Gen Xer here... I agree my generation benefited from a "Golden Age" of toys like this. Yes, we were spoiled. While the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance era technology was more than capable of bringing THE arcade versions of Pac Man etc. to handhelds, they were (arguably) just simple ports. The programmers of some 70's and 80's handhelds (and computers in general) came up with many creative and innovative ways of working around the limitations of the time. The really fun games kind of EMBRACED the limitations. While I saw and played many Tandy/Radio Shack tabletop games, I never saw Astro Thunder before now. Great find! That deep blue is AWESOME!
Tandy really did sell some very unique products back in the 80s and 90s, I've no idea if Tandy Australia sold this game or not. It certainly looks like a very attractive game.
Hard to find any detailed information on the NEC uPD1771. There is a "upd1771.cpp" MAME source file which contains this comment: The uPD1770/uPD1771 SSM is a 16-bit-wide rom/ram mcu with 8kb (4kw) of rom code, 64 bytes of ram (16x16bit words addressable as 16 or 2x8 bits each, the remaining 32 bytes acting as an 8-level stack), 182 instructions, a complex noise and tone internal interrupt system, external interrupts, and two 8-bit ports with multiple modes allowing for chips to operate as master or slave devices. (SSM stands for "Sound Synthesis Microcomputer")
Piezoelectric transducers are actually pretty capable. Pioneer made a few headphones using them, the SE-300, SE-500, and SE-700 during the mid to late 70s.
i had this back in the day but it was sold in the uk as FIRFOX after the Clint Eastwood movie. lucky it could mute the sound so i could play it in bed when i was supposed to be sleeping.
While future games may have realistic graphics, there is something really neat about these old devices, the level of engineering that would have gone into this device is hard to imagine, just like the really old arcade machines that were all mechanical. Especially considering that they didn’t have much for high power computers to solve all the problems.
This game is pretty cool, it does sound to me like those sounds are square wave sounds, not digitised PCM sounds, I guess the sampling rate and bit depth is probably very low. The VFD tabletop games really were more complex to engineer than the cheaper LCD handheld games, of course Tiger Electronics are well known for producing LCD based handheld games.
This came out at a bad time. In 1983 demand for video game devices were at an all time low due to market saturation and low quality of most devices being produced.
That's another one with unique sound! Unfortunately I can't find information as to whether they're using waveform audio or a synthesizer and noise generator.
Gen Xer here... I agree my generation benefited from a "Golden Age" of toys like this. Yes, we were spoiled.
While the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance era technology was more than capable of bringing THE arcade versions of Pac Man etc. to handhelds, they were (arguably) just simple ports. The programmers of some 70's and 80's handhelds (and computers in general) came up with many creative and innovative ways of working around the limitations of the time. The really fun games kind of EMBRACED the limitations.
While I saw and played many Tandy/Radio Shack tabletop games, I never saw Astro Thunder before now. Great find! That deep blue is AWESOME!
Tandy really did sell some very unique products back in the 80s and 90s, I've no idea if Tandy Australia sold this game or not. It certainly looks like a very attractive game.
The name and logo alone is gold.
Oh no, what have I missed? 🙈
This machine definitely blew my expectations out of the water, especially for its time.
Hard to find any detailed information on the NEC uPD1771. There is a "upd1771.cpp" MAME source file which contains this comment: The uPD1770/uPD1771 SSM is a 16-bit-wide rom/ram mcu with 8kb (4kw) of rom code, 64 bytes of ram (16x16bit words addressable as 16 or 2x8 bits each, the remaining 32 bytes acting as an 8-level stack), 182 instructions, a complex noise and tone internal interrupt system, external interrupts, and two 8-bit ports with multiple modes allowing for chips to operate as master or slave devices. (SSM stands for "Sound Synthesis Microcomputer")
Piezoelectric transducers are actually pretty capable. Pioneer made a few headphones using them, the SE-300, SE-500, and SE-700 during the mid to late 70s.
i had this back in the day but it was sold in the uk as FIRFOX after the Clint Eastwood movie. lucky it could mute the sound so i could play it in bed when i was supposed to be sleeping.
My Gameboy is dead, my N64 is dead, absolute stunning this is working!
That's pretty unusual for Nintendo stuff. My childhood Game Boy Color, SNES, and N64 are all still working.
While future games may have realistic graphics, there is something really neat about these old devices, the level of engineering that would have gone into this device is hard to imagine, just like the really old arcade machines that were all mechanical. Especially considering that they didn’t have much for high power computers to solve all the problems.
This game is pretty cool, it does sound to me like those sounds are square wave sounds, not digitised PCM sounds, I guess the sampling rate and bit depth is probably very low. The VFD tabletop games really were more complex to engineer than the cheaper LCD handheld games, of course Tiger Electronics are well known for producing LCD based handheld games.
Polaris uses that sub sound. Multi color V.F.D. rocks i really enjoyed your video.
_"Get ON with it!"_
19:32
I'm Gen-X and agree 100%.
This came out at a bad time. In 1983 demand for video game devices were at an all time low due to market saturation and low quality of most devices being produced.
Have you heard the sound fx on Stargate by Entex?
That's another one with unique sound! Unfortunately I can't find information as to whether they're using waveform audio or a synthesizer and noise generator.
@@themaritimegirl not sure what they use, but it’s incredible for one of these VFD units. Sounds like a real arcade game from the early 80’s.
Welp... those sound FX are pretty sweet... Snailie lichen...
I Got Radio Shack Astro Thunder Since Christmas 1985.
I'd say.....I want one now...heh