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Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| CBS Electronics | |
|---|---|
 Corporate logo | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Defunct | 1983 |
| Successor | CBS Software |
| Headquarters | Connecticut, United States |
| Key people | Robert Hunter Richard Baumbusch |
| Products | Mountain King Tunnel Runner Wizard of Wor |
| Owner | Gabriel Industries |
Number of employees | 25 |
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.
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]
According to Ross, the development group, which had previously developed electronic toys, was headed by Trevor Marshall and based out of 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]
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 the United States, Gorf, Omega Race, and Wizard of Wor were published for the ColecoVision by Coleco themselves. 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]
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]
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.
| Title | Developer | Release Date[19] | Platforms | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Print | July 1983 | Atari 2600, Atari 5200 | ||
| Gorf | Bally Midway | December 1982 | Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600, Atari 5200 | |
| K-Razy Shoot-Out | K-Byte | October 1983[a] | Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200 | |
| Mountain King | K-Byte | June 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600, Atari 5200 | |
| Omega Race | December 1983 | Atari 2600 | ||
| Solar Fox | Bally Midway | July 1983 | Atari 2600 | |
| Tunnel Runner | CBS | December 1983 | Atari 2600 | |
| Wizard of Wor | Roklan | December 1982 | Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit |
| Title | Developer | Copyright | Platforms | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adventure Master | Christopher Chance | 1984 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS | |
| America: Coast to Coast | Neosoft | 1984 | Apple II, Commodore 64 | |
| The Argos Expedition | Children's Computer Workshop | 1984 | Commodore 64 | |
| Astro-Grover | Children's Computer Workshop | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| Big Bird's Funhouse | Children's Computer Workshop | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| Big Bird's Special Delivery | Children's Computer Workshop | 1983 | Atari 8-bit | |
| The Body in Focus | Neosoft | 1985 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS | |
| Boulders and Bombs | K-Byte | 1983 | Atari 8-bit | |
| Charles Goren: Learning Bridge Made Easy | Goren International | 1983 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS | |
| Coco-Notes | The Dovetail Group | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| Dinosaur Dig | Neosoft | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| Dr. Seuss' Fix-Up the Mix-Up Puzzler | Coleco | 1984 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| Ducks Ahoy! | Joyce Hakansson Associates | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| Ernie's Magic Shapes | Children's Computer Workshop | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS | |
| Ernie's Big Splash | Children's Computer Workshop | 1985 | Commodore 64 | |
| Fleet Feet | Children's Computer Workshop | 1984 | Commodore 64 | |
| Grover's Animal Adventures | Children's Computer Workshop | 1985 | Commodore 64 | |
| Halftime Battlin' Bands | The Dovetail Group | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| K-Razy Antiks | K-Byte | 1982 | Atari 8-bit, VIC-20 | |
| K-Razy Kritters | K-Byte | 1982 | Atari 8-bit | |
| K-Star Patrol | K-Byte | 1982 | Atari 8-bit, VIC-20 | |
| Light-Waves | Children's Computer Workshop | 1984 | Commodore 64 | |
| Match Wits | David Cooper | 1983 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS | |
| Math Mileage | K-Byte | 1984 | Atari 8-bit | |
| Movie Musical Madness | The Dovetail Group | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| Mystery Master: Felony! | BrainBank | 1984 | Apple II, Commodore 64 | |
| Mystery Master: Murder by the Dozen | BrainBank | 1983 | Apple II, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS-DOS | |
| Pathwords | Eon Software | 1984 | Apple II, Commodore 64 | |
| Peanut Butter Panic | Children's Computer Workshop | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| Quink | Ron Dubren and Associates | 1985 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS | |
| The Railroad Works | The Connelley Group | 1985 | Apple II, Commodore 64 | |
| Richard Scarry's Best Electronic Word Book Ever! | Coleco | 1984 | Apple II, Commodore 64 | |
| Sea Horse Hide'n Seek | Joyce Hakansson Associates | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| The Sea Voyagers | Neosoft | 1984 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS | |
| Sesame Street: Letter-Go-Round | Children's Computer Workshop | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 | |
| T.rex: The Dinosaur Survival Adventure | Keron Productions | 1984 | Apple II | |
| Timebound | Children's Computer Workshop | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS | |
| Weather Tamers | Children's Computer Workshop | 1984 | Commodore 64 | |
| Webster: The Word Game | Heuristic Software | 1983 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS |
| Title[20] | Release Date[21] | Platforms[20] | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park | 1984 | ColecoVision | |
| Carnival | Q2 1983 | Colecovision, Atari 2600, Intellivision | |
| Cosmic Avenger | Q2 1983 | ColecoVision | |
| Donkey Kong | Q2 1983 | ColecoVision, Atari 2600, Intellivision | |
| Donkey Kong Junior | Q2 1983 | ColecoVision | |
| Frenzy | 1984 | ColecoVision | |
| Gorf | Q4 1983 | ColecoVision | |
| Lady Bug | Q2 1983 | ColecoVision, Intellivision | |
| Looping | Q4 1983 | ColecoVision | |
| Mouse Trap | Q2 1983 | ColecoVision, Atari 2600, Intellivision | |
| Pepper II | Q4 1983 | ColecoVision | |
| Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle | Q2 1983 | ColecoVision, Atari 2600 | |
| Space Fury | Q4 1983 | ColecoVision | |
| Space Panic | Q4 1983 | ColecoVision | |
| SubRoc | 1984 | ColecoVision | |
| Time Pilot | 1984 | ColecoVision | |
| Turbo | Q2 1983 | ColecoVision | |
| Venture | Q2 1983 | ColecoVision, Atari 2600, Intellivision | |
| Zaxxon | Q2 1983 | ColecoVision, Intellivision | |
| Wizard of Wor | Q4 1983 | ColecoVision |
CBS Electronics commercial (featuring John Madden) - via YouTube
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
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.
The ColecoVision is a second-generation home video game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released later in July 1983 in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer experience to more powerful arcade video games compared to competitors such as the Atari 2600 and Intellivision. The initial catalog of 12 games on ROM cartridge included the first home version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong as the pack-in game. Approximately 136 games were published for the ColecoVision between 1982 and 1984, including Sega's Zaxxon and some ports of lesser-known arcade games that found a larger audience on the console, such as Lady Bug, Cosmic Avenger, and Venture. Coleco released a series of hardware add-ons and special controllers to expand the capabilities of the console. "Expansion Module #1" allowed the system to play Atari 2600 cartridges. "Expansion Module #3", released some time later, converted the system into the Adam home computer, using the ColecoVision hardware primarily as a display system and handling joysticks. The resulting system ran all ColecoVision games as well as new software for the Adam. The ColecoVision was discontinued in 1985, when Coleco withdrew from the video game market. Coleco had already contemplated shifting focus to their successful Cabbage Patch Kids toy line after the costly failure of their Adam computer.
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in 1945. Through the early and mid-20th century, Westinghouse Electric was a powerhouse in heavy industry, electrical production and distribution, consumer electronics, home appliances and a wide variety of other products. They were a major supplier of generators and steam turbines for most of their history, and were also a major player in the field of nuclear power, starting with the Westinghouse Atom Smasher in 1937. A series of downturns and management missteps in the 1970s and 1980s combined with large cash balances led the company to enter the financial services business. Their focus was on mortgages, which suffered significant losses in the late 1980s. In 1992 they announced a major restructuring and the liquidation of their credit operations. In 1995, in a major change of direction, the company acquired the CBS television network and renamed itself CBS Corporation. Most of its remaining industrial businesses were sold off at this time. CBS Corp was acquired by Viacom in 1999, a merger completed in April 2000. The CBS Corporation name was later reused for one of the two companies resulting from the split of Viacom in 2005. One of the few remaining original lines of business to survive this process was the nuclear power division, which was sold to BNFL in 1999 and re-formed as Westinghouse Electric Company. Westinghouse Electric Corporation now owns the Westinghouse trademarks that were previously owned and licensed by Westinghouse Licensing Corporation, which was a subsidiary of ViacomCBS. As of 2026, Westinghouse Electric Corporation operates the website westinghouse.com/, and identifies itself as a producer of various products such as home and kitchen appliances, lighting products, televisions, electronics, HVAC systems, electric fireplaces, electric generators, nuclear power stations, pressure washers, and string trimmers.
CBS Broadcasting Inc. (CBS, an abbreviation of its original name, the Columbia Broadcasting System) is an American commercial broadcast television network and the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Skydance Corporation. It is one of Skydance's three flagship subsidiaries, along with Paramount Pictures and MTV. Founded in 1927 as a radio network, headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City and being part of the "Big Three" television networks, CBS has major production facilities and operations at the CBS Broadcast Center and One Astor Plaza in New York City, and Television City and the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. It is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, after the company's trademark symbol of an eye, which has been in use since October 20, 1951, and also the Tiffany Network, which alludes to the perceived high quality of its programming during the tenure of William S. Paley (and can also refer to some of CBS's first demonstrations of color television, which were held in the former Tiffany and Company Building in New York City in 1950).
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
