The Video Game Critic

RetroStrife - I also want to say thanks for posting this. To be honest I didn't even realize The Studio II was its own system. I thought it was some kind of knock-off or something.

I really appreciate how you rated everything on a VGC scale! You're speaking my language!

Haha. In terms of tech, the Studio II makes the Atari VCS look like a Playstation 4. Woefully outdated the year that it was released.

When AVGN briefly covered it in his video on Pong consoles he said that if this is Studio II then he'd hate to see the Studio I.

pacman000 wrote:If you're interested in under-powered systems here are two more:

The Soundic SD-290 - Part of a series of 4-bit systems released in Asia by multiple manufacturers. http://www.old-computers.com/museum/com ... t=2&c=1294

The Interton VC 4000 - A less-powerful predecessor to the Emerson Arcadia. http://www.old-computers.com/museum/com ... st=2&c=726

Never heard of the Soundic; thanks for the heads up. I've looked into the Interton before, and I forget the results of that, but I vaguely remember it being very hard to find and overly expensive.

I'm gradually moving toward arcade and pinball stuff lately, so I'm not sure what my next console will be. I've been interested in the Amiga CD32 for a long time, but it's a bit pricey for my taste.

VideoGameCritic wrote:RetroStrife - I also want to say thanks for posting this. To be honest I didn't even realize The Studio II was its own system. I thought it was some kind of knock-off or something.

I really appreciate how you rated everything on a VGC scale! You're speaking my language!

Thanks and not a problem; I enjoyed writing it! It gave me some "purpose" behind buying and playing this old thing. I have some other oddities in my collection that might make interesting review write-ups, so maybe I'll try to do a few more like this over time.

It's more than likely I'll never see one of these babies much less own one. But it's definitely nice to read about an old and somewhat obscure game console from the prehistoric days of video gaming. Nice job!!!

Found this today:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/209519 ... omsearch=1

Someone on AtariAge apparently found the head of RCA's video game department and got him to answer a bunch of questions. Haven't read it all yet, but it's interesting so far.

pacman000 wrote:Found this today:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/209519 ... omsearch=1

Someone on AtariAge apparently found the head of RCA's video game department and got him to answer a bunch of questions. Haven't read it all yet, but it's interesting so far.

It’s a thread I’ve been following for a while it’s everything on the Studio II. The most recent pages is some long awaited dumps of the Japanese clone system the Visicom.
I believe they’ve only got to find one more game.

Thanks for posting this. Like many AtariAge threads, this one is long and has been goi g for years.

Its great to see what was just a one off product now seen as part of the beginnings of something big, and its history preserved.

https://www.fastcodesign.com/90147592/r ... e-designer

An interview with Joyce Weisbecker, the daughter of the Studio II's designer, Joseph Weisbecker. She programed games for it and RCA's earlier COSMAC computer.

Apparently the Studio II was meant as a stepping stone to a full-fledged RCA home computer. RCA wasn't sure they wanted to try the video games/computer market, so, when the Studio II failed to catch on, they scrapped their long-term plans. The processor was designed by an Joseph Weisbecker at home as a hobby in the late 60's/early 70's. It's still used in embedded systems.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductor ... a-cdp-1802

Article on the 1802 processor used in the Studio II. It was also used in the Galileo space probe!