Retro Gaming Culture

In part 1 we covered the Intellivision-II (1982) to the Amiga 500 (1987) and in part 2 we covered the PC Engine (1987) to the Atari Jaguar (1993).

In part 3 we will finish off our tour of the PAX AUS 2013 Classic Consoles. We will start with the Sega Genesis CDX (1994) and end with the NUON (Samsung DVD-N501) (2001).

• The Sega Genesis CDX was released by Sega only in the U.S. in April 1994 (it was released elsewhere as the ‘Sega Multi-Mega’). This console was a combination of the Sega Genesis and Sega CD into one unit. Unique to this model was its additional functionality as a portable CD player.
• List of Sega CD games.
• Media: CD-ROM, CD+G.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The Sega Saturn was released by Sega in November 1994 in Japan, May 1995 in North America and July 1995 in Europe.
• The Saturn sold 9.4 million units Worldwide.
• While it was popular in Japan, the Saturn failed to gain a similar market share in North America and Europe against its main competitors: Sony’s PlayStation and later the Nintendo 64.
• Discontinued: Japan – 2000, North America and Europe – 1998.
• Media: CD-ROM, CD+G.
• Best selling game: Virtua Fighter 2.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The Sony PlayStation was released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan in December 1994, in Australia, North America, and Europe in 1995.
• Developer: Ken Kutaragi.
• The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices.
• Discontinued: December 2006.
• Over 100 million units sold Worldwide.
• Media: CD-ROM (black CD).
• Best-selling game: Gran Turismo.
• By the late 1990s, Sony became a highly regarded console brand due to the PlayStation, with a significant lead over second-place Nintendo.
• The PlayStation was the best selling console of all time from 1998 until 2006, when it was surpassed by its successor the PlayStation 2.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The Nintendo 64 (a.k.a. N64), named for its 64-bit CPU, was Nintendo‘s third home video game console for the international market.
• The Nintendo 64 was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia.
• It was Nintendo’s last home console to use ROM cartridges to store games.
• It primarily competed with the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn.
• Discontinued in Japan in 2002, and Europe, North America and Australia in 2003.
• Over 32 million units sold Worldwide.
• Best selling game: Super Mario 64 (11.62 million).
• Media: Nintendo 64 Game Pak.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The SNS-101 model of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (a.k.a. the SNES 2, the SNES Mini or SNES Jr.) is a compact redesign of the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game console from Nintendo.
• It was released in North America in October 1997.
• The SNS-101 model is stylistically similar to the Super Famicom Jr., which was released in Japan five months later.
• The SNS-101 is quite unusual in that it is perhaps the only known example of a Nintendo console having fake/counterfeit clones posing as a genuine console. Most clone consoles usually adopt different names or case designs, however with the SNS-101 almost every detail was copied and reproduced to some degree — including the packaging.
• The Super Famicom Jr. was a redesign of the original Super Famicom video game console and was released in Japan in 1998.
• The Super Famicom Jr. was lighter and more compact redesign of the original Super Famicom console.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The Sega Dreamcast was released by Sega in November 1998 in Japan, and 1999 in North America, Europe and Australia.
• Discontinued: March 2001.
• 10.6 million units sold Worldwide.
• Media CD, 1.2 GB GD-ROM.
• Best-selling game Sonic Adventure.
• The Dreamcast was Sega’s last home console to date.
• The Dreamcast was chosen as the best console ever by PC Magazine.
• Developer: Sega hardware engineer Hideki Sato.
• The Dreamcast introduced numerous features that would be standard to future consoles. All models were shipped with modems allowing users to browse the net and play games online via dedicated server through SegaNet (Dreamarena in Europe), a precursor to services such as PS2 Network and Xbox Live.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The NUON (Samsung DVD-N501) was released in 2001.
• NUON was a technology developed by VM Labs that adds features to a DVD player. In addition to viewing DVDs, one can play 3D video games and use enhanced DVD navigational tools such as zoom and smooth scanning of DVD playback.
• NUON DVD players were supposed to be the “all-in-one” digital media experience.
• One of the NUON’s main software developers was Jeff Minter, who created a version of Tempest entitled Tempest 3000 for the system, and the built-in VLM-2 audio visualizer.
• Eight games were released for the NUON:
  • Tempest 3000
  • Freefall 3050 A.D.
  • Merlin Racing
  • Space Invaders X.L.
  • Iron Soldier 3 (later recalled due to incompatibility with some players)
  • Ballistic (only available with Samsung players)
  • The Next Tetris (only available with Toshiba players)
  • Crayon Shin Chan 3 (Korean-only release)
• Reference: Wikipedia & RF Generation

There you have it, 28 classic consoles, brought to you by four retro loving minded groups at one huge event. If yo thought PAX Aus 2013 was great, wait till you see what we have in store for the Classic Consoles area next year. Roll on PAX Aus 2014!

Classic Consoles supplied by: ausretrogamer, Retrospekt, Retro Domination and Retro Gaming Australia

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Editor and Researcher at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

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