BSS 01

The BSS 01 (short for Bildschirmspiel 01, meaning Screen Game 01 or Video Screen Game 01), also known as RFT TV-Spiel or simply TV-Spiel, is a dedicated first-generation home video game console that was released in 1980 or 1981 only in East Germany. It was manufactured between 1979 and 1980 by VEB Halbleiterwerk Frankfurt (Oder) and is credited the only video game console that was released in East Germany. Due to its high price, it rarely succeeded in private households and mostly delivered to youth centers, leisure and educational institutions. The console spawned various versions depending on the material stock. A successor was planned, but not released. The BSS 01 has a width of 32.5 cm, a height of 5.5 cm, a depth of 17.5 cm and a mass of 1.3 or 1.5 kg. It is based on the AY-3-8500-7 chipset from General Instrument. The sound is played through an internal mono speaker (model ARZ 090), rather than the TV set. The output was black-and-white via the TV's RF port on channel 3 (VHF). Power was supplied to the BSS 01 via a power cord with 220 V, 2 W and 75 Ohm. There are two columns of mechanical buttons on the console, with which you can make various game settings such as deflection angle, ball speed, club size, ball throw and zero position (right column), and the console can be switched on and off and the games can be selected (left column). There are different colored versions of the BSS 01. Depending on the current material stock, the plastic colors of the console could differ slightly from each other, for example, in the housing color (white or black), the paddles (white, gray or black) or used on the right buttons (orange, red, yellow or black). However, the buttons on the left side are always black and the on/off switch on the top right is always red.