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Strange and forgotten consoles

398 bytes added, 22:05, 22 March 2019
Some cleanup + CD-i elaboration
|[[wikipedia:Super_Cassette_Vision|Super Cassette Vision]]
|Decent
|[https://archive.org/details/Epoch_Super_Cassette_Vision_TOSEC_2012_04_23 TOSEC]/[https://archive.org/details/supercassettevision_library ✓]|1984 successor to the original Cassette Vision. Much easier to emulate as the hardware is similar to some other obscure systems. The graphical quality is somewhere between the ColecoVision and NES. Was actually fairly successful in Japan until the Famicom came along and kicked its ass. Then [http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/11/117006/1757950-ladycassettevision.jpg this] happened. [https://archive.org/details/Epoch_Super_Cassette_Vision_TOSEC_2012_04_23 TOSEC]
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|[[wikipedia:View-Master_Interactive_Vision|View-Master Interactive Vision]]
|None
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|1988 edutainment VHS console that used two audio tracks on each tape, the player choosing one of two options on the screen, to create interactivity. Also had short mini-game segments with ColecoVision -like graphics. Unlike the other VHS systems, the games were actually decent. No known emulators.
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|[[wikipedia:VTech_Socrates|VTech Socrates]]
|Good
|
|Korean system that was simply an MSX/MSX 2, depending on the model, in console form. Mostly just existed as a way to play MSX games. Though there were a few games made specifically for it , they were playable on the MSX as well. Any MSX emulator should work for itits games.
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|[[wikipedia:LJN Video Art|LJN Video Art]]
|None
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|A notorious "educational" console made by the notorious LJN released in 1985. It was meant as a paint program type system that was never meant to compete with against television rather than mainstream consoles at the time. It flopped hard. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neURIc_A3js Commercial] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-zEhhTqdvg AVGN Review]
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|Imperfect
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|[https://archive.org/details/redumpPhilipsCdi ✓]|Thanks to working with Nintendo to develop a CD add-on for the SNES, the CD-i is notorious for having god-tier terrible Mario and Zelda games. Aggressively promoted and held on for multiple years with multiple different models (targeted at everything from gamers to pharmaceutical companies), but couldn't compete with mainstream consoles and computers of the time.
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|[[wikipedia:Sega_Pico|Sega Pico]]
|Good
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|A consolized console version of the Capcom CPS arcade board. Compatible with SNES controllers.
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|[[wikipedia:FM_Towns_Marty|FM Towns Marty]]
|[https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/drivers/xavix.cpp Preliminary]
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|A fitness based system, employing the usage of motion controls in an effort to get players off of the couch - beating Nintendo's [[Wii_emulators|Wii]] by more than 2 years! Each game cart came with a dedicated controller and an own CPU (Not not in the system, similar to Super FX chips in some SNES carts). The XaviXPORT was actually developed by eight of the engineers who worked on the original development of the [[Nintendo_Entertainment_System_emulators|NES]]. An upgraded version with a 16-bit "Super XaviX" CPU compared to the original 8-bit CPU came in 2005. Also of note is the fact that Jackie Chan partnered with SSD Company Limited in order to bring his likeness to the console, which resulted in two licensed games. [https://mamedev.emulab.it/haze David Haywood] is particularly working on reverse-engineering the XaviX technology for MAME.
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|None
|No
|Released in Japan by Bandai in 1995, the Denshi Manga Juku was a touchscreen -based console that was the predecessor to the WonderSwan, it . It was discontinued in 1996 and only four games were released for it (including of all things, an exclusive Rockman aka Mega Man game).
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|[[wikipedia:Digi Casse|Bandai Digi Casse]]
|None
|No
|Originally released in Japan by Bandai in 1984, Digi Casse another short live -lived console from the early 80s and only . Only had around 4 to 6 games released for it. the The console was released in Europe by an unknown company and in Russia as the Elektronika NM 26, both released sometime in the late 80s .
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|[[wikipedia:Cybiko|Cybiko/Cybiko Xtreme ]]
|Imperfect
|[https://archive.org/download/TOSEC_V2017-04-23/Cybiko/ TOSEC]
|"The Cybiko is a Russian handheld computer introduced in the U.S. by David Yang's company Cybiko Inc. as a retail test market in New York on April 2000, and rolled out nationwide in May 2000. It is designed for teens, featuring its own two-way radio text messaging system. It had over 430 "official" freeware games and applications."
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|[[wikipedia:Epoch_Game_Pocket_Computer|Epoch Game Pocket Computer]]
|[http://www.progettoemma.net/mess/system.php?machine=gameking Preliminary]
|Yes
|A rather bastardized attempt at making a Gameboy-esque handheld, manufactured and marketed by TimeTop (aka Guangzhou Daidaixing Tec. Electronics Co. Ltd.) in 2003. Strangely enough, this one's even more primitive than the Supervision, Gamate and Mega Duck consoles before it, as it uses a lower-resolution 64x32 screen, and that's despite companies such as Subor (i.e. that Chinese company who gained notoriety for developing an AMD-based gaming PC/console hybrid) releasing workalike clones of the [[Game Boy/Game Boy Color emulators|Game Boy]]and, and more recently, GBA clones. MAME support for it is preliminary at best.
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|[[wikipedia:Gamate|Gamate]]
|Good
|Yes
|Another attempt to capture part of the Game Boy market, the Gamate was released in the early 90s by Bit Corporation. The magnitude of its failure makes it and its software obscenely rare today, with prices over 500 dollars for the handheld alone on eBay. It's so obscure, that it wasn't until December 2014 when preliminary support for the handheld was added in MAME, and ROM dumps were made.
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|[[wikipedia:Gizmondo|Gizmondo]]
|Preliminary
|Yes (No-intro)
|A disaster of a handheld, the Gizmondo was released in 2005 with a furious marketing campaign. It was ahead of its time in that it (was supposed to have) included built-in advertisements to make the console cheaper.
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|[[wikipedia:GP32|GP32]]
|None
|No
|Have you every played a poor Game & Watch clone and said to your self yourself "I Would Love to Play This On The Big Screen", then ? Then the Light Games from 1988 is for you, it . It has a built -in projector and less then 10 games released for it, its . Its unknown how many units were sold or when it was discontinued.
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|[[wikipedia:Game_Master_(console)|Hartung Game Master]]
|None
|No
|in In 1996, Koei released a Game Boy competitor in Japan called the PasoGo and for some reason Koei decided to market it as being designed specifically to play the traditional Asian board game, Go including naming after it, the . The console flopped thanks to its high price tag of 39,800 Yen (about $600 when adjusted for inflation), the size of the device , and the fact that all six the launch titles were slightly different versions of Go, its . Its unknown how many units were sold or when it was discontinued.
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|[[wikipedia:Leapster|Leapster]]
|Preliminary
|Yes (No-intro)
|The Leapster Learning Game System is an educational handheld game console aimed at 4 to 10-year-olds (preschool to fourth grade), made by LeapFrog Enterprises. Its games teach the alphabet, phonics, basic math mathematics (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), and art , and animal facts to players. It featured a touchscreen and games from various licenses from Thomas & Friends to Sonic X. Oddly enough it has a homebrew scene that even features some emulators, most especially with its successors, i.e. the Didj, Leapster Explorer, and LeapPad series of tablets which run on the Pollux and NXP3200 platforms along with a customized Linux distribution.
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|[[wikipedia:Mega_Duck|MegaDuck/CougarBoy]]
|Good
|Yes
|Chinese knockoff Game Boy that was branded with various bizarre names, despite each version is being exactly the same. Used cartridges. ROMs are out there, surprisingly.
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|[[wikipedia:Pokemon_Mini|Nintendo Pokémon Mini]]
|None
|No
|Released in 1984, Super Micro was a handheld console similar in vein to the Milton Bradley Microvision in design, . Bad timing, The a lack of advertising , and issues with its design and quality (the plastic body is vary fragile) resulted in failure, . Palmtex sold less then 37 thousand ,000 units and discontinued the console the same year it was released, only . Only three of the eight games announced were released.
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|[[wikipedia:Romtec Colorvision|Romtec Colorvision]]
|None
|No
|Released in 1984,The Colorvision was another cheaply made console released during the Video Game Crash, its . Its unknown how made many units were sold or when it was discontinued, only . Only 5 games were made released for it.
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|[[wikipedia:Tapwave_Zodiac|Tapwave Zodiac]]
|None
|[http://www.theoldcomputer.com/roms/index.php?folder=Tapwave/Zodiac Some]
|A handheld released in 2003 that used an enhanced Palm OS. Ahead for its time, even receiving awards. However, the PSP and Nintendo DS systems killed it.
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|[[wikipedia:Game.com|Tiger Game.com]]
|None
|No
|An often forgotten attempt by Hasbro and their subsidiary, Tiger Electronics (of Game.com fame) to use the popularity of there the VideoNow portable video players to enter the Video Game market.
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|[[wikipedia:VTech 3D Gamate|VTech 3D Gamate]]
|None
|No
|An extremely rare console released in 1983 by VTech, its unknown how many units were sold and was likely discontinued shortly after released. While six games were announced, only 3 are known to have been released released.
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|[[wikipedia:VTech Variety|VTech Variety]]
|None
|No
|Another extremely rare console released from VTech also released in 1983, like the 3D Gamate, its . Its unknown how many units were sold and was also likely discontinued shortly after released.Only six games are known to have been released for it.
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|[[VTech ProScreen]]
|None
|No
|Once again we have an Yet another extremely rare console from VTech, The ProScreen was released in 1984 and only three games are known to of have been released.
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|[[wikipedia:Watara_Supervision|Watara Supervision]]
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