Tag Archives: 1983

Cefucom 21 is an educational, electro-mechanical multimedia computer from Japan, 1983. Or a “multipurpose SLAP computer”, as they call it. While it looks like a screen on the left, that is actually just transparent plastic. Inside, you put “capsules” with pages, and the computer controls which page is displayed. The cassette player is used for playing audio, and for data storage.

Cefucom seems to be based on Sanyo’s PHC-25 that has a 32×16 or 16×16 textmode, so you can have a big font to display Japanese characters decently.

More: here, here, here, here.

Computer Poetry by Silvestre Pestana, consists of three poems. Computer Poetry To: E. Melo e Castro (ZX81, 1981), Computer Poetry To: Henry Chopin (ZX81, 1981), Computer Poetry To: Julian Beck (ZX Spectrum, 1983).

Here is the third one in action, running on a ZX Spectrum emulator, courtesy of oficinastk.

The work was also featured in a more recent exhibition by the artist (techno-form, 2016).

Read more here.

The font of the portable TRS-80 Model 100 (1983).

WarGames (1983) uses what looks like a custom font to display thermonuclear text mode graphics. It was made on a CompuPro 8/16, although an IMSAI 8080 is used in the movie (apparently for sale for $25,000). Read more, see more.

PETSCII comic from 1983, made on a Vic-20. “The first Finnish comic made on a computer”. Published in Sarjari, issue 9, 1983. Posted by Skrolli here, h/t Markku Reunanen.

Kawasaki Synthesizer for C64, made by the Japanese jazz musician Ryo Kawasaki in 1983. Graphics partly made in petscii.

The Galaksija computer and the graphics part of its character set. Designed by Voja Antonic in Yugoslavia, 1983. Screenshots from games and an adaptation of the classic Dancing Demon animation.

Also check µGalaksija, a single-chip remake of the Galaksija.

La plissure du texte by Roy Ascott, 1983. A twelve-day project with artists in North America, Europe and Australia collaborating through the ARTEX network. Each participant took the role of a fairy tale character to create the story together.

ザ・ポーカー †, poker game for MZ-700 (1983)

AUTOCRACY (1983) by BASIC HOUSE, a game for MZ-700 in Hu-BASIC.