Fairchild Channel F

Software on a cartridge

Released in 1976, Fairchild’s system made a program something the owner could exchange. A Videocart carried software rather than merely selecting a combination of existing game circuits. The machine could therefore support a library whose contents were not fixed when the console was purchased.

Between prototype and product

The Henry Ford’s account traces the design through Alpex’s Wallace Kirschner and Lawrence Haskel, then the Fairchild team led in hardware and engineering by Jerry Lawson. Ron Smith and Nick Talesfore also contributed. Their work turned a prototype into a consumer product with a cartridge enclosure and controls that could be handled repeatedly.

Options before play

The original manual begins with built-in Hockey and Tennis. Before a match, players can set its speed and, where appropriate, duration using buttons on the console. The Hold control can suspend a console game and allow its settings to change without discarding the score.

Read a Videocart’s own instructions before assuming the controller works as it does in Tennis. Fairchild explicitly directs owners to each cartridge’s control description. Reusing the same hand unit does not require every game to assign it the same actions.