Line #13 Platform/TI99


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ti99.jpg]]
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3	Texas Instruments is a very old and respected maker of electronics components. TI employee Jack Kilby co-invented the integrated circuit (or chip) in 1958, and TI chips can be found in most electronic devices including a great many computers and video game consoles, although the only remaining consumer product with the TI name is their graphing calculator line; they have a near-monopoly in North America on them for student use, and their prices and (lack of) technical advancements reflect this.
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5	As TI found out in the early 1980s, selling chips to computer companies and selling home computers to the general public are ''very'' different things.
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7	Following the success of the Platform/AppleII, TI decided to get into the home computer market with an 8-bit machine that would showcase TI's engineering. The CPU, graphics, and sound would all be TI custom chips. Unfortunately, the CPU didn't work, so TI brought in a proven 16-bit CPU, the 9900, and used a bunch of "glue logic" to make it emulate the failed 9985. This made the new computer the first 16-bit home computer, albeit a very odd one that behaved much more like the other 8-bit computers of the time.
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9	The first model, the 99/4, was released in June 1979 and didn't sell well. The 99/4A replaced the 99/4's chiclet keyboard with a full-travel keyboard and added a bitmap graphics mode. It was released in June 1981, and was a big success for about a year. Then the Platform/{{Commodore 64}} showed up, and TI got into a price war with Commodore. By early 1983, TI was selling them at a loss and left the home computer market by the end of the year. The 99/2 and 99/8 were only produced in limited quantities as prototypes, though the 99/8's architecture has a striking resemblance to the Tomy Tutor.
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11	The 99/4A was well-liked, with graphics and sound comparable to the Commodore 64, and way above the 64's predecessor, the Platform/VIC20. But TI's insistence on complete control over software meant that its library was very small. That, combined with a hardware design that was expensive to manufacture, doomed it in the marketplace.
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13	The graphics and sound chips would go on to better things, finding their way into the Platform/{{MSX}}, Platform/ColecoVision, Platform/SG1000 (ancestor of the [[Platform/SegaMasterSystem Master System]]), Platform/BBCMicro, Platform/IBMPCjr, and the Platform/Tandy1000 (a more commercially successful clone of the [=PCjr=]). The Platform/SegaMasterSystem, [[Platform/SegaGenesis Genesis]], and Platform/GameGear used derivatives. As with other orphaned computers of that era, the TI-99 had an aftermarket of expansion peripherals, even a complete PC clone that could attach to the machine.
14	----
15	!!Specifications:
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17	[[AC:Processors]]
18	* CPU: [=TMS9900=], 3 Mhz.
19	* Graphics: [=TMS9918=] (99/4) or 9918A (99/4A). PAL versions used the 9929 or 9929A.
20	* Sound: [=TMS9919=] (later known as the [=SN94624=] or [=SN76489=]).
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22	[[AC:Memory]]
23	* 256 bytes high-speed "scratchpad" RAM.
24	* 16K Video RAM, which doubled as main memory.
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26	[[AC:Graphics]]
27	* 256x192 resolution.
28	* 15-color palette.
29	* 32 sprites, up to 4 per scanline.
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31	[[AC:Sound]]
32	* Four channels — three square waves, one noise channel.
33	----
34	!!Games:
35	[[AC:Exclusive titles]]
36	[[index]]
37	* ''4A Flyer''
38	* ''A-Maze-Ing''
39	* ''VideoGame/{{Alpiner}}''
40	* ''Car Wars''
41	* ''Chicken Coop''
42	* ''Munchman''
43	* ''Parsec''
44	* ''TI Invaders''
45	* ''Tombstone City: 21st Century''
46	* ''Tunnels of Doom''
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48	[[AC:Ported or Concurrently Developed]]
49	* ''Blasto''
50	* ''VideoGame/BurgerTime''
51	* ''VideoGame/{{Centipede}}''
52	* ''VideoGame/CongoBongo''
53	* ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}''
54	* ''VideoGame/DigDug''
55	* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''
56	* ''Fathom''
57	* ''VideoGame/{{Frogger}}''
58	* ''VideoGame/HuntTheWumpus''
59	* ''VideoGame/JungleHunt''
60	* ''VideoGame/Miner2049er''
61	* ''VideoGame/{{Moonmist}}''
62	* ''VideoGame/MoonPatrol''
63	* ''Munch Mobile''
64	* ''VideoGame/PacMan''
65	* ''VideoGame/PolePosition''
66	* ''VideoGame/QBert''
67	* ''VideoGame/Robotron2084''
68	* ''VideoGame/StarTrekStrategicOperationsSimulator''
69	[[/index]]

Context Platform / TI99