RCA Studio II Video Game Console

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RCA Studio II

Intro to the Studio II

I love a good yard sale and was pretty excited to find this RCA Studio II in it's box with the manual. This is one of the first Generation 2 consoles - it came out just prior to the Atari 2600 and had five built-in games as well as a cartridge slot - that didn't see too many game releases. The controllers are built into the unit.

Studio II - Technical Specifications

The RCA Studio II is a video game console made by RCA that debuted in January 1977. The graphics of Studio II games were black and white and resembled those of earlier Pong consoles and their clones. The Studio II also did not have joysticks or similar game controllers but instead used two ten button keypads that were built into the console itself. This made two player games difficult because the players would be forced to hold the console and sit extremely close. The console was capable of making simple beep sounds with slight variations in tone and length.

One distinct feature of the Studio II was its five built-in games. Another was its use of a switchbox that relayed both the modulated RF signal of the console's video to the television set while powering the console with DC power. This type of switchbox would not be seen again until the Atari 5200.


Images of RCA's Studio II

RCA Studio II box
RCA Studio II game console
RCA Studio II cartridge slot
RCA Studio II RF box

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