yes they had games, yes they were expensive and pretty much forgotten.today, that ends. I had a Ti-994a and it was glorious. who else had a TI machine?
some games, with Parsec being its premium game. also that speech synth years ahead of everyone elsehttps://youtu.be/Td2-ZETftGA?si=TIUMgJwWugwtEwtl
>>12106450damn that does sound a lot better than the Votrax speech box I grew up withhttps://youtu.be/t27e3-6yBWw&t=235
I had a TI-82 in high school that I programmed some games for.
>>12106445>I had a Ti-994a and it was glorious. Why did you or your family decide to get one over an Apple II or Commodore? I'm curious what the use case was for them, considering the weird architecture and TI's usual dickishness would appear to be a huge damper on the software library.
TI literally wouldn't let anybody develop ANYTHING for this computer for some retarded reason. It had very little software. It was AFAIK the first 16-bit home computer, and had decent sprite capabilities and sound. But it was cripped by low RAM.
>>12107063>had decent sprite capabilities and soundYep, introduced the same graphics and sound chips later used in the Colecovision and many other consoles and home computers. So they ended up getting some usage at least.
>>12107121Yeah, I believe the term “sprite” was coined to describe the graphic capabilities of the TI-99/4.
>>12106445I had one. They really weren't that expensive when you consider how massively technologically superior they were to the competition. But as is often the case that didn''t guarantee success.>>12106969I can't speak for why OP didn't have those, psychicanon. I did. And a PC, multiple CPM machines, etc.
>>12106445>Solid State SoftwareDid they mean cartridges?
>>12107063That and it had an ass-backwards instruction set, slower than that of competing 8-bit systems. The /4a made updates, but it still was slower in some instances.
>>12106969Not OP but we had one and I can tell you why: they absolutely blew the fuck out of the pricing during the video game crash. I don't remember exactly how much my old man got ours for, but it was no more than a hundred bucks.
>>12107351Yes, but it wasn’t because of the video game crash. Commodore kept dropping the prices of their computers at prices TI couldn’t keep up with. They were selling them at incalculable losses.
>>12107319yeah, rom based software.
>>12107319The official term for a TI-99/4 cartridge is Solid State Software Command Module.
isn't the Ti-994As claim to fame is it being the first 16-bit home computer?
>>12106969>Why did you or your family decide to get one over an Apple II or Commodore?it was a second hand gift to me from my Uncle and I was age 11, he probably bought something better.
>>12107710Yes, but the 16-bit CPU TI used was a miniaturized minicomputer optimized for a multi-user environment, making it a completely wrong tool for the job.
>>12106913Me too, I wrote a partial Tetris but stopped because it was too slow, and I wrote a video poker game also. Later I learned about hacking in a way to run games people had written using assembly or whatever instead of TI-BASIC and immediately left all that behind. I wrote a very simple program for that at one point I think, but it didn't do anything useful (you could move a little blob around the screen is all), and the programming wasn't fun enough to hook me I guess so I gave up
>>12107903Hmm I could have written all that more clearly. Oh well, it wasn't that interesting anyway
>>12107324>i can't understand something so it's ass-backwards>other people who can't understand it say it's slow so it's slowImagine what a technological wasteland the world would be if children in the 60s,70s,80s,just sat around trying to impress other children by parroting hot takes instead of understanding and using technology to change the world.
>>12107228>They really weren't that expensive when you consider how massively technologically superior they were to the competition.It was always inferior to Atari, and it was more expensive for years.
>>12107228>They really weren't that expensiveit cost $1150 in 1979, which is $4980 in todays money, they were expensive as hell
>>12107565Yes, you are correct and I was being sloppy. Thanks for the correction.
>>12106445Happy memories of playing Ghostbusters on a Ti99/4A with a fren as a kid interesting system OP, nice thread
The coolest thing about TI is that they still sell the TI-84 plus, which is a Z80 computer running BASIC with 48KB RAM and a 96x64 display, and so the technologically closest thing to 80s home computers that you can buy new
>>12108652Interesting, thanks anon The Z80 was one hell of a chip
>>12108484>It was always inferior to Atarilmfao. Imagine console warring for your grandpas system, but your grandpa never even had one.>>12108493>I'll have you know I'm old enough to read a wikipedia pageYour mommies must be so proud. Meanwhile, grownups who were actually alive back then actually know what it is and what it cost.
>>12108954I wasn’t trying to console/computer war, I was just clarifuing that despite being the first 16-bit home computer, it was not particularly impressive compared to many of its 8-bit contemporaries, not “massively technologically advanced” as was claimed.
>>12109137This fits with the Intellivision being the first 16-bit console
>>12109145>It's not about the size of your bus, it's how you use it!
>>12109137>my console warring identifies as something elseBut of course it does sweaty.
>>12109145>ti99/4a>first 16-bit console>consolei like how it says computer in the photo. and despite being "16-bit" it performed worse than an 8-bit 6502. literally a joke computer. no wonder commodore forced them to leave the computer manufacturing business.>>12109137>despite being the first 16-bit home computer, it was not particularly impressive you're right. it was a terrible computer. competition destroyed them.
>>12109149it's true, all women who ride the short bus know this
>>12108652When I see those in store I always wonder who is buying them and why. Even when they were new, graphing calculators always seemed useless to me. We were encouraged to buy them for high school math and then usually didn't use them for anything except games
>>12107681>The official term for a TI-99/4 cartridge is Solid State Software Command Module.Oh Er. Get her,
>>12107935based>>12108484Atari was pretty pricey too anon
>>12110276From memory ghostbusters was pretty sweet on it,
When I was a kid I wanted the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Solid State Software Command Module. I never read the book but that dumb mascot that Douglas Adams hated made it look fun.
>>12112832Kids are often forced to buy them for high school. TI is holding school boards hostage.
>>12106445I don't know shit about the TI, I always concentrated on the C64. We used Apple IIs in school. I never heard of this thing until I got the Internet in 1998 (and was 20 lol)
>>12112832>Even when they were new, graphing calculators always seemed useless to me.Even if you're only talking about the 84+ that's over two decades of humiliating ignorance.
>>12113261Not him but lol no it's not. Graphing calculators are useless garbage.The only reason they exist is to extract money from students who are forced to buy them. No actual engineer or scientist ever needs to graph an analytic function, and when they do it's in the context of a big project that calls for Matlab or equivalent and would be done on a computer any time in the last 40 years.Back when people actually used calculators, they were featureful, programmable, but almost never graphing. The calculators of that era like the HP calcs are still looked upon fondly because they were designed for real world use by professionals. Nobody gives a shit about the TI-84+ whose only feature is useless graphing and intentionally limited features so that you are allowed to use it on exams.
Why did Texas get their own instruments?
>>12113280>Not himExceptionally low quality troll. Everyone knows that angsty little contrarians like you and anon are they/thems.>My mind is useless garbageGarbage is far too mild a term to describe such feeble intellect. Imagine coming to a board for discussing old video games and utterly humiliating yourself by ranting about a subject you know nothing about. I can't tell if you're actually that stupid of just masochistic.
>>12113712>insanityDamn. As the spam storm shows us, there are some FREAKS on this board.
>>12113651They were too special to use General Instrument like everybody else.
Does anyone remember a text-based d&d game for this system where a priest would give you last rites?
>>12106445Never had one, really love TI Invaders. Probably my favourite Space Invaders-like game.Gonna try Tunnels of Doom someday.
>>12113712You sound like a faggot
>>12114948I never really cared for basic space invaders, but something about TI Invaders felt very satisfying.
