Description
The Fairchild Channel F, short for "Channel Fun", was the first video game console to use ROM cartridges, instead having games built-in, and the first console to use a microprocessor. It was released by Fairchild Camera and Instrument in November 1976 across North America at a retail price of US$169.95 (equivalent to $763.58 in 2019). It was launched as the "Video Entertainment System", but when Atari, Inc. released its Video Computer System the next year, Fairchild rebranded their machine as "Channel F" while keeping the Video Entertainment System descriptor.
By 1977, the Fairchild Channel F had sold about 250,000 units, trailing behind sales of the VCS. The system was discontinued in 1983.
