Retro Gaming Culture

In part 1 of ‘PAX AUS 2013 Classic Consoles In All Their Glory’, we covered the Intellivision-II (1982) to the Amiga 500 (1987). In this installment we will start with the PC Engine (1987) and end with Atari’s final console, the Jaguar (1993).

• TurboGrafx-16, originally known in Japan as the ‘PC Engine’, is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan in October 1987, and in North America in August 1989.
• Discontinued: 1994.
• Media: HuCard (Turbo Chip in North America): A thin, card-like game medium, about the size of a credit card; and CD-ROM (only with the CD-ROM² add-on): The PC Engine CD was the first home video game console to offer a CD-ROM accessory.
• New games were released for the PC Engine up until 1999.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The Sega Mega Drive was released by Sega in 1988 in Japan, 1989 in North America, and in Europe and other regions in 1990. The name “Genesis” was used in North America because Sega had been unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name there.
• Successor to the Sega Master System.
• Discontinued: 1997.
• Units sold: Estimated from 37.4 to over 41.9 million.
• Media: ROM cartridge.
• Best selling game: Sonic the Hedgehog (15 million).
• List of Sega Mega Drive games
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The Neo Geo AES console was released by SNK in January 1990 in Japan and in North America and Europe in 1991.
• Discontinued: 2004.
• Compared to other contemporary home consoles, Neo Geo’s graphics and sound were largely superior.
• Media: ROM cartridge.
• The Neo Geo was the first home game console to feature a removable memory card for saved games.
• There is a thriving collector’s scene for the Neo Geo home systems, it common for Neo Geo consoles and cartridges to fetch extremely high prices on eBay, particularly English versions of cartridges as these were produced in lower quantities. A handful of the rarest Neo Geo games can sell for well over $1,000 on eBay. The most valuable game is Kizuna Encounter.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The GX4000 was released in Europe in September 1990 and represented Amstrad‘s first and only attempt at entering the console market. The console failed to gain popularity, selling 15,000 units in total. Within a few weeks of the initial launch, the system could be bought at discounted prices, and by July 1991 some stores were selling it for as little as £29.99. It was discontinued in 1991.
• Only 27 games were produced and distributed for the GX4000. Notable titles were the pack-in title: Burnin’ Rubber as well as RoboCop 2, Pang, Plotting, Navy Seals and Switchblade.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The PC Engine Duo R, released in Japan in 1993, was a combination PC Engine + CD ROM system + System 3.0 card. Compared to the PC Engine Duo (released in 1991), the Duo R had a more streamlined case style which was white/beige (the original Duo case was dark grey).
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The CD32 was released by Commodore in September 1993; however, bankruptcy of Commodore International in April 1994 caused it to be discontinued only months after its debut.
• List of Games on the Amiga CD32.
• Approximately 100 000 were sold in Europe.
• Media: CD-ROM.
• Using 3rd-party devices, it is possible to upgrade the CD32 with keyboard, floppy drive, hard drive and mouse, turning it into an Amiga 1200 personal computer.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (often called the Panasonic 3DO) was released in North America by The 3DO Company in October 1993, and in Japan and Europe 1994.
• The system was conceived by entrepreneur and Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins.
• Instead of The 3DO Company producing the console themselves, they licensed other manufacturers to produce them. Panasonic produced the first models in 1993, and further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and GoldStar (now LG).
• Discontinued: December 31, 1996.
• Units sold: 2 million.
• Media: CD-ROM.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The NES-101 model of the Nintendo Entertainment System is a compact, top-loading redesign of the original Nintendo Entertainment System control deck and game controllers released by Nintendo in 1993.
• The NES-101 controller, due to its shape, is often nicknamed the “dogbone” or “doggie” controller.
• Retail availability: October 1993 – March 1994.
• Media: ROM cartridge (“Game Pak”).
• Predecessor: Nintendo Entertainment System NES-001.
• Successor: Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).
• The most obvious change from the NES-001 was the removal of the cartridge-loading system that caused trouble in maintenance and game-swapping. The NES-101 returned to the standard top-loading method, used by almost all cartridge systems before and since for its ease and reliability.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The Atari Jaguar is a video game console that was released by Atari Corporation in November 1993 in New York City and San Francisco, and the rest of the country in early 1994. It was the last to be marketed under the Atari brand until the release of the Atari Flashback in 2004.
• Although it was marketed as the first 64-bit gaming system, the Jaguar proved to be a commercial failure and prompted Atari to leave the home video game console market. Despite its commercial failure, the Jaguar has a dedicated fan base that produces homebrew games for it.
• Discontinued: 1996.
• Media: ROM cartridge, CD-ROM (Add-On).
• Units sold: 250,000 or fewer.
• List of Atari Jaguar games.
• Reference: Wikipedia

Stay tuned for the final part of this trilogy!

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

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.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

We have been asked many questions about the consoles that were showcased in the Classic Consoles Area at PAX AUS 2013. In response, we have put together a collection of interesting facts and figures for each system that we had on display (28 in total!).

In part 1 we will start from 1982 with the Intellivision II and continue to October 1987 with the Amiga 500. Part 2 and 3 to follow soon!

• The Intellivision II was released by Mattel in 1982 (the original Intellivision was released in 1979).
• Intellivision can be considered the first 16-bit game console.
• Over 3 million Intellivision units were sold.
• A total of 125 games were released for the console.
• Discontinued in January 1984.
• Media: ROM cartridge.
• Best selling game: Major League Baseball (1 million).
• The Intellivision controller featured: 12-button numeric keypad (0-9, Clear, and Enter). Four side-located action buttons (where the top two are actually electronically the same, giving three distinct buttons). A directional disk, capable of detecting 16 directions of movement. Laminated overlays that would slide into place as an extra layer on the keypad to show game-specific key functions.
• Reference: Wikipedia 
  

• The Arcadia 2001 is an 8-bit console released by Emerson Radio Corp in 1982.
• Media: ROM cartridge.
• The Emerson version of the console was essentially considered dead on arrival in the USA. The system came out at nearly the same time as the Atari 5200 and the ColecoVision were released. In addition, Atari’s use of exclusive rights to many games made it virtually impossible for Emerson to get popular games to the console.
• The Arcadia 2001 was licensed to many different companies and sold under different names.
• The system came with two Intellivision-style control pads. The control pads have screw holes in their centres, so that one could transform them into a joystick. Most games came with overlays which could be applied to the controllers. The console itself had five buttons: power, start, reset, option, and select.
• Reference: Wikipedia
  

• The Commodore 64 (C64) is an 8-bit home computer introduced in 1982 by Commodore International.
• For a substantial period (1983–1986), the C64 dominated the market with between 30% and 40% share and 2 million units sold per year.
• Part of its success was because it was sold in retail stores instead of electronics stores. Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control supplies and cost.
• Discontinued: April 1994.
• Approximately 10,000 commercial software titles were made for the Commodore 64 including development tools, office productivity applications, and games.
• Aggressive pricing of the C64 is considered to be one reason behind the North American video game crash of 1983.
• Reference: Wikipedia 

• The ColecoVision was released by Coleco Industries in August 1982.
• The ColecoVision offered near-arcade-quality graphics and gaming style.
• Approximately 145 titles in total were published between 1982 and 1984.
• Discontinued by October 1985.
• Media: ROM cartridge.
• Best selling game: Donkey Kong.
• Reference: Wikipedia 

• The Amstrad CPC (short for Colour Personal Computer) is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. 
• Amstrad CPC  units sold: 3 million Worldwide.
• Media: Cassette tape, 3-inch floppy disks.
• The CPC464 featured 64 kB RAM and an internal cassette tape deck. It was introduced in June 1984 in the UK. In 1990, the 464plus replaced the CPC464 in the model line-up, and production of the CPC464 was discontinued.
• List of Amstrad CPC games.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The Sega Mark III was released in Japan in October 1985.
• The Mark III was only released in Japan. A redesigned version, the ‘Sega Master System’, was released in other countries (1986 in North America, 1987 in Europe and 1989 in Brazil).
• The difference between the Mark III and the Master System was mainly cosmetic, internal components remained largely the same, although the cartridge ports had different pinouts and games cannot be exchanged without an adapter.
• Discontinued: 1989 in Japan, 1991 in North America, and 1996 in Europe.
• 10-14.8 million units sold Worldwide.
• Media: ROM cartridge and card.
• Best selling game: Alex Kidd in Miracle World.
• Developer: Hideki Sato, Head of Sega Away Team (also called Sega Hardware Team R&D) (1985–2001).
• Reference: Wikipedia 

• The Atari 7800 was released by Atari Corporation in January 1986 (the 7800 was initially released in southern California in 1984, but legal issues kept it on the shelf until 1986). 
• Discontinued: January 1, 1992.
• Units sold 3.77 million (North America).
• Unlike the previous Atari 5200, the Atari 7800 could play almost all Atari 2600 games out of the box, without the need for an adapter. 
•  List of Atari 7800 games.
• Interestingly, in 2004, Atari (now owned by Infogrames) released the Atari Flashback console. This system resembled a miniature Atari 7800 and joysticks and had 20 built in games (five 7800 and fifteen 2600 titles). While the unit sold well, it was controversial among Atari fans.
• Reference: Wikipedia 

• The Famicom Disk System was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Nintendo Family Computer console in Japan.
• It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks (called “Disk Cards”) for data storage.
• It was announced, but not released, for the North American/PAL Nintendo Entertainment System.
• Through its entire production span, 1986–2003, 4.44 million units were sold.
• Best selling game: Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Lost Levels).
• List of Family Computer Disk System games.
• Trivia: the background music of the Nintendo GameCube‘s system menu is a highly slowed-down version of the FDS startup jingle.
• Reference: Wikipedia

• The Sharp Twin Famicom was released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation in July 1986. It is a licensed Nintendo product, and is basically the Family Computer (Famicom) and the Family Computer Disk System (FDS) combined into a single piece of hardware.
• Media: ROM cassette and Famicom Disk Card.
• Reference: Wikipedia 

• The Amiga 500 (a.k.a. A500) was the first “low-end” Commodore Amiga16/32-bit multimedia home/personal computer.
• The original Amiga 500 proved to be Commodore’s best-selling Amiga model.
• Release date: October 1987.
• Discontinued: 1991.
• Media: 880 kB floppy disks.
• Creators: Jay Glenn Miner and Robert J. “RJ” Mical.
• Reference: Wikipedia

Stay tuned for part 2 in which we will cover the PC Engine (1987) to the Atari Jaguar (1993).

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

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.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter