My brother has a thrift store that he always finds the greatest stuff at. It is Valu Thrift in Maplewood, maybe. I'm not really sure where it is. I recently went there and this is what I found. These are video game cartridges for the Channel F system, by Fairchild electronics. From what I found out this is the first "programmable" system. This means that instead of a collection of jumpers on the cartridge it has an actual programed ROM. I doubt I will ever find a Channel F to play these on but for 49 cents a piece I couldn't pass them up.
3 comments:
You should check out a really good book on the history of video games, helpfully called A History of Videogames. I'm sure it talks about the channel F, and the other crazy systems. At one point not too long ago, people thought video games were a fad whose time had passed.
I'm not sure if it's the same book, but the best book I've seen on the history of videogames is "The Ultimate History of Video Games" bu Steven L. Kent. My extremely battered copy is actually sitting on the floor right next to me.
It's true, Valu Thrift is where I have found some of my best stuff. A CD-i for $8, an Atari 5200 with 2 games and an extremely rare controller for $12, IBM P70 for $5, numerous old Macs, Final Fantasy for the NES for a few bucks, Chrono Trigger for the SNES for $4, the list goes on. I'm afraid that now all the good stuff is going to be taken before I can ever get there.
Frankly, I'm VERY surprised that you found Channel F stuff in a thrift store, considering how rare it is. From my experience, it's likely that the Channel F system itself is still sitting in the back waiting to be priced.
That's what I thought as well. I walked around the store checking in all the nooks and crannies looking for the system, but I was thwarted. Maybe I'll check again sometime this week.
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