RCA Studio II

__TOC__The RCA Studio II is a videogame console made by RCA that debuted in January 1977. The graphics of Studio II games were black and white and resembled those of earlier Pong consoles and their clones. The Studio II also did not have joysticks or similar game controllers but instead used two keypads that were built into the console itself. The console was capable of making simple beep sounds with slight variations in length.

One distinct feature of the Studio II was its five built-in games. Also unique to the Studio II was its use of a switchbox that relayed both the modulated RF signal of the console's video to the television set while powering the console with DC power. This type of hookup would not be seen again (or thereafter) until the Atari 5200 used a similar video signal and power connection method.

The Studio II was not a successful product; it was already obsolete by the time it hit the market when compared to the previously released Fairchild Channel F, and had its "final nail in the coffin" when the superior (to both) Atari 2600 console was released only 9 months later. It was soon discontinued.

ystem specs

* RCA 1802 microprocessor, 1.78 Mhz
* 2 KB (x8) ROM (includes the five built-in games); total of 16 KB ROM
* 512 bytes (x8) RAM; total of 4 KB RAM
* RCA 1861 "Pixie" video chip, 64x128, monochrome graphics [http://www.classicgaming.com/studio2/techinfo.htm]

tudio II built-in games

* Addition
* Bowling
* Doodle
* Freeway
* Patterns [http://www.classicgaming.com/studio2/techinfo.htm]

tudio II cartridge game titles

* Baseball
* Bingo (Extremely Rare, Possibly only a prototype)
* Biorhythm
* Blackjack
* Fun with Numbers
* Gunfighter / Moonship Battle
* Spacewar
* Speedway / Tag
* Tennis / Squash
* TV Schoolhouse I
* TV Schoolhouse II [http://videogames.org/html/RCAStuff/studio2.lst]

External links

* [http://videogames.org/html/RCAStuff/RCAIndex.html History of Home Video Games - RCA Studio II]
* [http://videogames.org/html/images/RCASchem.jpgRCA Studio II switchbox schematic]
* [http://www.classicgaming.com/studio2/techinfo.htm RCA Studio II Technical Information]
* [http://www.thedoteaters.com/p3_stage1.php The Dot Eaters article] , featuring the RCA Studio II