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	$599 USD	MP-1000A	13	5.5
Ratings	Reviews	Pictures\Media	Specs\Manuals	Games\Emulation	Models	Clones	Links

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

Reviews

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.

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.

Pictures & Media

Various picture\video media for this console. Click pictures to enlarge.

Pictures of Larry's excellent APF Imagination Machine

APF MP1000 (stand alone gaming console)

APF Imagination Machine Packaging from a listing on eBay.

Various magazine articles reviewing the APF Imagination Machine and overall operation

Specs & Manuals

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 - External	Other Outputs	Other Details \ Notes
Input: 120V AC 60 Hz 10W Output: 7.5V 750mA	None	These are the specs for the M-1000 and MP-1000 console section of the Imagination Machine.
Manuals
APF M1000 Owners Manual (PDF) - 2.00 MB APF Imagination Machine Owners Manual (PDF) - 0.62 MB

Games & Emulation

Game screen shots and videos released for this system. Some pictures courtesy of Larry Greenfield.

The APF M1000 and MP1000 gaming consoles have the game Rocket Patrol built directly into the system. A boot screen, like the one pictured to the left, is presented to the user upon system start up. Games also came on tapes for use with the cassette player that is built into the APF MP10 unit.

APF Imagination Machine logo

APF Game Cartridges

The full library of game cartridges for the APF Imagination Machine and M1000\MP1000

Backgammon
Cart MG1008

APF Backgammon

APF Backgammon Screenshot

Baseball
Cart MG1006

APF Baseball

APF Baseball Screenshot

Blackjack
Cart MG1007

APF Blackjack

APF Blackjack Screenshot

Bowling/Micro Match
Cart MG1004

APF Bowling/Micro Match

APF Bowling/Micro Match Screenshot

Boxing
Cart MG1012

APF Boxing

APF Boxing Screenshot

Brickdown/Shooting Gallery
Cart MG1005

APF Brickdown/Shooting Gallery

APF Brickdown/Shooting Gallery Screenshot

Catena
Cart MG1001

APF Catena

APF Catena Screenshot

Casino 1: Roulette/Keno/Slots
Cart MG1009

APF Casino 1: Roulette/Keno/Slots

APF Casino 1: Roulette/Keno/Slots Screenshot

Hangman/Tic Tac Toe/Doodle
Cart MG1003

APF Hangman/Tic Tac Toe/Doodle

APF Hangman/Tic Tac Toe/Doodle Screenshot

Pinball/Dungeon Hunt/Blockout
Cart MG1011

APF Pinball/Dungeon Hunt/Blockout

UFO/Sea Monsters/Break It Down/Rebuild/Shoot
Cart MG1010

APF UFO/Sea Monsters/Break It Down/Rebuild/Shoot

APF UFO/Sea Monsters/Break It Down/Rebuild/Shoot Screenshot

Space Destroyers
Cart MG1013

APF Space Destroyers

APF Space Destroyers Screenshot

Some lucky person's massive APF Imagination Machine collection that was put up on eBay. Click images to enlarge.

Other pictures and information on APF games. Click images to enlarge.

The Space Destroyers cartridge is massive
compared to the other APF game cartridges.

APF games are rather small, about the same size as
one of the Electronic Arts carts for the Sega Genesis.

Games also came on cassette tapes for use with the
MP10 unit. These are not playable on the MP1000.

Third Party Emulators
Program	Website	Description
APF EMUW	http://www.nausicaa.net/~lgreenf/apfpage.htm	Excellent Windows-based emulator developed by Enrique Collado.

Models

Additional authorized releases for this console.

APF M1000
This was the first console released

APF M1000

APF MP-10 Imagination Machine
Many images above. Advert for the APF IM below.

APF Imagination Machine advertisment

APF MP1000
Two variations (Power Light)

APF MP1000 - Version 1

APF MP1000 - Version 2

Clones

Non-licensed releases (clones). Click pictures to enlarge.

No clones were released for this system.

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!!

visitors since 01-Apr-2008
Page last updated 11-Dec-2011

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