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History of video games/Platforms/VTech Socrates

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  • The VTech Socrates with keyboard and controllers.
    The VTech Socrates with keyboard and controllers.

History

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A marble bust of Socrates, the namesake of the system.

The VTech Socrates was preceded by the VTech CreatiVision.

The VTech Socrates was released in 1988 at a cost of $130.[1] Marketing for the system emphasized it's educational value.[2] The system featured a robot mascot named Socrates, who borrowed its name from the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.[3]

Technology

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Compute

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The VTech Socrates uses either a 8-bit TMP Z84C00AP-6 CPU, which is based on the Z80 and is clocked at 3.58 MHz[4] or a similar Zilog Z84C0004PSC.[5]

The VTech Socrates had 64 kilobytes of RAM.[4]

Input

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The system came with a wireless keyboard, and an optional touchpad and optional wireless mouse and mouse pad were made available.[1]

A voice cartridge add on was available for the system.[1]

Notable games

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  • Amazing Mazes - Maze game[6]
  • Around the World - World geography software[6]
  • CAD Professor - Uses the mouse add on.[6]
  • Facts 'N Fractions - Math software[6]
  • Game Wizard - Logic[6]
  • Hodge Podge - Word games[6]
  • Memory Mania - Memory game[6]
  • Numbers, Shapes, and Letters - Uses the touchpad add on.[6]
  • State to State - United States geography[6]
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Console

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Wireless Inferred Controller

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    This keyboard uses an ABCD layout
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    Vowels are highlighted in red.
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    The Inferred communication system is visible on the back.
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    A light near the top of the keyboard indicates when communication occurs.

Internals

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  •  
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    The right side of the motherboard contains both the Zilog Z80 CPU, and the game cartridge connector.
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    The connector on the left can be populated with a voice cartridge.
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    The game cartridge connector is directly mounted on the motherboard.
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    Ample edge plating protects the sides of the motherboard.
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    A top down view of the motherboard. The smooth curves of the traces suggest a hand drawn design.

References

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Wikipedia has related information at VTech Socrates

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: VTech Socrates

Parts of this page are based on materials from:
 Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia.
  1. ↑ a b c "ARCHIVE.ORG Console Library: Socrates : Free Software : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive". archive.org. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  2. ↑ Dines, Gail; Humez, Jean M. Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-0-8039-5163-1. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "ARCHIVE.ORG Console Library: Socrates : Free Software : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive" (in en). archive.org. https://archive.org/details/socrates_library. 
  4. ↑ a b "68k Mentat - VTech Socrates". new.68kmentat.com. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "The motherboard of the Socrates, an educational entertainment ("edutainment") video game console released in 1988 by VTech. Powered by a Zilog Z80 processor, the board has two expansions for a voice cartridge and game cartridge. The system is comparatively weak, due to being designed to run off 6 D batteries". 18 November 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i "VTech Socrates". Wikipedia. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
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