[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/vr/ - Retro Games

View post   
File: 239 KB, 1920x1263, Fairchild-Channel-F.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5308616 No.5308616 [Reply] [Original]

Thoughts on the Fairchild Channel F?

>> No.5308619

Aesthetic as fuck.

>> No.5308653

>controller is a knob on a stick
Didn't anybody playtest early video games for more then 5 minutes before putting them into production?

>> No.5308676

>>5308653
It was the norm back then.

>> No.5308723

>>5308676
It was the norm in the sense that there weren't any norms yet. Nobody had any clear idea what the ideal form for a controller was supposed to be, so every new console was basically just throwing some bullshit at the wall to see what stuck.

>> No.5308940

>>5308616
It's like an Atari 2600 except even more primitive and with a nonexistent game library.

>> No.5308984

>>5308653

It's logical. Imagine being a designer of one of those newfangled machines for one of those weird new "interactive video game machines", how do you let the user control it? Very limited harware for processing inputs, alos keep in mind a controller like we know it has never existed yet and is a completely unthought of concept.
One of the easiset methods of controlling/ influencing a circuit is a variable resistor aka potentiometer aka poti, it's simple, it's durable, it's relatively cheap, it's well know and understood standard. So what do you do? You give the player a poti in his hand as control method, and voila.

>> No.5309112

It lasted all the way up to 1983 but units produced in 1979 onward were in a different, newer case design with a smaller PCB that had fewer chips and was cheaper to produce.

>> No.5309128

>>5308723
Weren't the first consoles just a box with knobs? They didn't even have wired controllers - the controllers were on the console itself.

>> No.5309205

>>5309128
Early standalone consoles mostly used paddle controllers because that's what you used to play Pong-type games

Also
>>5308653
The Channel F controller is fucking awesome, and I can tell you haven't actually tried it. It's a joystick, a single-speed paddle controller AND a plunger in one, and works pretty damn nice. Much better than the 2600 joystick.

>> No.5309234

>>5308984
Who the hell calls it a poti? But couldn't you say that buttons and switches are also typical methods of control too?

>> No.5309674

>>5308616
Is he first real console to utilize ROM carts, so it earns points for being a trailblazer in design even if it makes the 2600 look hi-tech by comparison.
As far as games go it has a few interesting Pong variants, a decent Space Invaders port from long after the console stopped being relevant, and a surprisingly good bowling game. Its an interesting artifact with historic value, but isn't something you are going to be compelled to play very often.

>> No.5309710
File: 207 KB, 377x264, Jerry_lawson_ca_1980.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5309710

The man who created game cartridges was black.

>> No.5309720

>>5309710
Smartest black man ever, although he just put preexisting cards inside plastic, but ok, he was sharp.

>> No.5309725

>>5309710
Sadly like a lot of black people, he didn't take very good care of himself diet-wise and succumbed to diabetes.

>> No.5309787 [DELETED] 

>>5309720
>>5309725
Or niggers, as I like to call them.

>> No.5309914
File: 45 KB, 521x521, IMG_3973.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5309914

>>5309710
I'm thankful for his contributions to gaming.

>> No.5309925

>>5309710
Seriously, he was truly based. God bless Jerry Lawson. Even Nintendo knew that cartridges were truly king. It's so ironic that Nintendo's stupid decision with carts in the late 90s turned out to be prescient; CD games were just the awkward teenage years for storage media.

>> No.5309960

>>5308653
you only say that because you've been conditioned a certain way. Newfag.

>> No.5311253
File: 517 KB, 1024x677, 3871032227_b9b7c07e27_b.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5311253

The games for the system had some very fancy-looking box and cartridge artwork.

>> No.5311325

>>5309925
I disagree there. By the fifth generation, CD's were already leaps and bounds beyond cartridge technology. Sega CD bore most of the brunt of the awkward phase.

>> No.5311723

>>5311325
They're not beyond cartridge tech today, just cheaper to produce. Literally no advantages whatsoever other than storage to price ratio and production costs. Optical media is inherently inferior.
>slower transfer rate
>fragile media
>can't store additional hardware
You have been fed shit and it's coming out of your mouth now.

>> No.5311728

>>5311325
>I disagree there. By the fifth generation,
Yeah carts being the norm and saving games from destruction was stupid of him. He should have known that CD-based media would be superior in terms of storage ability for a relatively brief period of time before giving way back to carts. Also, the dumbass should have trusted the game industry to put games onto people's spirit avatars in the nethe realm and to just be patient for mortal physical games to manifest from the sky in 1996.

>> No.5311736

>>5311723
>>5311728
But can you play the game's music on a CD player?? I DON'T THINK SO

>> No.5311739

>>5311736
I can play midi files on my Blu-Ray player, but not sure why I'd want to.

>> No.5311761

>>5311728
Such lack of foresight, he didn't even account for cloud gaming.

>> No.5311786

>>5309960
>Newfag.
>>>/v/
No one over the age of 12 utters that embarrassing phrase.

>> No.5311807

>>5311786
Neuschwule.

>> No.5312603

>>5308616
At the time it was amazing. One year later it was meh. Especially with it's shit library.

>>5308653
>Didn't anyone googlesearch subjects for more than 5 seconds before underageposting about them?
FTFYK. It's actually a really good and innovative controller. Just because it doesn't have enough buttons to play fortnite doesn't make it bad, kiddo.