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Tom’s Hardware
Tom’s Hardware
Technology
Mark Tyson

Extremely rare East German game console from the late 1970s tested — only such device produced by communist GDR, bought for $1,000 at auction

Bildschirmspiel 01.

One of the rarest video game consoles ever made has been acquired and tested by YouTube docu-channel Fern. What you will see and hear about in the video embedded below is the Bildschirmspiel 01, or BSS 01 for short, produced in East Germany from 1979 to 1981. This is a basic gaming machine, offering only four Pong-like variants and monochrome graphics, played via a pair of tethered paddle controllers. Nevertheless, the rarity factor means this sample, one of just a handful thought to remain, costs around $1,000 to buy at auction.

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