Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Old skool console games

Remember those old days when we used to play Atari in the '80s? Sure you do... Well, in case you haven't notice, these are a few console games which didn't top the chart...



Emerson Arcadia 2001


Emerson Arcadia 2001


In 1982 a company called Emerson Radio Corp released the Arcadia 2001 a not so well known second generation video game console. Many retro gamers know about this console and at the time it was far more powerful then the market dominated Atari 2600.
The graphics on the Arcadia 2001 are easliy compaired to that of the Mattel Intellivision and a total of 51 games were put out fo r the console.


On an interesting note Emerson sued the company then named Arcadia Corporation who manufactured the 2600 for trade mark infringement by using the Arcadia name. The console was originally marketed as a portable system and came equiped with a 12-volt power supply so that it could be used on a boat or in another vehicle, however of course you would need a television as well and at that time in the early 80's having a telelvision in a car or boat was pretty rare.





Sega SG-1000

Sega SG-1000

Providing the basis for the Sega Master System the Sega SG-1000 was released in July of 1983. Being test marketed in Japan the SG-1000 received some popularity and sold well up until 1985. It's best remembered in Asia as one of the first consoles available at the time however to find one today is rare.

The console is very hard to find and is considered a collectors item sometimes selling for $300 on eBay reason for the rarity is that it was never released in North America.
Zoom 909, Girl's Garden, Galaga and Monaco G.P. were some of the games that were available for the Sega SG-1000. The graphics on the Sega SG-1000 can be somewhat compared to that of the ColecoVision which was released the year before.


Epoch Cassette Vision


Epoch Cassette Vision
Its full title being the Epoch (Super) Cassette Vision was created by a company named Epoch in Japan on July 30, 1981. You're probably thinking it uses cassettes; well it actually uses cartridges and was the first programmable console in Japan selling for about 13,500 yen.
Some people say that Sega and SNK made games for the console but no one is for sure. Wouldn't believe it for a 1981 console but the graphics were less then that of the Atari 2600 which was made years earlier and somewhat like older consoles such as Pong the Epoch Cassette Vision only had 4 knobs which the player would control with.

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