History of video games/Platforms/BSS 01
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The BSS 01 console from East Germany.
History
[edit | edit source]Development
[edit | edit source]The system used imported chips from the United States of America, a rare occurrence due to the prevalence of clone chips and serious export restrictions on legal transport of such chips to communist nations.[1][2][3] These chips were likely obtained by funneling them through a network of fake companies to hide their use from export regulations and then smuggled across the border to East Germany.[4]
Launch
[edit | edit source]The BildSchirmSpiel 01 (BSS 01) was released sometime around 1980 in East Germany for 500 East German marks, playing games similar to Pong.[2][3] This cost of the console was prohibitive, costing as much as a worker would make in a half month.[1]
Legacy
[edit | edit source]The price was reduced to 330 East German Marks in 1984, when the system was discontinued having sold 1,000 consoles, in order to focus production on alarm clocks with radios.[5][1][6]
Around the reunification of East Germany with West Germany in 1990, most East German computer organizations folded.[7] This included the BSS 01 manufacturer Halbleiterwerk Frankfurt Oder (HFO), which ceased operations around 1991.[8] Despite widespread unemployment initially, the computer industry had returned to former East German areas by 2000.[9][7]
Retrospective
[edit | edit source]The BSS 01 serves as a unique example of how a Warsaw Pact country approached building a video game console during the Cold War, and the barriers that had to be surmounted to create it. It furthermore shows how social factors surrounding the release of a console could cause it to sell poorly, in this case a high cost compared to standard worker wages.
Technology
[edit | edit source]The BSS 01 uses a GI AY-3-8500-7 chip and produces black and white graphics.[2]
Gallery
[edit | edit source]External Resources
[edit | edit source]- Old Computers - BSS 01 page with history and specs.
- Pong Museum - BSS 01 page with history, photos, and specs.
- Game Medium - BSS 01 page with history.
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ a b c "pongmuseum.com - and the ball was square... RFT - TV Spiel BSS 01 made in DDR - GDR". pongmuseum.com. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ↑ a b c "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". www.old-computers.com. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ↑ a b "Gaming Beyond the Iron Curtain: East Germany". Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ↑ "Retropolis #104: Piep-Show jenseits der Mauer - BSS 01". Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ↑ "BSS 01". Wikipedia. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ↑ "BSS 01 / Bildschirmspiel 01 - DDR Konsole - OhrBIT (04.06.2017)". Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ↑ a b Schmid, John; Tribune, International Herald (13 March 2002). "East German chip zone is growing despite global slowdown : Silicon Saxony dodges crisis (Published 2002)". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ↑ "East German CPU's The CPU Shack Museum". Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ↑ McGrane, Sally (25 October 2000). "ONLINE OVERSEAS; Their Roots Give Former East Germans an Edge (Published 2000)". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ↑ Markham, James M. (13 February 1984). "TV BRINGS WESTERN CULTURE TO EAST GERMANY (Published 1984)". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 December 2020.