$info=atari 2600,
$bio

Atari 2600

Atari VCS..later called the 2600 was released in 1977 and became the dominant console in the 1970's. The Atari 2600 boasted amazing specs for it's time, and amassed a library of thousands of games. The popularity of the 2600 grew even further when the arcade game "Space Invaders" was ported for the first time to a console. The success was also in part to the many arcade and movie licenses acquired by Atari. These licenses gave Atari the marketing edge over other consoles of it's time. The console introduced an enormous variety of games and controllers and was the console of choice well into the early 80's even when graphically out performed by newer consoles.

The success of Atari spawned many console redesigns. One example was the reduced sized Atari 2600 Jr. (Shown on left) released in 1986 as part of a campaign to rekindle the console's success. Also the Atari 2800, which essentially was the same build, but offered 4 controller ports instead of 2. The controllers were also redesigned to be a hybrid of both a joystick and paddle. The 2800 model was sold in the US under the Sears label Telegames II. This model was also the first official Atari release in Japan in 1982, and retailed for 24,800 Yen. 

The success of Atari 2600 also triggered it's fall from glory. The console spawned numerous clones and adapters (These adapters allowed 2600 software to be played on other consoles). The Atari 2600 cart format also contained no restrictions, which allowed anyone to make their own 2600 games. These factors contributed to the fall of Atari in early years, and played a role to the "Videogame Crash of 1984". 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=atari 5200,
$bio

Atari 5200

Atari 5200 was established in 1982 to compete with Intellivision, and to become the successor of the Atari 2600. The Atari 5200 was a modified version of the Atari 400/800 which was the most powerful 8-bit home computer system of its era. The graphics were a step above the older competition, and went toe to toe with their newest competitor the Colecovision. The 5200 enjoyed moderate success, but never reached the overall success of it's predecessor the Atari 2600. Resources which should have been allocated for 5200 game development went instead to the 2600, a system which was on its last legs and already saturated with software from Atari and its third party publishers. In addition, the fact that the 5200 was not compatible with the 2600 put off many 2600 owners who had accumulated a substantial library of games for the system (a VCS adapter which allowed 2600 games to be played on the 5200 was later released).The "Great Videogame Crash of 1984" helped to seal its fate along with the rest of the home videogame consoles.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=atari 7800,
$bio

Atari 7800

The Atari 7800 Pro System was originally designed in 1983-84, but was never released during that time frame because of the "Great Videogame Crash of 1984". Nintendo had revitalized the videogame industry. This prompted then Atari CEO Jack Tramiel to try at the console market once again in 1986. The Atari 7800 was brought out of storage to compete against Nintendo's NES. By the time the system was ready for sale, Sega had released the Sega Master System and had made the marketplace even more hostile for Atari. So what happened? If it were released back in 1984 the system may have done amazingly well, but now it's specs were clearly dated compared to it's competitors. The Atari 7800 played classic 2600 games and revamped versions of older arcade classics, but gamers wanted new original games. Atari had almost no 3rd party support (Activision, Absolute, and Froggo gave it a shot) mostly because on disinterest or Nintendo's restrictions, so they had to try and support the 7800 alone. By the time original games came out it was too little too late, and it was time to put the system out of it's misery in 1989.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=atari jaguar,
$bio

Atari Jaguar

With Sega and Nintendo battling neck and neck with their 16-bit platforms, Atari seized the opportunity to return to the console market after 7 years. A small company calling themselves 'Flare 1' were on the verge of developing a multiprocessor console. Needing the funding to develop it further, they approached Atari Corp. Atari was trying to develop their own console code named ‘Panther’. They jumped on the offer, and development for the ‘Flare 2’ continued alongside the ‘Panther’. Eventually plans for the 32-bit Panther were scrapped for the renamed 64-bit Jaguar. 

The Atari Jaguar was released in the United States on December of 1993. The console was manufactured and distributed by IBM. Atari highly boasted the system as being the first 64-bit console. They also boasted about a host of developers and a hundreds of games being created for the system. The system had amazing technical specs for it’s time. The console contained 5 processors mounted on 3 chips. One was a traditional Motorola 68000, and the other two were nicknamed ‘Tom’ and ‘Jerry’.

The use of the Motorola 68000 was a reason that the Jaguar’s validity as a 64-bit was put to question. You see the Motorola 68000 is a 16-bit processor, and 2 others were 32-bit. Only 2 processors were actually 64-bit, but all the registers and buses were in fact 64-bit. Regardless the machine had a ton of potential. 

So what exactly happened? Even with so many developers announced (158 developers) many of the game titles never saw the light of day having never got further than the planning stage. It was not just game titles that failed to arrive, neither did some of the consoles peripherals (An overly hyped Virtual Reality headset for example). The Jaguar’s cartridge game media had limited storage space, and failed to tap the abilities of the Jaguar. Out off 55 total carts made only 22 were created by outside developers. Developers were simply not ready to handle a console with multiple processors. This became obvious with many of the game releases. Some games were simply ports of 16-bit titles with improved color. Others were enhanced ports of older Atari classics (though this was not a bad thing with some of them. Tempest 2000 was a best seller for the system). Others still seemed to be rushed afterthoughts in an effort to cash in. 3rd Party developer support was pretty much nonexistent. 

In 1995 Atari finally wised up and created a CD-ROM add on to tap the 700+ megabit CD format. The Jaguar CD retailed for $150, and came equipped with a double speed CD-ROM capable of running Jaguar games, Audio CD’s, and CD+G’s. Games could run full motion video at 24 frames per second. The Jaguar CD also featured a built in Virtual Light Machine (color and visual effects that react to the music and sounds). The add-on connected to the Jaguar through the cartridge slot, but had it’s own pass through slot so Jaguar carts could still be played. The package also includes the Tempest 2000 soundtrack audio disc, a sampler for the CD game "MYST", and two CD-ROM games: "Vid Grid" and "Blue Lightning".

The Jaguar CD was a an impressive deal, but it came too late. Interest was growing with the 32-bit CD based Sony and Sega consoles. The Jaguar CD saw only 9 additional CD titles. Atari seeing a need to regain interest due to failing sales began spreading news of a Jaguar II. In 1996 however Atari Corp entered a reverse merger with a company called JTS. All Jaguar products became liquidated, and Jaguar became a fond memory. 

Jaguar could have been an amazing console if software took better advantage of it’s 5 processor capability. One game however appeared toward the end of Jaguars life cycle, and showed what the console could do. Aliens VS Predator graphics were amazing for their time, and possibly enough to inspire a Jaguar purchase. If only it arrived sooner.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=atari lynx,
$bio

Atari Lynx (1989) and Atari Lynx II (1990)

The Lynx was the world's first hand-held color video game system. Sold by Atari (developed by Epyx a few years earlier), the Lynx offered true multi-player competition, built-in 3D and distortion graphic effects, reversible controls, and fast arcade action. The system featured some accurate arcade translations such as Joust, Rampart, and Klax. The Lynx II is a lightweight redesign and features stereo sound and shorter power down timer. Around 1993 Atari ceased marketing the Lynx and focused on their new console, the Jaguar.

Features:
Two 16-Bit custom CMOS chips running at 16Mhz(named Mikey and Suzy)
Sound: 8 bit DAC for each channel; 4 channels integrated stereo speaker (wired for mono in original)
Screen: 160 x 102 (horz) 60.00 Hz 
Color: 4096 colors, 16 max per scanline
Others: 64KB RAM of 120ns DRAM

Ports: 
Headphones (mini-DIN 3.5mm stereo; wired for mono on the original Lynx)
ComLynx (multiple unit communications, serial)
Power (9V DC, 1 A)
Game cartridge slot
Battery holder (six AA) ~4-5 hours
Size: 9.25" x 4.25" x 2" (10.75" x 4.25" x 1.5" for original Lynx)
Screen: 3.5" diagonal (3.25" x 1.88" approx.) 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=daphne,
$bio

Daphne Laser Disk

This platform is not documented yet!
$end


$info=nintendo,
$bio

Nintendo Entertainment System / Famicom (1985 USA)

Talk about a success story. Nintendo's jump into the console market was a gamble which made a simple toy company into one of the biggest Videogame console manufacturers in the biz. Nintendo began it's gaming history producing arcade hits like Donkey Kong and Mario Bros, and selling rights to the games for home console use (See Colecovision). Eventually Nintendo decided to take a crack at the home console industry. The Nintendo Famicom (FAMIly COMputer) videogame system was released in Japan in 1984. The consoles great specs combined with ports on Nintendo's popular arcade titles quickly made it a popular favorite in Japan selling 2.5 million systems in that same year. With success achieved in Japan, Nintendo set it's eyes on the American gaming market. They began negotiations with the American videogame console industry leader Atari to bring the Famicom to the U.S. 

The "Great Videogame Crash of 1984", and some poor business announcements forced Atari to pull out of the agreement. After negotiations with Atari to sell the Famicom in the U.S. fell through, Nintendo decided to release the system on their own in 1985, ignoring the weak videogame market and the recent crash occurring in the States. Nintendo take a chance? You bet, but they were not going to gamble without doing their homework. They called the U.S. version of the Famicom the Nintendo Entertainment System, and designed it to look less like a videogame console and more like something that would fit in with other home entertainment appliances. Nintendo took steps to make the system seem like a computer or a VCR. Nintendo even agreed to buy back all unsold inventory in order to get retailers to take a chance on them. The system was originally targeted for release in spring '85, but the release date was pushed back. After test-marketing in the New York City area in late fall, the system was released nationwide in February, 1986. Nintendo also created restraints on 3rd party software developers to prevent oversaturation of games that contributed to the "Crash". 

Nintendo would later debut the NES successor, but would still try to cash in on the remainder of the NES's success. In 1993, Nintendo released a top loading NES model 2. This newer model was scaled down to nearly half the size of the original. The case was a sleeker design (Like a smoother Famicom). The cartridge port was more stable, and used eject & power buttons similar to it's successor the SuperNES. Even the controller had the "bone-like" shape of the SuperNES. This new model sold for $45. The cheaper price came at the loss of the original model's interface and A/V Out ports. Nintendo dropped support for this new model a year later. Today, it's a collectors item. 

In the end the gamble paid off, the NES had sold over 62 million systems and over 500 million games, making it the most popular videogame system of it's time.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=super nintendo,
$bio

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1989)

Around 1988 Nintendo was still enjoying the success of it’s NES / Famicom system and didn’t see no rush in jumping on the 16-bit bandwagon. However the NEC PCengine / Turbografix in Japan, and the Sega Genesis in the US were beginning to dominate the videogame market. 

The jump to 16-bit was no real surprise. Originally Nintendo wanted the Famicom to be 16-bit, but resources at the time were too expensive. The Super Famicom was released in November 1989, and basically took over 80 percent of the Japanese market once established. They still had a lot of ground to cover to catch up with the other 16-bit systems. The system itself was quite impressive introducing scaling and rotation effects (the famous Mode 7) that could not be duplicated on the other systems. Nintendo knew they also needed more 3rd Party support. They learned their lesson of placing restrictions on developers who wished to make games for other platforms. This attracted developers who created games for other systems to make games also for the Super Famicom. Actually, this was the only way Nintendo could guarantee a large number of quality games since most major developers had already signed on with Sega. Nintendo was still slow to release the system overseas. A shortage of supplies, and the fact that the NES  was still making money in the US delayed the Super Famicom’s release. The system was finally released in the US on September 1st 1991, and called the SuperNES. The UK released followed a year later in April 1992. 

The SuperNES soon amassed a large library competing toe to toe with Sega. Their popular character franchises and exclusive games kept them in a heated rivalry. Arcade games played a strong role in the competition. SuperNES got the jump on Sega by releasing the popular arcade title ‘Street Fighter 2’ with temporary exclusivity. Soon after they lost the edge when they chose to censor another popular arcade fighter ‘Mortal Kombat’, which Sega released unedited. 

The SuperNES remained popular for the next years. Sega began introducing game enhancing add-ons such as the Sega CD, and 3D gaming was growing in popularity. Nintendo refused to fall behind the times, and also began working on a CD based add-on. With numerous disagreements with Sony and later Phillips, and with production delays, Nintendo scrapped the project. They approached A new developer named Argonaut Software who produced a chip that could be added to game carts. This chip would allow the SuperNES to produce 3D graphics. The SuperFX chip gave the SuperNES new life, and produced popular games such as Star Fox which was released in 1993. Nintendo continued to use chip enhanced cartridges to maintain the SuperNES’s popularity. Even as 32-bit consoles began to surface, Nintendo continued to surprise gamers. In 1994, Nintendo teamed with a 3rd party developer named RARE. Together both companies produced Donkey Kong Country which used rendered graphics. The game looked as good as first generation 32-bit titles, and kept the SuperNES selling even in a 32-bit generation.

In March 27th of 1998 Nintendo decided to release a scaled down cheaper model Super Famicom. It was called Super Famicom Jr and retailed for 7,800 Yen. Not only did Nintendo cut the size of the console, they also cut out the A/V out port and the expansion port. The redesigned model was also released in the US shortly after the debut of Nintendo 64, and called SNES2. Both designs and redesigns of the Super Famicom and SuperNES are shown above.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=nintendo 64,
$bio

Nintendo 64

Nintendo stretched the life of their 16-bit console for as long as they could. Their initial attempts at entering the market with a 32-bit CD add-on (see Playstation) never saw the light of day. After the releases of Sony and Sega’s 32-bit systems, Nintendo began spreading the word of their new console in development. The leap to a 64-bit console became known as Project Reality. The system was a joint venture by Nintendo and Silicon Graphics. Nintendo would later change the name to ‘Ultra 64’. 

Nintendo shocked developers and gamers alike with the decision to remain with a cartridge format instead of CD’s, which appeared as the most favorable game media. This turned away many 3rd Party software developers who felt the cartridge did not have the storage capacity to handle their game projects (a weakness that hurt the Atari Jaguar). Nintendo stuck by the cartridge format saying that it was the best media to use with the Ultra 64, and that CD’s would be plagued with extreme ‘load’ times. Also carts were more durable then CD’s which are prone to scratching (particularly with younger kids). Eventually Nintendo would put all doubts to rest in 1995 with a playable Super Mario 64 shown at a Japanese trade show. Super Mario 64’s lush 3D visuals were enough to regain interest in Nintendo’s new console.

On June 20th, 1996, the again renamed Nintendo 64 was released in Japan along with Super Mario 64 and two other games. It was then released in USA on 26 September in the same year with other countries following soon after. The console was an immediate success, but a shortage of quality games began to slow system sales. Games were released in trickles. Developers found the cartridge format limiting. Effects such as Full Motion Video and large quantities of voiceover, music, and sound effects could not be reproduced due to the limited storage capacity (keep in mind however that N64 can produce CD quality sound). Gamers found some of the N64 game releases cheaper on rival consoles CD formats (Carts had a high manufacturing price which was filtered down, naturally, to the consumer). The same held for other game titles large in size (the more megabits the cart the / the higher the price). 

Even with the small amount of game releases, Nintendo managed to releases amazing game titles based on franchise characters from their SuperNES / NES days. Also with help from RARE, the company that breathed new life into the SuperNES with “Donkey Kong Country”, The Nintendo 64 saw some great game exclusives that kept gamers happy with their console choice. While 64-bit updates to popular SuperNES games was the way to go, it also created a Nintendo 64 stereotype of being a “Kiddy” console (although most of those supposed kiddy games are amazingly fun). Rival console manufacturers would use this stereotype to their advantage in an effort to attract older ‘hardcore’ gamers. 

Nintendo clearly understood that the cartridge storage abilities would limit 3rd Party developers. In 1997 they began announcing a device called the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive or N64DD for short. It would be a magnetic disk drive, which connected to the N64’s expansion port. The device would add an addition 4 megabytes of RAM to the N64, and offer 64 megabytes of additional read / writeable RAM for developers to create. The disks could be used to add additional levels, maps, stats, and more to pre-existing games. This device saw numerous delays, and eventually was released in Japan only. Other countries however did receive the N64 Expansion Pack. This accessory was released around 1998. It added an additional 4Mb of RAM . Games specifically made to take advantage of it’s capability could increase the games resolution, improve graphics, make levels larger, etc. For other games however it did nothing. 

In the end Nintendo 64 was a remarkable machine that brought about innovation such as controller ‘rumble’ effects, and analog / digital controllers. The console was supported well into 2002, and sold over 30 million units worldwide. It also marked the end of the ‘Cartridge Era’.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=nintendo gameboy,
$bio

Nintendo Game Boy (1989)

The Game Boy was a huge success for Nintendo. It was the second portable system created by Nintendo (the first being the Game & Watch series starting in 1980). The original Game Boy was released in 1989 and allowed game players to play a huge library of games away from home. Games like Super Mario Land, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and Tetris proved that quality games could be developed for portable use. Nintendo later released the “Play it Loud” Game Boy series in 5 colors, and the redesigned slimmed down Game Boy pocket version was released in 1996.

Features:
CPU: 8-bit (Similar to the Z80 processor) at 4.194304MHz
Main RAM: 8k Byte internal
Video RAM: 8k Byte internal
Video Display: Reflective LCD 160 x 144 dots (20 x 18 Tiles)
Video Colors: 4 shades of gray
Screen Size: 2.6"
Max # of sprites: 40
Max # sprites/line: 10
Max sprite size: 8x16
Min sprite size: 8x8
Sound: 4 channels each of which can be mapped either to the left or to the right or to
both speakers
Communications: Serial port. Up to 4 Game boys can be connected together using this port.
Baud rate and protocol: (?)
Power: 6 VDC, 0.7 Watts (3 VDC 0.7W for Game Boy Pocket)
4 AA Batteries ~ 35 hours 
Rechargeable battery (NAKI) ~ 12 hours
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=nintendo gameboy color,
$bio

Nintendo Gameboy Color (1998)

This is an update to the original Gameboy system that adds color capabilities as well as backwards compatibility.

Features:
Processor: 8 MHz Z80 work alike by Sharp with two processor modes: Single (4MHz) and double (8MHz)
Video: 10, 32, or 56 on screen colors from a palette of 32000, Screen made by Sharp
Sound: 4 Channel FM stereo
Controls: 8 directional D-Pad, A, B, select, and start buttons. 
Resolution: 160x144x56 colors
Sprites: 40 - 8x16, 8x8 (four color sprites-4 colors- 1 being a transparent)
Tiles: 512 on screen making use of the 16K of VRAM
Cart Size: 256KBit - 16MBit for GB compatible games. Up to 64 MBit ROM & 128 KBytes RAM for CGB 
cartridges, although 32Mbit ROM / 64K RAM carts are the largest currently manufactured.
Serial port speed: 512 Kbps
Power: ~13 hours on 2 AA batteries or AC adapter.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=nintendo gameboy advance,
$bio

Nintendo Gameboy Advance

The Game Boy Advance became the successor to the ever-so-popular Game Boy Color.  What Nintendo had envisioned was an improved version of the GBC, in terms of processing power, graphics capabilities and aesthetics, which would remain backward compatible with older games.  This is taken care of by the Z80 coprocessor that exclusively handles running Game Boy and Game Boy Color games.  Note that the coprocessor cannot run at the same time as the main 32-bit processor, which makes sense.

The system would support sprites, allowing it to produce complex 2D animation and retain more control over individual graphical elements (sprites) within games, as well as scaling and rotation modes.  Despite the bigger and brighter screen, Nintendo decided yet again not to include a built-in backlight.  Why you might ask.  Nintendo thought it would drain too much power and increase costs.  Well, that didn't stop the Game Gear from having one eight years ago!  shrug...

Aesthetically, the GB's shape changed from a vertical rectangle with the buttons below the screen to a horizontal Game-Gear-like handheld with the arrow keys on the left and the 'A' and 'B' buttons on the right.  Two extra buttons were added to the top left and right of the unit too.  The new shape definitely made playing games a lot more enjoyable.

The GB Advance was first unveiled in Tokyo at Spaceworld 2000.  Its release came a few months later in March 2001.

An amazing thing happened In 2003.  Nintendo released a new version of the GB Advance dubbed the Game Boy Advance SP (Special Project), which amazingly included a built-in light and a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery (the previous version was powered by two AA batteries).  A decade late, but a wise move nonetheless.  Its shape changed too to a flip-type "clamshell", protecting the screen from scratches and reducing its size even further.  The SP version uses the same sized cartridges as its predecessor.

The GB Advance retailed at $99, while the GB Advance SP currently sells for approximately $119 with limited editions selling for about $149.  The one pictured below is the Famicom Edition, released to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Nintendo Famicom.  About 300 games have been released for the Game Boy Advance including Famicom classics like Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, Excite Bike, Mappy and others.

Technical Specs: 

CPU: 32-bit RISC (16MHz)
Coprocessor: 8-bit Z80 CISC (8.4MHz)
RAM: 32KB WRAM, 96KB VRAM, 256KB WRAM
Screen: Reflective TFT (40.8 x 61.2mm)
Sprites: 128
Sprite Size: 8x8 up to 64x64
Colors: 32k
Resolution: 240x160 pixels
Sound: Mono from speakers (Stereo from phones -phone jack is not available in GB Advance SP)
Power:  Advance 15 hours (10 hours with pack) / Advance SP 18 hours (10 hours with light)
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=nintendo virtualboy,
$bio

Nintendo Virtualboy

The Shoshinkai show in Japan in 1994 was the first time people learned of Nintendo's upcoming 32-bit portable console.  At first, it had been given the name VR32 (Virtual Reality 32).  Gunpei Yokoi, the man behind both the Game Boy and the Game & Watch handhelds, was the team leader for the project.  The VR32 was going to create a new type of gaming experience never seen before.  By the time the Winter Consumer Electronics Show (WCES) came, a few games had already been developed for the system and were demoed to the public. 

The renamed Virtual Boy was released in Japan on July 21, 1995 and in the US on August 14 and Nintendo were expecting at least 3 million units to be sold.  This was never the case.  The console was a complete flop.  It hardly sold 50,000 in Japan, with Nintendo's estimate being 250,000, and didn't do any better in the US.  It was never released in Europe. 

The way images are produced on the VB is by projecting two images, one black and one red, onto the two LCD screens, both of which run at 50.2 fps.  This makes the images appear to be three-dimensional and stand out against the black background. 

There were a few disappointments with the Virtual Boy.  For starters, it only displayed images in red pixels.  It would have been so much nicer if the virtual reality experience was in full color.  It also gave players a headache if they played on it for over half an hour and was not recommended for children under 7 years old.  The VB unit sits on a stand with no height adjustment, so in many situations it's quite difficult to be comfortable while playing. 

By August 1996, Nintendo announced the death of the Virtual Boy and ceased any future plans for game releases. 

All in all though, I think the Virtual Boy was a daring and interesting idea.  Approximately 770,000 units were sold in total worldwide.  If anything, it was something different.  What a shame though that Gunpei Yokoi had to leave Nintendo in disgrace after being blamed for the Virtual Boy's tragic outcome.  Even with its flaws, I still love it! 

14 games were released for the Virtual Boy in the US including Mario Clash, which was originally meant to be bundled with the unit, Galactic Pinball, Red Alarm, Wario Land and Teleroboxer.  It initially retailed for $179.95, but was dropped to $159.95 two months later. 

Technical Specs: 

CPU: 32-bit NEC V810 RISC (20MHz)
RAM: 1Mb DRAM 512kb P-SRAM
Colors: 4 colors/32 intensity levels
Resolution: 384x224 pixels
Screen: 2 RTI light-emitting LEDs
Sound: 16-bit stereo
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=sega genesis,
$bio

Sega Megadrive/Genesis (1988)

Sega made a good attempt at the market with their Master System against Nintendo's virtual monopoly of the console industry, but they were about to introduce next generation gaming to the masses.

After two years of development the Sega Megadrive was released in Japan in October 1988, and was the first true 16-bit console to enter the console market. The Megadrive achieved moderate success in Japan after being beat to the market by NEC's PC Engine (Turbografx) only four months earlier. Sega had a lot of hits in the arcade such as After Burner and Golden Axe, and part of the appeal of the Megadrive was that now these games were not only playable at home but were fairly close to the arcade versions. Once again Sega set their sites on the rest of the console playing world. Sega began an aggressive marketing campaign, not only to customers, but also to developers. They quickly gained the support of western third party developer Electronic Arts and quickly produced a line-up of quality arcade conversions and killer sports games (Games that appeal more to American gamers).The Sega Genesis released in America in September 1989. By the end of 1990 there were over 30 third-party developers writing games for the  new system, compared to four for the Turbografx 16. The Sega Genesis reached a great level of success in Amaerica, but launched the system to all new heights of popularity when they released a secret project in the summer of 1992. Sonic the Hedgehog pushed the Genesis to the limit with spectacular graphics, animation and sound.. all with incredible speed. Sonic also became the official mascot and icon for Sega, and became part of marketing campaign to compete against Nintendo's soon to be released console which contained a slower processor (Sega dubbed the techniques used in Sonic as "Blast Processing"). The 

Genesis saw many changes over the years. The console was remodeled in 1994, and offered a sleeker / smaller case, and a reduced price (At the expense of the head phone jack and volume control). In 1998, Majesco reserved the rights to manufacture certain Sega systems. They decided to redesign the Genesis yet again. The Genesis 3 was released in the US for under $50. It was made even smaller, but lacked the ability to interface with Sega CD and 32X. 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=sega master system,
$bio

Sega Master System (1987)

To compete with the Nintendo Famicom in Japan, Sega released the successor to the Mark I/II and called it Sega Mark III in 1984. The Mark III could produce great 8 bit graphics with specs superior to the Famicom. The console had two game formats which were cartridges and a Sega "Game Card" format.The cards held only 256K of data (cartridges held over 4 times that amount), but the advantage to both Sega and the consumer was the fact that the cards were cheaper to manufacture and sold for less then the carts did. Sega also introduced 3D glasses that could be used in some of their games. The Mark III was also backwards compatible with SG-1000 / Mark I & II software.

When Nintendo released the Famicom to America in 1986, Sega had no intentions of letting their rival get all the market share. They redesigned the Mark III, and changed the name to the Sega Master System (SMS). The approached Tonka Toy Distribution to market the SMS, and so the console was released three months after the NES in 1986. Although the SMS was an impressive machine, it did not reach the level of success that the NES gained in America. The two reasons for this were poor marketing by Tonka Toys, and software restrictions implemented by Nintendo to third party developers even with a three month head start.Third party developers were contractually prohibited from making games for any rival company. This meant that once a company had made a game for the obviously popular NES, they weren’t allowed to make any games at all for the SMS. As a result, the only outside developers for the SMS were Activision and Parker Brothers (though Sega did receive permission to "reprogram" numerous games developed by other companies). Sega did the rest of the games themselves. Some of Sega's best games started this way. The Popular RPG series "Phantasy Star" made it's first appearance on the Sega Master System. The SMS may not have been as successful as the NES in America, but overseas was another story. The SMS was extremely popular in the UK and Brazil where games were released into the the late 90's. The SMS succeeded overseas because it was much cheaper than the pricey NES, and by that time the second generation of games had been released which really showed of the SMS superior specs. The SMS was re-released as the Sega Master System II in 1990 with a reduction in features to save money. The card port was cut, as was the power light and Sega logo and music upon starting the machine.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=sega 32x,
$bio

Sega 32x

It was the winter of 1994, and new more powerful consoles were entering the videogame market. Gamers were enjoying new 3D arcade games, and the 16-bit Genesis / Megadrive seemed to be feeling it’s age. It was January 8th 1994 when Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama directed his company to produce a 32-bit cartridge-based console to be in stores by Christmas 1994. The project was dubbed Jupiter. The project was given to ‘Sega of America’ while their Japan sector worked on a CD-Based console. Not happy with the idea of developing a simple console that had a 32-bit processor and more colors, Joe Miller of Sega of America chose to make the project an add on for the Genesis / Megadrive. Sega of America began development on the add on called project Mars without any knowledge of the 32-bit CD console being developed by their Japanese counterparts. 

Sega began their marketing campaign for project Mars, and called the device Sega 32X to emphasis it’s 32-bit capabilities. The device, which connected through the Genesis / Megadrive cartridge port, combined it’s 32-bit processor with the consoles existing processor. Gamers could play 32-bit cartridge games, use the 32X slot as a pass through to play Genesis / Megadrive games, and even play enhanced 32-bit CD games if the Sega CD was attached. The 32X was released in mid-November 1994 in America for US. Japan got the console in December (Super 32X) and Europe and Australia received it in January 1995 (Mega 32X). With the added power, Sega was able to port their 3D arcade titles for console users, and other 3rd Party developers began jumping aboard.

All was not good with planet Mars. The 32X was off to a bad start from the beginning. The 32X was launched with no games initially available. Although it was marketed at a decent price it was not packaged with a pack in game, but came with 10 coupons toward the purchase of 32X software (Coupons…how joyous..yeah right). Retailers submitted a demand for over 1 million units, but only half of the amount was made available. In there efforts to meet demand, Sega produced 32X units with various defects. Customers reported incompatibilities with their Genesis / Megadrive models or TVs. Once again Sega began to scramble to create adapters to alleviate the compatibility problems. They also began to develop an all in one unit combining both the Genesis / Megadrive, and the 32X and dubbed it project ‘Neptune’.

By 1995 news of a 32-bit CD-based Sega Saturn began stirring from Japan. Developers lost abandoned development for 32X carts for a more favorable 32-bit CD format. Gamers also caught wind of the news and quickly began losing interest in the Sega 32X. 

By 1996 the 32X saw a total of 31 cart based games, and 5 32X enhanced Sega CD games. Most of the games were developed by Sega themselves or color enhanced versions of existing Genesis titles. Sega ceased all support for 32X that year in order to focus on the Sega Saturn. It would seem that the 32X was merely meant to fill the time gap for it’s CD based counterpart. 32X would also be Sega’s final attempt at add on enhancing devices.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=sega cd,
$bio

Sega CD

In 1991 at the Tokyo Toy show in Japan, Sega unveiled it’s secret project to compete against NEC’s PCEngine CD-ROM add on. The Mega CD like it’s rival was capable of utilizing the enormous storage capacity of CD media to produce quality games. The Mega CD however was designed with it’s own processor and memory that worked in conjunction with the Megadrive’s (Genesis) processor and memory via an interface port.. The unit was capable of adding 10 extra sound channels to the Megadrive, and provide sprite enhancement features such as scaling and rotation, similar to that of the SuperNES’s Mode 7. Similar to other CD based consoles, the Mega CD could also run audio CD’s and CD+G. With the massive amount of storage space on CDs, game producers also saw the capability of using Full Motion Video (FMV) in their games. Unfortunately, when shown on a 16-bit console, the graphics turned out very pixilated and grainy, but that didn't stop them making such games.

The Mega CD was released in Japan in the winter of 1991, and competed well against NEC’s add on. In 1992 Sega began to lose it’s dominance in the United States due to the release of the SuperNES. The add on renamed Sega CD was released in October of that year to retake their sales position. However the initial price tag of $299, and the initial lack of quality titles kept the add on from taking off. 

In 1993 the Sega CD was redesigned with a top loading CD tray. The redesign made the add on cheaper, and sleeker to connect to the remodeled Megadrive II / Genesis II. It was finally released in Europe in April, and gathered a larger following. In March of 1994 the Sega CD was redesigned yet again, but was no longer an add on. The Sega CDX was a single unit that combined both the Genesis / Megadrive and the Sega CD into a single unit. The sleek design was slightly larger then a normal CD Player and retailed for $399 USD.

The Sega CD was a great creation, but was not considered a total success. A number of factors prevented the Sega CD from attaining a dominant position in the videogame market at the time. The initial high price prevented the add on from selling well. Another contributor was the delay of third party software support. Sega was slow to distribute the development kits needed to create Sega CD games. The result caused some rushed low quality games. Other developers abused the add on’s ability to create FMV, and games seemed more a cheap movie then an actual game. Other games still were simple slightly enhanced versions of their existing Genesis / Megadrive carts. In 1993, an issue of violence and videogames began surfacing. Fingers began pointing to Sega due to a game called "Night Trap". Stores began removing Sega CD games from their shelves in fear of protest.

Approximately 149 Sega CD titles were released in the United States. Sega finally pulled the plug on the Sega CD in 1996.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=sega gamegear,
$bio

Sega Game Gear (1990)

The Game Gear is the portable version of the Sega Master System, with slightly enhanced graphics and stereo sound, but fully compatible (i.e. you could play SMS games on the GG with the use of a special adaptor). The Game Gear was sold 11 million times world-wide (2 million in Japan, 9 million in the rest of the world).

Features:
CPU: 4 MHz Zilog Z80
Colors Palette: 512; 32 max on screen
Resolution: 160x140 viewable from 256x224
Sprite size: 8x8 , 8x16 (16x16 in doubled mode)
Max # of sprites: 64 on screen; 128 in memory
Sound: 6 channel FM, 2 channel noise - Stereo
Battery life: 6 hours on 6 AA batteries
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=sonyplaystation,
$bio

Sony Playstation

Japanese electronics company Sony’s involvement in the videogame industry began as a manufacturer of a custom sound chip used in Nintendo’s SuperNES console.

Rival companies NEC and Sega had taken the leap to CD based gaming, and Nintendo had no intentions of being left behind. They immediately partnered up with Sony to develop their CD based system. Sony went on to develop two units. One was a 16-bit add-on for the Super Famicom / NES that sat underneath the system and allowed CD based gaming (SNES CD), and another as a stand-alone unit. Initially the agreement allowed Sony the ability to license CD based games for the system. Nintendo was not willing to relinquish control over software licensing. They dropped Sony from the project, and approached Phillips to develop the add-on. Ken Kutaragi, the Sony researcher who had worked on the SNES PlayStation prototype and the sound chip for the SNES (Sony SPC700), did not want to give up the hard work put into the unit. He wanted to continue working on this project and so approached then Sony President Norio Ogha to develop the stand-alone console without Nintendo. The project continued, and the new Sony Computer Entertainment Division was formed. Sony announced the console dubbed ‘Playstation’ at the Tokyo International Electronics Show in October 1991. The original Playstation concept would be able to play SNES games, as well as educational CD software. Nintendo would try to re-negotiate with Sony in fear that they would drop support for the SuperNES sound chip, but the joint effort between the companies never saw the light of day. Ken Kutaragi went back to develop the Playstation from scratch making it a 32-bit console that was simple yet powerful, easy to program for, and cheap. The new Sony Computer Entertainment division (SCE, SCEA, SCEE) began to use their company connections, and financial influence to persuade 160 3rd party licensees in North America alone and over 400 worldwide to develop for the newly designed Playstation. 

The Playstation (a.k.a PSX) was released shortly after the Sega Saturn on December 2nd 1994. The console was an immediate success selling over 100,000 units it’s first weekend. Developers found the Playstation simpler to develop for then it’s 32-bit rival Saturn. Sony then took it’s console abroad. The Sony Playstation immediately saw success in America in on September 9th 1995 driven by a strong advertising campaign, and a price $100 cheaper then Sega Saturn. Europe saw releases a month later. The PSX eventually claimed the number one videogame console sales position by beating out the Saturn, and even maintaining it’s position after the eventual release of Nintendo’s 64-bit console. Even after the release of next generation systems, Sony saw an opportunity to make even more money out of the PSX. In 1999 Sony released the PSone. This remodeled PSX console was made to the size of a portable CD Disk player. It was also both cheaper to by, and cheaper to produce. LCD screens, battery packs, and vehicle power outlets also made the console somewhat portable. The PSX also has one of the largest libraries of software spanning 1000+ releases, and a wide assortment of accessories. Sony entered the videogame market with a formula for success.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=neogeo pocket mono,
$bio

Neo Geo Pocket

SNK's first venture into the handheld gaming market came in the shape of the Neo Geo Pocket released on October 27, 1998 in Japan.  The Pocket was a 16-bit grayscale handheld meant to compete with Nintendo's Game Boy.  The main selling point of the unit would be fans' confidence in SNK and their quality line of games.  As with many other consoles before it, however, games were released later than expected, which left the NGP with a very small initial library of games.  The release of Samurai Shodown in December of that year was an encouraging step forward.  SNK still needed to have an edge over their main rival, which prompted them to release a color version of the NGP.

The Neo Geo Pocket Color (NGPC) was released in March 1999 in Japan and showcased an impressive reflective 4K color TFT screen with approximately 40 hours of running time powered by just two AA batteries.  King of Fighters R-2 was available at the time of the NGPC's release and was the first game to have the option of connecting to the Sega Dreamcast.  The American release soon followed in June along with three highly-anticipated titles: Samurai Shodown 2, Metal Slug: First Mission and Fatal Fury: First Contact.  Shortly after that, SNK released a new version of the NGPC dubbed New Neo Geo Pocket Color with a lighter and physically smaller design. 

The NGPC comes with a range of added features making it somewhat of a PDA.  The added features are a world clock, calendar, horoscope and alarm system.  It also has a 1-channel 5-pin communications port with a max speed of 19200bps, a stereo headphones jack and an AC adaptor jack.  A dedicated built-in lithium battery is used for its memory-backup system. The NGPC is slightly thicker than the NGP, but doesn't feel any bigger or heavier. 

I have yet to read any bad reviews of the NGPC.  In fact, both SNK fans and non-fans praise the system's power, portability and performance.  What hurt it most was its library's slow growth and lack of aggressive advertisement compared to what Nintendo was doing.  Competing with a company that has a strong financial back and a monopoly on the market is a tough job for anyone.  Competition in the American handheld gaming market is especially tough, which is why other companies like Bandai (makers of the Wonderswan) are so reluctant to risk entering it.

Technical Specs:

CPU: 16-bit Toshiba TLCS900H (6.144MHZ), Z80 sound processor (3.072MHZ)
RAM: 12KB for core processor, 4KB for Z80 processor
Colors: Pocket 8 / Pocket Color 4096 (146 on screen)
Resolution: 160x152 pixels
Sprites: 64 per frame
Screen: Reflective TFT Lpocketc, 45 x 48mm
Sound: 6 tone stereo PSG
Game Media: 54 x 46 x 7.5mm 2MB cartridge
Power:  Pocket 20 hours (2 AAA batteries) / Pocket Color 40 hours (2 AA batteries)
Weight: Pocket 160g (with batteries) / Pocket Color 195g (with batteries)
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=neogeo pocket color,
$bio

Neo Geo Pocket Color

SNK's first venture into the handheld gaming market came in the shape of the Neo Geo Pocket released on October 27, 1998 in Japan.  The Pocket was a 16-bit grayscale handheld meant to compete with Nintendo's Game Boy.  The main selling point of the unit would be fans' confidence in SNK and their quality line of games.  As with many other consoles before it, however, games were released later than expected, which left the NGP with a very small initial library of games.  The release of Samurai Shodown in December of that year was an encouraging step forward.  SNK still needed to have an edge over their main rival, which prompted them to release a color version of the NGP.

The Neo Geo Pocket Color (NGPC) was released in March 1999 in Japan and showcased an impressive reflective 4K color TFT screen with approximately 40 hours of running time powered by just two AA batteries.  King of Fighters R-2 was available at the time of the NGPC's release and was the first game to have the option of connecting to the Sega Dreamcast.  The American release soon followed in June along with three highly-anticipated titles: Samurai Shodown 2, Metal Slug: First Mission and Fatal Fury: First Contact.  Shortly after that, SNK released a new version of the NGPC dubbed New Neo Geo Pocket Color with a lighter and physically smaller design. 

The NGPC comes with a range of added features making it somewhat of a PDA.  The added features are a world clock, calendar, horoscope and alarm system.  It also has a 1-channel 5-pin communications port with a max speed of 19200bps, a stereo headphones jack and an AC adaptor jack.  A dedicated built-in lithium battery is used for its memory-backup system. The NGPC is slightly thicker than the NGP, but doesn't feel any bigger or heavier. 

I have yet to read any bad reviews of the NGPC.  In fact, both SNK fans and non-fans praise the system's power, portability and performance.  What hurt it most was its library's slow growth and lack of aggressive advertisement compared to what Nintendo was doing.  Competing with a company that has a strong financial back and a monopoly on the market is a tough job for anyone.  Competition in the American handheld gaming market is especially tough, which is why other companies like Bandai (makers of the Wonderswan) are so reluctant to risk entering it.

Technical Specs:

CPU: 16-bit Toshiba TLCS900H (6.144MHZ), Z80 sound processor (3.072MHZ)
RAM: 12KB for core processor, 4KB for Z80 processor
Colors: Pocket 8 / Pocket Color 4096 (146 on screen)
Resolution: 160x152 pixels
Sprites: 64 per frame
Screen: Reflective TFT Lpocketc, 45 x 48mm
Sound: 6 tone stereo PSG
Game Media: 54 x 46 x 7.5mm 2MB cartridge
Power:  Pocket 20 hours (2 AAA batteries) / Pocket Color 40 hours (2 AA batteries)
Weight: Pocket 160g (with batteries) / Pocket Color 195g (with batteries)
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=colecovision,
$bio

Coleco Industries ColecoVision

After nearly bankrupting itself in 1978 with overstocked Telstar units, Coleco once again entered the console market looking to de-throne Atari 2600 and Intellivision the current kings of the hill. Colecovision was released in 1982 and boasted amazing specs for it's time which showed in it's arcade conversions. To secure their success Coleco reached out to a Japanese based company called "Nintendo", and paid $250,000 for the rights to a super popular arcade game called Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong became a pack in game with the console. Since the Atari 2600 contained no patented material and was made up of all "off-the-shelf" hardware, Coleco took another step to insure Colecovisions marketing power. The ColecoVision's Expansion Module #1 was essentially an entire 2600 which fit into the Coleco's expansion port. This gave gamers access to Atari's large library of games. ColecoVisions were marketed in Europe by CBS Electronics and sold under the CBS name.

Home computers were starting to overtake game consoles simply because they were more "respectable" in the eyes of parents. So in June 1983, Coleco sadly decided to focus it’s energies on the Adam computer system in 1983, and Colecovision owners suffered. With the video game crash of 1984, Coleco officially ceased production of the unit with over 6 million units sold in just two years.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=odyssey 2,
$bio

Magnavox Odyssey² 

Magnavox's answer to the Atari 2600, The Odyssey² was released in 1978 to compete with the new gaming monster. The Odyssey² wasn't as powerful as the Atari 2600 (it was slower, had lower resolution, and supported only one sound channel compared to the 2600's two) . However, Odyssey² graphics were sharp, with no trace of the screen flicker which sometimes plagued Atari 2600 games. Unlike any other system at that time, the Odyssey² also included a full alpha-numeric touchpad keyboard, which was to be used for educational games, selecting game options or programming. This was a major selling point of the system. 

Because of no third party support most games were copycats of arcade titles released on Atari 2600. One game in particular (K.C Munchkin see below) generated lawsuits by Atari because of similarities to Pac Man. The Odyssey² still managed to sell millions of consoles and was more popular in Europe where it was also called the G7000 Videopac.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=intellivision,
$bio

Mattel Intelivision

Intellivision was released in 1979 early 1980's by Mattel. It was also released under different names to expand its market. The Intellivision was released in Sears stores as the Super Video Arcade, at Radio Shack as the Tandyvision I, and as the GTE/Sylvania Intellivision. The main competitor of the Atari 2600. It's graphical capabilities were much better than the Atari 2600's.It was the system to own for playing sports games, but also had a fair amount of action games with a few strategy games thrown into the mix as well. While Intellivision excelled at graphics and sound, the Atari 2600 was more capable of handling action games due to its superior speed.

So why didn't the Intellivision ever surpass the Atari 2600 in popularity? For one thing, the Intellivision had little 3rd party support until late in it's life (nowhere near the amount the Atari 2600 had).Also many people did not like the disc controllers which may have been great for sports games, but made other games difficult to play. Atari also had nailed down almost every popular arcade / movie license they could get their hands on. This left Mattel scrambling for less popular arcade games from Data East and other developers. So what better way to expand your game library then to add another consoles games! Mattel released a Atari 2600 adapter which gave the Intellivision an even greater library of games. 

In 1982, the console would be remodeled (Intellivision II) with a lockout feature that prevented Atari 2600 and some of their own games from being played. It did however improve the controllers, and added a device that added voice to some games. Also in July of this same year, Mattel approached Bandai to distribute Intellivision in Japan. The Bandai Intellivision retailed for 49,800 yen.

In 1984, the rights to the Intellivision were sold for 16.5 million dollars. The new company called INTV Inc began rumors of the release of the INTV III, or Super Pro System, began to surface. This redesigned unit was identical to the original console, except that it has a black plastic case with silver plates, and also had a Power LED indicator between the Power and Reset switches. The console was released in 1985, and appeared in Toys R Us, Kiddie City, and mail order catalogs. The console continued to sell well into the 1990's with 35 new game titles released. INTV Inc continued to sell out it's stock in 1991, and eventually became a piece of gaming history. 

All in all The Intellivision was an impressive machine that sparked the first real console rivalry in console history. For example, Mattel used television advertisements demonstrating Intellivision graphics outperforming Atari 2600. These rivalries would be duplicated by other companies in later years.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=pc games,
$bio

PC Games

This system is not documented yet!
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=arcadia,
$bio

Emerson Arcadia 2001 (1982)

Emerson Arcadia 2001 was supposed to be the Atari 2600 killer. A great console with great games. Unfortunately they fell prey to complete lack of third party development, and the lack of Arcade titles. Similar to other consoles before it, they were forced to release arcade clones. The system didn't grasp much attention, and soon found it's way to the bargain bin at the cost of $99. The release of the Colecovision months later sealed the Arcadia's fate. The Emerson Arcadia 2001 died after only a year and a half with 35 game releases. Most never recall it existed. Many clones of it (such as the Leonardo were released across the world though. It was also licensed and distributed in Japan by Bandai for 19,800 yen
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=visual pinball,
$bio

Visual Pinball

This system is not documented yet!
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=vectrex,
$bio

GCE Vectrex

The Vectrex was released in November 1982 by General Consumer Electronics (GCE). It wasn't just your average game console.To this day there has never been a videogame system quite like it. The legendary GCE/Milton Bradley Vectrex is the world's only standalone vector graphic home video game system. The console was cartridge based like all other consoles, but the unit came with a 9 inch monochrome monitor, an attached joystick, and even a built in game called Mine Storm. While most videogames use raster graphics, which utilize pixels, the Vectrex used sharp vector graphics. If you’re not familiar with vector graphics, it’s basically a wire frame outline of solid objects, and was considered state of the art in the 70’s and early 80’s. The Vectrex was capable of only displaying black & white, but used plastic color overlays placed on the screen to give the game more appearance.

The Vectrex also made it's way to Japan. In 1983, Bandai released the unit under the name Bandai Kousokusen for 54,800 yen.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=turbografx 16,
$bio

NEC PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 (1987)

On October 30, 1987 the first 16-Bit home entertainment system was released in Japan by NEC. The PC Engine was clearly the "next generation" system with it's amazing specs, and wallet sized card games called "HuCards". The PC Engine was immensely popular in Japan, outselling the Famicom by a significant margin. With it's advanced graphics it dominated the Japanese market. Two years after its Japanese introduction, NEC announced plans to bring the PC Engine overseas. NEC dubbed the US release Turbografx-16, and prepared to dominate both Nintendo and Sega as they did in Japan. 

NEC was also the first to market CD based games using an add on device called the Turbografx CD. 

The console was even upgraded in Japan (with more RAM) to compete against the threat of Nintendo's next console. The upgrade was called Supergrafx, but NEC stopped distributing the console when they saw their PC Engine was doing well. Only 5 games were made to take advantage of Supergrafx extra RAM, and it played all PC Engine games as well as use the CD add on. 

So how is it that a company that produced such state of the art gaming go almost unnoticed by the American gamers? So many factors contributed, but most stems from NEC's lack of marketing. Perhaps their success in Japan made them think the system would sell itself. Whereas you could find commercials and advertisements for Sega and Nintendo, you could not find any for Turbografx. Also NEC was introducing games, titles, and characters that American players simply weren’t familiar with, and many truly excellent games were either ignored outright, or subject to Nintendo's "exclusive licensing" policy that was in effect at the time. The gist of this policy was, if a game was already available on NES, game companies could not produce any versions for any other game system. Although this policy was later ruled illegal, it hurt the TurboGrafx a lot in the early stages of its life. Hudson Soft, the primary producer of PC Engine software, was also producing games for the huge NES market. Releasing a game on TurboGrafx  exclusively (as they would have to do) would restrict its potential sales (as the NES had a greater installed user base). Even the Turbografx CD with it's amazing potential was marketed poorly. Not only was this item priced at a ridiculous $399, but only two games were even released for it during its first six months of existence, and neither "Fighting Street" nor "Monster Lair" came anywhere close to taking advantage of the system’s capabilities. Later on word began to spread that the TG-16 was not a "true" 16-bit system, as its CPU was only 8-bit. (The system used two 8 bit processors). These factors caused the Turbografx to have a small impact in the US. However the system remained successful overseas for quite some time.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=wonderswan mono,
$bio

Bandi Wonderswan

This system is not documented yet!
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=wonderswan color,
$bio

Bandi Wonderswan Color

The Wonderswan Color is indeed an amazing portable machine.  Weighing just 95 grams, it runs on a single AA battery, which lasts for about 20 hours, and has 13, yes 13, buttons allowing you to play games with more freedom both horizontally and vertically.  It has a great 2.1" TFT screen, which produces beautiful colors and 4-level stereo sound, which is impressive.  Why on Earth doesn't it come with a backlight though???
The Wonderswan featured in the pictures below is a limited edition.  It was released in Japan to celebrate the 2001 launch of the Wonderswan Color and the Final Fantasy games on the machine.  Only 1000 box sets were produced by Bandai.  It comes in a white box and casing and has Final Fantasy artwork on both the box and the machine. 

Technical Specs: 

CPU: 16-bit (3.072MHz)
RAM: 512K
Colors: 4096 (241 on screen)
Resolution: 224x144 pixels
Sound: 4-channel mono (stereo with headphones adaptor)
Screen: 2.1" LCD, reflective TFT 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=msx,
$bio

MSX 1 Class Computers

In the early 80's, there were a lot of home computers, Microsoft and a Japanese company called ASCII corporation (directed by Kay Nishi) decided then to create an industry standard for the home computers: MSX (for MicroSoft eXtended). The new standard was based on an existing computer: The Spectravideo SV 318. Microsoft designed the MSX 1 computers and the first version of the OS: MSX DOS 1 (which looks like earlier versions of MS DOS). Almost all Japanese and Korean computer companies made their own MSX computers (except perhaps NEC). Bill Gates was then very confident about the future of the MSX standard. Spectravideo (one of the MSX companies) made a 80 columns card and adapted CP/M on the MSX. A lot of software(especially a lot of games from Sega, Konami, Taito, Ascii,...) and hardware was developed for this standard. Despite all its qualities, the MSX family didn't have great success in USA, however was pretty known in Europe (Netherlands and France), in South America (Brazil) and USSR. This standard was replaced in 1985 by MSX 2. 

$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=msx 2,
$bio

MSX 2 Class Computers

After the (relative) success of the MSX 1 computer (in Japan, Europe and South America), Microsoft and ASCII presented its successor. The main new feature was the very enhanced graphic modes, no other computers were able to display such graphics! The 128 KB VRAM was very impressive! It had a battery-backed clock and a new MMU (to handle more than the Z80 64KB limit). The MSX 2 standard, like the MSX 1, was designed by ASCII, the new operating system MSX DOS 2.0 was designed by Microsoft (it's almost a copy of MS-DOS 3.3). A while after launching the MSX 2 standard, Microsoft abandoned the project, but several manufacturers took it over.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=3do,
$bio

Panasonic 3DO Interactive

Similar to the goal of the Phillips CD-I, a company called 3D0 set out to create a new standard in multimedia. Their creation became the 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer. It was capable of running 3D0 interactive software (games), Audio CD’s, CD+G, Photo CD, and Video CD’s using an add on. Rather then manufacturing their new system, 3D0 decided to make 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer a franchise. Sanyo, Panasonic and Goldstar all bought rights to manufacture the 3D0 system. Once produced and sold, 3D0 would claim a royalty for each system and $3 for each game sold.

In October of 1993, Panasonic began sales of the first 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer. The systems capabilities were clearly quite ahead of it’s time. Although it was not the first 32-bit system in history, the 3D0 was the first 32-bit system in the United States. The images shown are of Panasonic’s 3D0 models FZ-1 R.E.A.L 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer, and FZ-10 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer. There are several more models established by other companies, but other then a few additions they are all pretty much the same. 

As groundbreaking as the console was, the 3D0 was also one of the most expensive systems ever released. At a whopping $700USD or more, this machine only seemed to attract the wealthy. Even after a few price drops, the 3D0 never recovered from its initial reputation as a rich man's videogame system. Since 3D0 placed no software licensing restrictions, the 3D0 amassed a large library of games. Some quality titles such as “Need For Speed” and “Road Rash” became quite popular. Others (as with Atari 2600 titles) were sheer crap. 

In 1995 the 3D0 company began announcing a new technology called 3D0 M2. This technology was rumored to have 7 times the power of any console released at the time. M2 would come standard in a new 3D0 system, or be used to upgrade existing systems.

The 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer could have had the capability to compete even with newer 32-bit systems, but M2 never became reality. M2 technology was sold off to another company (Matsushita), and 3D0 machines never saw the upgrade. Gamers found themselves more interested in cheaper 16-bit consoles, and eventually newer 32-bit systems entered the market. 3D0 games and systems found their way into clearance bins starting in 1996.The system eventually died the end of that year.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=zx spectrum,
$bio

Sinclair ZX Spectrum

The Sinclair Spectrum was one of the most popular European computers of the 80's. Two models were launched: one with 16 kb RAM and one with 48 kb RAM. 

One of its most "interesting" characteristics is its keyboard! Some keys have more than five (!) functions! It is impossible to type BASIC keywords letter by letter, instead you have to use function keys. A lot of peripherals and programs were developed for this computer. It seems that several models of this computers were launched (at least 3), but I've no technical details about them. It was replaced in 1984 by the Spectrum + and in 1985 by the Spectrum 128. 

Alan Wilson reports to us : 

The 16K version of the computer had only the 16K ram chips loaded, while the 48K version had both banks full. 

To keep the prices down Sinclair used faulty 64K chips (internally 2 X 32K). All the chips in the 32K bank of RAM had to have the same half of the 64K chips working. A link was fitted on the pcb in order to choose the first half or the second half. 

It was possible with a few logic chips for the experimenter to have access to the faulty 32K bank.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=amiga,
$bio

Commodore Amiga

The conceptor of the Amiga 1000 was Jay Miner, who created the Atari 800 many years before. He wanted to make the most powerful computer ever, then he joined a little California company called Amiga. He used the principle of the three coprocessors (again) to help the main processor. At the beginning, the Amiga had only 64 kilobytes of RAM!, Atari wanted to buy the Amiga but finally, Commodore succeeded to buy it (then there was a lawsuit, which Commodore won). It was meant to be a competitor to the Atari 520 ST. The operating system was done by Metacomco, a British company who specialized in the 68000 processor (they also made languages for the Sinclair QL). It is a fully multitasking system which looks like UNIX with a graphical user interface. It was the very first personal computer with great graphics and sound capabilities with a GUI environment. The Amiga BASIC was written by Microsoft (like most other versions of BASIC). The Amiga 1000 began to lose popularity one year later with the creation of its two  main successors: the Amiga 500 and the Amiga 2000. There were two versions of the Amiga 1000. The first one, just called "Amiga", was sold only in USA, had a NTSC display, and didn't have the video modes EHB and HAM, later versions would have this built in. The second one, called "Amiga 1000" (to avoid confusion with its successor, the Amiga 2000) had a PAL display, the enhanced video modes (HAM & EHB) and was built in Germany.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=commodore 64,
$bio

Commodore 64

Designed similar to the Vic-20, the Commodore 64 featured a better video chip supporting sprites, as well as the famous sid6581 sound chip, two "Atari-compatible" joystick ports,and 64 kilobytes of RAM.

The Commodore 64 is, along with the Apple II and the Atari 8-Bit computers, one of the most famous home computers of it's era. During its production from 1982 to 1993 (!) 17 to 22 million (!) of these computer would sell, to put in perspective, that's more than all the Macintoshes in the world. It was one of the first to offer a high quality sound chip and graphic resolution with many colors and sprites. A great range of peripherals was developed for this computer and can use several of the Vic 20 peripherals. 

Several versions of the Commodore 64 were launched : The first one (C64-1) uses the VIC 20 case, it will be quickly replaced with the C64-2 which uses the famous brown case and by the C64-3 with small cosmetic changes in the keyboard. A special version called Educator 64 or PET64 or CBM 4064 was proposed for schools and uses the PET case.

Commodore produced the first generation of C64s until May 1986, then it was discontinued and they introduced the C64C. According to the 64'er magazine, this version has been planned since the Hannover mass in 1985, but as the old version sold so well during Christmas '85, its release date was pushed back.

The new model does not differ much from its predecessor, the only innovation is the flatter case, which makes the keyboard (which has off-white keys now) more ergonomic (it looks like the C128 case), as it is less higher than the old one. But the new case did not only have advantages: due to its low profile and additional metal screening, some of the numerous hardware expansions did not fit anymore. This was changed with the C64G. The 64'er staff noticed that VIC-II as well as the two CIAs have new version numbers; they didn't write which, though (these are probably just bugfixed chips). 

The official name for this model was "C=64 C", but nevertheless the German 64'er magazine decided to call it "C64-II" (because the first units didn't have the new name on the label at the bottom), the badges on all the 64 C's just says "Commodore 64". They pointed out that this name was only valid for the 64'er magazine, but since the 64'er was the magazine for the C64 for a long time, the name was widely accepted and so this model is mostly known as "C64-II" in Germany.

The C64C appeared again after (or concurrently with?) the C64G, this time with the new, short board. So, although the case might look the same and the label says "Commodore 64", the boards may be completely different.

Commodore also released a "laptop version" (though hardly portable) of the C64, called SX64. This computer has a built-in 5" color screen, one detachable keyboard, one 5.25" floppy disk drive (the famous 1541) and a second one can be installed as well. A version called DX-64 was launched (in very limited quantities) at the same time, it has same characteristics as the SX64 except its two 5.25" floppy disk drives. The SX64 and DX64 computers never had success, but it is known as the world's first color portable.

The C64GS was released in 1990. Basically it was a re-boxed C64, without a keyboard or any other interfaces, except for the cartridge slot on top. It didn't have much success as you could buy a C64 for not much extra, and the C64GS games would still work on the C64. It came with one game cartridge containing International Soccer, Klax, Flimbo's Quest and Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O'Fun. The carts had a memory of 4 megabits (512k).
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=commodore 128,
$bio

Commodore 128

Sequel of to the c64.

Description:
hardware emulation mode for c64
displayed over din/tv connector only
c64 cartridges
c64 userport
only the c64 standard keys available
country support (keyboard, character rom, kernel (keyboard polling))
character rom german
character rom french, belgium, italian
editor, kernel for german
editor, kernel for swedish
editor, kernel for finish
editor, kernel for norwegian
editor, kernel for french
editor, kernel for italian
enhanced keyboard
m8502 processor (additional port pin)
additional vdc videochip for 80 column modes with own connector (rgbi)
16k byte ram for this chip
128 kbyte ram, 64 kbyte rom, 8k byte charrom, 2k byte static colorram
(1 mbyte ram possible)
sid6581 soundchip
c64 expansion port with some additional pins
z80 CPU for CPM mode


c128d:
c1571 floppy drive build in
64kb vdc ram
sid8580 sound chip


c128cr/c128dcr:
cost reduced
only modified for cheaper production (newer rams, ...)
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=commodore vicC20,
$bio

Commodore VIC20 and VC20

The Commodore VIC 20 was the successor of the CBM PET. It was designed by Bob Yannes at CBM, he later designed the SID chip for the C64 and then went to Ensoniq to design synthesizers. The VIC 20 used the same microprocessor and the same Basic language as the PET. It was very popular in the early 80's. Commodore sold more than 1 million of this computer! A great range of peripherals were developed for this computer as well as a lot of software. When it became obsolete, Commodore replaced it by the Commodore 16 which had no success. Note that its name came from the name of its video chip VIC (Video Interface Chip) and its memory size : 5 KB RAM + 15 KB ROM = 20 KB ! The European VC20 stands for VolksComputer.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=astrocade,
$bio

Bally Professional Arcade/Astrocade

The Bally Professional Arcade (a.k.a. Bally Computer System, a.k.a. Bally Astrocade) was released in 1978 in order to compete with the Atari 2600. With a small keypad built into the console, the unit was capable of writing very simple basic programs, as well as playing it's cassette shaped games. The Astrocade also came with 4 built in games (Gunfight, Checkmate, Calculator, Scribbler). 

The Bally Astrocade had other unique innovations that set it apart from other consoles of it's time. Rather then using different controllers for different games like it's competitor Atari, Bally Astrocade decided to create a single controller for varied gameplay. This controller was truely ahead of it's time. It resembled the pistol grip of a gun, and even featured a trigger-like action button. A small joystick rested on the top of the pistol grip for normal gameplay. The joystick also featured a twistable knob that could be used for paddle games such as Pong or Breakout. Essentially the Bally Astrocade controller was both an analog and digital controller. The Astrocade was also one of the first consoles to have 4 controller ports. 

Even though the Astrocade seemed to have more to offer then the Atari 2600, it was another victim of Atari hogging all arcade licensing rights. Although they lacked the licenses, many of the Astrocade games are actually clones based on some Atari titles, and many are considered to be of better quality. 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=adventurevision,
$bio

Adventurevision

The Adventure Vision was a cartridge based, electronic handheld video game that was manufactured by Entex Industries in 1982. It measured about 13 1/4" X 10" X 9" and used one vertical strip of 40 red LEDs and a spinning mirror to produce a screen with a 150X40 resolution drawn at 15 frames/sec. There were only four cartridges produced for it: Defender, Turtles, Super Cobra, and an Asteroids clone, Space Force.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=atari st,
$bio

Atari ST

This system is not documented yet!
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=supervision,
$bio

Watara Supervision

non-color handheld
sold from several firms under different names
Quickshot Supervision
Hartung SV-100

There are several designs, but all have the same functionality.
*(knickable screen)
*GB2000 (game boy style, no comm port)

Features:
160x160 in 4 greys LCD display
4? stereo voices (integrated mono speaker, port for stereo speaker)
Controls for 1 Player
Serial port
Cartridge port
Batterie port
Connector for external power supply


Optional features:
TV adapter
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=sega dreamcast,
$bio

Sega Dreamcast

Around March 12th 1997 rumors began to surface about what originally began as a 64-bit upgrade for the Sega Saturn. Eventually news began to leak about Sega’s development of a totally new console. By June 1997 it was known that Sega had two different design specs for consideration to become the new console, one code-named ‘Black Belt’, and the other code-named ‘Dural’. 

‘Black Belt’ was being designed by Sega of America. The console would sport an IBM/Motorola PowerPC 603e CPU with 3Dfx Voodoo graphics chipset. As a result of the programming difficulties of the Sega Saturn, Sega of America also approached big time PC developer Microsoft to develop an easy to program operating system for the console (Probably where Microsoft took an interest in the console market). Sega of Japan however began developing ‘Dural’ which would sport a Hitachi SH-4 CPU with PowerVR2 graphics chipset designed by old console rival NEC/Videologic (Maker of the Turbografx 16, Turbo Duo, and PC-FX). Both designs were brought to the big shots at Sega, and compared side by side. It was determined that the ‘Dural” design would be used, but would incorporate elements of the ‘Black Belt’ design. As a result most of the members of the American design team quit the company. 3Dfx then files a breach of contract lawsuit against Sega. 

Sega worked with Microsoft, Hitachi, NEC/Video Logic and Yamaha to produce this machine. It was announced to the public as the Sega Katana on September 7th 1997, and would be the first 128-bit console to enter the videogame market. Sega fueled the console’s hype by spending $100 million to launch it.

Due to the demand for units the system now called Dreamcast was re-scheduled a number of times. Dreamcast was finally released on November 25th 1998 in Japan. By 16th July 1999, the Dreamcast was outselling the Nintendo 64 by a 3 to 1 ratio. Meanwhile in America, advertising for the Dreamcast was taking place and by August 1999 it had broken many sales records by grossing an estimated 98 million dollars. Europe also saw a successful release on October 14th 1999. 

The Dreamcast was an impressive system boasting powerful specs, a simple to program Windows CE operating system, and a built in modem for use in internet browsing and online gameplay. The year long wait from the Japanese release gave 3rd Party Developers ample time to bring a collection of software titles for the release. Also After some delays, SegaNet was finally introduced. Seganet allowed Dreamcast users the ability to play games over the Internet. In January 2000, 30% of Japanese Dreamcast owners were online, and by 17th February this had risen to almost 50%. In the US over 300,000 people were using DC's Internet and in Europe over 200,000 were reported. It would seem that Sega had finally corrected the mistakes that plagued them in the past. 

Even with the success of Dreamcast all was not well in the world of Sega. Sega faced numerous lawsuits from companies such as 3Dfx, and were attempting to recover from a failed merger with Japanese company Bandai that occurred in January 23 1997. The eventual release of Sony’s 128-bit over hyped successor complicated matters with it’s backwards compatibility and ability to play DVD’s (more bang for the buck). The President of Sega Sholchiro Irimajiri steps down and is replaced by Isao Ohkawa. One of Ohkawa's first steps is to issue an ultimatum and 500 million dollars to Sega of America to make the Dreamcast healthy in the U.S market again. Sega also faced difficulties in Price Wars with Sony. Sega initially could not afford to lower the price of the console or they would never meet the break-even point due losses from previous console failures. (Console manufacturers actually lose money for each console sold, and hope to recap losses by licensing each game released for the console.) Obviously with Nintendo and Microsoft’s announcement of new consoles, Sega knew they couldn’t hold out. 

January 31 2001, Sega of America announces a major restructuring. The price the Sega Dreamcast dropped to $99.95 on February 4, and production of new Dreamcasts ceased on March 31. Sega left behind the hardware business and became a software developer. Sega of Japan followed suit two days later. 

The Sega Dreamcast was an amazing console, and possibly one of Sega’s greatest successes. It opened the gateway to console online gaming, and it'’ heart lives on in Sega’s NAOMI arcade board. It’s a shame that the Dreamcast’s success could not save Sega as a hardware company, but it’s amazing game library lives on in console / PC ports.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=channel f,
$bio

Fairchild Channel F

With so many "Pong" clones on the market at this time, The Fairchild Channel F was a breath of fresh air. The Channel F was the first programmable cartridge based video game console to enter the videogame market. Initially, it was called the "Fairchild Video Entertainment System", but was later changed. It was developed by Fairchild Semiconductors and released in August of 1976. 

Other then the fact that Channel F was the first to use cartridges, it had other unique features that set it apart from the "Pong" flood. Rather then having you near the actual console, the Channel F developed controllers that would let you play up to 8 feet away from the console (innovative for it's time). It also used a specially designed multiprocessor that contained a CPU and several support processors (called F8). The console also featured games built into the system (Hockey, Tennis and 2 drawing programs) These were unique innovations that set Channel F apart from other consoles of it's time, and thus brought about many changes to the industry.

Even with the Channel F's unique features, the console's success was very short. A year later, the Channel F faced fierce competition from the popular Atari VCS / 2600. Other consoles would soon follow, and Channel F sales began to suffer. Fairchild would soon pull out of the videogame market, stopped production of the Channel F with only 21 games released.

In 1979, a company called Zircon purchased the rights to the Channel F. They released a scaled down version called the Channel F System II, and sold 5 more previously unreleased games. The Channel F II also featured detachable controllers (The previous model had controllers hard wired to the unit). The Channel F would continue to sell well up to the "Videogame Crash of 1984." It then became a mention in history.

The Channel F did continue to make successful rounds throughout Europe. It appeared as the Saba Videoplay in Germany, the Luxor Video Entertainment System in Sweden, the Adman Grandstand in the UK, and the ITT Tele-Match also in Germany. 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=neogeo cd,
$bio

Neo Geo CD

SNK released the Neo Geo CD in 1994 in order to bring down the high price tags on its home console and games.  Compact disks were cheap and meant that Neo Geo could now sell games for about $50 a piece  compared to the $200+ it was charging for its AES cartridges.  The price of the console also fell to about $300.  Unfortunately, the Neo Geo CD introduced some new problems.  Firstly, games would take forever to load because of the 1X CD-Drive speed, which made playing some games unbearable.  Secondly, it had a problem with overheating once the console was left on for some time.  The CDZ, which was released in 1996 did improve on load times by sporting a 2X CD-Drive, however, it was only ever released in Japan.
The Neo Geo CD comes boxed with a game pad and not an arcade-style joystick like the AES, which some people might not like.  However, there are joystick controllers, sold separately, that can be hooked up to the the system. 

The game Samurai Spirits RPG was released exclusively for the Neo Geo CD, and most of Neo Geo's other games series such as The King of Fighters and Art of Fighting were all released for it. 

Technical Specs: 

CPU: 16-bit Motorolla 68000 (12MHz) and 8-bit Zilog Z80 (4MHz)
RAM: 7MB, Video RAM: 512KB
Colors: 64K (4K on screen)
Sprites: 380
Game Media: CD
Resolution: 320x224
CD Speed: CD 1X, CDZ 2X
Sound: 13 channels, Yamaha 2610
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=turbografx cd,
$bio

NEC PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 (1987)

On October 30, 1987 the first 16-Bit home entertainment system was released in Japan by NEC. The PC Engine was clearly the "next generation" system with it's amazing specs, and wallet sized card games called "HuCards". The PC Engine was immensely popular in Japan, outselling the Famicom by a significant margin. With it's advanced graphics it dominated the Japanese market. Two years after its Japanese introduction, NEC announced plans to bring the PC Engine overseas. NEC dubbed the US release Turbografx-16, and prepared to dominate both Nintendo and Sega as they did in Japan. 

NEC was also the first to market CD based games using an add on device called the Turbografx CD. 

The console was even upgraded in Japan (with more RAM) to compete against the threat of Nintendo's next console. The upgrade was called Supergrafx, but NEC stopped distributing the console when they saw their PC Engine was doing well. Only 5 games were made to take advantage of Supergrafx extra RAM, and it played all PC Engine games as well as use the CD add on. 

So how is it that a company that produced such state of the art gaming go almost unnoticed by the American gamers? So many factors contributed, but most stems from NEC's lack of marketing. Perhaps their success in Japan made them think the system would sell itself. Whereas you could find commercials and advertisements for Sega and Nintendo, you could not find any for Turbografx. Also NEC was introducing games, titles, and characters that American players simply weren’t familiar with, and many truly excellent games were either ignored outright, or subject to Nintendo's "exclusive licensing" policy that was in effect at the time. The gist of this policy was, if a game was already available on NES, game companies could not produce any versions for any other game system. Although this policy was later ruled illegal, it hurt the TurboGrafx a lot in the early stages of its life. Hudson Soft, the primary producer of PC Engine software, was also producing games for the huge NES market. Releasing a game on TurboGrafx  exclusively (as they would have to do) would restrict its potential sales (as the NES had a greater installed user base). Even the Turbografx CD with it's amazing potential was marketed poorly. Not only was this item priced at a ridiculous $399, but only two games were even released for it during its first six months of existence, and neither "Fighting Street" nor "Monster Lair" came anywhere close to taking advantage of the system’s capabilities. Later on word began to spread that the TG-16 was not a "true" 16-bit system, as its CPU was only 8-bit. (The system used two 8 bit processors). These factors caused the Turbografx to have a small impact in the US. However the system remained successful overseas for quite some time.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=neogeo,
$bio

SNK Neo Geo

SNK (Shin Nihon Kikaku, translated as "New Japanese Project"), a small third party software developer for the Nintendo NES, decided to try their hand in the arcade market in 1989, it seemed like a bad business decision since gamers no longer flocked to arcades thanks to home consoles. Nonetheless SNK released the MVS (Multi-Video System). The MVS allows the arcade operator to house many different video games in one cabinet. The MVS's strengths lay in the design of its hardware. Its brain was composed of a 16-bit microprocessor (68000) and an 8-bit microprocessor (Z80). They were plentiful, cheap, and quite powerful for the time. Using them kept production costs down and made coding much easier, as both the 68000 and the Z80 were in common use at the time (Sega's Genesis had the same CPU combination, for example). The real magic of the MVS lay in its custom graphics chipset and its ability to hold up to four games at once, switching between them at will. While this multi-game concept had been tried before (one example being Nintendo's Playchoice system), SNK's hardware was far superior to any of the multi-game systems currently available, and its vast ROM storage capacity (up to 330 megabits, or 41.25 megabytes) allowed lush, detailed graphics. SNK took another gamble and created a home version of the MVS in 1990. When the NEO GEO was released at a high cost of $650 with either NAM-1975 or Baseball Stars Professional, and games soon followed at $200 apiece. The Special cartridges played the exact same software as it's MVS counterpart, but were quite expensive due to the game' high megabit count. At first SNK marketed the Neo Geo falsely calling it a "24-Bit System" (due to its combination of a 16-bit and 8-bit processor). After the initial advertising campaign, SNK decided not to advertise their home system anymore, since games could be seen in nearly every arcade. 

SNK's gamble paid off. In 1992 an arcade game called Street Fighter 2 brought gamers back to the arcades. SNK took advantage of this by releasing similar arcade versions such as Fatal Fury, and Art of Fighting. The games were quite successful, and many more were spawned. Third Party developers such as Data East began also producing titles for the Neo Geo / MVS. SNK also created an innovating accessory that would become quite popular later. The Neo Geo 'memory card' could hold 19-27 save game positions, and worked on both the home and arcade. So a gamer could save their place in the arcade and take it home, and vice versa. The Neo Geo was a phenominal machine, but the high price tag catered to the hardcore arcade lovers only. Nonetheless it was an amazing machine that stood the test of time. The MVS alone managed to last over eight years in the demanding arcade environment, and its hardware has out-lived every other 16-bit arcade hardware. Walk into any arcade, and you're bound to see a Neo Geo MVS.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=svi 318,
$bio

Spectravideo SVI 318

The Spectravideo SV-318 has characteristics very close to the MSX machines (same video, sprites, sound, I/O, etc.). It was even sold as an MSX computer in some places, but it is not fully MSX compliant and can't use MSX programs. 

Notice that instead of using cursor keys, the Spectravideo uses a small joystick, which emulates cursor keys. 

The photo above shows the SV318 with its expansion base. This provides 64 KB RAM, a 80 column video and a floppy disk controller and its floppy drive (5.25"), with all these peripherals, the SV318 can run under CP/M. 

A more professional version of the SV318 was launched a while later: the SV-328 (which has 80 KB RAM and a numeric keyboard and the SV-728 case).
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=odyssey,
$bio

Odyssey

The Odyssey was the first ever home video games console.  Ralph Baer had worked for over two years at New Hampshire-based Sanders Associates on a prototype system known as the Brown Box, assumingly because it was encased in wood, which would connect to a TV screen and play 12 games.  Sanders Associates had not shown an interest in Baer's idea and so he set off looking for a company willing to produce and market it.  A company called Magnavox willingly invited Baer to come to their head office and demonstrate his prototype.  The demonstration went well and it was decided that Magnavox, who sold TVs, would sign an agreement with Sanders Associates and acquire all the rights to the Brown Box.
The Brown Box, which amazingly was an analog system running on transistors, resistors and capacitors, underwent a great number of refinements and changes before its release in 1972.  It was decided that the system would remain black and white and that plastic overlays, placed in front of the TV screen,  would be used to achieve colors and simulate different games.  Games would be played by inserting game cards into the console as opposed to switching between them, which provided a potential for expanding the system's library of games.

On release, the Odyssey was unquestionably the talk of the town.  However, It's high price of $100 and confusing advertising campaign, which made people think that they needed a Magnavox TV to be able to use the Odyssey, hurt sales badly.  Additionally, units were only sold in "Magnavox Stores".  Nevertheless, Magnavox managed to sell close to 100,000 units in their first year.  A rifle was also released for it retailing at $25.

Magnavox eventually decided to file a lawsuit against Nolan Bushnell, President of Atari, on the grounds that "Pong" was actually based on Odyssey's own "Ping-Pong" game.  What made this accusation stronger was the fact that Bushnell had attended one of Magnavox's game demo's -The Magnavox Profit Caravan- and actually played the game in question.  The court ruled that Bushnell had to pay royalties to Magnavox on all sales of Pong machines.  The case was settled for $700,000.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=atari jaguar cd,
$bio

Atari Jaguar CD

This platform is not documented yet!
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=sega saturn,
$bio

Sega Saturn

Whilst the 32X and Mega-CD were bridging the gap between the Mega Drive (Genesis) and the upcoming 32-bit CD-based console in America, Sega of Japan worked in the background on the latter with the aim of developing the most powerful 2D/3D console in the market that would surpass the specs of their main rival at the time: the 3DO. Development of the Saturn took about 2 and half years and was released in Japan in November 1994. Initial sales were encouraging and the Saturn did exceptionally well. The release day in the US was to be 'Saturnday' on September 2, 1995. Sega realized though that Sony was releasing the Playstation at the same time and decided to gamble and get the Saturn on store shelves 4 months early. Not only did the announcement take third-party software developers by surprise, but it also meant that Sony would have more time to put some finishing touches on their Playstation, draw up a well-planned strategy and learn from the pitfalls of the Saturn. One thing that Sony did on release of the Playstation was to slash its price to $299, making it $100 cheaper than the Saturn. This move, along with much better marketing than that of Sega of America, reaped havoc on the Saturn's place in the market and ultimately caused its annihilation (sorry). The Saturn's initial library of games was limited, although it did eventually get lots of first-class arcade games ported to the system. One issue with third-party developers was the two parallel processors that made up the heart of the system. Apparently, many developers didn't quite understand how to make full use of the processors and were limited by the fact that only one processor could gain access to memory registers at a time. Unfortunately, developers did not realize the full potential of the Saturn until the end of its lifetime in 1998 when some of the best games for the system such as Panzer Dragoon Saga and Shining Force III were released. I guess it was just too late. Porting Japanese games over also proved to be a difficulty issue. Many top games never made it to the American market. Some excellent ones that were ported included: XMen vs Street Fighter, Marvel vs Street Fighter and Capcom's Vampire Savior. At the back of the Saturn exists a cartridge slot that was used for memory expansion packs, the NetLink 28.8 modem as well as other epansions. 

The Saturn saw its end in late 1998. About 250 games were released for it in total. It retailed for $399.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=nintendo super gameboy,
$bio

Nintendo Super Gameboy

This platform is not documented yet!
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=fm towns marty,
$bio

Fujitsu FM-Towns - Marty

The FM Towns Marty, a.k.a. "FM Towns", a.k.a. "FM Marty Towns. A brief glance at this system, and you might mistake it for a white Turbo Duo, but on closer inspection, you'll notice that the slot on the front isn't for a HuCard, but instead for an actual 3.5" floppy. 

The Fujitsu Company decided to make an attempt to penetrate the console games market by taking their popular FM TOWNS line of computers, and adding in some special components to create a stand alone video game console. The plan was for the software designed for the FM TOWNS computers to be modified slightly so that the games would work on both the computer and the console. The FM Towns Marty has the distinction of being the first 32-bit video game console.

This system was compatible with most of the Fujitsu line of computers, so it would use the 3.5" slot to play many of these games. The 32-bit system's CD reader was used mainly to play games made specifically for this system, although some computer software at the time also came in CD format. The system was released in 1991 with a 386 processor that was later upgraded to a 486 (The FM Towns Marty 2). The first version is much rarer, but more limited. Since the system can play games designed for the FM Towns PC, it's library is larger then what you might expect. It came with a two button controller and had a port for a second controller as well. A mouse and keyboard were also available to play compatible PC games. If ever there was a system made to play "hentai" games, this was it. While it may not have been it's main purpose, there were many adult anime games available. Fujitsu supported the units for many years, and some third party games supported the systems as late as 1999. Fujitsu wisely discontinued the console line with the arrival of the more powerful 32bit Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn. 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=msx 2 plus,
$bio

MSX2+

After Microsoft left the MSX project in 1986, ASCII continued alone. They presented a new improvement of the MSX 2 standard in 1988. 

No great enhancements, the MSX 2+ has 19268 colors instead of 512, some more graphic / KANJI resolutions and the FM-PAC cartridge is included, providing 9 channels of FM sound without drums or 6 channels FM sound with 5 FM drums. 

MSX2+ computers were only produced by Panasonic, Sony and Sanyo (the one pictured here is the Panasonic FS A1 WSX). There were only available in Japan... 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=svi 328,
$bio

Spectravideo SVI 328

The Spectravideo SV 328 was the ancestor of the Spectravideo MSX SV-728 (it had the same case and almost all its features) and the successor of the SV-318. 

This computer wasn't a MSX machine, even though its hardware design was almost the same as MSX computers. Its Microsoft Extended Basic was also close to the MSX Basic but not fully compatible. The cartridge slot couldn't use MSX cartridges. However, Coleco cartridges could run thanks to an optional card. 

The SV-328 ran CP/M 2.2 or 3.0 when connected to the 5.25" 360 KB floppy drive unit. Several well known CP/M software were adapted to the SV328; i.e. dBase II and WordStar. 

Several expansion devices were developed for this computer. Among them, the SV-605B expansion box which offered a 10 MB hard disk, two 5.25" DSDD floppy drives, one Centronics port and six expansion slots.
Some other peripherals were released: Graphic Tablet, 80-column card, 1200/75 modem card, RS232 interface. 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=svi 728,
$bio

Spectravideo SVI 728

Spectravideo was the only american MSX manufacturer, but they were later bought back by their manufacturer based in Honk-Kong. 

For their first computers, the SV-318 and 328, Spectravideo asked naturally Microsoft to develop a Basic. Then, when Microsoft developped the MSX Basic, they used their previous work with Spectravideo. That's why there's always been a rumour saying that the SV-318 and 328 were MSX compatible. But that's wrong, the first Spectravideo MSX is truly the SVI-728. 

The SVI-728 is not really different from the other MSX 1, apart maybe from the keyboard which is very complete with its numeric keypad and also the fact that it was one of the first MSX to come with some serious extensions. 

Spectravideo also made a portable version of the SVI-728: the Spectravideo SVI-738. 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=svi 738 xpress,
$bio

Spectravideo SVI 738 XPress

This computer was a MSX 1 computer equipped with V9938 Video chip, which was quite unusual. It was probably meant to become an MSX 2, thus first versions were prepared to hold a CLOCK-IC chip. Thanks to its V9938 it could display 80-column text. 

It was called SPECTRAVIDEO XPRESS because it was delivered with a bag to easily carry it around in. 

The XPRESS designation was also used in a MSX 2 and PC hybrid (X'PRESS 16, for 16-bits) SPECTRAVIDEO computers. 
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=msx turbo r,
$bio

MSX Turbo-R

Here is the last MSX computer ever made. It is the successor of the MSX 2+ and thus has many characteristics in common. New features include: a new PCM sound chip which can produce digitized sound up to 44 KHz (in assembly language) and a new Z80 downward compatible R800 processor. The user can select the CPU (Z80 or R800) by software. 

Panasonic was the only company to produce MSX 2 Turbo R systems: the FS A1. Two versions of the FS A1 were presented, the FS A1 ST and the FS A1 GT. The GT has 512 KB RAM, a MIDI interface and MSX View in ROM (MSX View is the Graphic User Interface compatible with MSX-DOS). 

Panasonic stopped the production of the Turbo R when they launched the 3DO game system in 1992. They failed with this system and never returned to MSX. Lot of extensions, however, were produced by third-party companies to enhance the Turbo R, among them, an OPL4 Sound Card, a hi-res card (Yamaha V9990) with lot of hardware sprites and IDE or SCSI interfaces.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=zx spectrum plus,
$bio

Sinclair ZX Spectrum +

In 1984, the Spectrum is already 2 years old and starts to look obsolete when compared to its competitors and the Commodore 64 in particular. That's why Sinclair launches a new-look version of the Spectrum : the Spectrum+ was born. 

In fact, it does not bring anything more apart from some cosmetic changes. Concerning the keyboard, the rubber keys are replaced with a better keyboard directly inspired by the keyboard of the QL, launched the same year. Though the keys are made of plastic this time, the touch is still a bit too soft. Fortunately, there are now a large spacebar, arrow keys and new editing keys. 

Also added are two small feet under the keyboard, making it possible to tilt the keyboard at a convenient angle for typing, a bit like on modern PCs. A small reset button was also added on the left-hand side of the case, thus making it harder to press it accidentally. 

In fact the Spectrum + largely adopts the look of the QL which is no coincidence at all, since apart from making the Sinclair product range more homogeneous aesthetically, it certainly represented advantages as far as the assembly lines were concerned.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=zx spectrum 128,
$bio

Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128

The Spectrum 128 (code named Derby) is the successor of the Spectrum +. It was made just before Amstrad bought the right to use the Sinclair name in computer products. So it can be regarded as the last "real Sinclair Spectrum". 

The 128 is the first real evolution of the old Spectrum. It has a lot of new features: 128kb RAM (two 64kb banks), a new sound chip (Yamaha AY-3-8912), RS232/Midi and video RGB outputs. 

The Spectrum displays a menu when it is switched on: 
- "Tape Loader" to run programs on tape,
- "Calculator" to enter operations without typing PRINT before,
- "Tape Tester" to test the input level of the tape recorder,
- "BASIC 48" and "BASIC 128". 

The Spectrum 128 can use two versions of BASIC: BASIC 48 is just for the compatibility with the previous models and can't use the new features.
The Basic 128 mode has a full screen editor and the user can enter the Basic statements letter by letter instead of pressing key combinations. It has new keywords to use the extended memory as a RAM disk (unless bank-switching routines are utilized) and to handle the new sound chip and the MIDI out socket. 

Because there were still large unsold stocks of Spectrum+ in the UK, the Spectrum 128 was first launched in Spain where the Speccy was already very popular. It was sold there with an external numeric keypad to connect the main unit. This "spanish model" doesn't boot on a "start menu" as the UK version does (thus spanish 128k models are slightly different than later UK models). But even after being introduced in UK it had a short market life and was replaced with the Spectrum +2.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=zx spectrum plus 2,
$bio

Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2

The Sinclair Spectrum +2 was the first Sinclair computer made by Amstrad after they bought the rights of the Sinclair computers products. Thus, it is not suprising that the Spectrum +2 is very similar in shape and functionality to the Amstrad CPC-464. It was a kind of mix between the Spectrum 128 and the CPC-464 ! 

Even though it used several features of the CPC-464, such as the built-in tape recorder and a good full-stroke keyboard (at last!), it is above all an improved Spectrum 128. Thus, the sound chip used is still the well-known Yamaha AY-3-8912 which is the sound chip of the MSX computers, Oric computers,Atari ST series) and many other computers of the 80’s. It was the most popular sound chip at the time. 

As on the Spectrum 128, two BASIC versions were implemented : the 48k BASIC to remain compatible with the original Sinclair Spectrum, and the 128k BASIC which was already introduced with the Spectrum 128. There was still a calculator mode in the start-menu but the « Tape tester » option of the 128 had been removed since the tape-recorder was built-in. 
As with the other 128k models, and due to the limitations of the Z80 CPU which can only address 65536 bytes, the 128kb RAM was not directly usable (unless with bank-switching routines), but could be used as a RAM disk. 

There were several models of the Spectrum +2 : the Spectrum +2 (grey case) which had a motherboard nearly identical to that of the 128, and the Spectrum +2A and +2B (black case) which were simply Spectrum +3 computers with a tape-recorder instead of the disk drive. It means that their motherboards were quite similar to that of the +3. The difference between the +2A and +2B was mainly due to a move in production from Hong Kong to Taiwan.
Note that the first ROMs developed by Amstrad for the +2 model caused compatibility problems with the old Spectrum software, so they changed a few things in later ROMs.


When Amstrad conceived the +2A/B and the +3 they redesigned the motherboard and made some internal changes on the bus. They also removed the keypad scanning routines of the Spectrum 128 and +2 (remember the keypad sold with the Spanish Spectrum 128k ?).
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=zx spectrum plus 3,
$bio

Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3

The Sinclair Spectrum +3 is the successor of the Spectrum +2, marketed one year earlier. 

Just like the Spectrum+2 is a mix between the Spectrum 128 and the Amstrad CPC-464, the Spectrum +3 is a mix between the Spectrum 128 and the Amstrad CPC-6128. Indeed it has 3’’ disk-drive built-in the right-hand side of the case and a « real » full-stroke keyboard, just like the CPC-6128. 

After the launch of the first Amstrad « Sinclair computer », the Spectrum +2, they redesigned the motherboard and the content of the ROMs to produce the Spectrum +2A/B and +3. They also made some internal changes on the bus and removed the keypad scanning routines of the Spectrum 128 and +2 (remember the keypad sold with the Spanish Spectrum 128k). 

As on the Spectrum +2, two BASIC versions are implemented : the 48k BASIC to remain compatible with the original Sinclair Spectrum, and the 128k BASIC which was already introduced with the Spectrum 128. 

As with the others 128k models, and due to the limitations of the Z80 CPU which can only address 65536 bytes, the 128kb RAM is not directly usable (unless with bank-switching routines), but can be used as a RAM disk (drive M :). 

So, the big change is the built-in 3’’ disk drive, exactly the same as the CPC-6128’s drive. The operating system is called +3DOS and was developed by Locomotive Software Ltd who also conceived the CPC Basics and OS. So, of course, the +3DOS is very close to the CPCs disk operating system. The Amstrad FD-1 external drive can even be used with the Spectrum +3 as a second disk drive through a special interface. 

The Spectrum +3 is considered the ultimate Spectrum model, gathering all the good points of the previous spectrum machines : 128k, convenient full-stroke keyboard, 3’’ built-in disk drive, 128k Basic, RAM disk, many interfaces... But sadly it was launched too late, at a time where the ST and the Amiga were already fighting on the shelves. It was the last official Sinclair Spectrum model ever made. The +2A and +2B models vere launched a little later, but were just a revision of the +2 model already marketed.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=zx 80,
$bio

Sinclair ZX 80

After the modest but encouraging success of the MK-14 (initiation board with hexadecimal keyboard), Sinclair (at the time Sciences of Cambridge) decided to develop a slightly more advanced computer. 

The ZX-80 is regarded as a pioneer system in micro-computing as at the time the only available computers were kits for hobbyists like the MK-14 or more expensive systems intended for education or research such as the Tandy TRS-80 or the Commodore PET. 

The ZX-80 inaugurated the transition between the hobbyist world and the consumer electronics by proposing a true computer in its case for less than £100. 

Technically, the ZX-80 is not a revolutionary system but is rather the result of a search for economy through the choice of the components, starting with the membrane keyboard, or the RAM memory limited to 1kb. The operating system, the editor and the Basic interpreter fit into the 4kb of the ROM ! 

The ZX-80 met some success with nearly 70.000 machines sold in less than one year, announcing the future success of the ZX-81 and at the same time the birth of a new major actor in the micro-computers world : Sinclair Computers Ltd.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=zx 81,
$bio

Sinclair ZX 81

The Sinclair ZX 81 was the successor of the ZX 80, and can be regarded as an evolution of it. 

The ZX80 could not handle floating point numbers or cassette data files, but the ZX-81 could. The ZX-80 had 4k ROM : the ZX-81 had 8K ROM with 30 additional functions and some instructions to drive the printer. Thanks to a higher level of integrations (the total number of chips in the basic system was 4, against the ZX80's 21), the ZX-81 cost £30 less than the ZX-80. The plastic case was also different. Whereas the ZX-80 looked cheap in it lightweight white case, the ZX-81 was beautifully designed in its black ABS plastic case. 

The keyboard was still formed by an underprinted plastic, but this one was made of non-reflective material. Even with this slight improvement it was quite horrible to use, that's why a lot of additional keyboards appeared quickly on the market. Some of the keys sported up to 5 functions, right in the Sinclair tradition, accessible through the "GRAPHICS", "SHIFT" and "FUNCTION" keys. 

Here are the functions added over the ZX-80 : ASN, ACS, ATN COS, EXP, INKEY$, PI, SGN, SIN SQR, INT, LEN, LN, TAN, VAL, <=, >=, < >, COPY, DIM A$, FAST, FOR ... TO ... STEP, LLIST, LLIST n, LPRINT, PAUSE, PLOT, PRINT AT, PRINT TAB, SCROLL, SLOW, UNPLOT. Some are quite useful and make you wonder how it was possible to make anything on the ZX-80 !? However, one function disappeared: TL$ which was used to return a string minus its first character. 

The ZX-81 could be operated in two modes, SLOW and FAST. The FAST mode which was the only mode available on the ZX-80, only refreshed the display when the system had completed computing, resulting in a painful screen flicker! It was a useful mode when you had to do a lot of calculation without the need to see what's going on all the time on the screen. The SLOW mode, which was indeed quite slooooowwww, behaved like all other computers did, refreshing the screen all the time. 

The ZX81 contained only four main chips : the ROM, Z80A CPU, 1K RAM and the Ferranti custom-made chip! It is as simple as that. The machine was assembled by Timex Corporation in their Scottish plant. 

This computer was a very great success in Europe in the beginning of the 80's. It was very cheap and a lot of people who now are working on modern PCs or Macs, made their first move on a ZX 81 even though its performance was actually poor! 

A very great range of peripherals were developed for this computer, among them : 3.5" floppy disk units, keyboards, high resolution graphic cards, RS232 or Centronics interfaces, RAM expansions, etc... In fact, it was possible to make a pretty good computer from the ZX 81! 

It was followed by the ZX-Spectrum and was also sold as the Timex Sinclair 1000 in the USA.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=svi 328 mkii,
$bio

Spectravideo 328 MK2

This system is not documented yet!
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=bbc micro a,
$bio

BBC Micro Model A

The Acorn BBC model A was the successor of the Acorn Atom and its first name was Acorn Proton. It was a very popular computer in the UK and was widely used in schools, but it didn't have great success elsewhere (even if it did have great features, it was too expensive). 

The Model A didn't have some of the connectors of the Model B/B+ (User port, Tube, ...) on the underside. 

This computer got its name because, in 1980, the BBC decided to start a computer literacy television series. The network realized that, with more powerful and increasingly inexpensive microcomputers, it would soon be possible to create them with enough computing power to offer their owners personal hands-on experience with microcomputers at an affordable price. 

The BBC considered the NewBrain computer and rejected it. Acorn and Sinclair Research, along with other companies, then submitted designs, and Acorn won. The BBC model B was then used almost universally in British schools from its birth into the 90's. 

It was followed in 1982 by the Acorn BBC model B, the Model B had the same features but had 32 KB RAM (expandable to 64k). 

The "Tube" was an expansion port which was designed to connect other processors to the BBC (6502, Z80, 68000 or ARM 1 RISC). An interface card was specially designed for the tube. It used another 6502 and a Z80. 

One of its most popular peripherals was the "Torch" floppy disk unit, it was a 5.25" floppy disk drive with a Z80 which allowed the BBC to use CP/M software. 

Acorn also made a "cheap" version of the BBC (fewer connectors & video modes) called Acorn Electron. 

In 1985, the Acorn BBC Model B+ was released. The Model B+ had new features : 64k of RAM instead of 32 KB, internal circuitry for the Econet and Disk Drive as standard, they were both available as an upgrade in the models A and B. The later models included disk support as standard, using either a 8271 or 1770 disk controller. 

It was then followed by the BBC Master.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=bbc micro b,
$bio

BBC Micro Model B

The Acorn BBC model A was the successor of the Acorn Atom and its first name was Acorn Proton. It was a very popular computer in the UK and was widely used in schools, but it didn't have great success elsewhere (even if it did have great features, it was too expensive). 

The Model A didn't have some of the connectors of the Model B/B+ (User port, Tube, ...) on the underside. 

This computer got its name because, in 1980, the BBC decided to start a computer literacy television series. The network realized that, with more powerful and increasingly inexpensive microcomputers, it would soon be possible to create them with enough computing power to offer their owners personal hands-on experience with microcomputers at an affordable price. 

The BBC considered the NewBrain computer and rejected it. Acorn and Sinclair Research, along with other companies, then submitted designs, and Acorn won. The BBC model B was then used almost universally in British schools from its birth into the 90's. 

It was followed in 1982 by the Acorn BBC model B, the Model B had the same features but had 32 KB RAM (expandable to 64k). 

The "Tube" was an expansion port which was designed to connect other processors to the BBC (6502, Z80, 68000 or ARM 1 RISC). An interface card was specially designed for the tube. It used another 6502 and a Z80. 

One of its most popular peripherals was the "Torch" floppy disk unit, it was a 5.25" floppy disk drive with a Z80 which allowed the BBC to use CP/M software. 

Acorn also made a "cheap" version of the BBC (fewer connectors & video modes) called Acorn Electron. 

In 1985, the Acorn BBC Model B+ was released. The Model B+ had new features : 64k of RAM instead of 32 KB, internal circuitry for the Econet and Disk Drive as standard, they were both available as an upgrade in the models A and B. The later models included disk support as standard, using either a 8271 or 1770 disk controller. 

It was then followed by the BBC Master.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=bbc micro b plus,
$bio

BBC Micro Model B+

The Acorn BBC model A was the successor of the Acorn Atom and its first name was Acorn Proton. It was a very popular computer in the UK and was widely used in schools, but it didn't have great success elsewhere (even if it did have great features, it was too expensive). 

The Model A didn't have some of the connectors of the Model B/B+ (User port, Tube, ...) on the underside. 

This computer got its name because, in 1980, the BBC decided to start a computer literacy television series. The network realized that, with more powerful and increasingly inexpensive microcomputers, it would soon be possible to create them with enough computing power to offer their owners personal hands-on experience with microcomputers at an affordable price. 

The BBC considered the NewBrain computer and rejected it. Acorn and Sinclair Research, along with other companies, then submitted designs, and Acorn won. The BBC model B was then used almost universally in British schools from its birth into the 90's. 

It was followed in 1982 by the Acorn BBC model B, the Model B had the same features but had 32 KB RAM (expandable to 64k). 

The "Tube" was an expansion port which was designed to connect other processors to the BBC (6502, Z80, 68000 or ARM 1 RISC). An interface card was specially designed for the tube. It used another 6502 and a Z80. 

One of its most popular peripherals was the "Torch" floppy disk unit, it was a 5.25" floppy disk drive with a Z80 which allowed the BBC to use CP/M software. 

Acorn also made a "cheap" version of the BBC (fewer connectors & video modes) called Acorn Electron. 

In 1985, the Acorn BBC Model B+ was released. The Model B+ had new features : 64k of RAM instead of 32 KB, internal circuitry for the Econet and Disk Drive as standard, they were both available as an upgrade in the models A and B. The later models included disk support as standard, using either a 8271 or 1770 disk controller. 

It was then followed by the BBC Master.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=bbc micro b plus 96,
$bio

BBC Micro Model B+96

The Acorn BBC model A was the successor of the Acorn Atom and its first name was Acorn Proton. It was a very popular computer in the UK and was widely used in schools, but it didn't have great success elsewhere (even if it did have great features, it was too expensive). 

The Model A didn't have some of the connectors of the Model B/B+ (User port, Tube, ...) on the underside. 

This computer got its name because, in 1980, the BBC decided to start a computer literacy television series. The network realized that, with more powerful and increasingly inexpensive microcomputers, it would soon be possible to create them with enough computing power to offer their owners personal hands-on experience with microcomputers at an affordable price. 

The BBC considered the NewBrain computer and rejected it. Acorn and Sinclair Research, along with other companies, then submitted designs, and Acorn won. The BBC model B was then used almost universally in British schools from its birth into the 90's. 

It was followed in 1982 by the Acorn BBC model B, the Model B had the same features but had 32 KB RAM (expandable to 64k). 

The "Tube" was an expansion port which was designed to connect other processors to the BBC (6502, Z80, 68000 or ARM 1 RISC). An interface card was specially designed for the tube. It used another 6502 and a Z80. 

One of its most popular peripherals was the "Torch" floppy disk unit, it was a 5.25" floppy disk drive with a Z80 which allowed the BBC to use CP/M software. 

Acorn also made a "cheap" version of the BBC (fewer connectors & video modes) called Acorn Electron. 

In 1985, the Acorn BBC Model B+ was released. The Model B+ had new features : 64k of RAM instead of 32 KB, internal circuitry for the Econet and Disk Drive as standard, they were both available as an upgrade in the models A and B. The later models included disk support as standard, using either a 8271 or 1770 disk controller. 

It was then followed by the BBC Master.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=bbc micro b plus 128,
$bio

BBC Micro Model B+128

The Acorn BBC model A was the successor of the Acorn Atom and its first name was Acorn Proton. It was a very popular computer in the UK and was widely used in schools, but it didn't have great success elsewhere (even if it did have great features, it was too expensive). 

The Model A didn't have some of the connectors of the Model B/B+ (User port, Tube, ...) on the underside. 

This computer got its name because, in 1980, the BBC decided to start a computer literacy television series. The network realized that, with more powerful and increasingly inexpensive microcomputers, it would soon be possible to create them with enough computing power to offer their owners personal hands-on experience with microcomputers at an affordable price. 

The BBC considered the NewBrain computer and rejected it. Acorn and Sinclair Research, along with other companies, then submitted designs, and Acorn won. The BBC model B was then used almost universally in British schools from its birth into the 90's. 

It was followed in 1982 by the Acorn BBC model B, the Model B had the same features but had 32 KB RAM (expandable to 64k). 

The "Tube" was an expansion port which was designed to connect other processors to the BBC (6502, Z80, 68000 or ARM 1 RISC). An interface card was specially designed for the tube. It used another 6502 and a Z80. 

One of its most popular peripherals was the "Torch" floppy disk unit, it was a 5.25" floppy disk drive with a Z80 which allowed the BBC to use CP/M software. 

Acorn also made a "cheap" version of the BBC (fewer connectors & video modes) called Acorn Electron. 

In 1985, the Acorn BBC Model B+ was released. The Model B+ had new features : 64k of RAM instead of 32 KB, internal circuitry for the Econet and Disk Drive as standard, they were both available as an upgrade in the models A and B. The later models included disk support as standard, using either a 8271 or 1770 disk controller. 

It was then followed by the BBC Master.
$end

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

$info=bbc micro b sw,
$bio

BBC Micro Model BSW

The Acorn BBC model A was the successor of the Acorn Atom and its first name was Acorn Proton. It was a very popular computer in the UK and was widely used in schools, but it didn't have great success elsewhere (even if it did have great features, it was too expensive). 

The Model A didn't have some of the connectors of the Model B/B+ (User port, Tube, ...) on the underside. 

This computer got its name because, in 1980, the BBC decided to start a computer literacy television series. The network realized that, with more powerful and increasingly inexpensive microcomputers, it would soon be possible to create them with enough computing power to offer their owners personal hands-on experience with microcomputers at an affordable price. 

The BBC considered the NewBrain computer and rejected it. Acorn and Sinclair Research, along with other companies, then submitted designs, and Acorn won. The BBC model B was then used almost universally in British schools from its birth into the 90's. 

It was followed in 1982 by the Acorn BBC model B, the Model B had the same features but had 32 KB RAM (expandable to 64k). 

The "Tube" was an expansion port which was designed to connect other processors to the BBC (6502, Z80, 68000 or ARM 1 RISC). An interface card was specially designed for the tube. It used another 6502 and a Z80. 

One of its most popular peripherals was the "T