website/content/museum/interton-vc-4000.md

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INTERTON VC 4000	Consoles	name company company_name tabs photos adverts screenshots emulators links comments related oc_id source VC 4000 /companies/interton INTERTON photos adverts software emulators links title subtitle text image VC-4000 null title subtitle text image CONTROL PANEL DETAIL null title subtitle text image CONTROLLER null title subtitle text image BOX null title subtitle text image BOX - BACK null title subtitle text image BOX - SIDE null title subtitle text image INSIDE BOX null title subtitle text image LEAFLET null title subtitle text image LEAFLET (1982) null title subtitle text image LEAFLET (1982) - PAGE 2 Notice that the box arts are completely different from the final ones (see software section) null title subtitle text image LEAFLET (1982) - PAGE 3 Notice that the box arts are completely different from the final ones (see software section) null title subtitle text image LEAFLET (1982) - PAGE 4 These are fake screenshots, that is to say drawn by an artist. null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image INSIDE BOX null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX & CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX & CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title subtitle text image CARTRIDGE null title subtitle text image BOX ART null title url platform text WinArcadia http://amigan.1emu.net/releases/ Windows Arcadia 2001, Interton VC 4000, Elektor TVGC emulator! title url platform text AmiArcadia http://amigan.1emu.net/releases/ Amiga OS Arcadia 2001, Interton VC 4000, Elektor TVGC emulator! title url text 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System FAQ http://www.consoledatabase.com/faq/1292/1292faq.txt Very interesting info by Dale Hansen about this whole console family title url text Emerson Arcadia 2001 Central https://amigan.yatho.com/ World's largest Interton site title url text INTERNAL LINK https://www.old-computers.com/magazine/view.asp?r=2&a=7 We have made a page describing the VC 4000 and different compatible systems title url text Radofin 1292 FAQ http://www.digitpress.com/faq/1292faq.txt Excellent FAQ created by Dale Hansen title url text sig2650.wordpress.com https://sig2650.wordpress.com/ Website dedicated to Signetics 2650 based systems, by former Voltmace developper Derek Andrews title url text VC4000.de http://www.vc4000.de Website dedicated to the Interton VC4000 (in German) author date text KT Tuesday 21st November 2017 The console designers forgot to include a "reset on power-up" circuity so the user had to manually press reset... that button was just called "load game" for marketing reasons. It''s just like all the other consoles from that era that directly execute code from ROM. The console did not have any RAM chip, just 37 bytes of unused but still readable/writeable video registers were used as RAM by games. Just a few cartridges for which 37 bytes wouldn''t have been enough (such as Chess) came with extra RAM inside the cartridge. author date text Randomize Timer Saturday 19th November 2016 Examining the emulators:\ The games look a little too familiar... (2600 ripoff, cough...$-) But it is still refreshing to see similar programs from a different perspective$ A nice addition to MESS. author date text CatPix (France) Tuesday 30th April 2013 About the Reset button :\ as emu fan mentionned, the Interton have only 43 bytes of RAM$ but, it also have 4Ko of VRAM. Much like for the Colecovision, RAM accessible by the processor was extremely expensive, so most of the RAM would be put on the VRAM, allowing the us of cheaper ram, at the cost of more difficult programming and slower games.\ The 43 bytes would be used to tell to the sytem to load the game into the 4Ko of VRAM.\ Also, later game cartridge include 128Ko of RAM to improve either graphisms or game mechanics. author date text emu fan Thursday 9th December 2010 LOL, this page needs overhauling...\ The interton does not have any RAM chips (only about 43 bytes onboard the 2636!) so there aint no way the cartridge could be copied from the cartridge to the RAM. The Reset is for the sake of the CPU. author date text Phantom Flan Flinger (England) Wednesday 20th December 2006 Anyone remember the Golf game? Two could play and each button on the controller selected a different club. I swear my version of this was cream though - not black. And I don't remember it having a name at all. May have been a bootleg? author date text Waylander (Clare) Tuesday 23rd November 2004 What an advanced console for its time! My mother was a manager in the Ennis plant. I grew up playing the Interton. author date text Jason Leeman (Limerick, Ireland) Tuesday 13rd July 2004 The Interton was my first games console too, with the added excitement that we won one on a Coca Cola promotion. It seemed however that the company went bust before we managed to buy any extra games for it.... author date text John Mc Namara (Ireland) Thursday 8th January 2004 Wow, flashback. This was the first 'computer' I had access to as a kid in late 70's. My Aunt was working in a factory in Ennis Co. Clare(Ireland) nearby where they were assembling them and got one cheap for us. Most of the games had card overlay sheets for the keypads. I remember the joystick was very precise and made playing the bowling game as tricky as the real thing. /museum/acetronic-mpu-1000-2000 /museum/cabel-universal-game-computer /museum/itmc-video-ordinateur-mpt-05 /museum/korting-tele-video-computer-tvc-4000 /museum/rowtron-television-computer-system /museum/societe-occitane-d-electronique-oc-2000 /museum/t-r-q-talleres-radioelectricos-querol-h-21-video-computer /museum/voltmace-database-games-computer 726 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230605055610/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=726 2023-06-05

The Interton VC 4000 was quite popular in Germany. Interton produced a serie of pong systems before releasing the VC-4000 in 1978. The console is quite obscure outside Germany, but many "software compatible" systems can be found in many countries (at least in Europe). It's unclear if Interton really made the VC-4000 from scratch or if they bought the rights and the design to produce it, as many other brands produced similar systems the following years. The same thing will happen with very similar systems: Emerson Arcadia 2001 & "clones"...

According to the excellent research work from Dale Hansen, the 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System from Radofin would be the first member of the line as it was released in 1976! Radofin then licenced its system wordlwide to different companies.

The VC-4000 is powered by a Sgnetics 2650A CPU (same as Arcadia 2001) and a Signetics 2636 Video Controller (Arcadia 2001 uses a 2637). The two controllers are composed of a 12 keys keypad, 2 fire buttons and an analog joystick. On the control panel of the system, one can find an on/off switch and three buttons: RESET, SELECT and START.

One particularity about this videogame "family" (VC-4000 & clones), is that they seem to be the only systems which required the game to be loaded into internal RAM from the cartridge, before being able to play (generally through a LOAD PROGRAM or equivalent button found on the control panel. On the VC-4000 it's the RESET button).

About 40 cartridges were released (37 so far). The games are not bad for 1978, but not impressive too...