Bandai Super Vision 8000

Lore & Background

The Bandai Super Vision 8000 was the final entry in Bandai's TV Jack console series, but it marked a significant departure from its predecessors. Earlier TV Jack consoles belonged to the first generation and were based on custom codeless state machine computers consisting of discrete logic circuits, essentially Pong-style consoles. The Super Vision 8000, by contrast, featured a central microprocessor—an 8-bit NEC D780C-1 (a Z80 clone) running at 3.58 MHz—placing it firmly in the second generation.

All seven games for the console were developed by Bandai Electronics and released in 1979. The library included titles such as Missile Vader, Space Fire, Othello, Gun Professional, PacPacBird, Submarine, and Beam Galaxian. The console's technical specifications included 1 KB of RAM and 3 KB of VRAM, with a video display generator that was a clone of the Motorola 6847. Audio was handled by a General Instrument AY-3-8910 chip, providing three-channel sound with one noise generator.

Reader's Guide

The Bandai Super Vision 8000 holds a notable place in video game history as Bandai's transition from first-generation discrete logic consoles to a microprocessor-based design. Its use of a Z80 clone CPU and a dedicated video display generator allowed for more complex games than the earlier TV Jack models, which were limited to simple Pong-like experiences. The console's seven-game library, all developed in-house by Bandai Electronics, covered a range of genres including space shooters (Missile Vader, Space Fire, Beam Galaxian), a board game adaptation (Othello), a light-gun game (Gun Professional), and others. Despite its technical advancements, the Super Vision 8000 was the last console in the TV Jack series, and its relatively high introductory price of 59,800 yen in Japan likely limited its market reach. Today, the console is remembered as a unique artifact of Bandai's early foray into programmable home video game hardware, and its games remain playable through emulation at the Internet Archive Console Living Room.

Did You Know?

• The Bandai Super Vision 8000 is also known as the TV Jack 8000.
• It was the last console in the Bandai TV Jack series.
• The console's CPU is an 8-bit NEC D780C-1, a clone of the Z80.