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Fairchild Channel F
File:Channel F Logo.svg
Channel F and its two controllers
Also known asFairchild Video Entertainment System
DeveloperGerald "Jerry" Lawson
ManufacturerFairchild Camera and Instrument
TypeHome video game console
GenerationSecond
Release date
  • NA: November 1976
  • JP: October 1977
Lifespan1976 –1983
Introductory priceUS$169.95 (equivalent to $810 in 2023)
Discontinued1983
Units soldc.  350,000 (as of 1979)[1]
MediaROM cartridge
CPUFairchild F8
Memory64 bytes RAM
2 KB video buffer
Displaycirca 104 × 60 pixels
(of 128 x 64 VRAM)
Controller inputJoystick/digital paddle, JetStik (has added fire button)

The Fairchild Channel F, short for "Channel Fun",[1] is a video game console, the first to be based on a microprocessor and to use ROM cartridges instead of having games built-in. It was released by Fairchild Camera and Instrument in November 1976 across North America[2] at a retail price of US$169.95 (equivalent to $810 in 2023). It was launched as the "Video Entertainment System", but when Atari released its Video Computer System the next year, Fairchild rebranded their machine as "Channel F" while keeping the Video Entertainment System descriptor.

The Fairchild Channel F achieved only about 350,000 units before Fairchild sold the technology to Zircon International in 1979, trailing well behind the VCS.[1] The system was discontinued in 1983.[3] discontinued in 1983.[3]

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  3. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Routledge
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