History of video games/Print version/Third Generation of Video Game Consoles

Third generation of video game consoles

Trends

Improved hardware

By this point home console graphics became more capable, and were able to more easily represent characters and believable locations with colorful 2D graphics. Music began to take a bigger role in home game consoles.While consoles were still limited in their audio capabilities, many classic game soundtracks have their origins in this generation.

By this point, most home consoles contained most of their computer hardware in the console itself rather than in the cartridges, allowing for cheaper cartridges to be made. This freed up resources to either make cheaper cartridges, or to place enhancements in cartridges such as specialty chips that enhanced features such as audio. This generation also saw increased adoption of save game functionality, which was typically achieved with battery backed RAM located on the cartridge. Still, many games required gamers to save their progress by writing down a password which indicated their progress, and then re entering it when loading the game, which was a tedious endeavor.

VHS consoles

A few companies attempted to leverage the audio visual capabilities of Video Home System (VHS) analog cassettes to improve the gaming experience, though no VHS consoles saw huge levels of success. By the fourth generation, companies pursing the same strategy would elect for the digital focused CD-ROM drives instead, though it would take till the fifth generation to see successful game consoles capable of full motion video.

References

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  The Action Max system with headphones, light gun, and red light.

History

Development

The Action Max was developed by Worlds of Wonder, a company founded by former Atari Employees who helped Nintendo distribute the NES in America.

Launch

Action Max logotype.

Worlds of Wonder had a limited launch of the Action Max in 1987. The system was a poor seller due to needing a VCR, and unable to bail out the company from it's massive debts. Worlds of Wonder went bankrupt in 1988, with many employees going on to join Nintendo.

Technology

The Action Max ran lightgun games off of VHS tapes. A small seven segment display on the unit displayed the player score.

Compute

The Action Max CPU is an an 8-bit Hitachi HD401010 clocked at 4MHz. The Action Max has 32 bytes of RAM.

Notable games

Five games were released for the Action Max.

• The Rescue of Pops Ghostly
• Blue Thunder - Based on the film
• Hydrosub: 2021
• Sonic Fury - Pack in game
• .38 Ambush Alley

Gallery

Console

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  Headphone and light gun jacks are located on the console front.
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  Switches, dials, and the segmented display are on the top of the unit. Note that the top is not smooth, but slightly textured.
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  Rear IO ports are on the back of the console.
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  The power jack is in the bottom right.

Accessories

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  The Action Max gun controller. Note the lack of an orange tip on the barrel or other indicators to clearly indicate that this is not a real firearm.
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  This red light was used to indicate successful hits.
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  Action Max Stereo Headphones.
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  Sonic Fury PAL VHS tape for Action Max.

Internals

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  Much of the console internals are empty.
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  Action Max has a main board and two daughterboards, as well as an internal speaker.
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  The casing top is spartan.
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  A ring is used to hold the speaker.
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  The motherboard bottom.
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  The motherboard top, with a two character 7 segment display.
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  Note the custom WOW chip, as well as the large number of discrete components compared to integrated circuits.

References

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  An Amstrad GX4000 with Controller.

History

Launch

Bring the whole arcade into your home.

—Tagline for the Amstrad GX4000, The Game Show

The Amstrad GX4000 was launched in 1990 as a console version of the Amstrad CPC series of 8-bit computers that cost $150 at launch. The console was to have a 15 million British pound marketing campaign.

Legacy

The console did not sell well, and retailers tried to unload stock by selling the GX4000 as a price as low as $30. The console is often said to have sold about 15,000 units, though some sources give sales figures for the console as high as 150,000 units. The Amstrad GX4000 was discontinued in 1991.

Technology

The included Amstrad GX4000 power supply is very temperamental and is notorious for destroying the GX4000 when used.

Compute

The Amstrad GX4000 used a 8-Bit Z80A CPU clocked at 4MHz. The system was capable of about 0.58 million instructions per second (MIPS).

The GX4000 has 64 kilobytes of RAM and 16 kilobytes of video RAM.

Hardware

The Amstrad GX4000 uses a General Instrument AY-3-8912 chip for audio. Though General Instrument was once a major supplier of chips in the first consoles, the GX4000 is a notable late use of such chips, owing to it's 1980's computer heritage.

The GX4000 Power Supply is among the most notorious official power supplies in any console, as it's use typically results in the console being destroyed due to it's exceptionally poor quality.

Notable games

27 cartridges were produced for the GX4000.

Gallery

Amstrad GX4000

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Controller

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  The beige controller features a design similar to that of the Nintendo Entertainment System, consisting of a direction shield, a red "A" button, and a red "B" button. The classic Amstrad logo is printed in color is on the center of the controller. Notably however, there is no start or select button.
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  Though the controller is mostly square, corners have been softened, especially on the bottom right and left, likely for ergonomic reasons.
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  The controller cable connects at the back of the controller. A ridged protective protrusion encloses the cable near the base, preventing extreme flexing of the cable at the mounting point.
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  The bottom of the controller contains holes to access 5 Philips head screws.

Internals

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  Amstrad GX4000 motherboard from the front left.
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  Amstrad GX4000 motherboard from the front right.
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  Amstrad GX4000 motherboard from the back left.
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  Amstrad GX4000 motherboard from the back right.
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  Amstrad GX4000 motherboard from the top.
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  Amstrad GX4000 motherboard from the bottom.
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  The casing bottom.
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  The casing top.
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  The controller interior.
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  The controller interior.

References

• 
  An Atari 7800 ProSystem with controller.

History

Development

The system was initially known as the Atari 3600, with some prototype consoles bearing this marking.

Launch

Atari 7800 logotype.

The Atari 7800 was announced in 1984, mothballed despite being ready for launch for two years following losses Atari sustained during the crash of 1983, and launched in 1986. The system cost $140 on launch.

Legacy

The Atari 7800 was discontinued in 1992. 3.77 million Atari 7800 consoles were sold, with its peak sales year being 1988.

The system is well regarded for it's clean yet techie design aesthetic.

The Atari 7800 was meant to be followed by the Atari Panther, though was instead followed by the Atari Jaguar.

Games

The Atari 7800 is backwards compatible with the Atari 2600.

Technology

Compute

The Atari 7800 uses an 8-bit Atari "Sally" (MOS 6502c) CPU clocked at 1.79 megahertz.

The 7800 has 4 kilobytes of RAM.

The Atari 7800 used a "Tia Maria" chip for graphics. This chip allowed for the 7800 to display nearly 100 sprites.

Gallery

Console

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  An Atari 7800
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  An Atari 7800
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  An Atari 7800
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  An Atari 7800
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  European Atari 7800
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  European Atari 7800
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  European Atari 7800
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  European Atari 7800

Controller

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  The 7800 controller with thumbstick installed.
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  The 7800 controller without the thumbstick.
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  The controller had two buttons, 1 and 2.
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  The cable enters the controller on the top right side.
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  The back of the controller, with triangular textured area.
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  Controller connector.

Console Internals

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  Atari 7800 motherboard.
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  Atari 7800 motherboard.
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  Atari 7800 motherboard.
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  Atari 7800 motherboard.
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  Atari 7800 motherboard.
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  Atari 7800 motherboard.
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  Atari 7800 motherboard.
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  Atari 7800 motherboard.
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  A PAL motherboard.
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  A PAL motherboard.
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  A PAL motherboard.
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  A PAL motherboard.
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  A PAL motherboard featuring the official RGB mod for the French market used standoffs to securely separate it from the motherboard.
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  A PAL motherboard featuring the official RGB mod for the French market.

Notes

There are a number of popular sayings as to why the 7800 is named as such, including being (2600*3) or (2600+5200).

References

• 
  The Atari XEGS with keyboard and XG-1 lightgun attached.

History

The Atari XE Game System at the Helsinki Computer and Game Console Museum.

The Atari XEGS was released in 1987 at a cost of around $199.

At launch the XEGS often sold out, attracting users who were intimidated by the 8-bit computes the XEGS was based on. All 100,000 units manufactured at the time had sold during the US Christmas 1987 season. However Nintendo and Sega were already vastly ahead in the market and were spending millions on marketing, while Atari only spent $300,000 on marketing the XEGS.

Technology

Compute

The Atari XEGS is essentially an Atari 65XE computer.

The XEGS uses the 8 bit Atari 6502c CPU, a custom version of the MOS Technology 6502 clocked at 1.79 MHz.

The system has 64 kilobytes of RAM and 16 kilobytes of VRAM.

Notable games

See the List of Atari XEGS games on Wikipedia.

Gallery

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  XEGS Unit. From left to right buttons are labeled Power, Start, Select, Option, and Reset.
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  XEGS rear ports.
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  XEGS Keyboard. A prominent help button sits on top of the unit.
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  XG-1 lightgun.
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  Compatible Atari XE joystick.

References

The BBC Bridge companion with the Bridge Builder cartridge inserted.

History

Andrew Kambites was a programmer for the BBC Bridge Companion, and also programed the otherwise unrelated handheld Saitek Pro Bridge Professor.

The BBC Bridge companion was released in 1985 at a cost of 199.99 British pounds.

Technology

The BBC Bridge player uses a Z80A CPU and a TMS9129NL graphics chip. The system could output 8 colors and had spartan audio capabilities.

The system has 16 kilobytes of RAM.

Game library

Various bridge themed cartridges were released for the system.

• Advanced Bidding
• Advanced Defence
• Bridge Builder
• Club Play 1
• Club Play 2
• Club Play 3
• Conventions 1
• Duplicate 1
• Master Play 1

Gallery

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  The Bridge companion motherboard.
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  A traditional game of Bridge in progress. This popular game inspired the BBC Bridge Companion.

Notes

The BBC Bridge Companion is similar to the later Koei PasoGo, which was another cartridge based system which focused on a singular traditional game. Unlike the BBC Bridge Companion, the PasoGo was a handheld console, and focused on the game of Go.

External Resources

• BBC website
• BBC Bridge Companion page at the Video Game Console Library website
• BBC Bridge Companion page at the Video Game Kraken website
• BBC Bridge Companion page at the UK Centre for Computing History website

References

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  The Commodore 64 Games System with controller.

History

A Commodore 64GS powered on.

Development

The Commodore 64 Games System began a rushed development in spring of 1990 to address the unique needs of the European gaming market while Commodore prepared the C65, a planned successor to the popular C64.

It is estimated that the system cost around $40 to manufacture. A manufacturing issue required some early run cartridges made by Ocean to be manually drilled to fit the system.

Prior to launch hopes for the system were initially high for some, with the system being heavily touted on the very first issue of Commodore Format magazine. At CES 1990 the Commodore 64 Games System overshadowed the more capable Commodore CDTV at the Commodore booth, an sign of the faith the company placed in their system.

Launch

I think the C64 GS will be the number one product this year.

—Kelly Sumner, Marketing Manager of Commodore UK, Commodore Format

The Commodore 64 Games System was released in the UK in December of 1990 for 99.99 British pounds. At the time a typical bundle of a standard Commodore 64 and accessories cost around 149 British pounds, leading to many gamers opting for the more capable computer.

By Easter on March 31st, 1991, retailers attempted to get rid of the system, with some systems being sold for as little as 30 British pounds.

The system would also have a launch in Denmark in 1991, with similar results. A planned German launch was canceled.

Legacy

About 20,000 Commodore 64 Games Systems were sold, out of 80,000 total systems manufactured. Unsold consoles were parted for use in standard Commodore 64G computers.

The Commodore 64 Games System is often remembered as a cautionary tale, a potentially good system held back by extreme cost cutting and a lack of compatibility testing.

The Commodore 64 Games System is now often referred to as the Commodore 64 GS, or abbreviated as the C64GS. Interestingly, the shortened name used on the system itself, the C64 Games System, is rarely used by contemporary media.

Technology

The Commodore 64 Games System is essentially a regular Commodore 64, but with reduced ports and no keyboard built in. The system still used an 8-bit MOS 6510 CPU clocked at 0.985MHz, 64 kilobytes of RAM, and SID sound chip. The ROM included on the Commodore 64 Games System features slight alterations compared to a standard Commodore 64. It was hoped that by forcing gamers to load games from cartridges, the superior speed and anti-piracy characteristics of the format would help improve the standing of the Commodore 64 platform in the gaming market.

The default joystick shipped with the Commodore 64 Games System was the notoriously poor quality Cheetah Annihilator.

Notable games

The Commodore 64 Games System is technically compatible with every Commodore 64 game, though since most Commodore 64 games required the use of a keyboard which could not be added to the Games System, most Commodore 64 games could not actually be played on the GS. This incompatibility notably affected Terminator 2: Judgement Day, a game which was specifically advertised as compatible with the Commodore 64 Games System, yet unable to progress pass the title screen on it due to explicitly requiring keyboard input.

Gallery

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  The Commodore 64 GS.
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  The controller of the Commodore 64 GS.
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  The C64 Games System viewed from the top.
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  A system with a cartridge on top.
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  A Commodore 64 Games System with a cartridge protector installed.
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  A Turbo Chameleon 64 being used on a Commodore 64 GS. By the time this cartridge was released, the Commodore 64 GS was long off the market.

History

Launch

The Connor Videosmarts was launched in 1986 for between $45 and $50.

Videos for the Connor Videosmarts were made up to 1990.

Technology

The Conner Videosmarts uses standard VHS Tapes.

The Connor Videosmarts uses four C type batteries.

Notable games

A number of educational video cassettes were made for the Conner Videosmarts.

References

The Control Vision planned to leverage standard VHS tapes to create interactive games.

History

Development

The NEMO / Control-Vision is an unreleased console funded by Hasbro.

The console began development in 1985. Development was difficult because the idea of an interactive movie had not yet been perfected, and the film makers in charge of recording were unable to leverage tricks they could normally use to improve results in linear movies. An early prototype of the console was simply a modified ColecoVision. Hasbro refused to launch the product due to it's high price of $299 vastly overshooting Hasbro's goal of under $100, and pulled funding in 1988 two months before launch.

The console had been originally planned for launch in early 1989.

Legacy

Developer Tom Zito later purchased the rights to Control-Vision titles, then reworked them into games for other platforms like the Sega CD. The release of the game Night Trap in particular is noted for being a factor in the creation of video game ratings boards.

Technology

The Control-Vision was able to offer choice on linear VHS tapes by exploiting television interlacing.

Using linear VHS tapes played through an external VCR as it's media, the Control-Vision exploited interlacing of video to have two simultaneous videos being run, with only one of the videos being shown. More streams could be added for more choices, at the cost of reducing video frame rate.

Notable games

• Scene of the Crime
• Bottom of the Ninth Inning
• You Might Think
• Night Trap - Later released on other platforms, causing major controversy.
• Sewer Shark

References

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  The Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000

History

The small city of Bryan, Ohio - the provenance of the Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000.

Background

Ohio Art is a company based in Bryan, a small community in northwest Ohio. The company had begun to experiement with an electronic Etch-A-Sketch when they released the original Etch-A-Skech animator, a device capable of 12 frames of animations, in 1986. The system retailed for $139.99 and cartridges cost $29.99. It's important to note that the original Etch-A-Sketch animator was essentially a digital version of the analog Etch-A-Sketch, and as purely an art and animation device it did not play games.

Development

Development of the Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000 began in 1987. In 1988 Ohio Art received a patent for the original Etch-A-Sketch Animator.

Launch

Its mother is a computer. Its father is a toy

—Marketing slogan, Philadelphia Inquirer

The Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000 launched in 1988.

Legacy

The Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000 was not a success and production ended by 1990.

A TV plug and play system, the Etch-A-Sketch ETO was launched in 2004 for $35. The Ohio Art Company would later work on a different system, the K-Magic

Technology

Compute

The Etch-A-Sketch Animator was advertised as having "196K memory", as well as having "30 functions".

22 images could be stored in the Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000, and 99 animation frames using those pictures could be saved. A memory cartridge was available to expand storage.

Hardware

The Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000 has a black and white LCD with a resolution of 60 pixels by 40 pixels.

The Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000 has a touch pad and stylus.

The Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000 uses six AA batteries.

The system was protected by a styrofoam shell while in its box.

The system was made in the USA with some parts sourced from Hong Kong and Japan.

Original Etch-A-Sketch Animator Specs

The original Etch-A-Sketch Animator has a 4-bit Sanyo LC6523 microcontroller, two kilobytes of RAM, and an LCD screen with a resolution of 40 by 30 pixels.

Game Library

Three games were released for the Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000.

• Putt-Nuts - 18 hole Mini golf game. Has a two player mode.
• Flyby - Flight simulator. Todd Marshall worked on this game.
• Overdrive - Racing game.

Gallery

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  The Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000
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  A racing game cartridge for the Etch-A-Sketch Animator 2000.
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  The original 1986 Etch-A-Sketch Animator.

References

The Halcyon uses Laserdisks an early optical medium which can be seen on the left. A DVD for comparison can be seen on the right.

History

Do you believe in magic? You will.

—Halcyon advertising slogan, RDI marketing flyer

RDI was a small company based out of Carlsbad, California. The company was headed by Rick Dyer, and had prior experience in the industry, most notably producing Don Bluth's milestone laserdisk arcade game Dragon's Lair.

The Halcyon was set to release in 1985 with the voice controlled console costing either $2,500, or $2,100 and the non-voice enabled console costing $1,800. Though the produced consoles were never sold at retail, up to ten Halcyon consoles exist from kits sent to investors. RDI projected their own first year sales to be 25,000 units sold, though it is impossible to say if this would have actually occurred had the console actually launched.

Technology

The Halcyon used an 8-bit Z80B CPU clocked at 6 megahertz and had 64 kilobytes of RAM.

The Halcyon could interpret 200 words.

Released games

• Thayer's Quest
• NFL Football LA Raiders vs SD Chargers

External Resources

• Video Game Kraken - Halcyon by RDI video systems page.
• Handheld Museum - RDI Halcyon page.

History

The IM-26 was released in the Soviet Union in 1988. The system is noted for it's similarity to the Digi Casse.

The console would slightly outlive the Soviet Union, which dissolved on the 24th of December in 1991. Development for the IM-26 stopped after 1992.

Technology

The console display was included in game cartridges.

The IM-26 is powered by two LR43 batteries.

Gallery

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  The IM-26 with cartridge inserted.
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  The IM-26 with cartridge detached.

External Resources

• Video Game Kraken - IM-26 page.
• Game Medium - IM-26 page.

References

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  A Playtime Light Games console.

History

The Grandstand Light Games system was a projector based console released in 1988. It is one of the few consoles that elected to go with a projector based design, alongside its contemporary the Proscreen, and the much later 2020 console the BL6.

Technology

The Grandstand Light Games uses a projector to display graphics. The projector shines through a LCD in the cartridge, which produces the graphics in lieu of slides.

The top of the console includes a cartridge slot.

Games

There are at least nine cartridges for the Light Games console.

External Resources

• Handheld Museum - Playtime Light Games page.
• Game Medium - Light Games page.
• Video Game Console Library - Gallery of Educational Systems including Light Games.

History

Development

On October 30th, 1986 LJN filed a patent with the US Patent office concerning technology used in the device.

Launch

The LJN Video Art was launched in 1987. The system cost around $100. A rap jingle was used to promote the device.

Legacy

The LJN Video Art was discontinued in either 1988 or 1989. The discontinuation was spurred in part due to difficulties faced by LJN during that time.

Unlike most platforms, the LJN Video Art is perhaps better know for events following discontinuation. In 1990 patents concerning the Video Art were transferred from LJN to an individual. From 1993 to 1995 a court battle ensued over LJN Video Art patents and the popular SNES software Mario Paint, though this usage was ultimately ruled as non-infringing.

Much later, the system gained notoriety online for it's poor design.

Technology

There does not appear to be any reliable information on technology used by the LJN Video Art.

The system supported drawing with 16 colors.

New York Magazine suggested saving art drawn on the LJN Video Art by recording to videotape.

Notable games

About 8 cartridges were released for the LJN Video Art, with Marvel, Disney, and Loony Toons licensed releases.

• A Trip To The Zoo
• Disney Coloring Book
• Disney Story Book
• Looney Tunes
• Marvel Super-Heroes
• My Dream Day
• My Favorite Doll
• On the Move
• Video Art Activity Cartridge

References

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  The Sega Master System console and controller.

History

A demo kiosk for the Sega Master System on display at a historical exhibit at E3 2011, surrounded by boxes for console accessories.

Launch

The Sega Master System was preceded by the SG-1000.

On October 20th, 1985, the Sega Master System launched in Japan.

Legacy

Discontinued in Europe in 1996, the Master System sold over 20 million units. The Master System saw it's greatest success in Brazil, where it enjoyed a status similar to the NES in North America and remained popular and in production even in the year 2016. Elsewhere the Master System was a more modest success, where it sold 1 million units in Japan, 2 million units in North America, and 6.8 million units in Europe.

The Sega Master System was followed by the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Genesis.

Technology

Simulated color capabilities of the Master System.

Compute

The Sega Master System is powered by an 8-bit Zilog Z80 processor clocked at 3.58 megahertz, with an identical second source NEC D780C-1 CPU being used alternitively sometimes.

The Master System has eight kilobytes of RAM and 16 kilobytes of low latency VRAM.

The Master System uses a modified TMS9918 processor, called the Video Display Processor, with added features over the base design by adding mode 4. The VDP also includes a Texas Instruments SN76489 for sound.

Accessories

SegaScope 3D Glasses

SegaScope 3D Glasses.

The glasses were released at a cost of ~$50 in North America, Europe, and Japan in 1987.

Game case

Games boxes for the Sega Master System games were made of durable plastic. Box art for these games was relatively uniform.

Notable games

1986

Alex Kidd

Read more about Alex Kidd in Miracle World on Wikipedia.

1987

Phantasy Star

Phantasy Star is noted as an early example of a game with a female protagonist.

Read more about Phantasy Star on Wikipedia.

Gallery

Master System Console

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Console Variants

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  The redesigned Master System Mk II front.
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  The redesigned Master System Mk II rear.
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  The neon pink Master System Girl

Motherboard

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Marketing

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  Sega Master System logotype.
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  Sega Mark III logotype.

References

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  The Nichibutsu My Vision console.

History

Launch

The My Vision was launched briefly in 1983 only in Japan for 39,800 yen, and also known as the KH-1000.

Preservation

The My Vision is supported by the open source z88DK development kit.

Technology

Compute

The My Vision used an 8-bit Z80 CPU clocked at 3.57 megahertz.

The system had 2 kilobytes of RAM.

Graphics

The My Vision used a Texas Instrument TMS9928 chip with 16 kilobytes of video RAM for graphics, and had composite and RF output. The console had a 16 color palette.

Audio

A General Instrument AY-3-8910 was used for generating audio. Sound was produced by a speaker inside the console.

Expansion

The console had a cartridge slot, as well as a port for expanding Majohng games. Two consoles could be linked for multiplayer over a link cable.

The system used per game overlays for it's integrated keys to explain the controls.

Games

Six games were released for the My Vision, with each game costing 4,500 yen.

• Mahjong
• Reversi
• Hanafuda
• Mastermind
• Tsumeshogi
• Gomoku Narabe Renju

External Resources

• Game Medium - My Vision page.
• Video Game Kraken - My Vision page.

References

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  The iconic Japanese Famicom and controllers.
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  The iconic North American NES and controller.

History

Development

Famicom Development

The Famicom, and by extension the Nintendo Entertainment System, was proceeded by the Color TV-Game Series. Development was lead by noted engineer Masayuki Uemura, who was asked to develop a new more competitive and advanced home gaming system by Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi during a phone call to the Uemura house. This was part of a larger strategy in which Hiroshi Yamauchi decided to reinvest profits from the Color TV Game and Game and watch systems into further game products.

Plans for the system originally called for a 16-bit CPU but a more economical 8-bit CPU was chosen. Nintendo was able to further optimize the cost of the CPU by placing a very large bulk order with Ricoh, who had an underutilized factory at the time. This technical choice had an additional unexpected effect of attracting developer Satoru Iwata to the system, who would later become a key developer at Nintendo, and later serve as its president.

NES Development

The Nintendo Advanced Video System, a prototype for the NES

In 1983 Nintendo approached Atari about releasing their console in the USA, and agreed on it until a misunderstanding at CES 1983 sunk the deal.

Designer Lance Barr was charged with refining the design of the NES to make it appealing to American audiences while keeping costs low, ultimately creating an iconic design.

Nintendo would attempt to make an user avatar system for the console, but this would ultimately be scrapped and shelved until the release of Miis on the Nintendo Wii decades later.

Launch

The first NES sold in the United States on display at the Nintendo World Store

Now you're Playing with Power!

—NES Slogan, 

The Family Computer (Famicom) was released in Japan on July 15, 1983 at a cost of 14,800 yen. Nintendo later released the similar Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to international markets. The NES saw its American release in 1985, and European release in 1986. In the United States the NES was a dominant player in the market, and was so popular that it began to alter how people discussed gaming, with many people using the word "Nintendo" to describe video games in general for a time, even those not made by Nintendo. Fearing the word "Nintendo" might become a generic trademark, Nintendo promoted the word "Game Console" instead.

Internationally the NES received significant challenges from the Sega Master System particularly in South America and Europe.

1983 also saw the launch of the Sharp Game Television (Also known as the Sharp Nintendo Television or as the Sharp C1 NES TV) which integrated a Famicom with a 19 inch TV costing 145,000 yen or a 14 inch TV that cost 93,000 yen.

Seal of Quality

To avoid negative associations with video game consoles following the video game crash of 1983, Nintendo used careful wording in its marketing to brand the NES as an "Entertainment" system, rather then a game console. To avoid a repeat of the poor quality games that caused the crash, Nintendo required licensed developers to limit game releases to two a year, as well as to censor overt depictions of gore and other sensitive subjects. These policies were a cause of friction between some developers and Nintendo.

Later on in the system life, an Atari subsidiary would break the lockout protection used to enforce Nintendo's licensing, though this resulted in legal challenges. This inspired other companies to make their own bypass, though methods that used a charge pump or negative voltage spike could damage the system.

Smash hit

The NES had a limited United States of America launch in New York City and Los Angeles October 15th, 1985, with a nationwide release a year later. These first markets were picked to see if the NES could survive in difficult markets, and retailers were persuaded to carry the system by only needing to pay for systems sold, with unsold stock being fully returnable. The 1989 television show Captain N was used to promote Nintendo products.

The Famicom Tiler was jointly launched by Nintendo and Sharp in 1989 at a cost of 43,000 yen, and added video editing features and S-Video to improve screen captures for media outlets.

International Adoption

Some regions such as India saw officially licensed versions of the NES released under other names.

Other clones were unlicensed, like the Dendy console, made in Taiwan for the newly accessible Russian market where it was legal due to a lack of Intellectual property laws at the time. This later led to an official partnership between Dendy and Nintendo.

NES 101

In 1993 the NES 101, a cost reduced version of the NES was released, removing the composite output and lowering the price to $49.99.

Legacy

61.91 million NES and Famicom consoles were sold.

The Nintendo Entertainment System and the Famicom was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Famicom.

Nintendo stopped producing new NES units in 1995, new Famicom systems in 2003, and stopped repairing Famicom systems in 2007.

Technology

Compute

The NES CPU was a reduced feature version of the MOS 6502, a Rioch 2A03. The CPU was clocked at 1.789773Mhz in NTSC regions, and at 1.773447Mhz in PAL regions.

The NES had two kilobytes of RAM and two kilobytes of video RAM.

Graphics

The NES had a Rioch 2C02 Picture Processing Unit (PPU) for graphical output, supporting up to 52 colors and 64 sprites. The PPU was clocked at 5.37 megahertz. The PPU had 256 bytes of memory located directly on chip, which was known as Object Attribute Memory. The PPU had a number of limitations on what it could do simultaniously, notably limiting sprites to use only 3 colors at a time, with an additional transparency color. However, clever programmers and artists often found ways to lean into or even subvert these limitations through guile and wit. The PPU of the NES was quite capable for it's time, and gave the system a graphical edge over much of it's competition.

Audio

The Nintendo Entertainment System had 2 pulse wave channels, 1 triangle wave channel, 1 noise channel, and 1 DPCM channel. Games for the Famicom often featured much better audio then on the Nintendo Entertainment System, as the Famicom has additional pins for cartridge based sound chips. A number of different additional audio chips were used in Famicom cartridges.

Controllers

NES Hands Free Controller

Nintendo of America developed a hands free controller for disabled gamers, among the earliest of it's kind. A chin mounted joystick and breath tube served as input. The controller was chest mounted and weighed 2.5 pounds (1.1 kg). A prototype was tested at the Children's Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle, Washington, near where Nintendo of America was headquartered.

Notable Games

The retro section of a shop in Akihabara, selling Famicom cartridges in 2015.

1983

• Donkey Kong Jr.

Mario Bros.

A recreation of the arcade game.

Read more about Mario Bros. on Wikipedia.

1984

• Duck Hunt
• Excitebike
• Clu Clu Land

1985

• Bomberman
• Ice Climber

Super Mario Bros

First version of Mario as an adventure platformer.

From here on, designers Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, developer Toshihiko Nakago and musician Koji Kondo would typically work together as a unit on future projects, to great success.

Read more about Super Mario Bros 1 on Wikipedia.

Wrecking Crew

An early Mario puzzle-platformer.

Read more about Wrecking Crew on Wikipedia.

1986

• Dragon Quest - Popular RPG
• Kid Icarus
• Ghosts 'n Goblins

The Legend of Zelda

The iconic The Legend of Zelda NES cartridge.

The Legend of Zelda is one of the most iconic Famicom and NES games, mainly because of the expansive multimedia franchise it started. Sigeru Miyamoto was inspired to make this game by his personal experience of exploring the countryside and caves as a child.

Metroid

Metroid is noted for being an early game with a female protagonist.

Read more about Metroid on Wikipedia.

1987

• Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - 2D scroller adaptation of the Zelda format.
• Mega Man - Known as Rockman in Japanese markets.
• Rad Racer
• Punch-Out!!
• Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School

Final Fantasy

Hironobu Sakaguchi was a developer on the original Final Fantasy, seen here at Tokyo Game Show 2006.

The first game in the popular RPG series.

The game was named Final Fantasy because the developers thought it would be their final game before Square went bankrupt.

Many elements of Final Fantasy appear to be inspired by Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

Read more about Final Fantasy I on Wikipedia.

Metal Gear

Early popular stealth game.

The NES port of Metal Gear was made without the involvement of Hideo Kojima, who disliked the NES version.

Read more about Metal Gear on Wikipedia.

1988

• Super Mario Bros. 2 - Remake of the Japanese game Doki Doki Panic.
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Mega Man 2 - The best selling Mega Man game.
• Contra
• Ninja Gaiden

Famicom Detective Club The Missing Heir Volumes 1 and 2

Yoshio Sakamoto, a key figure in the development a number of games for the platform, including Metroid, Kid Icarus, Balloon Fight, and the Famicom Detective Club.

An Japan only primeval visual novel that notably strayed from adventure game conventions to make a more story focused game.

Character Ayumi Tachibana would later be considered as a Super Smash Brothers Melee character.

Read more about the Famicom Detective Club series on Wikipedia.

1989

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Mendel Palace / Quinty
• A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia
• Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger!

Mother

The first game in the Mother series.

A documentary was produced about an unreleased prototype english cartridge.

Read more about Mother on Wikipedia.

Tetris

Popular game from the Soviet Union, licensed to Nintendo for home consoles in the west.

In 2021 a new technique for the NES version of the game was discovered where pressure was applied to the back of the controller to allow for faster inputs, allowing world records to be broken.

Read more about Tetris on Wikipedia.

Famicom Detective Club The Girl Who Stands Behind Volumes 1 and 2

The second entry in the then Japan exclusive Famicom Detective Club series. Series director Yoshio Sakamoto was able to better work around system limitations to his satisfaction in this entry.

Read more about the Famicom Detective Club series on Wikipedia.

1990

• Dr. Mario
• Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
• Mega Man 3

Final Fantasy III

Not to be confused with the North American Final Fantasy III for the SNES, which was Final Fantasy VI in other regions but had its name changed in North America to avoid skipping missed releases. This was done to avoid confusion at the time, though it caused some confusion later.

Final Fantasy III was the first Final Fantasy series game to break a million sales.

Read more about Final Fantasy III on Wikipedia.

1991

• Yoshi
• Metal Slader Glory

1993

Kirby's Adventure

The second game in the Kirby series. It introduced a mechanic allowing the player to copy enemy abilities, becoming a series staple from there onward.

The game is considered by many to be make good use of the technical capabilities of the NES, having good graphics given the system limitations.

Read more about Kirby's Adventure on Wikipedia.

Gallery

Famicom

• 
  Front view of the Famicom. Note the microphone in the controller.
• 
  Rear view of the Famicom.
• 
  The Japanese Nintendo Famicom Disk System
• 
  The Family BASIC keyboard and cartridge, which allowed the user to program in a dialect of BASIC.
• 
  The Famicom Data Recorder, which, used with the Family BASIC keyboard, could be used to save and load BASIC programs as well as data to be used with some games.

NES

• 
  The NES viewed from the front
• 
  The NES viewed from the back

NES 101

• 
  The later miniaturized NES 101
• 
  The front of an NES 101
• 
  The back of an NES 101

AV Famicom

• 
  The front of the AV Famicom
• 
  The rear of the AV Famicom

Sharp Twin Famicom

• 
  The Sharp Twin Famicom
• 
  Sharp Twin Famicom front
• 
  Sharp Twin Famicom rear

Other Console Variants

• 
  The Sharp C1 NES TV, an official NES unit integrated with a TV.
• 
  Famicom Titler
• 
  Famicom Box for use in hotels.
• 
  A person using a Famicom Box.

Controllers

• 
  A standard NES controller
• 
  NES Max controller
• 
  NES Advantage
• 
  NES power pad, used for fitness games and one dance game
• 
  The NES Power Glove
• 
  NES Four Score multiplayer adapter
• 
  NES Satellite wireless multiplayer adapter
• 
  An original NES Zapper
• 
  The newer orange NES Zapper

Accessories

• 
  R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) was an optional toy robot for the NES used by two games. Bundled with the deluxe set, it managed to become an iconic part of the NES legacy, despite its relatively small overall role.
• 
  A Famicom 3D system add on, which created stereoscopic images from existing Famicom games. It was a commercial failure.
• 
  A Game Genie for the NES, a common 3rd party cheating device.
• 
  Famicom with attached Modem Network System
• 
  Software card for Horse Betting through the Network System
• 
  The Famicom Disk System RAM Adapter
• 
  A Famicom Disk System Floppy Drive Protector
• 
  Finnish NES rental bag and magazines.

Games

• 
  A standard NES cartridge. This gray plastic cartridge was most common among official NES games. A notch is used to aid in insertion and removal from the system. A large area is devoted to labeling, which has been removed in this example.
• 
  A red Famicom cartridge for the game Mother. Famicom cartridges were significantly smaller then NES cartridges.
• 
  Famicom cartridges came in a variety of colors.
• 
  A disk for the Famicom Disk System.
• 
  An NES cartridge for Tetris with the cover removed. Here the game ROM, lockout chip, and MMC1 chip can be seen.
• 
  The Konami Code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A), a common cheat code used on Konami games for the NES and other systems.

Motherboards

• 
  Original Famicom motherboard.
• 
  An NES motherboard, with external ports visible.
• 
  An NES motherboard, viewed from the top.
• 
  Sharp Twin Famicom Motherboard
• 
  The cost reduced NES 101 motherboard.
• 
  The AV 101 motherboard.

Development

• 
  A closeup of an 1988 10NES Lockout chip
• 
  An NES to Famicom Pin adapter, which adds a lockout chip and was used on some early games.
• 
  US Patent, showing a system similar to the Famicom.
• 
  NES cartridge patent
• 
  NES patent
• 
  A Nintendo patent possibly related to ROB.
• 
  A Nintendo patent possibly related to ROB.
• 
  A ROB patent.

Marketing

• 
  Family Computer (Famicom) logo.
• 
  Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) logo.

Clone Consoles

• 
  Ending Man Terminator
• 
  Vista Arriba
• 
  Mega Kid Educational Computer
• 
  Micro Genius IQ-201
• 
  Micro Genius IQ-901

Trivia

A third party company, Power 10 Inc., made a early motion controller for the NES that used mercury switches called the Hot Stik.

Further reading

There is a WikiBook on NES programming.

External Resources

• Video Game Console Library - Famicom/NES page.
• Nintendo UK Blog - Post showing design documents for the original Legend of Zelda.

References

• 
  Philips Videopac+ G7400

History

The Philips Videopac+ G7400 is an enhanced version of the Magnavox Odyssey² which had been released in Europe as the Phillips G7000 Videopac, and would have likely been the Odyssey 3 had it released in the United States of America.

The Philips Videopac+ G7400 saw a limited release in Europe in 1983, with an American release being scrapped due to the Video Game Crash of 1983.

Technology

Compute

The Philips Videopac+ G7400 is powered by the 8-bit Intel 8048 microcontroller clocked at 5.91 megahertz. The system has six kilobytes of RAM with an additional 192 bytes of RAM. The system has one kilobyte of ROM.

Notable games

Only a few games were released specifically for the Videopac+ G7400.

Gallery

• 
• 

History

The V-Tech PreComputer 1000 was launched in 1988 in the United States of America.

Technology

The V-Tech PreComputer 1000 is powered by either an 8-bit Zilog Z84C0004PEC or a Toshiba TMPZ84C00AP Z80 clone processor clocked at 4 megahertz.

The V-Tech PreComputer uses 2 kilobytes (16 kilobits) of RAM and 126 kilobytes (1 megabit) of RAM.

The display is a one line, 20 character LCD. Below is a representation of what could be displayed on such a screen, where a black box is an alphabetical character.

▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Software & Game Library

Built in

• Fact quizzes
• Typing course
• Mathematics activities
• Games
• Calculator
• PRE-BASIC 1.0

Cartridges

• Bible Knowledge
• Fantasy Trivia
• General Knowledge II
• Super Science
• Speller
• Famous Places and Things

History

The Proscreen was launched by V-Tech in 1984.

Technology

The Proscreen can project images through an LCD onto a wall, or onto itself. Light is produced through a bulb.

Games

The Proscreen included a pack in game, and two other games were available separately.

External Resources

• Game Medium - Proscreen page.

References

• 
  The Casio PV-1000 with controller attached.

History

Launch

The Casio PV-1000 was released in October 1983 at a cost of 14,800 yen.

Legacy

A common claim is that the Casio PV-1000 was discontinued within weeks of launching. The PV-1000 was later followed by the Casio Loopy.

The system is often remembered for its unique visual design, featuring a concave deck curve and deep blue colors.

Technology

Compute

The PV-1000 uses a D780C-1 processor, a version of the Z80A, clocked at 3.579 MHz. The system had 1 kilobyte of RAM, plus an additional 1 kilobyte of memory for the character generator This gave the system a combined 2 kilobytes of RAM.

A D65010G031 generates graphics with an 8 color palette and 32 sprites. This chip also generates 3 channel sound.

Notable games

• Pooyan
• Super Cobra
• Dig Dug
• Warp & Warp
• Amidar

1981

• Space Panic

1983

• Turtles

Gallery

PV-1000 Console

• 
  Controller ports are conveniently located on the front of the console.
• 
  A switch is located on the side of the console.
• 
  Rear ports.
• 
  A small notch is in the rear left.

Controller

• 
  The PV-1000 controller uses a joystick.
• 
  A mode switch is on the back of the controller.
• 
  A red button is located on top of the joystick.
• 
  Some buttons are on the base of the controller.
• 
  The controller connects to the console over a wire.

Internals

• 
  The circuit board is covered by a maze of wires.
• 
  The area by the cartridge port is relatively bare compared to the rest of the board.
• 
  Significant RF shielding covers the console internals.
• 
  The motherboard with casing removed.
• 
  The large metal plate in the back of the motherboard is connected to an HA 17805 voltage regulator - likely to serve as a heat sink.
• 
  The external ports can clearly be seen.
• 
  Wires seem to be channeled near the front of the console when possible.
• 
  A top down view of the motherboard.
• 
  The bottom of the motherboard, with traces and one IC.
• 
  The bottom casing of the console has helpful labels molded into the plastic. This system was made in Japan.
• 
  Tall pegs hold the motherboard in place.
• 
  RF shielding is also used on the bottom of the console case.
• 
  Note the thick plastic used around the cartridge port - a place likely to experience extra wear.
• 
  A small mechanical assembly can be seen under the cartridge sheath, likely related to the cartridge flap.
• 
  The joystick with casing removed.
• 
  Several layers sit on top of the PCB.
• 
  The mechanical parts of the joystick.

References

• 
  The Sega SG 1000 and controller.

History

Background

The former Sega of Japan Headquarters building in the Ōta ward of Tokyo, Japan.

Sega has its origins in Standard Games, a Honolulu, Hawaii based American amusement company founded in 1940. Sega, a shortened version of Service Games, would form into a Japanese amusement company in a roundabout way as American legislation banned coin operated gambling games in their primary markets.

Launch

SG-1000 Logotype.

The SG-1000 was launched on July 15, 1983 in Japan on the same day as the Nintendo Famicom launch.

The improved Mark III was launched in October of 1985.

The SG-3000 model added a keyboard, and proved to be more popular in Japan then the original SG-1000.

By 1985 the SG-1000 sold about two million units. The SG-1000 was followed by the Sega Master System.

The Dina game console was also related to the SG-1000.

Technology

The cartridges used by the SG-1000 and the SC-3000.

The SG-1000 CPU uses a 8 bit Zilog Z80A clocked at 3.58 megahertz.

The SG-1000 uses a Texas Instruments TMS9928A for graphics processing, and a Texas Instruments SN76489 for sound processing.

Notable Games

1984

Girl's Garden

Released in either 1984 or 1985.

Read more about Girl's Garden on Wikipedia.

Gallery

SG-1000

• 
  The front of the SG-1000.
• 
  The front of the SG-1000.
• 
  The back of the SG-1000 with ports visible.
• 
  The back of the SG-1000 with ports visible.

SG-1000 II

• 
• 
• 
• 

SG-1000 III

• 
  The MKIII has two controller ports on the front of the console - A design decision also used on the Master System.
• 
• 
• 

SC-3000

• 

Telegames Personal Arcade

• 
  The Telegames Personal Arcade, a ColecoVision and Sega SG-1000 compatible console.
• 
  The console, also known as the Dina 2 in 1, could dock controllers on the side.
• 
  The console rear hosted I/O ports.
• 
  The controller for the Telegames Personal Arcade.

References

• 
  The Super Cassette Vision with two controllers, one with a red accent and one with a blue accent.

History

Despite the name, the Super Cassette Vision actually used cartridges, as shown here.

Launch

The Super Cassette Vision was released by Epoch in 1984 to replace the older 1981 Epoch Cassette Vision and the cost reduced 1983 Epoch Cassette Vision Jr.

On launch the Super Cassette Vision sold well in Japan, as well as in France.

The Super Cassette Vision Lady was launched in 1985 and marketed to women. This was the first notable console to pursue this strategy, later followed by others such as the Casio Loopy.

Technology

Compute

The Super Cassette Vision used an 8-bit NEC PD7801G CPU (Based on the Z80) clocked at 4 megahertz.

The system had 128 bytes of RAM and four kilobytes of VRAM.

Notable games

• Lupin III
• Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyō
• Miner 2049er
• Boulder Dash
• Doraemon Nobita's Time Machine the Great Adventure
• Mappy
• Pole Position II

Gallery

Super Cassette Vision

• 
• 
• 
  The system featured both RF and RGB outputs.
• 
  The system rear also featured a power jack, as well as an RGB or RF channel selector.
• 
• 
  The bottom part of the unit served as a handy container for storing controllers while not in use.

Motherboard

• 
  Super Cassette Vision motherboard assembly from the front left.
• 
  Super Cassette Vision motherboard assembly from the front right.
• 
  Super Cassette Vision motherboard assembly from the back left.
• 
  Super Cassette Vision motherboard assembly from the back right.
• 
  The bottom of the motherboard. Note the large Capacitor protruding from the daughterboard near the power input.

History

The Video Challenger was a VHS based console released in Japan in 1987. The Video Challenger was released in other countries under different brands. The system was oriented around light gun games.

Technology

The Video Challenger makes use of standard VHS Tapes.

The Video Challenger uses a Hitachi 8-bit HD401010 processor clocked at four megahertz, with access to 32 bytes of RAM.

Notable games

• After Burner II by Sega
• Turtle Challenge - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.
• Sky Wars
• Thunder Storm by Data East
• Road Blaster by Data East
• Space Challenge
• Godzilla Challenger 1
• Godzilla Challenger 2

External Resources

• Video Game Kraken - Video Challenger page with photo and marketing information.
• Video Game Console Library - Video Challenger page with model and spec info.

Introduction

The Vidéoway was an experimental interactive video service that found a strong niche in 1990's Quebec. Due to it's unusual background coming from a telecom company rather then a computer or gaming company, the Vidéoway service was an early console that exclusively played downloaded games on a subscription model. Furthermore, true to its Quebec heritage, Vidéoway is one of the few significant gaming consoles to have French as a primary language, with English as a secondary language, rather than being English or Japanese first like most other video game platforms.

History

Development

Montreal in 1989, the year and place the Videoway launched.

The Vidéoway system cost Vidéotron $40 million to develop. Notably, Montreal had yet to develop it's now massive game industry when the Vidéoway was developed, making this console a pioneer of sorts for the industry in that area.

Launch

Dayton, Ohio - a perspective market of the Videoway.

Even the Japanese Are Jealous

—Videoway Slogan, 1993 New York Times Article

Vidéotron launched the Videoway in 1989. While the service offered a number of features such as interactive camera angles, video games were one of it's most popular features. By 1992 Vidéoway had a competitive leaderboard for certain games, with ranks assigned to players and with high ranking players invited to some TV shows to compete for prizes.

By 1993 the Vidéoway was profitable, costing a fee equivalent to $6.50 USD a month to use the service with 160,000 households subscribing to the service. In November 1993 it was announced a plan to expand the Vidéoway service from Montreal to Dayton, Ohio. To build a market in Dayton, the service would initially be free. However by 1994 Dayton was not listed as an area where Vidéoway was sold, making the fate of the Dayton expansion unclear.

By 1994 the service had 220,000 subscribers in the Montreal Market alone, with 330,000 customers globally, having expanded to the UK. In 1994 the video games offered on the system were considered it's main selling point, rather then the other interactive television features supported by the platform.

By 1995 the number of Vidéoway subscribers in Quebec remained steady at 222,000 with a monthly price of $8.95 Canadian dollars.

Legacy

The city of Montreal in 2006. Much had changed in the area served by the Vidéoway by the time the system was discontinued.

The Vidéoway service was discontinued in 2000, and shut down in 2006, with the original games having been lost to time. In the 2015 Temporel, Inc was unofficially remade based on using a VHS recording of a play-through.

Despite being poorly documented, this service is notable for being one of the best performing Canadian platforms in console gaming, as well as an early adoption of the game streaming model later seen decades later in the cloud gaming market of the 2010's on.

Technology

A Motorola MC68B09EP processor, a similar processor the the MC68A09EP used on the Vidéoway.

The Vidéoway has an 8-bit Motorola MC68A09EP clocked at 1.5 megahertz as a local processor. The Vidéoway has 8 Kibibytes of static RAM and 256 Kibibytes of dynamic video RAM. The system also has a 16 Kibibyte mask ROM.

System RAM temporarily stored downloaded games for the Vidéoway.

In 1994 a partnership was made with the massive American technology corporation IBM (International Business Machines) to improve the Vidéoway.

Notable games

Around forty games were available on the Vidéoway. Notably, many games on the Vidéoway are said to have appealed to casual gamers, an underserved market at the time.

• Temporel Inc. - An adventure game exclusive to the Vidéoway during the life of the system.
• Jeopardy
• Blackjack
• Chess
• Q-Bert
• Mordicus
• Burger Time / Hamburger
• Styx
• Mr. Chin
• Le fou du Roi
• Crocomaths

Branding

Throughout the long life of the system, Vidéotron updated its brand identity twice. Most game platforms see their parent organization update their branding only once, if they do so at all, in their time on the market, making this somewhat unusual.

• 
  The Vidéotron logo used from 1980 to 2001. This was the logo used by the company during the hayday of the service.
• 
  The Vidéotron logo used from 2001 to 2004. This was the logo used by the company while the service was being sunset.
• 
  The Vidéotron logo from 2004 to 2009. This was the logo used by the company during the final years of the service.

References

• 
  The View-Master Interactive Vision with Controller

History

Development

Though not used by this console, the Interactive Vision was made by the View-Master Ideal Group, the result of mergers including the companies that made the original View Master shown here.

The View-Master Ideal Group was the result of serval mergers of the View-Master company.

Launch

The View-Master Interactive Vision was released in 1988 by the View-Master Ideal Group at a cost of $130.

Legacy

The View-Master Ideal Group was acquired in 1989.

Technology

The View-Master Interactive Vision makes use of standard VHS Tapes.

The system was primarily used to generate graphic overlays on VHS tapes, creating interactive experiences where players could determine the outcome of scenes. The VHS tapes used by the system contains the software to run the system.

Compute

The View-Master uses a TMS9128NL chip for video.

Notable games

All the games for the View-Master Interactive Vision are either based on Sesame Street, The Muppets, or Disney.

• Muppet Madness
• Muppet Studios Presents: Your the Director
• Sesame Street: Let’s Learn to Play Together
• Sesame Street: Let’s Play School
• Sesame Street: Magic on Sesame Street
• Sesame Street: Oscar’s Letter Party

Gallery

Console

• 
  View-Master Interactive Vision console from the front left.
• 
  View-Master Interactive Vision console from the front right.
• 
  View-Master Interactive Vision console from the back left.
• 
  View-Master Interactive Vision console from the back right.
• 
  View-Master Interactive Vision console from the back, showing console IO.

Controller

• 
  View-Master Interactive Vision controller laid flat.
• 
  View-Master Interactive Vision controller from the left.
• 
  View-Master Interactive Vision controller from the right.

Internals

• 
  The circuit board of the Interactive Vision fits the irregular shape of the console.
• 
  This side of the circuit board houses components
• 
  A large RF Shield is kept around the circuitry.

References

• 
  The VTech Socrates with keyboard and controllers.

History

A marble bust of Socrates, the namesake of the system.

The VTech Socrates was preceded by the VTech CreatiVision.

The VTech Socrates was released in 1988 at a cost of $130. Marketing for the system emphasized it's educational value. The system featured a robot mascot named Socrates, who borrowed its name from the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.

Technology

Compute

The VTech Socrates uses either a 8-bit TMP Z84C00AP-6 CPU, which is based on the Z80 and is clocked at 3.58 MHz or a similar Zilog Z84C0004PSC.

The VTech Socrates had 64 kilobytes of RAM.

Input

The system came with a wireless keyboard, and an optional touchpad and optional wireless mouse and mouse pad were made available.

A voice cartridge add on was available for the system.

Notable games

• Amazing Mazes - Maze game
• Around the World - World geography software
• CAD Professor - Uses the mouse add on.
• Facts 'N Fractions - Math software
• Game Wizard - Logic
• Hodge Podge - Word games
• Memory Mania - Memory game
• Numbers, Shapes, and Letters - Uses the touchpad add on.
• State to State - United States geography

Gallery

Console

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Wireless Inferred Controller

• 
  This keyboard uses an ABCD layout
• 
  Vowels are highlighted in red.
• 
  The Inferred communication system is visible on the back.
• 
  A light near the top of the keyboard indicates when communication occurs.

Internals

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
  The right side of the motherboard contains both the Zilog Z80 CPU, and the game cartridge connector.
• 
  The connector on the left can be populated with a voice cartridge.
• 
  The game cartridge connector is directly mounted on the motherboard.
• 
  Ample edge plating protects the sides of the motherboard.
• 
  A top down view of the motherboard. The smooth curves of the traces suggest a hand drawn design.

History

The former Daewoo headquarters building in Seoul, South Korea. The building is now known as Seoul Square.

The Daewoo Zemmix was a line of console versions of the MSX computer platform released in South Korea from 1985 to 1991.

Launch

The MSX Daewoo Zemmix CPC-50 was released in Korea on December 10th of 1985.

The MSX Daewoo Zemmix V CPC-51 was released in Korea in December of 1987.

The MSX2 Daewoo Zemmix Super V CPC-61 was released in Korea in 1990.

The MSX2+ Daewoo Zemmix Turbo CPG-120 was released in Korea in October of 1991.

Legacy

A fanmade and unofficial Zemmix Neo was launched in 2013.

Technology

An add on was made to allow Famicom games to be played on the Zemmix.

Notable games

Zemmix game compatibility depends on the particular MSX standard used by a given Zemmix console.

External Resources

• Game Medium - Zemmix page.
• Video Game Geek - Zemmix CPC 50 page.
• Hardcore Gaming 101 - History of Korean Gaming.