Company:CBS Electronics

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Short description: Video game division of CBS


CBS Electronics, initially named CBS Video Games, was a division of Gabriel Industries, the toy division of the television network CBS. It was formed in 1982 to sell video games for the Atari 2600. It was later merged with CBS Software, initially a separate division of the company dedicated to home computer software. Many of the company's titles were licensed ports of arcade games by Bally Midway, who development many of these ports internally with assistance from Roklan Software. The company also published titles from K-Byte, such as K-Razy Shoot-Out and Mountain King, and distributed the ColecoVision and its games in Europe. American Football personality John Madden was signed on as a spokesperson for the division.

CBS Electronics was initialled directed by Robert Hunter, a 28 year old vice president who managed a small development team in Stafford, Connecticut. In addition to video games such as Gorf, Wizard of Wor, and Tunnel Runner, the team also developed hardware such as the RAM Plus chip that expanded the RAM capacity of the Atari 2600. The company was abruptly shuttered at the end of 1983 due to the video game crash of 1983. The remains were merged with CBS Software which continued to publish games up through 1985. CBS Software focused on educational and productivity software, in addition to games based on Sesame Street and Dr. Seuss.

History

In 1982, a 28 year old CBS employee named Robert Hunter was put in charge of a new video game division of Gabriel Industries, the toy division of CBS. Hunter was a graduate of MIT and had been an employee of CBS for eight years.[1] According to CBS Electronics programmer, Stuart Ross, Hunter's claim to fame was signing the rock band Journey to Colombia Records, owned by CBS at the time.[2] CBS Colombia Group president Thomas Kerwin pushed Hunter to try to "figure out ways for CBS to distribute its computer-based information." Kerwin helped Hunter establish this new division, named CBS Video Games, which began developing video games for the Atari 2600.[1] Former American football coach John Madden became a spokesperson for the project.[1]

By August 1982, CBS had announced the creation of this new division as well as a licensing agreement with the arcade manufacturer Bally Midway. CBS promised to publish ports of its arcade games including Gorf and Wizard of Wor which were planned for launch by Christmas.[3] These games had previously been licensed to Astrocade, the company distributing Bally's original home console, who's license expired right before their own versions were released for that console.[4]

Game development

According to Ross, the development group, which had previously developed electronic toys, was headed by Trevor Marshall and based out of Stafford, Connecticut. At its peak it had 25 employees.[2] Ross helped direct the development of CBS's initial ports, which were developed internally at Bally Midway with assistance from Roklan Software, according to then Midway programmer Bob Curtiss.[5] On August 12th 1982, CBS also announced a distribution partnership with K-Byte, a software developer responsible for K-Razy Shoot-Out and later Mountain King.[6]

At Winter CES 1983, CBS announced Blue Print, Solar Fox, and another game called Stomp It which never released.[7] They also announced development on two internally developed games, Tunnel Runner and Wings.[8] These two games were developed by CBS employees Dick Balaska and Stuart Ross respectively.[2] They were based around a new cartridge design featuring the RAM Plus chip,[1] which improved game visuals by providing 256 bytes of additional RAM for the Atari 2600 to use.[9]

Name change

In mid 1983, CBS Video Games changed its name to CBS Electronics and announced it would be publishing for both consoles and home computers. CBS Software, which was already publishing computer games would instead focus exclusively on educational and non-game software.[10] Robert Hunter was also replaced by Richard Baumbusch (a former marketing director at Mattel) as vice president, which CBS representatives claimed was not a demotion, claiming Hunter was a "start-up man...and his leaving is all according to plan."[11]

CBS Electronics also published ports of their games for other platforms. CBS served as the international distributor for Coleco,[12] distributing the ColecoVision and its games in Europe.[13] In addition at Summer CES 1983, eight Intellivision games were announced as well as five Atari 5200 games.[14] Their final Bally Midway title was Omega Race, which came with joystick adapter called the Booster Grip which provides a second fire button.[15]

Fate

Following Omega Race's release in December 1983 and facing losses due to the video game crash of 1983, CBS announced that it was "repositioning" the CBS Electronics staff and all new console game development would cease.[16] CBS Electronics became a part of CBS Software which continued to publish software for a few more years.[17] According to Stuart Ross, the entire team was laid off all at once and restrained in a room with security guards while their offices were locked to prevent sabotage.[2]

CBS Software

Initially created as a separate division from CBS Video Games, CBS Software was dedicated to home computer software. It was associated with the educational and professional publishing division of CBS.[10] They initially published many titles by K-Byte and Bally Midway.[18] They also panned to release titles in four other categories: Education, Enrichment, Entertainment, and Home Management.[7] CBS Software published a number of educational games using Sesame Street and Dr. Suess characters.

Games

Released by CBS Electronics

Title Designer Developer Release Date[19] Platforms Template:Ref.
Blue Print 1983 Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Commodore 64
Gorf Alex Leavens Bally Midway 1982 Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, VIC-20
K-Razy Shoot-Out K-Byte 1983[lower-alpha 1] Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200
Mountain King K-Byte 1983 Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Coleco Adam, Commodore 64, VIC-20
Omega Race 1983 Atari 2600, ColecoVision
Solar Fox Bob Curtiss Bally Midway 1983 Atari 2600
Tunnel Runner Dick Balaska CBS 1983 Atari 2600
Wizard of Wor Roklan 1982 Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

Notes

  1. ↑ Atari 5200 release date. Computer version released in 1981.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Trakin, Roy (July 1983). "Video Games Interview: Robert L. Hunter". Video Games (Pumpkin Press) 1 (10): 24-29. ISSN 0733-6780. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/dc53451f-0bea-4f80-aea5-fdb1e61f1eac. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ross, Stuart (2004). "Stuart Ross". Atari Compendium (Interview). Interviewed by Stilphen, Scott. Retrieved October 1, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Entertainment Giant Enters Videogamedom". Arcade Express (Reese Publishing) 1 (2): 2. August 30, 1982. ISSN 0733-6039. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/080d7a07-03df-4516-88c2-1d5fcaedd8bf. 
  4. ↑ "Trouble for Astrocade". Videogaming Illustrated (Ion International) (4): 7. February 1983. ISSN 0739-4373. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/e547a9b7-3032-4317-8859-940d1dc4df24. 
  5. ↑ Curtiss, Bob (2020). "Bob Curtiss". Atari Compendium (Interview). Interviewed by Stilphen, Scott. Retrieved October 1, 2026.
  6. ↑ "CBS to Market K-Byte Games". Arcade Express (Reese Publishing) 1 (3): 1. September 12, 1982. ISSN 0733-6039. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/ee43b51d-f3e3-4b31-822b-45c4e45a5734. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "CBS Electronics". The Video Game Update 1 (10): 4. January 1983. ISSN 0890-2143. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/43d492b2-6526-4dfc-88fa-f11e24824455. 
  8. ↑ "CBS Games". The Video Game Update 1 (11): 5. February 1983. ISSN 0890-2143. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/bdea2ede-676f-4319-8fdc-8d9602e3ee7a. 
  9. ↑ Abbagnaro, Lou (July 1983). "The 2600". Videogaming and Computer Gaming Illustrated (Ion International) (7): 75. ISSN 0739-4373. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/57ba6bdc-4c49-44d2-b876-4d927148f143. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "CBS Changes Moniker". Arcade Express (Reese Publishing) 1 (22): 1. June 5, 1983. ISSN 0733-6039. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/2d1d9db9-d9c5-4ea3-826f-def6fab01c05. 
  11. ↑ "Nybbles". Videogaming and Computer Gaming Illustrated (Ion International) (9): 5. September 1983. ISSN 0739-4373. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/d6425021-96b2-490c-a88d-fecceb06384b. 
  12. ↑ Trakin, Roy (June 1983). "Video Games Interview: Arnold C. Greenberg". Video Games (Pumpkin Press) 1 (9): 22. ISSN 0733-6780. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/a2cf0d12-2f72-4ad9-8ed1-5226a2d8c573. 
  13. ↑ "CBS ColecoVision". TV Gamer (UK: Boytonbrook) (2): 12-16. September 1983. https://archive.org/details/TV_Gamer_1983-09_Boytonbrook_GB. 
  14. ↑ "CBS Unveils Line". Arcade Express (Reese Publishing) 1 (24): 3. July 3, 1983. ISSN 0733-6039. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/9d563ef9-8957-40c2-ad36-b5102de63fc1. 
  15. ↑ "Omega Race". The Video Game Update 2 (9): 130. December 1983. ISSN 0890-2143. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/1010e54e-fbe1-47aa-aca5-f043cf2153a4. 
  16. ↑ "Shake-Ups Continue". The Video Game Update 2 (9): 130. December 1983. ISSN 0890-2143. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/1010e54e-fbe1-47aa-aca5-f043cf2153a4. 
  17. ↑ "CBS Aims Exclusively at Computer Market". Electronic Games Hotline (Reese Publishing) 2 (13): 2. January 29, 1984. ISSN 0733-6039. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/80655b9c-70db-437e-bee8-7e460e67e904. 
  18. ↑ "CBS Plans New Computer Games". Arcade Express (Reese Publishing) 1 (10): 4. December 19, 1982. ISSN 0733-6039. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/34e0b9ba-ad82-4b16-afb3-e01eb6f61e10. 
  19. ↑ "Atari VCS game release dates". 2020. https://www.atariarchive.org/atari-vcs-game-release-dates. 

CBS Electronics commercial (featuring John Madden) - via YouTube

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