Thanks Immortal John Hancock for being so intrigued by our childhood passion! Now I don't know anything bout this Fairchild channel F console yet I'm here watching your video because I have a special place in my heart and love for my first 2 consoles that were actually mine! I've had a hand me down Atari 2600 before but there's nothing like getting your own console! I got an Atari 7600 but my true love is/was my Sega Master System! This system stayed with me and I often search for other gamers like myself. Unfortunately there weren't many Sega fans before the ever popular Sega Genesis. In turn this is how I discovered your channel so I'm grateful for that!
Thank you MJR. This is the stuff that I enjoy covering on my channel and is what got me to where I am now. Thank you for the ongoing support as always as it means alot to me.
John, this is why I love your channel...we get an education in Video Game History...love learning about these obscure systems ...great stuff, thankyou.
I love the Channel F. Took it into my classroom one day and the kids could not get enough of Drag Racing. The controller is build perfectly for that game.
John, I appreciate your videos. Because of you I have started collecting. I grew up with Pong, then my parents got me an Atari 2600, then I got an Atari 400, then 800. I miss this era of gaming, but you have got me interested it again. I am slowly building my collect, collecting only 70s, 80s and 90s consoles and games. Thanks for giving me a new hobby and the fun that comes with it.
I really love it when you show off rare and obscure consoles and games. You are truly the Master Collector. Your collection is awesome, keep sharing it with us.
You solved a childhood mystery for me today my grandfather got one of these that we played at his house as kid. I knew it wasn't a Atari but after seeing the system that was what we were playing! Thanks John!
Thanks John! I enjoy your videos, but especially these videos on the older tech consoles. It’s great to see someone appreciate it not only in the historical context, but also for the fun of the games themselves.
The prototype for the Channel F was invented by two engineers at Alpex Computers; Haskel and Kirchner. They still have the patent for it. Fairchild bought/leased the technology and converted it over to the F8 CPU from Intel. There is a good story of the system over at Fastcompany.
Bought mine new in the day and loved it. It was hard to find then but carts were harder. I actually made a couple trips from L.A. to the JCPenny in Vegas to round out my collection. My Grandma (who was younger than I am now) would play blackjack often, and I even convinced a friend's father-in-law to get one. It cemented my preference for games that have an actual conclusion. Along with other consoles, it became a victim of involuntary downsizing (poor people and collections don't mix).
Never heard of that console before. Very informative ! My first home console that I played extensively was the Intellivison. Another one with unique controllers. The Fairchild Channel F one´s look to be much more practical though.
I own one of the German Channel F versions, the Saba Videoplay. And the games I own are also from other German distributors like ITT Telematch. It was no less than a ground breaking machine back then. With cartridge system and the cool controllers. I love the handling of these and the way they are used in some of the games is unique.
I had (actually still have it) a channel F as a kid. We had that before the 2600 came out, but my neighbor got the 2600 and we pretty much always played at his house after that. Its funny you mentioned the 8 track tape size of the carts. We used a tape case for the carts. Worked great. I would have loved to see more game play as this is so old, but thank you for taking the time to make this video and show what you did. It was a fun system at the time.
Great video! I came across one of these a few years years ago (model 1). Still works great. Very cool system! The beginning of cartridge based gaming as we know it!
I’ve no idea if this was sold in the U.K,I’ve never knew of its existence.The controllers look really advanced for the time.Reminds me of something Nintendo would make.
While the second box looks more modern, the first box is just such a dated treat with all those 70's people on it., Glad to have one! I like the look of the system II but the buttons seem to have issues and I've never had time to fix mine, which is a shame as it would be nice to have the sound out through the TV.
I used to have a controller that I used for my Vic-20 that looked just like the Fairchild controller. I don't even know what kind of controller it was, but I don't remember it being an official Commodore one
Always appreciate your vids John! Just picked up a channel f (original model) a few months back. Had no idea there were 2 built in games. I’d like to see your Bally Professional Arcade Collection in a video with a brief history. Got one recently but haven’t had a chance to play it yet.
Hey John! Loved this video, and love your work! I have one nitpick... and its purely aesthetic, but it's an honest critique. The towel is a bit odd... I feel like you could make a custom tablecloth for your table, something fluffy, but more plain. I dunno. lol. I feel like it would add to the presentation. That is all. Don't @ me. LOL I love this channel!
I’ve been supporting you’re channel from the beginning, and what brought me to it was seeing you on metal Jesus’s channel. I always wondered how and why you got the name “the immortal”.
How do you keep unearthing all these memories from my brain? Psychic data mining via remote? 😄 That aside, awesome retrospective vid! Related question: did the Saba Videoplay or Grandstand VEC systems have any different games than the Channel F, or were they just relabels? 🤔
Hey John, I recently bought a model 1 Fairchild with 9 CIB games from my local retro game store. The system works great, but I can't get three of the games to work. I've cleaned the pins and even opened one up for a better cleaning. With the spring loaded door, it was a pain to put back together. Have any suggestions?
I had it game in it when it first came out they advertise a keypad and games to play with it but never happened but I was also surprised that Pac-Man is available for the system I got a unit but no power supply
Best if sold on eBay, and I would check to see if the console still works. Completed ebay auctions and pricecharting will give you a ballpark on value.
The Pac Man is pretty awesome! Do you know of the Fairchild is doing all the processing borrow does that Pacman cart have any additional hardware on it to make it run? Makes the 2600 Pac Man look even worse and that's saying something 😂.
