Oddities

Post by **Jeff-20** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 4:50 am

When I was a child, we played the "oh yeah" game. It's a game of one-ups-manship where you try to show or demonstrate to a friend something he or she has never seen before.

For example,
Kid 1: "Look, a frog!"
kid 2: "Oh yeah? Well, I have a turtle at home!"
kid 1: "Oh yeah? Well, my uncle has a pet llama!"

etc. etc.

So, I've been collecting pictures of unusual consoles from ebay (and other places). I'm just posting them here to see if I can come up with things you have never seen before... feel free to post your own of comment if you know it.

Sexy cartridge based consoles you never knew about*:

#1

*depending on your region

Post by **Jeff-20** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 4:53 am

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:34 am

I love the look of both of those!

The first one looks like a system that was marketed all over the world under several different names, in several different cases. I can't remember the name, but it was sold in Canada in a different case, with two controllers that looked like Intellivision clones, but had the same disk/joystick combo and keypad (the controllers are really what gives it away). Grrr...can't remember the name! SOMETHINGvision......

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:51 am

#1 looks like a cross between a Pong console and an Intellivision...

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 9:56 am

Oh...I REMEMBER....in Canada it was marketed as LIESUREVISION. It was cheaper than an Atari or the Intellivision.

Here's a link and pictures:

http://www.cgcc.ca/articles/view.php?ar ... e%20Vision

You can see that the keypad and disk/joystick are the same, just housed in a different sort of casing (Intellivision-like).

Post by **Jeff-20** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:54 pm

Here, it was called the Arcadia 2001. It flopped.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadia_2001

I thought TELEFEVER was a stylish effort at repackaging it. THe system os disguised in the player one controller. Very stylish for the time.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:08 pm

Ah, is it Arcadia 2001 that has cartridges which look much like VIC-20 cartridges? IIRC, it is mentioned in Ward Shrake's FAQ.

The second picture, isn't that a Philips Videopac 7600 or whatever it was called?

Post by **Jeff-20** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:13 pm

carlsson wrote:that a Philips Videopac 7600 or whatever it was called?

Yep. It is essentially an Odyssey 2 (here in the states) with a builty in monitor. It reminds me of a vectrex.

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:21 pm

That second picture is one of the coolest things I have seen!

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:23 am

The Odyssey with the built-in monitor was the GC7200. Aside from the Vectrex and the Adventurevision, the only other console I know of with a built-in screen.

(and no, I'm not counting the PET here!)

Having said that, the Vectrex is still unique in that respect. After all the GC7200 was just an GC7000 with a screen bolted on (bit like a PET there), and the Adventurevision was an LED display. It still stands out to me as being the only true proper display console that had the machine integrally built into the frame of the unit.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:47 am

Do handheld games and laptops count?

By console, I suppose you mean video games, no full-blown computers at all.

nippur72 · Post by **nippur72** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:08 pm

Oh yeah, the Emerson Arcadia 2001! In italy it was sold as "Leonardo" by the toymaker GIG and it was quite popular. It was considered as a cheap "intellevision".

Graphically it was very similar to the VIC 20 (colors, fonts and screen size) but it had n.4 8x8 sprites and one voice (or perhaps two with noise).

At that time, this similarity with the VIC-20 lead me trying to program some of Emerson's games on the Vic but, alas, unsuccessfully. Well, I am still trying anyway!

Some years later, Emerson's cartdriges drastically dropped in price (from $90 to $10), but nothing could have saved it from oblivion becase, lo, the Commodore 64 had landed.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:39 pm

(on the subject of built in tubes... can you identify these?)

#3

#4

#5

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:05 pm

#4 is interesting, I'd almost call that a console and display built together like the Vectrex? What is it though?

#5 is the GC7200

nippur72 · Post by **nippur72** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:17 am

#3 is awesome, I like keyboard with big keys.... It's a pity they no longer build keyboard this way