Romtec- Colorvision system (1984, LCD, 2 C Batteries, Model# ET-818)

Cartridge based game (according to the flyer, it's the first cartridge based mini-arcade system, obviously Microvision came out several years before this.) (the piece of plastic with the word 'Submarine' on it is the cartridge). At least 5 games were made for it: Beasts Planet, Horror House, Jungle Boy, Monster Chase and Submarine. Each cartridge has a colored LCD display that reflects on the mirror (which is visible) using external light from the top of the game (similar to the Nintendo tabletop games.) The base is also available in red and green (and possibly other colors).

Now that I have one of these, I've made an interesting discovery: You can't actually program cartridges for this. I assumed that the cartridge contained an LCD screen and the little microchip that makes the game work (like many other cartridge systems like this where the LCD is part of the cartridge). But, in fact, there's nothing in the cartridge but the LCD itself, and some contacts to the system. Apparently you tell the system what set of pre-programmed operations to use by connecting various leads in the cartridge port. (See images at the bottom if you are into that kind of thing... :) )


System with boxes:

Here's images of the inside of a cartridge (Monster Chase) and the circuit board inside the game itself:
(You'll notice, there's no circuitry in the cartridge at all, just the LCD screen. That means the gameplay
of every game made for the system is pre-programmed in the chip on the board from the system. I'm
guessing that the 5 contacts in the center of the connector on the second picture determine what
game is being played. I haven't checked the other cartridges yet...)

Do I have this? Yes, loose and 3 boxed cartridges (Horror House, Jungle Boy and Monster Chase).

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