Kiosk Multiplexer – Research and Video

[+Lathe26]

Kiosk Multiplexer

The electronic brains behind the large kiosk displays used in stores to sell Mattel Electronics’s Intellivision games and consoles.  This deep-dive video covers a lot of material.  
This video is the culmination over almost 1 year of research including dumping and disassembling the ROM code as well as working out the schematic.

 

 

Reverse Engineering documentation is located here:

Mattel Kiosk Multiplexer Reverse Engineering Notes - 2020-03-11.pdf

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UDeJS-M6uQRu5MVHvmfKoLmsXHp4RZuBjOPrJtoSaD4/edit?usp=sharing

 

The schematic has been worked out.
Kiosk Multiplexer Schematic v2.pdf

 

Here is some of the reference material used is the research:

• “Intellivision Store Display” video by Trade-N-Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oJyhXORYpc
• “Mattel Intellivision Kiosk Demonstration” video by cylonrdr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW4O57cOiuQ
• Papa Intellivision main site: https://papaintellivision.com
• Papa Intellivision document that briefly mentions POP hardware: https://papaintellivision.com/pdfs/CCF10232011_00026.pdf

 

I would like thank @intvnut, @decle, and the owner of the Rev B Kiosk Multiplexer for their help in this project.

 

Mattel Kiosk Multiplexer Reverse Engineering Notes - 2020-03-07.pdf

Kiosk Pre-1982 ROM and Disassembly.zip

[JasonlikesINTV]

Interesting watch and informative video!  I have a quick question unrelated to the kiosk multiplexer.  What's with the Night Stalker test cart.  Are they floating around with that label or was it just another revision and the labeling was your doing?

[+Lathe26]

2 hours ago, JasonlikesINTV said:

Interesting watch and informative video!  I have a quick question unrelated to the kiosk multiplexer.  What's with the Night Stalker test cart.  Are they floating around with that label or was it just another revision and the labeling was your doing?

I get the feeling that the Night Stalker test cartridge might have been a one-off, possibly by Mattel considering where I got it from.  The solder work on the two chips looks different.  The plastic shell is the screw-less kind, but the bottom panel was loose and inside there are two types of glue: original and hot glue.  There is are photos in the below forum thread.

 

 

[JasonlikesINTV]

So there's like a zero chance I have a Night Stalker that's actually a test cartridge in disguise?

[+Lathe26]

59 minutes ago, JasonlikesINTV said:

So there's like a zero chance I have a Night Stalker that's actually a test cartridge in disguise?

I'd be surprised if there was a another V3+Night Stalker around (what was demoed in the video).  I'm sure there are a handful V4.1+Night Stalkers already out there but I have no idea what cartridges they come in.

[Ron The Cat]

Excellent video , both in it’s content and presentation 

[Intymike]

Awesome video!

[decle]

 

lathe26.rom

[mthompson]

Very interesting! Thanks for doing all that work and making the video.

[+Lathe26]

Minor update: the Reverse Engineering document was updated to clarify the behavior of each Demonstration cart.

 

"All demo carts were tested.  The earlier 1978 (blue) and 1979 (red) carts work properly but the later 1983 (green) and International (INT’L, 1982) carts crash because they exceed the 8K decle size limit.  Further, when plugged into slots 1, 2, or 11, the earlier two demo carts prevent the Intellivoice from functioning (ex: can say "Mattel Electronics presents" but not the game’s name) but the later two demo carts don’t interfere with the Intellivoice."

 

The PDF in the original was updated to a new version.

[+Lathe26]

Added the ROM and a commented disassembly file.

[decle]

Hey all, I hope you're staying safe in these unusual times.  

 

I've put together an update of the Kiosk ROM packaging script that enables us to bundle together the Intellivision Kiosk Multiplexer firmware and up to 11 Intellivsion game ROMs into a single mega ROM.  This can be played in an emulator like JzIntv, or on the LTO Flash, and simulates most of the behaviour of an Intellivision in-store kiosk.  Although I've done something like this before, this version is better because it uses the actual firmware ROM found in the kiosk units, so its behaviour is much more accurate.

 

Obviously this builds on the work of @Lathe26, so a big hat-tip to him.

 

 

You can find a copy of the script and a README with instructions for its use here:

 

kiosk.zip

Any problems or questions give me a shout.  In the mean time, let's be careful out in there.

Cheers

decle

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by decle
Small fix to the README