Beating the Black and White RCA Studio II system in the race to release a new cartridge based video game console, this 1976 console is the first system to use ROM chips to store programs thanks to Engineer and hardware enthusiast Jerry Lawson, who also product tested other hardware for the system such as its unique controllers with twist, pull and push buttons.

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While eclipsed shortly after by the Atari 2600 (VCS), the Fairchild Channel F provided many firsts in home video games - including colour, ROM Cartridges, RAM, built in system games and many more.

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Its F8 8-bit processing chip was utilised in the system to market its capability. It later featured in electronic games for the next decade, particularly in electronic Chess systems that were popular for the time.

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Today, a small group of enthusiasts continue to develop new games for the system, some of which receive a physical release playable on real systems.