Spectravideo CompuMate Extension (SV-010) for Atari VCS

Summary

In the early 80s, several expansions appeared, or were at least announced, that could turn games consoles into home computers. This became necessary as machines such as the C64 reached the market: although more expensive than consoles, they offered far more possibilities.

Spectravision’s CompuMate allows you to write small programs in BASIC, which can also be saved and loaded via a datasette via the built-in cassette port. The module also includes a painting and animation program as well as a synthesizer.

Since the CompuMate occupies both joystick ports of the Ataris, games with joystick control are not feasible. In any case, the module’s RAM is so small that it captures only about 100 lines of code and images cannot be larger than 40 x 40 pixels.

In Germany, the CompuMate is distributed by Universum/Quelle. Spectravision does not pursue the project further, as the company will concentrate entirely on home computers from 1983 onwards.