Fairchild Channel F

Fairchild Channel F

Channel F and its two controllers
Also known as	Fairchild Video Entertainment System
Developer	Gerald "Jerry" Lawson
Manufacturer	Fairchild Camera and Instrument
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Second
Release date	NA: November 1976 JP: October 1977
Lifespan	1976 –1983
Introductory price	US$169.95 (equivalent to $910 in 2023)
Discontinued	1983
Units sold	c. 310,000 (as of 1979)[1]
Media	ROM cartridge
CPU	Fairchild F8
Memory	64 bytes RAM 2 KB video buffer
Display	c. 104 × 60 pixels (of 128 x 64 VRAM)
Controller input	Joystick/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 (branded 'Videocarts') 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 $910 in 2023). It was launched as the "Video Entertainment System", but when Atari released its Video Computer System (VCS) the next year, Fairchild rebranded their console 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]