EEVblog #1111 - World's First Microcontroller & Electronic Game

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A look at one of the world's first handheld electronics games, the classic 1978 Parker Brother game Merlin The Electronic Wizard.
It just so happens to use the world's first microcontroller, the 4 bit Texas Instruments TMS1000
Some history and a teardown.

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I worked in the IC department at Texas Instruments that developed the TMS1000 from 1980-1983. This was one of TI's best selling devices and we were always in the process of designing new versions. It was an amazing design in regard to getting the most with the fewest transistors. One unique thing about the TMS1000 processor was the program counter. Rather than having a normal up counter, they used a pseudo random number generator which can be made with a simple shift register and a single exclusive OR gate. By tapping two points of the shift register into the inputs of the exclusive OR gate and feeding that back into the first shift latch the circuit would generate a repeating sequence of what appeared as random numbers. This circuit was extremely simple and required far fewer transistors than a standard counter, but it resulted in instructions being what appeared as random locations in memory. A normal counter will count in order from 0 to 2 raised to the power equal to the number of registers in the counter. A pseudo-random number generator will pass through all the numbers between 1 and 2 raised to the power equal to the number of latches in the shift register without repeating any number in what appears to be a random order until all numbers (except zero) have been passed. Because the Pseudo-random number can never output a zero it will always repeat one cycle sooner than a standard counter. This meant that each line of machine code could not be place in sequence in memory but scattered randomly throughout the memory making hand coding almost impossible. Because the pseudo-random sequence is the same each time (meaning it is not truly random) TI built into the macro assembler they provided with the product a converter that let the program code like a normal machine with conventional sequential addresses. Once the code was written, the assembler would lookup from a table and modified the written code locations to match actual pseudo-random locations.

tsites

I still have mine! This was probably the first electronic gadget I ever opened up to see how it worked. I remember being surprised that there was just a single chip in there, and I could not figure out how they could have fit all those games in that tiny, plastic block.

peterweingartner

I love when you put out videos that have some research put into them and extra text added in editing as you find out more information.
I remember having trouble with those buttons when I was little.

dentakuweb

I really wanted a Merlin when I was a kid. But alas it was not to be.

bigclivedotcom

Small speakers are only possible because of rare-earth magnetics, and the Nd magnet was about a 1980 invention (that has quietly changed the world)

Boffin

I was totally obsessed with Magic Square! That game has never been duplicated again to my knowledge. I would love to find another one. Great video!

buddyclem

These were a huge cash cow for TI who supplied both the microcontroller and the LEDs. Reportedly there were more LEDs used in the production of the Merlin than in every product orderrd by the US DoD during it's production run.

douro

I received one of those around 81-83 from Santa. I enjoyed it for a few years before it succumbed to leaky batteries and finally, The Screwdriver.

BlackWolf-

LOL, I was cleaning the basement for new construction and found this exact toy of mine in a box hidden away for decades.... IT STILL WORKS... now Dave does a blog on one. How awesome is that? Good thing they are not FLASH memory, or probably would not work.

gavincurtis

Begged for one for Christmas, and still have it. Not sure my parents would be pleased that it taught me blackjack.

WanJae

Holy crap this takes me back. I played the hell out my Merlin many many years ago.

I just realized by how familiar this looks that I ripped my apart a few times as a kid.

darikdatta

Holy moly I must have been a lucky kid having one, The program I loved was the music sequencer, you could even program the rests. Man your awesome for posting this.

NeilVanceNeilVance

Most early games went through batteries. Spent many an hour adding power supplies to handheld games. Most of the time it was soldering iron to make hole in battery cover, knotted wire strain, and Lincoln logs used for spacers with brass tacks to hold the wires.

Fast and easy for a 14 year old...

Atlantechvision

I had one of those Merlin games. I believe the Intel 4004 went on the market in 1971 followed by the 8008 in 1973. One source I looked at said that the TMS1000 was developed in 1971 but was not commercially available until 1974. I designed my first project using a microcontroller, the Signetics 2650, in 1976. None of this really matters to your video, but "who's first" is always interesting.
*NOTE:* Watching the rest of your video, I stand corrected. The 4004 did require quite a few support chips, including RAM & ROM. The TMS1000 was a complete single chip microcontroller. You make a good point about how this made very inexpensive electronic devices possible.

RobertShaverOfAustin