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

---
title: INTERTON VC 4000
categories:
- Consoles
params:
  name: VC 4000
  image: /media/museum/photos/interton_vc4000_1.jpg
  company: /companies/interton
  company_name: INTERTON
  tabs:
  - photos
  - adverts
  - software
  - emulators
  - links
  photos:
  - title: VC-4000
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/interton_vc4000_2.jpg
  - title: CONTROL PANEL DETAIL
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/interton_vc4000_detail_1.jpg
  - title: CONTROLLER
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/interton_vc4000_controller.jpg
  - title: BOX
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/interton_vc4000_box_2.jpg
  - title: BOX - BACK
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/interton_vc4000_box_back.jpg
  - title: BOX - SIDE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/interton_vc4000_box_side.jpg
  - title: INSIDE BOX
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/interton_vc4000_inbox.jpg
  adverts:
  - title: LEAFLET
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/pubs/interton_vc4000_leaflet_1.jpg
  - title: LEAFLET (1982)
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/pubs/interton_vc4000_prm-leaflet.jpg
  - title: LEAFLET (1982) - PAGE 2
    subtitle: ''
    text: Notice that the box arts are completely different from the final ones (see software section)
    image: /media/museum/pubs/interton_vc4000_prm-leaflet_2.jpg
  - title: LEAFLET (1982) - PAGE 3
    subtitle: ''
    text: Notice that the box arts are completely different from the final ones (see software section)
    image: /media/museum/pubs/interton_vc4000_prm-leaflet_3.jpg
  - title: LEAFLET (1982) - PAGE 4
    subtitle: ''
    text: These are fake screenshots, that is to say drawn by an artist.
    image: /media/museum/pubs/interton_vc4000_prm-leaflet_4.jpg
  screenshots:
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/grundig_superplaycomputer4000_autorennen_cart.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_1_cart.jpg
  - title: INSIDE BOX
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart1_inside.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box2.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart2.jpg
  - title: BOX & CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_3-paddle-games_box-cart.jpg
  - title: BOX
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_3_box_3.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_paddlegames_cart.jpg
  - title: BOX & CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_4-tanks_box-cart.jpg
  - title: BOX
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/grundig_superplaycomputer4000_tankbattle_cartbox_2.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/grundig_superplaycomputer4000_tankbattle_cartbox.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_4_cart_1.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box6.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart6.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_7_box_2.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_airseabattle_cart.jpg
  - title: BOX
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_9_box_1.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart9.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box10.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart10.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_hyprodrome_box.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_hunting_box.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_12_cart.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box13.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart13.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box15.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart15.jpg
  - title: BOX
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart16_box.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_intelligence3_cart.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/grundig_vc4000_17-circus_box.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_boxingmatch_box.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_18_cart.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box19.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart19.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box20.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart20.jpg
  - title: BOX
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart21_box.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box23.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart23.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/grundig_vc4000_24-football_cart.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_24_cart.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/grundig_vc4000_25-bowling_box.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart25.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_26-draughts_box.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_27-golf_box.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_28-cockpit_box.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box29.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart29.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/grundig_vc4000_31-casino_box.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_box32.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart32.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_superinvaders_box.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_33_cart_1.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart37_1.jpg
  - title: CARTRIDGE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_cart37.jpg
  - title: BOX ART
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/software/interton_vc4000_superspace_box.jpg
  emulators:
  - title: WinArcadia
    url: http://amigan.1emu.net/releases/
    platform: Windows
    text: Arcadia 2001, Interton VC 4000, Elektor TVGC emulator!
  - title: AmiArcadia
    url: http://amigan.1emu.net/releases/
    platform: Amiga OS
    text: Arcadia 2001, Interton VC 4000, Elektor TVGC emulator!
  links:
  - title: 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System FAQ
    url: http://www.consoledatabase.com/faq/1292/1292faq.txt
    text: Very interesting info by Dale Hansen about this whole console family
  - title: Emerson Arcadia 2001 Central
    url: https://amigan.yatho.com/
    text: World's largest Interton site
  - title: INTERNAL LINK
    url: https://www.old-computers.com/magazine/view.asp?r=2&a=7
    text: We have made a page describing the VC 4000 and different compatible systems
  - title: Radofin 1292 FAQ
    url: http://www.digitpress.com/faq/1292faq.txt
    text: Excellent FAQ created by Dale Hansen
  - title: sig2650.wordpress.com
    url: https://sig2650.wordpress.com/
    text: Website dedicated to Signetics 2650 based systems, by former Voltmace developper Derek Andrews
  - title: VC4000.de
    url: http://www.vc4000.de
    text: Website dedicated to the Interton VC4000 (in German)
  comments:
  - author: KT
    date: Tuesday 21st November 2017
    text: |-
      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: Randomize Timer
    date: Saturday 19th November 2016
    text: |-
      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: CatPix (France)
    date: Tuesday 30th April 2013
    text: |-
      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: emu fan
    date: Thursday 9th December 2010
    text: |-
      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: Phantom Flan Flinger (England)
    date: Wednesday 20th December 2006
    text: |-
      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: Waylander (Clare)
    date: Tuesday 23rd November 2004
    text: What an advanced console for its time! My mother was a manager in the Ennis plant. I grew up playing the Interton.
  - author: Jason Leeman (Limerick, Ireland)
    date: Tuesday 13rd July 2004
    text: 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: John Mc Namara (Ireland)
    date: Thursday 8th January 2004
    text: 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.
  related:
  - /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
  oc_id: 726
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230605055610/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=726
    date: '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...