The
Fairchild Channel F is a
home video game console released by
Fairchild Semiconductor in November 1976 at the retail price of $169.95. It has the distinction of being the first programmable
ROM cartridge–based
video game console, and the first console to use a
microprocessor. It was launched as the
Video Entertainment System, or
VES, but when
Atari released their
VCS the next year, Fairchild renamed its machine. By 1977, the Fairchild Channel F had sold 250,000 units and trailed behind the VCS.