Tomy Tutor

Tomy Tutor

Manufacturer: Matsushita
Developer: Tomy
Memory: 16K RAM

The Tomy Tutor, originally sold in Japan as the Pyūta (ぴゅう太?) and in the UK as the Grandstand Tutor, is a home computer produced by the Japanese toymaker Tomy. It was architecturally similar, but not identical, to the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, and used a similar 16-bit CPU. The computer was launched on the UK and European markets in late 1983. Outside Japan, however, sales were not significant.

Produced by Matsushita, the machine was released in Japan in 1982 under the name of Tomy Pyūta.

Tomy described the Tutor, with 16K RAM, as good for games and education. The company stated that its documentation would let an eight-year-old child use the computer without adult supervision.

One of the major flaws pointed out with the Tutor was not its hardware, but its marketing: the Tutor was announced as a children's computer when in fact it was practically a cheap, evolved version of the TI-99/4A, even having a similar 16-bit CPU (the TMS 9995, closely related to the TI-99/4's TMS 9990);[1] other competitors in its price range still used 8-bit microprocessors.

The Tutor did not sell well against the ZX Spectrum in the UK and the Commodore 64 in other countries. It ended up being removed quickly from the market and replaced the following year by the Tomy Tutor MK II with a standard mechanical keyboard instead of the original "Chiclet"-style keyboard. However, the new model seems to have been sold only in Japan, and even then only for a short period of time.

The Pyūta Jr. was a console version of the Pyūta, and similarly was only sold in Japan.

Latest Releases on Tomy Tutor

Turpin

Turpin

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 004E, released in 1982.

Tron

Tron

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 018E, released in 1983.

Triple Command

Triple Command

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 022E, released in 1984.

Traffic Jam

Traffic Jam

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 010E, released in 1982. US version also named Traffic Jam.

Super Bike

Super Bike

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 023E, released in 1984.

Scramble

Scramble

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 006E, released in 1982.

Saurusland

Saurusland

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 003E, released in 1982.

Pooyan

Pooyan

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 014E, released in 1983.

Night Flight

Night Flight

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 007E, released in 1982.

Mystery Gold

Mystery Gold

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 011E, released in 1983.

Mr. Do!

Mr. Do!

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 019E, released in 1983.

Monster Inn

Monster Inn

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 002E, released in 1982.

Mission Attack

Mission Attack

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 009E, released in 1982.

Maze Patrol

Maze Patrol

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 017E, released in 1983.

Marine Adventure

Marine Adventure

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 008E, released in 1982. US version is Deep Six.

Jungler

Jungler

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 015E, released in 1983.

Guttang Gottong

Guttang Gottong

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 016E, released in 1983. US version is called Loco-Motion.

Frogger

Frogger

Japanese Tomy Pyuuta title, part number 005E, released in 1982.