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|Release date = 1978
 
|Release date = 1978
 
|Media type = ROM Cartridges
 
|Media type = ROM Cartridges
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|Input Controller = 2 controllers|name = [[File:APF_logo.png|230px]]
|Input Controller = 2 controllers}}Named after Al and Phil Freedman, the brothers who founded APF (which previously manufactured dedicated Pong clones), the APF MP1000 system was a rather obscure video game console. Only 12 cartridges were produced for the system, plus Rocket Patrol, which was built into the console. With the notable exception of Space Destroyers, which was a Space Invaders clone, the games were unexceptional, though certain titles (such as Hangman) looked better than their Atari 2600 counterparts.
 
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|caption = APF M1000}}
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Named after Al and Phil Freedman, the brothers who founded APF (which previously manufactured dedicated Pong clones), the APF MP1000 system was a rather obscure video game console. Only 12 cartridges were produced for the system, plus Rocket Patrol, which was built into the console. With the notable exception of Space Destroyers, which was a Space Invaders clone, the games were unexceptional, though certain titles (such as Hangman) looked better than their Atari 2600 counterparts.
   
 
Although mediocre (at best) by any standards, the APF MP1000 system is easily superior to the also obscure [[RCA Studio II]].
 
Although mediocre (at best) by any standards, the APF MP1000 system is easily superior to the also obscure [[RCA Studio II]].

Revision as of 18:53, 8 June 2013

APF logo
Apf M1000
APF M1000
Manufacturer APF Electronics Inc.
Generation Second generation
Release date 1978
Media type ROM Cartridges
Input 2 controllers

Named after Al and Phil Freedman, the brothers who founded APF (which previously manufactured dedicated Pong clones), the APF MP1000 system was a rather obscure video game console. Only 12 cartridges were produced for the system, plus Rocket Patrol, which was built into the console. With the notable exception of Space Destroyers, which was a Space Invaders clone, the games were unexceptional, though certain titles (such as Hangman) looked better than their Atari 2600 counterparts.

Although mediocre (at best) by any standards, the APF MP1000 system is easily superior to the also obscure RCA Studio II.

Technical specifications

The Imagination Machine

An APF M1000 inside the Imagination Machine

The small black unit, which was also released in a version that dropped the second “P” in the title (meaning it was called the APF  M1000), has two non-removable joysticks, each with a numeric keypad. The system is compatible with a special computer upgrade called "The Imagination Machine", which contains a standard typewriter keyboard, a cassette deck, a music synthesizer, BASIC programming, and an internal operating system.

  • CPU: Motorola 6800 @ .9 Mhz
  • Video chip: Motorola MC-6847 Video Display Generator
  • Text Modes: 32x16 with 2x2 'semi graphics' in 9 colours (8 +Black)
  • Displayable Chars: 64
  • Programable Chars: None
  • Graphic Modes: 256x192 in 4 colours 128x192 in 8 colours
  • Sprites: None
  • Sound: One voice 5 octives
  • Controls: two non removable 8 direction joysticks with 12 key keypad and 1 fire button.
  • RAM: 1K
  • ROM: Built in game (4k) Rocket Patrol
M1000 mainboard

APF uses the same Motorola MC-6847 VDG as the TRS-80 COCO, Dragon computer, and NEC TREK. But does so in a different way. Like the NEC Trek, the APF dosen't use the SAM memory manager to drive the VDG. It uses it's own memory management system.

On the COCO, or any normal system a 256x192 graphic mode would need 6K of ram. (256/8 = 32bytes per line * 192 lines = 6144Bytes or 6K). However, the MP 1000 has only 1K of RAM available.

What APF does, is use the first half of that RAM (0-511) as a 32x12 character table. Much like the text mode. It then uses the other half (512-1023) as a character description table of 32, 8x16 highres or 4x16 colour characters.

This introduces some limitations, like not being able to display a full screen bitmaped image, but also makes it much simpler to manage game graphics.

Cartridge list

M1000 Cartridgess
  • MG1008 Backgammon
  • MG1006 Baseball
  • MG1007 Blackjack
  • MG1004 Bowling/Micro Match
  • MG1012 Boxing
  • MG1005 Brickdown/Shooting Gallery
  • MG1009 Casino I: Roulette/Keno/Slots
  • MG1001 Catena
  • MG1003 Hangman/Tic Tac Toe/Doddle
  • MG1011 Pinball/Dungeon Hunt/Blockout
  • Built-In Rocket Patrol
  • MG1013 Space Destroyers
  • MG1010 UFO/Sea Monster/Break It Down/Rebuild/Shoot