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History of video games/Platforms/Tandy Video Information System

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History

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Launch

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The Tandy Video Information System (VIS) was released in Fall of 1992, and was sold at RadioShack under the Tandy brand at a cost of $699.[1][2] The system was intended to compete with other home entertainment devices such as the CD-i and the Commodore CDTV. However the system was uncompetitive, and among sales staff, the VIS had the nickname "Virtually Impossible to Sell".[3][2]

Legacy

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The Tandy Video Information System was discontinued in Spring of 1994 after a price cut to $399, a drastic move which pushed the price $45 below the cost to manufacture the system,[3] failed increase sales.[2] Remaining units were liquidated.[2] This amount of time on the market was rather short, and the desperate measures taken to increase sales demonstrates the difficulties the system found on the market.

The VIS ultimately lost Tandy between 50 and 75 million dollars.[4] About 11,000 systems were likely sold,[5] which was a paltry number for any console, and was especially bad for Tandy given compared to the massive resources they invested in the system.

Technology

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The system was effectively built on a PC architecture, and was among the first gaming devices to run a locked down version of Windows as an operating system.

The Tandy Video Information System uses an 16 bit Intel 80286 CPU clocked at 12.5 megahertz.[2][6] The system has 1 megabyte of RAM.[2]

Software was based on Modular Windows, a modified version of Windows 3.1.[2][4] Some software for Modular Windows did not run correctly on the VIS.[7]

Notable games

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Over 60 titles were released for the VIS,[2] most of which were edutainment software.

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  •  
    VIS logotype.
  •  
    Modular Windows Logotype.

External Resources

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Wikipedia has related information at Tandy Video Information System

References

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  1. ↑ "Game Systems". www.lib.umich.edu. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h "Tech Throwback: The Tandy Video Information System". Engadget. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  3. ↑ a b "Radio Shack Lore Ira Goldklang's TRS-80 Revived Site". Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  4. ↑ a b "Windows 3.1 Obscurities: Tandy's Greatest Flop, Commodore's Zombie". Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "Tandy Video Information System". Wikipedia. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Home Page". Video Game Console Library. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "Visual Information System (VIS) Debug Card – The Video Game Kraken". Retrieved 27 November 2020.
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