In January 1978, Bally and Dave Nutting Associates debuted the Professional Arcade, a considerably powerful home video game system designed for computer expandability. For a myriad of reasons the system struggled to find an audience in the marketplace, with Bally licensing it out to Astrovision (later Astrocade) in 1980, which similarly faced problems growing its market share until the North American video game crash occurred. Despite this, the Professional Arcade did gain a diehard enthusiast base that filled in the game of corporate support with hundreds of user-made programs and games, new hardware, and newsletters. This is the story of the Professional Arcade - a minor blip in the broader tale of early video game history, but one with a unique, fascinating story in its own right.