Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: Does anyone care for the TSR-80?

  1. #1
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    139
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1
    Thanked in
    1 Post

    Default Does anyone care for the TSR-80?

    Neat seeing something a little different out in the wild. I don't know much about these. I know that TSR-80 was Radio Shack's house branded computer.

    Just though it was neat seeing them. Anyone collect these or have any opinion on this list of games?

    Thanks

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	IMG_20151103_181731069_HDR.jpg 
Views:	53 
Size:	130.9 KB 
ID:	8359

  2. #2
    Cherry (Level 1)
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    351
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    12
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    5
    Thanked in
    5 Posts

    Default

    Those are carts for the TRS-80 Color Computer, which is usually called the CoCo -- or the Tandy CoCo, since it was later issued under the Tandy name.

    Some people do call it the TRS-80, but that invites confusion with the TRS-80 Model I series that often gets called "TRS-80". (The Model I was a monochrome computer that was mainly used in business environments, but had some games and was very successful in its time.)

    And yeah, I was a CoCo owner as a kid, and still am. I remember it fondly. It wasn't the best gaming system since it lacked hardware sprite support or a traditional sound chip, but in the hands of a strong programmer it could do great things. Dungeons of Daggorath was the system's killer app -- a remarkable game.

    Did you buy those carts? If they were all $3/cart, that's a very good price for CoCo stuff these days. I actually need all those games, too. Well, maybe not Color Scripsit.

  3. #3
    Alex (Level 15) Custom rank graphic
    Gameguy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Richmond Hill, Ontario (Canada)
    Posts
    7,918
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    78
    Thanked in
    70 Posts

    Default

    Not many people seem to care, not even enough to spell the name properly . They're only worth about $5 each or so anyway, I wouldn't pick them up at $3 each.

  4. #4
    Strawberry (Level 2) sfchakan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    497
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    2
    Thanked in
    2 Posts

    Default

    I had a Coco 2 as a kid and played around with it for far too many hours. I didn't have a tape drive or any cartridges, so every time I powered the fucker down, I was pitching whatever I had created at that point.

    A waste of time, but I had fun.

  5. #5
    Strawberry (Level 2) AdamAnt316's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    MA
    Posts
    584
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    20
    Thanked in
    16 Posts

    Default

    I've owned several different TRS-80/Tandy computers, including all of the Color Computer series. Pretty fun stuff, even if they weren't as popular as Apple/Commodore's offerings. When I was in high school, I sometimes hauled my TRS-80 Color Computer 2 in my backpack, and played around with it during electronics shop. Didn't have any cartridges, so I usually typed in BASIC programs while using its cassette drive to play music tapes through the TV's speaker. Another neat aspect of it is the Audio Spectrum Analyzer cartridge which, along with a cassette cable and an audio source, makes for neat patterns on the screen. In the movie "Revenge of the Nerds", a CoCo 2 can be seen during the talent show, being 'worn' by one of the nerds, and generating a 'bargraph' display on a TV screen by way of the Audio Spectrum Analyzer cartridge.
    -Adam

  6. #6
    Insert Coin (Level 0)
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    139
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1
    Thanked in
    1 Post

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by goldenband View Post
    Those are carts for the TRS-80 Color Computer, which is usually called the CoCo -- or the Tandy CoCo, since it was later issued under the Tandy name.

    Some people do call it the TRS-80, but that invites confusion with the TRS-80 Model I series that often gets called "TRS-80". (The Model I was a monochrome computer that was mainly used in business environments, but had some games and was very successful in its time.)

    And yeah, I was a CoCo owner as a kid, and still am. I remember it fondly. It wasn't the best gaming system since it lacked hardware sprite support or a traditional sound chip, but in the hands of a strong programmer it could do great things. Dungeons of Daggorath was the system's killer app -- a remarkable game.

    Did you buy those carts? If they were all $3/cart, that's a very good price for CoCo stuff these days. I actually need all those games, too. Well, maybe not Color Scripsit.
    No I didn't pick them up.

  7. #7
    Apple (Level 5) Gamevet's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    1,056
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    9
    Thanked in
    9 Posts

    Default

    My old man had a 32k TRS-80 CoCo. The only game I remember playing on it was called Bug. It was basically a PAC-MAN like clone on a much larger map, and a magnifying glass zoomed in on the area you were moving through. When the other bugs caught you, the gave would announce: "We gotcha!"

    I never did like those analog controllers for the TRS-80.

  8. #8
    Cherry (Level 1) wizardofwor1975's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Central California
    Posts
    275
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    2
    Thanked in
    2 Posts

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by AdamAnt316 View Post
    When I was in high school, I sometimes hauled my TRS-80 Color Computer 2 in my backpack, and played around with it during electronics shop. Didn't have any cartridges, so I usually typed in BASIC programs while using its cassette drive to play music tapes through the TV's speaker.
    I also remember learning basic programming on a TRS-80 back in high school too.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gamevet View Post
    My old man had a 32k TRS-80 CoCo. The only game I remember playing on it was called Bug. It was basically a PAC-MAN like clone on a much larger map, and a magnifying glass zoomed in on the area you were moving through. When the other bugs caught you, the gave would announce: "We gotcha!" I never did like those analog controllers for the TRS-80.
    I've never heard of Bug for the TRS-80 before so I checked it out on YouTube. I was really surprised. Bug looks like a really neat spin on good ol' Pacman.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZIKyqZRlDc

  9. #9
    Apple (Level 5) Gamevet's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    1,056
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    9
    Thanked in
    9 Posts

    Default

    Yeah, Mega-Bug is the game I played.

    You can see (in that video) why the game can be frustrating. There are certain areas that are pretty much a dead end trap. I think I finally cleared the maze after a dozen tries and never played the game again. It can get quite boring.

  10. #10
    Banana (Level 7) Atarileaf's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Posts
    1,483
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    0
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1
    Thanked in
    1 Post

    Default

    I'm a huge coco fan and even though I have all those carts pictured I would still have picked up that stack for $3 each. Those are all pretty common ones though. Some coco 3 exclusive carts can go for more and coco hardware prices have gone through the roof recently.

  11. #11
    16-bits, yo Custom rank graphic
    BlastProcessing402's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    1,281
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    7
    Thanked in
    5 Posts

    Default

    The first computer my dad ever brought home was a TRS-80 model 1. Later he put some upgrades into it, then eventually traded it in for a model 3 (which was pretty much a model 1 with the monitor and floppy drives built in). Main things I remember doing on it were the Scott Adams text adventures and some Space Invaders clones (one of which played a crude rendition of the Star Wars theme when it started). I also had a game that was essentially a lightsaber fighting game (very very crude) but I couldn't play it anymore after the "upgrade" because it was on cassette, we didn't have a cassette player anymore on the model 3 (which also meant no more sound, since the sound played through the audio out of the cassette player) and unlike all the rest of the cassette software we had, it wouldn't play after being copied to floppy. Early copy protection I guess. And that was pretty much the only legit bought software we had, at least that I recall, that one game.

    My school for 2nd and 3rd grade had a Color Computer, in addition to a bunch of model 3 systems, but it always seemed to be broken and out for repair.

Similar Threads

  1. Does Anyone Here Even Care About PC?
    By Avenger in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 66
    Last Post: 09-28-2004, 11:34 PM
  2. NES Care Advice
    By Seanish in forum Classic Gaming
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 02-14-2004, 07:49 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •