Intellivoice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Intellivoice | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Manufacturer | Mattel |
| Type | Add-on |
| Generation | Second generation |
| First available | 1982 |
| Media | Cartridge |
The Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module was an adapter for the Intellivision, Mattel's home gaming console, that utilized voice synthesizers to generate audible speech. The VSM was a large, brown cartridge that could be plugged into the Intellivision, at which point games specifically designed for the device could be inserted like a normal cartridge into the right side of the module.
The device was brought to the public in 1982 to much fanfare with an initital lineup of 3 games: Space Spartans, Bomb Squad, and B-17 Bomber. However, despite critical acclaim, the Intellivoice VSM had only sold 300,000 units by June of 1983, and most of these were still on the shelves of retailers. An international version of the Intellivoice VSM was planned, but never released. In August of 1983, the Intellivoice VSM adapter was deemed obsolete and all but two games were immediately cancelled. One of the games, Space Shuttle, was cancelled later, while the other, World Series Major League Baseball, went on to be the final game produced specifically for the VSM.
[edit] Development History
When someone realized that a General Instruments "Orator" speech synthesis chip could be put to good use on an Intellivision, Ron Carlson was put in charge of designing a device capable of utilizing the chip. Ron Surratt was hired to write the software for the module and Patrick Jost would analyze the voice data for the device.
The "Orator" had 16kB of Read-Only Memory (ROM), and this was utilized to store a database of generic words that could be combined to make phrases in Intellivision games. The words included numbers, "left," "up," "right," "down," and "Mattel Electronics Presents", as well as the voice data for its first game, 'Space Spartans'.
After a few minor bugs in the hardware were worked out, the team got down to testing and creating the device. The problem was that even though the Orator chip could support 16kB of ROM, the gaming cartridges could only utilized 4kB to 8kB memory of voice support. Therefore, the words used had to be processed at a very low sampling rate, ruining the quality of the output, which is probably why the VSM did so poorly in sales[citation needed]. Eventually the product was released, going from a so-so 300,000 sales mark through to 1983 to an abysmal 90,000 in 1984.
[edit] Games
A total of five games were produced and released for the system:
- Space Spartans
- Bomb Squad
- B-17 Bomber
- Tron Solar Sailer
- World Series Major League Baseball
[edit] External Links
- Intellivison Lives Intellivoice Page, maintained by Keith Robinson and the Blue Sky Rangers (original programmers of the Intellivision)
- Mattel Electronics IntelliVoice Software, contains a listing of all titles released for the Intellivoice
