Milton Bradley Microvision (U.S.) (1979, LCD, 9 Volt (1 or
2), Model# 4952)
CPU: Texas Instruments TMS1100 (On cartridge) (Early
cartridges were Intel 8021)
LCD Controller: Hughes SCUS0488 (Custom multiplexed display driver circuit)
U. S. Patent # 4,359,222
(U. S. Patent # 3,988,604
for the TMS1100 chip)
Invented by: Jay Smith, Gerald Karr and Lawrence Jones (according to the patent)
View Flyer / View
Manuals for all games / View most recent Microvision
FAQ (last updated in 1998...)
Connect Four and Cosmic Hunter were programmed by: Robert Hoffberg
Ahh, Microvision... My favorite handheld game system (in case you couldn't tell from the MB main page). This system is a cool little cartridge based handheld game designed by Jay Smith (of Vectrex fame), it's kind of a VERY low-quality Gameboy (with a 16 x 16 LCD screen). There are two variations of the machine with regards to the batteries: The first version allowed for two batteries (although I believe it would still work with one), than later it noticed that the machine would work well with one battery, so the place where the second battery would go was labelled 'spare battery storage,' and the electrical contacts where removed. Interesting trivia: the console itself is nothing more than controls, LCD panel and a controller chip for the LCD panel. Each cartridge contains the microprocessor, which happens to have a small amount of ROM space on it that MB loaded the game code onto. Makes it a bit more dificult to make a multi-cart for this...
Check out two Microvisions used in Paramount's 'Friday the 13th Part II':
(See Handhelds in Movies for more!)
Cool props, although the dialogue from the actor refers to the two different
games as 'football' and 'hockey,' neither of which were ever made for Microvision.
:) (You never see the games up close anyway, but they are Connect Four and Blockbuster.)
U. S. Games available: (See foreign games for one additional
game not released in U.S.)
Alien Raiders
Baseball
Block Buster (See pic above, came with system)
Bowling
Connect Four
Cosmic Hunter
Mindbuster
Pinball
Sea Duel
Star Trek Phaser Strike and Phaser Strike
Vegas Slots
Also planned were Super Block Buster and Barrage. Barrage was never produced to my knowledge (there may be a prototype out there somewhere), and Super Block Buster was never released in the U. S. (See Foreign Microvision for info on that one.) Below are some images of what the U. S. box art would have looked like if they were released (found in the 1982 Montgomery Wards Christmas Catalog):
Do I have this? Yes, complete collection all boxed, some still sealed.