yann64andClaude Opus 5.5
35ede38dde
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
30 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
30 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: BALLY PROFESSIONAL ARCADE IS ANNOUNCED
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date: '1977-09-01'
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years:
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- '1977'
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topics:
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- Hardware
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params:
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when: SEPTEMBER 1977
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image: /media/history/images/history_astrocade_1.jpg
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oc_id: 22
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20221215134357/http://www.old-computers.com/history/detail.asp?n=22
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date: '2022-12-15'
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---
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In September 1977, Bally, the famous pinball tables manufacturer, announced shortly after the Atari 2600, the **Bally Professional Arcade**. The first versions were shipped in early 1978 for $299.
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This video game system featured a Z80 processor, three built-in games (Gunfight, Checkmate, Scribbler), a calculator with numeric keypad and up to four controllers that were a unique combination of joystick and paddle, which resembled the grip of a revolver.
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Furthermore, a BASIC cartridge gave this system the ability to save programs to a cassette tape. For about 6 months, it was thus the world's cheapest computer.
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Even though is was slightly superior to the competition (Atari VCS), the unit was too expensive and the sales remainded at a low level. In 1982, Bally withdrew the system and sold the rights to Astrovision Inc., a group of users who had enjoyed the system. The console was then reintroduced as the **Bally Computer System**. The same year, the company changed its name - and the system name - to **Astrocade**.
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After that, Astrocade tried to keep the system alive and marketed it as a video game console for several years. In 1985, the game consoles market crashed and finally, the Astrocade company closed their doors and the Astrocade system disappeared.
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