Replay: The History of Video Games (78 page)

Year released: 1976

Origin: USA

Type: Kit computer

Created by microprocessor firm MOS Technology prior to its purchase by Commodore International.

Konix Multisystem 

Manufacturer: Konix

Year released: Never released

Origin: UK

Type: Home console

Was to be a UK rival to the Megadrive and Super NES.
Its peripherals were set to include a light gun with recoil and the Power Chair, a motorised seat designed to mimic the hydraulics used in arcade games such as Out Run. Also known as the Slipstream. Its release was cancelled in August 1989.

L

Lisa

Manufacturer: Apple Computer

Year released: 1983

Origin: USA

Type: Personal computer

The first personal computer with a graphical user interface.

M

Macintosh

Manufacturer: Apple Computer

Year released: 1984

Origin: USA

Type: Personal computer

The first popular personal computer with a graphical user interface.

Magnavox Odyssey 

Manufacturer: Magnavox

Year released: 1972

Origin: USA

Type: Home console

The first video game console, developed by Sanders Associates
as the Brown Box. Sold with plastic overlays to put over the TV screen to enhance its primitive graphics. It was also home to the first light gun controller, Shooting Gallery.

Magnavox Odyssey2 

Manufacturer: Magnavox, Philips

Year released: 1978

Origin: USA

Type: Home console

Released in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7000 (Ph
ilips C52 in France). Also released in Brazil as the Philips Odyssey.

Magnavox Odyssey3

Manufacturer: Magnavox, Philips

Year released: 1983

Origin: USA

Type: Home console

Never released in North America but did get a brief release in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7400.

Magnavox Odyssey 100

Manufacturer: Magnavox

Year released: 1975

Origin: USA

Type: Home console

The first of several home Pong consoles relsed by Magnavox.

Master System

Manufacturer: Sega

Year released: 1985

Origin: Japan

Type: Home console

Outsold the NES in Europe. Also popular in Brazil, where it was distributed by Tec Toy. Originally released in Japan as the Sega Mark III.

MBX Expansion System

Manufacturer: Milton Bradley

Year released: 1983

Origin: USA

Type: Personal computer add-on

Originally planned as a stand-alone console, Milton Bradley eventually turned the MBX into an add-on for the TI-99/4A home computer. Featured speech synthesis, voice recognition and an analogue joystick that also allowed 360o rotation. Discontinued almost as soon as released after Texas Instruments quit the home computer market. Versions for the Atari VCS 2600 and Atari 5200 consoles were also mooted.

Megadrive 

Manufacturer: Sega

Year released: 1988

Origin: Japan

Type: Home console

Called the Genesis in North America. The Sega CD add-on, also known as th
e Mega CD, allowed users to play CD-ROM games.

Merlin

Manufacturer: Parker Brothers

Year released: 1978

Origin: USA

Type: Handheld game

Multi-game handheld that doubled as a musical instrument. Created by former NASA scientist Bob Doyle.

MicroVision

Manufacturer: Milton Bradley

Year released: 1979

OrigiSA

Type: Handheld console

The first handheld console. Created by Jay Smith who later designed the Vectrex console.

MK14

Manufacturer: Science of Cambridge

Year released: 1977

Origin: UK

Type: Kit computer

Clive Sinclair’s first venture into the computer business.

MSX / MSX2

Manufacturer: Various (designed by ASCII Corporation and Microsoft Japan)

Year released: 1983

Origin: Japan

Type: Personal computer

Touted as a home computer standard and produced by a bewildering number of manufacturers across the world including Casio, Daewoo, GoldStar, Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Spectravideo and Yamaha (to name just a few). The MSX2, the second generation version of the computer, was introduced in 1986. Eventually the line was discontinued in 1995.

N

Nascom 1

Manufacturers: Nascom Microcomputers

Year released: 1977

Origin: UK

Type: Kit computer

An early British computer.

NEC PC-6001

Manufacturer: NEC

Year released: 1981

Origin: Japan

Type: Personal computer

Released in North America as the NEC TREK.

NEC PC-8001

Manufacturer: NEC

Year released: 1979

Origin: Japan

Type: Personal computer

One of the earliest home computers made in Japan.

NEC PC-8801

Manufacturer: NEC

Year released: 1981

Origin: Japan

Type: Personal computer

Popular Japanese computer throughout the 1980s, also known as the PC88.

NEC PC-9801 / NEC PC-9821

Manufacturer: NEC

Year released: 1982

Origin: Japan

Type: Personal computer

Japanese rival to the PC that was popular well into the late 1990s before losing out to the PC. The PC-9821Ra43 model, the last in the line, was released in 2000.

NEMO

Manufacturer: Hasbro

Year released: Never released

Origin: USA

Type: Home console

Used VHS video cassettes rather than cartridges for its games. NEMO (Never Ever Mention Outside) was the console’s working name. Hasbro abandoned the January 1989 launch of the console as the Control-Vision in late 1988.

Neo Geo

Manufacturer: SNK

Year released: 1990

Origin: Japan

Type: Home console

Very expensive home version of SNK’s coin-op video game technology. Game cartridges cost upwards of $200 at the time. The rarest now sell to collectors for more than $1,000. In 1994 SNK released a CD-ROM version of the console.

NES 

Manufacturer: Nintendo, Sharp

Year released: 1983

Origin: Japan

Type: Home console

Called the Famicom in Japan. The Famicom Disk System, released in Japan i
n 1986, allowed owners to play and save games on floppy disks. Sharp released the Twin Famicom, a combined Famicom and Famicom Disk System, in the same year.

Nintendo 64

Manufacturer: Nintendo

Year released: 1996

Origin: Japan

Type: Home console

Introduced analogue joysticks and vibration features to console joypad controllers.

Nintendo DS

Manufacturer: Nintendo

Year released: 2004

Origin: Japan

Type: Handheld console

Dual-screen reinvention of the handheld console with an in-built microphone, wireless multiplayer gaming and a stylus for interacting with its touch screen.

Nokia 6610

Manufacturer: Nokia

Year released: 2002

Origin: Finland

Type: Mobile phone

One of the first mobile phones that could connect to the internet. Nokia went on to launch the N-Gage mobile phone game console in 2003. In 2005 Nokia turned the N-Gage brand into a game download service for its smartphones.

O

Oil Panic

See Game & Watch

Oric-1

Manufacturer: Tangerine Computer Systems

Year release: 1983

Origin: UK

Type: Personal computer

Successful in France but not in the UK. Quickly succeeded by the Oric Atmos in 1984.

P

Panasonic FZ-1

See 3DO Interactive Multiplayer

PC 

Manufacturer: Various

Year released: 1981

Origin: USA

Type: Personal computer

Created by IBM using off-the-shelf technology, which allowed other companies to
produce copies without the fear of legal action. By the end of the 1980s IBM PC compatibles made by rival firms were outselling IBM’s own PCs. Microsoft’s MS-DOS and Windows operating systems became the common software standard for PCs and, after initial success in the business market, the PC spread into homes as people adopted multimedia and, later, internet technology.

PC Engine

Manufacturer: NEC

Year released: 1987

Origin: Japan

Type: Home console

Created in collaboration with Japanese games publisher Hudson Soft. Called the TurboGrafx-16 in North America. The TurboGrafx-CD briefly became the most widespread CD drive format in Japan.

PCjr

Manufacturer: IBM

Year released: 1984