Interton VC 4000

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Video computer 4000
Video computer 4000
Logo INTERTON ELECTRONIC (horizontal) .svg
Sales start and new price
GermanyGermany1978 for DM 398 1978 for £ 129.95
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Cessation of production
Mid-1983
Main processor
Signetics 2650A @ 0.887 MHz
RAM ex works
37 bytes
Graphics output
128 × 200 in 2 colors, 4 single-color sprites per line
Sound output
1 tone generator (output via TV)
Scope of delivery (West Germany)
Computer, power supply unit, instructions, two controllers, two styrofoam shells, packaging

The Interton Video Computer 4000 or Interton VC 4000 for short is a stationary video game console from Interton-Electronic Hörgeräte GmbH . It is based on the Signetics 2650A microprocessor and was launched in 1978. With this device, a game console was the first to have a controller with analog joysticks and a function keypad. The device was less powerful than its main competitors Atari VCS 2600 and Philips G-7000 , but it was also cheaper. Production was stopped in May 1983 due to the manufacturer's bankruptcy.

The VC 4000 is the only microprocessor-controlled video game console developed in Germany. The special controllers are seen as groundbreaking for various video game consoles of the next generation.

Development and marketing

In the mid-1970s, Cologne-based Interton-Electronic Hörgeräte GmbH decided to develop its own game console. The device should be programmable and thus enable the easy and inexpensive exchange of games in the form of plug-in modules with built-in ROM memory chips . Such a game change was in most cases not possible with the hardwired consoles that were widespread at the time, or the replacement modules were considerably more expensive to manufacture due to the large number of electronic components they had. A corresponding console often had to be purchased for each new game. Interton had previously acquired expertise in the field of consumer electronics with consoles such as Interton Video 2000 and Interton Video 3000 .

The developers of the new "video computer game system" selected the Signetics 2650 microprocessor as the basis of their system architecture when construction began in 1976 . It is unclear whether the combination with other electronic components was done on their own or whether Interton resorted to the frequently cited 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System from Radofin International. During the development work that lasted well into 1977, Interton was the first manufacturer to equip its console with controllers that had an analog joystick and an integrated keypad for game operation. Interton chose Ireland as the production site.

A prototype of the device was presented to the public on August 29, 1977 at the international radio exhibition in Berlin. There Interton also announced the planned sales start for February 1978 and a price of around 300 DM. The market launch was delayed until the end of 1978. The console, which had meanwhile been renamed “Video Computer 4000” or “VC 4000” for short, was then able to be used in West Germany and in Great Britain can be purchased in department stores and by mail order. In the accompanying printed advertising, the manufacturer emphasized in particular the innovative use of the home television ("Your television set can do more than you think") with a "future-proof" device with which you can use all the games released by Interton "today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow" could.

The price in the 1978/79 catalog from Quelle GmbH, for example, was initially 398 DM, but was already reduced to 298 DM in 1979. In Great Britain, the device cost 129.95 pounds sterling when it went on sale, which is about 25 percent more expensive than in West Germany. When it appeared, the VC 4000 was cheaper in both Germany and Great Britain than the Atari VCS 2600 and the Philips G-7000 console, which was also released in 1978. Probably shortly after the start of sales, the device was also available from regional suppliers in Austria, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Australia.

SPC 4000.gif

In 1979 Interton licensed the VC 4000 to the electronics company Grundig . Because of its special TV connection, this otherwise almost identical Super Play Computer 4000 could only be operated with Grundig Super Color televisions. In the Grundig-Revue product catalog from 1979, the manufacturer therefore described its console as the “ideal, always up-to-date telephoto game system for your Super Color top model” that “unlimited fun and entertainment at any time of the day or night and learning material non-stop ”. The device was delivered together with the car racing game module and cost around DM 380 at the end of 1979. Körting Hannover AG brought another licensed device onto the market with the TVC 4000 televideo computer .

Gradually, Interton made a total of 37 games available for the VC 4000. The first titles in the Quelle catalog from 1978/79 initially cost 49.95 DM, only a little later the prices were raised to 99 DM. In Great Britain the modules could be purchased for 15 pounds sterling. In May 1983, the bankrupt Interton ceased production and began selling off remaining stocks. Sales figures are not known.

Price development in the Quelle catalog
1978/79 1979 1979/80 1980 1980/81 1981 1981/82 1982 1982/83 1983
398 DM 298 DM 298 DM 298 DM 298 DM 298 DM 328 DM 328 DM unknown 289 DM

Technical details

On the top of the plastic housing is the slot for the plug-in module and various buttons for controlling the device. The electronic components are located on a circuit board that is installed inside the housing. The two identical controllers, each weighing around 200 grams, can be removed from the corresponding case hollows for gaming. They are connected to the basic device via an approx. 1 meter long cable that is plugged into the rear of the console.

  • Interton VC 4000 with inserted controllers and switched off

  • The volume control is located in the right-hand controller recess

  • Upper half of the housing removed

  • Main circuit board with plug-in module receptacle (green) and connections on the rear

  • Back of the board with HF modulator in a metal housing

Main processor

The VC 4000 is based on the 8-bit Signetics 2650A microprocessor with a system clock of approx. 0.887 MHz. This CPU can access an address space of 32768 bytes , which also defines the theoretically possible upper limit of the working or read-only memory of 32 kilobytes (KB). With the VC 4000, the address space is segmented into different sections of different sizes. For practical reasons, it is common for their addresses instead of decimal notation , the hexadecimal to use. It is usually preceded by a $ symbol to make it easier to distinguish. The addresses from 0 to 32768 in decimal notation correspond to the addresses $ 0000 to $ 7FFF in the hexadecimal system. The contents of plug-in modules, up to 6 KB, are displayed on the VC 4000 from memory address $ 0000.

Immediately after switching on the device with the slide switch, the CPU starts reading out the content of an inserted game: a red colored strip appears on the screen. By pressing the read button (double arrow pictogram) the first game of the plug-in module is started. With the help of the forward key (arrow pictogram) further games or game variations can be selected and executed by pressing the start key. The console does not have its own operating system.

Graphics and sound generation

Screenshot of ball games with clubs (black and red sprite), ball (yellow sprite), playing field (dark blue frame) and separate points display for each player (number blocks above)

The graphic and sound generation is performed by the electronic module Programmable Video Interface 2636 , also from Signetics , which is addressed in the address range from $ 1E80 to $ 1FFF. With its help, the VC 4000 displays a maximum of 128 horizontal and 200 vertical pixels. The screen for the play area is divided into 16 × 20 cells of different heights, but each eight pixels wide. Only four different horizontal dot patterns can be displayed in all cells. The playing field that can be generated by the VC 4000 is therefore limited to grid-like structures, expanded to include the option of displaying scores in the upper and lower areas. A total of eight colors are available, whereby only two (foreground and background) can be displayed at the same time for the playing field.

The graphic module also allows up to four independent graphic objects to be added per line. These sprites are copied into the current background image according to user-definable overlap rules and then subjected to a collision check. It is determined whether the sprites touch each other or parts of the background image such as labyrinth walls. These skills serve to simplify the creation of games with interacting graphic objects and fast game play.

The 2636 also contains the 37-byte main memory of the VC 4000. Additional RAM can be retrofitted with plug-in modules. In the two chess games brought out by Interton, for example, in addition to the read-only memory with the program content, 1 KB of working memory is also installed in order to be able to calculate and log the moves. The other tasks of the 2636 include querying the two controllers and also generating sound and noise that is limited to one audio channel. The image and audio data provided by the VC 4000 and the Körting licensing device are then fed into an HF modulator , which is located on the underside of the motherboard. The signal generated in this way is output via a television set with an antenna input.

The Super Play Computer 4000, on the other hand, is intended exclusively for use with TVs from the Grundig Super Color 80 series, to whose proprietary universal cassette slot it is connected with a special plug. The connector contains an interface module on which there are electronic circuits for generating the television signals for picture and sound. Due to the RGB control of the television set, the picture quality is above average, as there is no interference-prone high-frequency modulation, such as with the Interton VC 4000. In addition, the game console is supplied with power via this connection, so that no external power supply is required to operate the Super Play Computer 4000.

  • VC 4000 with cartridge ball games and templates for the controller

  • Grundig Super Play Computer 4000

  • TV plug from Grundigs console

  • Contact tongues of the circuit board in the TV connector

Controller

The game levers built into the controllers are equipped with rotary resistors instead of the contact points or microswitches customary at the time . A lever movement is thus passed on analogously, i.e. continuously. A more violent movement of the joystick also leads to faster movement of a game figure, for example, if the program is prompted for it. Each controller also has a field with 14 buttons. Their functions are indicated by a cardboard template that can be attached to some games. Only about half of all published games make use of the buttons, although different numbers of them are supported depending on the type of game. For example, soccer uses its own button to control each of the eleven game pieces and to shoot the ball. Complex games such as chess and backgammon also benefit from the multiple input options using the keypad.

  • Controller with connection cable

  • Control stick unit

  • Drive of the torsional resistors (top and left) with return springs

  • Overlay template for ball games

Games

Many of the games released for the VC 4000 are believed to have been made by employees of the electronics company Philips, the manufacturer of the Signetics circuit series. Interton took over some games from external developers such as B. Paul-Jürgen Dickers, Martin Greiner and Hans-Heinz Bieling or commissioned them. Other games come from Asia. Interton offered a total of 37 different games.

With the help of adapters that are also sold commercially, games from other computers and consoles based on the Signetics chipset can also be used. For example, an adapter sold by the British company Voltmace at the beginning of 1983 allows games from the Voltmace Database Games Computer to be played on the VC 4000. Programs from the software-compatible Elektor 2650 TV game computer , a self-made project by Elektor magazine , could also be played on the VC 4000 can be ported. Hans-Heinz Bieling, for example, used this computer as a development system for Interton games. If you add the games that can be transmitted by third-party manufacturers such as Radofin, Acetronic, Teleng, Rowtron, Voltmace and Prinztronic, the VC 4000 has a total of 48 different games available.

 
Overview of games released by Interton for the VC 4000
title number Game variations ROM size author number of players particularities
motor race 1 10 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
BlackJack 2 2 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
Ball games 3 60 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
Tank battle / aerial combat 4th 26th 2 KB unknown 2 (simultaneous)
Mathematics i 5 168 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
Mathematics II 6th 104 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
Air combat / sea combat 7th 20th 2 KB unknown 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
Memory 8th 16 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
intelligence 9 16 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
Winter sports 10 3 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
hippodrome 11 16 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
hunt 12 64 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
chess 13 4th 4 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) with an additional 1 KB RAM
Motocross 14th 4th 4 KB Hans-Heinz Bieling 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
Intelligence II 15th 14th 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
Intelligence III 16 24 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
Circus 17th 16 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
Boxing match 18th 1 4 KB unknown 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
War in space 19th 8th 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
Memory II / melody 20th 1 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
Intelligence IV / Reversi 21st 30th 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
Chess II 22nd 4th 6 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) with an additional 1 KB RAM
Pinball machine 23 8th 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
Soccer 24 1 2 KB unknown 1
Bowling / skittles 25th 16 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
lady 26th 15th 4 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) with an additional 1 KB RAM
golf 27 1 4 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
cockpit 28 5 4 KB Martin Greiner 1
Metropolis / Hangman 29 1 4 KB Paul-Jürgen Dickers 1
Solitaire 30th 1 2 KB unknown 1
Casino 31 3 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
Space invaders 32 16 2 KB Andrew Choi 1 or 2 (alternating) delivered without keyboard template
Super Invaders 33 15th 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template
backgammon 36 4th 4 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) with an additional 1 KB RAM
Monster man 37 12 4 KB unknown 1 delivered without keyboard template
Hyperspace 38 3 2 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
Super space 40 12 4 KB unknown 1 or 2 (simultaneous) delivered without keyboard template

reception

In a comprehensive test of various video game consoles, Stiftung Warentest certified the VC 4000 with good results in the technical test at the beginning of 1984. Special attention was paid to the mechanical properties of the "operating elements", which the testers rated the Interton device as "very good" after the endurance and drop tests. On the other hand, the quality of the plug connections is only "satisfactory", as is the user-friendliness when commissioning and handling the device. The game instructions and the tested games themselves left a lot to be desired: "The programs only allow a little flow of the game, and the player's influence is quite limited."

The VC 4000 at a games exhibition in Cologne (2018)

The non-fiction author Winnie Forster explains in 2009 that the console is technically "between the analog games of the early 1970s and the digital future". It is an “amazing device with a well thought-out design” and looks “like a piece”. Forster specifically praises the “compact” housing, the simple operating elements and the reliable workmanship. The controllers were "trend-setting", and later consoles such as Mattel Intellivision or Colecovision have taken up their design again. The magazine Retro Gamer also attests that the VC 4000 entered “new territory in many areas” in 2017, including the analog and self-centering joysticks in particular. Forster sees the disadvantages of the console in the lack of high-resolution graphics and the lack of selection of games, although the existing games were a "sensation" at the time. In 1995, Power Play magazine classified the VC 4000 as technically inferior to the Atari VCS 2600, which is why the console was only able to stay on the video game market for a short time. During this time, however, according to Spiegel Online , she celebrated “considerable” successes. According to the Berlin Computer Games Museum, the VC 4000 with its “second-rate” games “eke out a niche existence as a cheaper variant of the“ real ”consoles like the Intellivision or the VCS from Atari”.

However, all authors agree that the VC 4000 is the only video game console developed in West Germany. According to the magazine Happy Computer , which specializes in home computers, the manufacturer Interton was one of those companies that "sensed huge business with video game consoles", because in 1978, according to Forster, there was only one serious competitor in Germany, the Atari VCS 2600.

Web links

Commons : Interton VC4000  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f David Churchill: All systems go for video games sales. Financial Times , December 23, 1978, p. 3.
  2. ↑ a b c d e The new German video game wave. TeleMatch , April / May 1983, p. 41.
  3. ↑ David Winter Interton Video 2000. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  4. ↑ VC 4000. IGDB.com, accessed May 1, 2019.
  5. ↑ From hearing aid to computer game. Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum , July 27, 2018, accessed on May 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ a b Gerhard Jung Berger: VC 4000. Jungsis Corner, September 9, 2016, accessed May 1, 2019.
  7. ↑ Blackjack and chess: TV screen becomes "playground". Pforzheimer Zeitung, August 31, 1977, p. 7.
  8. ^ Henning Kriebel and Winfried Knobloch: Glotzen-Spiele. ELO , November 1977, p. 38.
  9. ↑ Video computer. ELO, November 1978, p. 11.
  10. ↑ Interton VC 4000 (1978-1983). The Vintage Machine, May 28, 2011, accessed May 1, 2019.
  11. ↑ a b Quelle / large mail order company Quelle . Autumn / Winter, 1978, ZDB -ID 612235-8 , TV-Spiele, p. 810 .
  12. ↑ a b Quelle / large mail order company Quelle . Spring / Summer, 1979, ZDB -ID 612235-8 , TV-Spiele, p. 756 .
  13. ^ Angus Robertson: TV Games. Television & Home Video, Winter 1978/1979, p. 38.
  14. ↑ British pound: Development of the exchange rate. Reisebuch.de, accessed on May 6, 2019.
  15. ↑ a b Jens Brinkmann and Stephan Freundorfer: Interton VC 4000. Federal Republic of Pong, March 31, 2010, accessed on May 1, 2019.
  16. ↑ a b The player. ELO, December 1979, p. 50.
  17. ↑ K. Maul: The GRUNDIG Super Play Computer 4000. Grundig Technical Information, Issue 4/1979, p. 149 ff.
  18. ↑ Many intelligent tele-games: Grundig Super Play Computer 4000. Grundig-Revue, 1979, p. 42.
  19. ↑ Gerhard Jung Berger: Körting Tele-Multi Play 825/042. Jungsis Corner, November 12, 2017, accessed June 16, 2019.
  20. ↑ Hartmut Huff: The great video game tremor. TeleMatch, August 1984, p. 13.
  21. ↑ Trade fair notes. TeleMatch, August / September 1983, p. 75.
  22. ↑ a b c d e f Winnie Forster: Game consoles and home computers 1972–2009. Gameplan, 2009, ISBN 978-3-00-024658-6 , p. 28 f.
  23. ↑ Quelle / large mail order company Quelle . Autumn / Winter, 1979, ZDB -ID 612235-8 , TV-Spiele, p. 783 .
  24. ↑ Quelle / large mail order company Quelle . Spring / Summer, 1980, ZDB -ID 612235-8 , TV-Spiele, p. 780 .
  25. ↑ Quelle / large mail order company Quelle . Autumn / Winter, 1980, ZDB -ID 612235-8 , TV-Spiele, p. 824 .
  26. ↑ Quelle / large mail order company Quelle . Spring / Summer, 1981, ZDB -ID 612235-8 , TV-Spiele, p. 769 .
  27. ↑ Quelle / large mail order company Quelle . Autumn / Winter, 1981, ZDB -ID 612235-8 , TV-Spiele, p. 851 .
  28. ↑ Quelle / large mail order company Quelle . Spring / Summer, 1981, ZDB -ID 612235-8 , TV-Spiele, p. 805 .
  29. ↑ Quelle / large mail order company Quelle . Spring / Summer, 1981, ZDB -ID 612235-8 , TV-Spiele, p. 752 .
  30. ↑ Everything under control. TeleMatch, June / July 1983, p. 15.
  31. ↑ K. Maul: The GRUNDIG Super Play Computer 4000. Grundig Technical Information, Issue 4/1979, p. 151.
  32. ^ H. Bernstein: TV computer games. Frech-Verlag Stuttgart, 1980, ISBN 3-7724-0436-7 , p. 14.
  33. ^ A b c Johannes Maibaum: Retrocomputing as practical media archeology. Project work, September 28, 2015, p. 2.
  34. ↑ a b James Jacobs: Interton VC 4000 Coding Guide. December 27, 2017, accessed May 1, 2019.
  35. ↑ K. Maul: The GRUNDIG Super Play Computer 4000. Grundig Technical Information, Issue 4/1979, p. 149.
  36. ↑ a b c d Signetics: Signetics Programmable Video Interface (PVI) 2636. Accessed May 1, 2019.
  37. ^ A b Dieter König: Interview With Hans-Heinz Bieling. Classic Consoles Center, September 8, 2003, accessed May 1, 2019.
  38. ↑ K. Maul: The GRUNDIG Super Play Computer 4000. Grundig Technical Information 4-'1979, p. 150.
  39. ↑ K. Maul: The GRUNDIG Super Play Computer 4000. Grundig Technical Information, Issue 4/1979, pp. 149, 151.
  40. ↑ a b c Winnie Forster: The Pioneer from Germany Interton VC 4000. MAN! AC , March 1995, p. 86.
  41. ↑ K. Maul: The GRUNDIG Super Play Computer 4000. Grundig Technical Information, Issue 4/1979, p. 150.
  42. ↑ a b Dieter König: Interton Electronic VC 4000. Retro Gamer Special 1/2017, p. 231.
  43. ↑ Database. Computer & Video Games, March 1983, p. 28.
  44. ^ Selwyn Ward: Survey Video Games. Your Computer, Dec 1981, p. 20.
  45. ↑ a b Sebastian Everding: Games / overview of compatible software / relationship to Radofin and Co. VC4000.de, accessed on May 1, 2019.
  46. ↑ In the long run, expensive fun. Test, March 1984, p. 48.
  47. ↑ Boards that mean the world - playing through 2000 years of Cologne. Website of the Cologne City Museum, accessed on May 1, 2019.
  48. ↑ From Pong to Pentium. Power Play, March 1995, p. 126.
  49. ↑ Phil Penninger: Devices that are addicting. Spiegel Online, April 17, 2008, accessed May 1, 2019.
  50. ↑ a b Computerspielemuseum Berlin:  The only video game console from Germany. Accessed May 1, 2019.
  51. ↑ Henrik Fisch: Bushnell's dream. Happy Computer, July 1987, p. 147.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles in this version on July 6, 2019 .