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View Full Version : Saba #19 and #20 (Fairchild F Imports)



mezrabad
05-24-2005, 05:17 PM
Hi! I know that the Fairchild Channel F isn't the hottest topic on everyone's mind today but . . .

I just got these two in the mail today straight from eBay Germany and I want to talk about them to anyone who might be interested.

#20 by SABA in Germany is called Schach, which is apparantly German for Chess. So far, the electronic mind hasn't impressed me (I beat it and I suck at Chess) but it does make its moves a damn sight faster than the VCS version of Video Chess. It also has a little light on the end of it to indicate that it is "thinking" which is really unique for a cart from back then. When I won my first game, it "rewarded" me with random tones that sounded like they were designed to torture monkeys and small chidlren. Please, don't think I'm being overly critical. I've actully designed tones for torturing monkeys and these were right on the money.

If anyone has the instructions for this, I'd appreciate you letting me know how to bump up the skill level, please. I'm afraid that I might win again and have to listen to the victory melody.

One of the cool things about the #20 Schach cart is that it can be modified into a Fairchild Channel F MultiCart!!! Whoo-hoo! Every Fairchild game on a single cart! Now I need to learn how to do the mod.

#19 by SABA in Germany is called Odyssee im Weltraum which basically translates to "Odyssey in Space". According to some sources this was supposedly the German version of the US Release of #19 Checkers. This is not the case. It seems to be (like Schach) a unique Fairchild Channel F cart that was released overseas and not in the U.S.

[Edit: Correction - as indicated by puxley below, it is the Saba release of US #23 Galactic Space Wars and it is NOT a cart that was released overseas and not in the US.]

Odyssee im Weltraum has two games. The first is a first person space shooter. It is plays a lot like the early VCS cart "Outer Space" only [even] less fun.

The second is a really basic Lunar Lander type of game. There is a little green platform in a flat sea of random blue garbage. No mountains or anything that made Lunar Lander intersting. You have to land your craft on the platform before your fuel runs out. It's actually a "kind of fun" game trying to figure out the controls.

If there is the barest glimmer of possibility of people actually being interested in seeing photos of screens from these two, I'll be happy to post them. Once I actually take them and find a place to host them.

digitalpress
05-24-2005, 05:38 PM
I'd be interested in the pics!

... AND. For posting an interesting topic based on the Fairchild Channel F in a classic videogame forum, +250 meseta for you.

Thanks!

Videogamerdaryll
05-24-2005, 06:36 PM
I'd be interested in seeing the pics too..

Ditto on the Posting an interesting topic based on the Fairchild Channel F as it caught my eye quickly.:rocker:

mezrabad
05-24-2005, 09:45 PM
I'd be interested in the pics!

... AND. For posting an interesting topic based on the Fairchild Channel F in a classic videogame forum, +250 meseta for you.

Thanks!

Wow! Talk about positive reinforcement! Okay, here are some pics! Click on the thumbnail to get the larger Imageshack hosted image.

http://img268.echo.cx/img268/3530/SabaSchach20.th.jpg (http://img268.echo.cx/my.php?image=SabaSchach20.jpg)

This is the Schach cart.

http://img268.echo.cx/img268/7756/SabaThinking.th.jpg (http://img268.echo.cx/my.php?image=SabaThinking.jpg)

Shh! It's trying to think! It only takes about 10 seconds tops for a move. I haven't won since I beat it my first lucky game. It's the damn light that rattles me.

http://img268.echo.cx/img268/589/SabaSchachOpen.th.jpg (http://img268.echo.cx/my.php?image=SabaSchachOpen.jpg)

This is the opening screen of #20 Schach.

http://img268.echo.cx/img268/111/SabaSchaching.th.jpg (http://img268.echo.cx/my.php?image=SabaSchaching.jpg)

This is how the chessboard looks. When a move is made the coordinates of the move show up on the side. Which, uh, I should've gotten a picture of I guess.

http://img268.echo.cx/img268/7481/SabaOdyssee19.th.jpg (http://img268.echo.cx/my.php?image=SabaOdyssee19.jpg)

Here is the Saba cart #19. Odyssee in Weltraum!!!

http://img268.echo.cx/img268/8997/SabaOuterSpace19.th.jpg (http://img268.echo.cx/my.php?image=SabaOuterSpace19.jpg)

This is a scene from game 1 on the Odyssee im Weltraum. The "enemy ship" has three different looks that I've seen so far. This is taken on my "retro" TV. The "enterprise" look is pictured below on my "non-retro" TV.

http://img268.echo.cx/img268/8508/SabaEnterprise.th.jpg (http://img268.echo.cx/my.php?image=SabaEnterprise.jpg)

The pink nebula looking area is the reflection of my glowing hand covering my camera flash and sadly, not a graphic from the game.

http://img268.echo.cx/img268/837/SabaLunarCrash.th.jpg (http://img268.echo.cx/my.php?image=SabaLunarCrash.jpg)

This is game 2 on the Odyssee cart. Our little lunar lander crashed before the photo was taken.

http://img268.echo.cx/img268/9832/SabaLunarBlast.th.jpg (http://img268.echo.cx/my.php?image=SabaLunarBlast.jpg)

This is the proud lunar lander suspending itself above the pixeled lunar surface using a blast of its mighty rockets. Between this shot and the one previous, you've seen all the graphics for this particular game.

The Lunar Lander Variant is actually "fun" according to my seven year old. We're not sure about the shooter. Maybe if we knew what the numbers meant. Chess is a little addictive and it doesn't take forever to make a move, so that's a real plus.

When I find the link on "how to make a Fairchild F multicart" I'll post it here.

puxley
05-24-2005, 10:37 PM
Excellent! Well done.

I enjoy space games the most of all, and I have a Channel F (model II).
It's really not so bad, considering it's origins, and the groovy banana yellow carts are fun to collect.

Although the idea of a new non-US game is exciting, what you have there is the Saba issue of US game # 23, Galactic Spacewars. (There was no Saba #23.)

Here's a link to an online copy of the manual:
http://www.videogames.org/html/ChannelFStuff/Docs/VIDEOCART-23

Neither of your finds are ones I have in my collection. When we tried the Fairchild out for the first time, my friend and I decided that the killer app was the two shooting gallery games (carts #1 & 2). The game so nice they wanted you to play it twice.....

Congrats on beating the system in chess. If you make any headway on that multi-cart concept, stay in touch! There are gamers out there who'd definitely want one.

The Fairchild Channel F - just a little behind at being ahead of it's time.
(Or was that the CDi?)

yuppicide
05-25-2005, 12:09 AM
Great find in great condition. Thanks for sharing!

mezrabad
05-25-2005, 12:43 AM
Although the idea of a new non-US game is exciting, what you have there is the Saba issue of US game # 23, Galactic Spacewars. (There was no Saba #23.)


What?!!! Noooooo!!!! How embarassing! Shame on me for having not yet played my #23 cart and knowing that! Oh well, this Saba label is prettier and at least we've confirmed that it isn't Checkers.

Here's the link for Sean Riddle's MultiGame Cart.

http://members.cox.net/seanriddle/chanfmulti.html

Dunno if I'll attempt this or not. Regardless, it is fun to think about.

y-bot
05-25-2005, 02:27 PM
I was gonna make you a copy of the instructions to partially repay you for the Odyssey card you sent me but someone posted a link to a scan of it already. I think I have all the Saba Videoplay games complete and I also have most of the Nordmende Teleplay games. Let me know if you ever need a copy of any of the instructions. I don't think I've ever tried them out though. For the longest time I didn't have a working Channel F system but I do now.
y-bot