Texas Instruments TI-99
Released
in 1979
by
Texas Instruments
Gaming platform
The TI-99 line was a series of 16-bit home computers sold by Texas Instruments between 1979 and 1984. Despite the fact that the TI-99 was poorly positioned by TI as it strongly discouraged third-party development, a vibrant enthusiast market built up around the computer which led to a number of game titles being released for the platform, even after it had been abandoned by its manufacturer.
While originally conceived as an 8-bit machine, production issues with a new chip led the TI-99 to be built around a custom 16-bit TMS9900 chip, borrowed from its minicomputer line. Unfortunately, with the exception of the ROM and a small portion of RAM, all of the other systems, including the video system operated in a 8-bit mode accessible over a 16-to-8-bit multiplexer which hamstrung system performance. The TI-99 had robust expansion capabilities and one of the most popular add-ons for the system was a speech synthesis module, which was used with games like Parsec to give it a unique touch compared to other games of its era.
There are two major models in the TI-99 line: the TI-99/4 introduced in 1979 with a chiclet style keyboard, a dependence on a TI supplied monitor and a video card which did not support bitmap graphics or a lowercase character set. The TI-99/4a, introduced in the summer of 1981 remedied these issues with a full-stroke keyboard, a RF modulated video connection, and a more capable graphics system that allowed up to 28 sprites along with bitmap graphics.
One of the frustrating aspects of the TI-99 line during its heyday was the reluctance of TI to support third-party developers. As it used a custom chip, software could not be simply ported from the numerous contemporary systems based on the 8-bit Z80, 6502 or 6809 chips. TI also implemented a version of ANSI BASIC incompatible with the de facto Microsoft BASIC standard used by most home computers. It failed to license major popular arcade titles, and later models even made hardware changes to lockout unlicensed developers such as the arcade ports from Atarisoft. Publicly available development tools would not appear until 1981, although most schematic documentation did not appear until after TI had already sunsetted the line.
By the time TI ended production in March 1984, after a vicious price war with Commodore which saw the TI-99/4a priced under $100, nearly 3 million units had been sold. Despite its quirky and obtuse architecture, the TI-99 still fostered a strong homebrew enthusiast community around the platform that continued for years after the TI had withdrawn from the home computer market.
Most game titles for the TI-99 were produced on cartridge although software was also distributed on cassette and 5.25" diskette.
While originally conceived as an 8-bit machine, production issues with a new chip led the TI-99 to be built around a custom 16-bit TMS9900 chip, borrowed from its minicomputer line. Unfortunately, with the exception of the ROM and a small portion of RAM, all of the other systems, including the video system operated in a 8-bit mode accessible over a 16-to-8-bit multiplexer which hamstrung system performance. The TI-99 had robust expansion capabilities and one of the most popular add-ons for the system was a speech synthesis module, which was used with games like Parsec to give it a unique touch compared to other games of its era.
There are two major models in the TI-99 line: the TI-99/4 introduced in 1979 with a chiclet style keyboard, a dependence on a TI supplied monitor and a video card which did not support bitmap graphics or a lowercase character set. The TI-99/4a, introduced in the summer of 1981 remedied these issues with a full-stroke keyboard, a RF modulated video connection, and a more capable graphics system that allowed up to 28 sprites along with bitmap graphics.
One of the frustrating aspects of the TI-99 line during its heyday was the reluctance of TI to support third-party developers. As it used a custom chip, software could not be simply ported from the numerous contemporary systems based on the 8-bit Z80, 6502 or 6809 chips. TI also implemented a version of ANSI BASIC incompatible with the de facto Microsoft BASIC standard used by most home computers. It failed to license major popular arcade titles, and later models even made hardware changes to lockout unlicensed developers such as the arcade ports from Atarisoft. Publicly available development tools would not appear until 1981, although most schematic documentation did not appear until after TI had already sunsetted the line.
By the time TI ended production in March 1984, after a vicious price war with Commodore which saw the TI-99/4a priced under $100, nearly 3 million units had been sold. Despite its quirky and obtuse architecture, the TI-99 still fostered a strong homebrew enthusiast community around the platform that continued for years after the TI had withdrawn from the home computer market.
Most game titles for the TI-99 were produced on cartridge although software was also distributed on cassette and 5.25" diskette.
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