History- After watching Atari successfully expand from the arcade business to home consoles, coin-op giant Bally attempted to do the same. Bally had been in the pinball business since it's formation in the 1930's and it's subsidiary Midway had an established arcade presence. The Midway division was instructed to create a home video game system that could compete with Atari's VCS.

Midway contracted Dave Nutting Associates to design the chips that would run the new console. (Dave Nutting was the brother of Bill Nutting, whose company had released Nolan Bushnell's first commercial arcade game, Computer Space, back in 1971.) The machine would run on a derivative of the Zilog Z80 CPU, and sported 4K of RAM (which wasn't very much, even for back then). Midway also began to develop an add-on system, which sported a keyboard and vastly expanded memory, turning the game console into a full computer.

The console itself was wedge shaped with built-in game storage covered by a clear plastic shell. A small keypad on the front of the console controlled game selection. The game carts themselves, which would later be called Videocades, were small and cassette shaped and sat horizontally in the console instead of vertically like most other systems. The controllers themselves were interesting, shaped like a contoured gun grip with a trigger on the back end and a round control stick on the top that both moved like a typical joystick but also rotated like a dial.

Work on the console was finished in 1977, and Bally began to advertise the system in major newspapers and magazines. Bally's advertising focused more on the promised computer add-ons then on the video game aspect of the system. Although the company began to take orders in 1977, production issues delayed the actual release of the system, now christened the Bally Home Library Computer, until 1978.

Right before the launch of the console, Bally changed the name of the console to the Professional Arcade. Although Bally had high hopes for it's new machine, a number of problems crippled it in its fight against Atari. First, the Professional Arcade launched at $300, which was $100 more than the VCS. Also, Bally's console wasn't widely available like Atari's. The Professional Arcade was primarily sold through mail-order and smaller electronics stores instead of huge department and toy stores (except for a deal with the Montgomery Ward chain). Early consoles were also plagued by hardware problems, including often fatal overheating. To make matters worse, the promised computer add-ons, including a keyboard unit and a modem, were never completed or delivered.

To make up for the lack of promised computer components, Bally released a BASIC programming cartridge for the Professional Arcade. Programmers could use the console's built in keypad to create their own programs and even save them to cassette tapes. Professional Arcade BASIC attracted a small but dedicated following, which would soon actually save the console from an early death. The BASIC programming scene would eventually end up as the Professional Arcade's most lasting legacy.

The Professional Arcade failed in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Not only did Bally have to compete with Atari, but also a resurgent Magnavox and a number of other smaller consoles. Bally decided to cease production and pull the Professional Arcade from the marketplace in 1980. This should have been the end of the console, but a group of enthusiasts emerged and bought the rights to the Professional Arcade.

This group, which consisted mainly of BASIC programmers, created a company called Astrovision with the intent to resurrect the dead console. In 1981, the Professional Arcade was relaunched as the Bally Computer System. In 1982, Astrovision changed both its company name, and the name of the console, to Astrocade (this would be the 4th different name for the console).

Although the Astrocade stayed popular with the programmer crowd, it could not compete with the major players of the day, Atari, Mattel and Coleco. The Astrocade, and it's parent company, would both fall victim to the great industry crash of 1983-84 and disappear shorty after.

Console Variations-

Bally Home Library Computer

The first edition, only available via mail order in 1977.

The even more rare white flavor of the Home Library Computer.

Bally Professional Arcade

The renamed version. A special Montgomery Ward version with a special logo on the plastic cover also exists.

Astrovision Computer System

The first version released by Astrovision. Like all the other versions, the only unique feature is the logo on the plastic cover.

Astrocade

Perhaps the most well known of all variations. The last version ever released.

Games-

A total of 47 game carts, known as "Videocades" were released over the life of the console. 2 games, a "doodle" program and a calculator program were built into the system. The Astrocade's games were the typical variety of arcade ports and simple shooting or "sports" titles.

The most well known title is not actually a game, but the BASIC programming cartridge. The Homebrew culture that sprouted up around this cart actually was responsible for prolonging the life of the console itself.

The most infamous game is a very well done Pac-Man clone created by Astrocade. This clone went by the name of Pac Man, which obviously didn't go over well with Atari's lawyers (Atari held the exclusive rights to the home version of Pac-Man). Astrovision then quietly released the game through mail-order under the not-at-all obvious name "Test Programme". Eventually, a third party developer named Esoterica released the game under the name "Muncher".

Peripherals and Add-Ons-

Unlike most other consoles, the Astrocade had almost no peripherals. The only non-standard Bally controller was the I.C.B.M. Attack Controller that came with the incredibly rare I.C.B.M. Attack game. A primitive speech recognition kit called the Computer Ear, which came with a microphone and special software, was released in very limited quantities.

After Bally's promised computer add-ons disappeared, third parties released a small handful of their own expansions designed to increase the Astrocade's computing power. A variety of "Blue Ram" expansions were released that boosted the memory capacity of the console. The most impressive add-on was an entire keyboard/memory expansion module called the Viper System. The Viper System included a custom version of BASIC and was the closest that the Astrocade ever got to being a real computer.

The official Bally expansion module was in development throughout the life of the console. It went through a number of name changes before settling on the ZGRASS module. It was supposed to have not only expanded memory and a full keyboard, but also a voice synthesis unit. The unit was never released as planned, but the ZGRASS technology eventually formed the core of the Datamax UV-1 computer.

Collector's Guide-

The Astrocade is not one of the more highly collected consoles of its era. However, it has a small niche following and would be a great addition to any classic video game collection.

The consoles themselves are nearly impossible to find in the wild, and show up on Ebay much less than their contemporaries. Luckily, there are no differences between the 4 different console models, so it doesn't matter which one you find. (An interesting collection idea would be to put together a set of different nameplates, since they are really the only distinguishing feature between the different models.

Of the various games made for the Astrocade, the most difficult to find is I.C.B.M Attack from Spectre Systems. Only around 150 copies are believed to exist, and they all came with a special controller. Other rare titles include Astrocade Pinball, Ms. Candyman, Blast Droids, and Treasure Cove. Many of the more common games can be found frequently on Ebay.

Most Astrocade add-ons are incredibly difficult to find. The Computer Ear peripheral has less than 100 copies in existence, and the Viper expansion module is equally scare.

Gallery-

A "Videocade"

The long promised but never delivered computer expansion module.

An old article on the Professional Arcade

A very cool Astrocade display setup made to look like an arcade cabinet.

An Astrocade ad.

Gameplay from Muncher. Look familiar?

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