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The Video Game Console Library - APF Imagination Machine

APF Imagination Machine

  HANDS ON REVIEW by Larry Greenfield (special guest contributor)           DW FACTS by Dark Watcher
Page content, development and design by Marriott_Guy
Developer Manufacturer Release Date Country(s) Initial Price Model Number Game Releases Overall Rating
APF Electronics Inc. APF Electronics Inc. Dec-78 USA $699 USD MP-1000A 13 NA
Ratings Reviews Pictures\Video Specs Games\Emulation Models Clones Links
APF Imagination Machine (picture courtesy of Larry Greenfield)
Ratings
Consoles are rated based upon the available technology at the time of its release.  Ratings based upon a 10 point scale (10 being excellent\very rare).
Console Design (appearance, functionality) 05
Console Durability (sturdy or frail and fragile) 06
Controllers (design, response, feel, use) 06
Graphics (graphical capability and presentation) 07
Audio (sound, music, speech, effects) 06
Media (game media format, design, durability) 07
Packaging (appeal, durability of packaging) 03
Game Library (quality, quantity of game library) 02
Innovations (technological industrial strides) 07
Gamer Value (good investment for the gamer?) 02
Collector Value (good collector investment?) 08
Games Rarity (general availability of games) 08
Console Rarity (general availability of a system) 08
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Reviews


APF Imagination Machine (picture courtesy of Larry Greenfield)


A special thanks to Larry Greenfield for providing the pictures of his APF Imagination
Machine and for extending his considerable insight and knowledge to the creation of this webpage.
Please visit his excellent website for more great information on not only this console, but for other
classic 8-bit computers.  You will not be disappointed with the expanded content on this console!!

  DW FACTS
  - by Dark Watcher

The APF Imagination Machine is by far one of the most unique systems we have come across. In the late 1970's, a company by the name of APF Technologies released a simple cartridge based system similar to other consoles on the market. The console called the APF M1000 was a simple stand-alone unit that marketed for $130 USD and featured a built in game called Rocket Patrol. However the M1000 / MP1000 console was merely a portion of the true Imagination Machine.

APF blurred the lines of "Me too" consoles by introducing the APF MPA-10 module. The APF M1000 / MP1000 video game console could be "docked" to the MPA-10 to create a hybrid computer. The combined unit became the APF Imagination Machine and provided the BASIC program language, keyboard, 9K of RAM and could be expanded to 17K RAM, color graphics and a built in cassette recorder. The cassette mixed an audio track with the data track so as you were loading, a pre-recorded voice would tell you about the program. A 5-1/4" disk drive option was also an optional accessory. The APF Imagination Machine could be purchased as a single unit for $599 USD, or you could purchase the console ($130 USD) and the MPA-10 module ($499 USD) separately.
 

  HANDS ON REVIEW
  - by Larry Greenfield (expert VGCL contributor - thanks Larry!!)

Before I bought my first CoCo (Radio Shack Color Computer), the first computer I actually ever owned was an APF Imagination Machine. Made by APF Electronics (now out of business), and bought through the mail from "Protecto Enterprises" in Illinois when I was still in Jr. High.  The APF Imagination Machine made a great first computer.

Motorola 6800-based, the machine had an excellent full-sized keyboard, 9K of RAM and connected to your TV set via an RF monitor. The Imagination Machine was really an extension of APF's video game console, built to compete with the likes of the Atari 2600. You could first buy the video game portion by itself, and then later add the "rest" of the computer, though I wound up buying mine as one complete unit, as many were later sold.

The main drawback (like so many other computers of its day) was a lackluster BASIC. To program graphics required a lot of POKEs or CALLs, and I still remember the command to clear the screen after all these many years: CALL 17046.

The machine did have some major pluses though:

  • The games written for it were surprisingly good (both in cartridge or cassette form).

  • Each of the two controllers on the game console had numeric keypads.

  • The built-in cassette recorder (used to load and save programs) was stereo: one channel would be used for saving/loading program data, while the other could be used for recording/playing your own voice (helpful if you wanted to record comments on what you're saving, or for just having fun). For instance, below you can click on, and hear the audio you'd hear out of the the APF's speaker while loading APF's cassette-based "Space Destroyers" arcade game. This was a very unique (and sadly, never imitated) feature on the cassette system.

  • To help conserve memory while programming in BASIC, tokens were used for just about every BASIC command. In other words, if I typed out "PRINT", that would take 5 spaces in memory, but if I entered "PRINT" as a token (by pressing -- I think it was "CONTROL" plus another key), it would be entered as a "token", and take up only one or two spaces in memory.

APF Imagination Machine Advertisement


I wound up selling my APF Imagination Machine about a year after I bought it. I wish I could have kept it somehow, but at the time, I was only a young kid, and needed the money to buy a CoCo. The APF Imagination Machine was a lot of fun and incorporated a lot of unique features. It really was one of the better home computers of its day. The main reason I traded it in for a CoCo was the differences in each machine's BASIC interpreters: the APF had a weak BASIC, while the CoCo had -- hands down -- the strongest BASIC on the market. Since the thing I liked doing most on computers was PROGRAMMING and tinkering (in BASIC) rather than playing someone else's games, in the end, a strong BASIC was what was most important to me, so I sadly gave up my Imagination Machine.

Though today they are extremely rare (by now, most have probably been recycled, and have come back as plastic dashboards on Nissans), thanks to R. Cotoia, I now once again have a working APF Imagination Machine.
   

For more information, insights from the actual APF developers and much more, please visit Larry Greenfield's website.
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Pictures & Video

Various picture\video media for this console.  All pictures courtesy of Larry Greenfield. Click pictures to enlarge.
  APF Imagination Machine In-Store Demo
Video courtesy of Glankonian. 		  

Back view showing the M-1000 console
interfaced with the MP-10 computing module.

APF Imagination Machine - Back

 Displaying the Imagination Machine cassette
interface with the M-1000 gaming console.

APF Imagination Machine - Cassette Interface
Keyboard interface of the Imagination Machine

APF Imagination Machine - Keyboard

 Review of the Imagination Machine from 1980

APF Imagination Machine - Published Review

 On\Off switch and AC Adaptor

APF Imagination Machine - Back
   
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Specs

For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love.
 Processor Type  Processor Speed  Other Processor Information RAM \ Video RAM
Motorola 6800 3.579 MHz None 1 KB

Screen Resolution

Color Palette

Polygons \ Sprites

 Audio
256 x 192 8 color N\A Yes (2 Channel)

Media Format

Media Capacity

Games Released

Other Supported Formats
Cartridge Unknown 13 Cassette (with optional
MP-10 module)

Internal Storage

External \ Removable Storage

Game Controllers

Other Game \ Peripheral Devices
None None Joystick \ Numeric keypad APF MP-10 computing module
Controller Ports Network Ports

Other Ports

Audio \ Video
Two (2) Non-detachable None Docking port RF Connection

Power Supply

Other Outputs

 Other Details \ Notes
7.5V AC\0.8 Amp or 12V DC\0.5 Amp None These are the specs for the M-1000 and MP-1000
console section of the Imagination Machine.
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Games & Emulation

Game screen shots and videos released for this system.  All pictures courtesy of Larry Greenfield.  Click pictures to enlarge.

APF - Backgammon

 Space Destroyer Game Footage

Video courtesy of Glankonian.

 

APF - Baseball

APF - Bowling

 Game Cartridge \ Cassette Format

APF - Games \ Format

 

APF - Games \ Format

APF - Boxing

APF - Blackjack

 Sample Game Packaging

APF - Game Packaging

APF - Casino
Third Party Emulators
Program Website Description

 APF EMUW

http://www.nausicaa.net/~lgreenf/apfpage.htm

 Excellent Windows-based emulator developed by Enrique Collado.
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Models

Additional authorized releases for this console.  Click pictures to enlarge.
APF M-1000 (gaming console)

APF M-1000 Game Console

 APF MP-10 (Imagination Machine Interface)

APF MP-10 (Imagination Mahine Interface)

 APF MP-1000 (gaming console)

APF MP-1000 Game Console
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Clones

Non-licensed releases (clones).  Click pictures to enlarge.
No clones were released for this system.
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Links

Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system.
Name Website Description
Larry Greenfield's APF page http://www.nausicaa.net/~lgreenf/larry.htm Simply the best web page out there on the APF IM!!
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