Back to index

Info for intvkbd


====== Mattel Intellivision + Keyboard Component (1981) ======




===== Usage =====

The keyboard component has two cartridge slots - one to replace the occupied intv cart slot, and one for new keyboard carts (BASIC). If you want to use the BASIC cart at startup, you must specify it as the second cart, even if the first cart slot is unused. (ex. -cart dummy -cart basic.bin) Some tapes require the BASIC cartridge.

Also, there is currently no mapping to the normal intellivision hand controllers yet, when using the keyboard component. This driver uses the full keyboard, to toggle to the standard MESS keys, hit scroll-lock.



===== Known Issues =====

This driver is almost complete. The tape drive is not yet supported.



===== History and Trivia =====

The original keyboard component only saw a limited test marketing run of less than one thousand units in late 1981. It was color-keyed to match the original Intellivision, and the entire game console fit into the top of the unit. It sported a full-stroke 60-key keyboard, built in cassette recorder, and brought the total memory capacity of the Intellivision to 64K.

Spurred on by the increasingly popular home computer market, Mattel introduced the Entertainment Computer System (which replaced the original expansion keyboard) along with the INTV II in 1983. This unit plugs into the cartridge port of the INTV II, and has its own
cartridge slot, two additional controller ports, a cassette interface, music keyboard, and a balance dial for controlling the output level of the ECS's three additional voices.

The ECS came packaged with a 49-key chiclet-style keyboard, power supply, and a well-written manual describing INTV BASIC. Upon returning the registration card, users would receive "The Step-By-Step Guide To Home Computing", which included a very detailed BASIC Tutorial, and some more in-depth study of the ECS's abilities. The unit sported an additional voice chip, 10K of ROM and 2K of RAM for programming purposes.




Generated on Sun Jul 19 10:17:28 2009