The Astrocade is an early video game console and simple computer system designed by a team at Midway, the videogame division of Bally. Originally referred to as the Bally Home Library Computer, it was released in 1977 but available only through mail order. Delays in the production meant none of the units actually shipped until 1978, and by this time the machine had been renamed the Bally Professional Arcade. In this form it sold mostly at computer stores and had little retail exposure (unlike the Atari VCS).

In 1979 Bally grew less interested in the arcade market and decided to sell off their Consumer Products Division, including development and production of the game console.

By this point the unit had gathered a following of dedicated users who had learned of the power of the machine through its BASIC cartridge. A group of them arranged to buy the rights to the system from Bally, and set up in business as Astrovision. In 1981 they re-released the unit with the BASIC cartridge included for free, this time known as the Bally Computer System, and then changed the name again in 1982 to Astrocade. It sold under this name until the video game crash of 1983, and then disappeared around 1985.

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@cb60089 dude, you were so lucky. I had a Bally Astrocade. http://is.gd/5h4Ay But that's probably why I'm good at texting now.
JasonInNJ (Jason R) Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:34:22 -0000
@cb60089 dude, you were so lucky. I had a Bally Astrocade. http://is.gd/5h4Ay But that's probably why I'm good at texting now.

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