Atari Pokey C012294

This is the Atari IC "Pokey." C012294.  I really do not have enough to sell, but I have some.  It is, unfortunately, priced accordingly.

You will need an extra one for the TK-II-Stereo and/or 1088XEL/XLD if you are ordering separately.

The Pot Keyboard Integrated Circuit (POKEY)  is a digital I/O chip found in the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and many arcade games in the 1980s. It was commonly used to sample (ADC) potentiometers (such as game paddles) and scan matrices of switches (such as a computer keyboard). POKEY is also well known for its sound effect and music generation capabilities, producing a distinctive square wave sound popular among chip tune aficionados. The LSI chip has 40 pins and is identified as C012294. POKEY was designed by Atari employee Doug Neubauer, who also programmed the original Star Raiders.

Some of Atari's arcade systems use multi-core versions with 2 or 4 POKEY chips in a single package for more sound voices. The Atari 7800 allows a game cartridge to contain a POKEY, providing better sound than the system's audio chip. Only two games make use of this: the ports of Ballblazer and Commando.

The USPTO granted U.S. Patent 4,314,236 to Atari on February 2, 1982 for an "Apparatus for producing a plurality of audio sound effects".This referred to POKEY's sound generation abilities. The inventors listed were Steven T. Mayer and Ronald E. Milner.

No longer manufactured.