFE wordpress blog entryfor details for 1292 APVS & Interton VC 4000
for the 1292 APVS / VC 4000 family
Arcade Italia entryfor MAME compatibility
Museo del VideojuegoRadofin 1292 and 1392 information and game list in Spanish
{{Home video game consoles
Discontinued video game consoles
Home video game consoles
Second-generation video game consoles
Products introduced in 1978