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. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than ...

released by European company Audiosonic in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

. It is part of a group of software-compatible consoles which include the

Interton VC 4000 The Interton Video Computer 4000 (officially abbreviated as Interton VC 4000) is an early 8-bit ROM cartridge-based second-generation home video game console that was released in Germany, England, France, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands and Aust ...

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 electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

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 buses of ...

Signetics 2650AI at 0.887 MHz * Programmable video interface:

Signetics 2636 Signetics Corporation was an American electronics manufacturer specifically established to make integrated circuits. Founded in 1961, they went on to develop a number of early microprocessors and support chips, as well as the widely used 555 time ...

N 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 remembered ...

: 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 KByte ROM, later ones, such as Activision branded ones, up to 8 KBytes * Very basic arcade machine sound

User programming

An expensive (£49 in the UK in 1977) Hobby Module was available which gave 6.5 kb 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 a halfway house 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. Not every console is compatible with others due to differences in the shapes and dimensions of the cartridge slots (but all of the consoles are software compatible). Here's a table of the consoles grouped by compatibility family (due to the slots).

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 entry
for details for 1292 APVS & Interton VC 4000

for the 1292 APVS / VC 4000 family
Arcade Italia entry
for MAME compatibility
Museo del Videojuego
Radofin 1292 and 1392 information and game list in Spanish {{Home video game consoles Home video game consoles Second-generation video game consoles Products introduced in 1976