The difficult economic situation after the collapse of the USSR left a big imprint on the distribution of video games in Russia. While happy children and teenagers in the USA, Great Britain or Japan were happy with the first PlayStation, in Russia the majority of gamers of that time played Dandy and Sega, and most of the platforms in our country did not exist at all. We will tell you about systems that few Russians heard about during the dashing nineties, and only a few played.
PC Engine / TurboGrafx Family
The desire to plop down on two chairs is a common thing among businessmen. Therefore, it is not surprising that the company Necretaining leadership in the PC market in Japan, decided to try their luck in the console segment. AND Pc engine, released in October 1987, became the first 16-bit system in history. True, with the caveat: only the video chip was 16-bit, and the processor and sound chip were 8-bit. However, technical superiority over the closest competitor in the face NES it was obvious. And thanks to the strong support from igroprom mastodons such as Namco and KonamiThe console managed to show excellent sales in the first year of its existence. But then came out Sega mega drive, and interest in the console Nec began to plummet. And in the USA Pc enginebeing renamed to Turbografx-16, and was completely out of work because of the late launch, which took place after the appearance of the Sega on the shelves.
The sad story of Turbografx – a console that could become a legend
Realizing what to fight with Sega It’s no use in the West Nec did not leave attempts to invest in a platform at home. There Pc engine received many variations, including the portable version. And already at the end of 88, the addon was released PC Engine CDworking in tandem with the original console. Thus Nec Not only contributed to the release of the first 16-bit gaming platform, but also the first set-top box, using CDs as a storage medium. Over time, even a special card came out that increased the amount of RAM and gave green light to the ports from the arcades, which were as close as possible to them in terms of graphics quality. Later Nec will release a line of consoles Duo, combining the original console and the CD addon to it in one enclosure.
Nevertheless, the majority of developers were skeptical of the new type of media, and the failure in the West made itself felt. This has led to Pc engine even at home, she lost the support of many eminent companies and, as a result, could not offer the players an equally rich library, which she flaunted Sega mega drive. Not to mention the one released in the early 90s SNES. The final chord was the release of a pumped version called Supergrafx. This system was backward compatible with all projects for the original PC engine, and also had its own library of exclusives. With a total of 6 games. Comments are redundant.
Cd-i
Company Philips always positioned her brainchild as a multimedia center and related to games for Cd-i as a simple add-on. And the center is not for the poor – the first models the size of a bulky VCR cost more than $ 1,000. Very few people wanted to give such money for the opportunity to listen to music and watch movies in Video CD format. Failed Cd-i and like a game console: even though cheaper versions of the system came out over time, it still cost quite a lot, and in return could not offer anything but an abundance of FMV games of dubious quality and crooked ports of multi-platform projects.
On the other hand, if not for Cd-i and ill-fated deal between Philips and Nintendo, the world would never see memorial in its inferiority games based on the universe The legend of zelda. And perhaps the very Sony PlayStation.
Action story about the legendary console, which changed the gaming industry once and for all
Neo geo
In the early 90s, the company SNK, which occupied a large share in the market of arcade systems, decided on a bold experiment – released a console, the hardware filling of which was completely identical to the gaming machine. Well, which of the gamers of that time did not dream of the opportunity to enjoy graphically advanced home projects, finally stopping saving on breakfast? Great, isn’t it? Yes, if you do not take into account the price tag, which Neo geo was at that time truly unbearable – 650 bucks. For the money, you could buy Mega Drive along with SNES and a bunch of games to boot. Unsurprisingly, the system failed even in native Japan, where arcade machines SNK always in high demand.
True, by the mid-90s, the company “changed their minds” and released a budget equivalent – Neo Geo CDwhere expensive cartridges were replaced by compact discs. That’s just before the release PS1 and Saturnready to offer polygonal graphics, there were only a few months left. And the audience’s interest in 2D games by that time began to plummet. Not without technical incidents here – the first versions of the console had a 1-speed drive and a small cache size. Because of this, I had to put up with frequent downloads, lasting from 30 seconds to one and a half minutes. Given that the lion’s share of the project library for Neo Geo CD were fighting games, it was difficult to endure. Especially for 400, damn it, bucks.
And a year later an improved version was released called Cdz, which reduced the duration of lading by about two to three times. But the good of her in the face of the resounding success of the first PlayStation there was little more than therapy for a fourth-stage cancer patient.
Sega CD and 32x
And although the experience Nec with the CD addon it wasn’t that successful, Sega decided to follow suit and already at the end of 1991 were born a similar add-on. Due to the fact that the company dragged on for a very long time with the release of development funds, many companies turned their backs on the platform. High was the cost of the drive, which could only work in conjunction with Mega drivebut sold at a price of $ 300, the equivalent of a full console. Moreover, in the project library for Sega cd it was possible to discover not so few hits and just very good games. But their main mass was corny lost against the background of improved ports from cartridges and frank FMV-slag.
In the case of the second addon in the face 32x Sega I followed a different policy. And this thing that turns Mega drive to a 32-bit system, cost half as much. But for some reason they forgot to provide the platform with high-quality exclusives again. Yes, and the timeline was extended so much that they waited for the launch Sega saturn. Although initially it was planned to brighten up the expectation precisely due to an earlier release 32x. As a result, the platform simply saved the grandeur of a more powerful heir, and the majority of users chose to overpay for Saturn, instead of buying an add-on with a dubious set of games.
FM Towns Marty
Computers FM Townsmanufactured by company Fujitsuwere never in demand in Japan where the rules of the ball Nec with her PC-98. Nevertheless, in 1993, the first 32-bit console in history was born FM Towns Marty – in fact, the same PC, but in a compact package a la PC Engine Duo and with his custom bios. Due to the fact that the hardware was not borrowed from the top configuration itself FM Towns, Not all games from a fairly extensive library started correctly or started at all. Yes, and 70 percent of the library was RPG and visual novels of hentai content.
However, per capita Marty also dropped about two dozen first-class ports from the arcades, not inferior to them in terms of graphics. Beautiful versions deserve special attention. Flashbacktwo Prince of persia and quests from Sierra. Note that the games for the system were released in two formats – on 3.5-inch floppy disks and CDs. Some projects required simultaneous launch from two media, while in others, a floppy disk was used to save data.
Despite the impressive hardware content for the 1993 console, Marty not received proper demand due to the phenomenally high cost, which exceeded the mark of $ 700. Today the system is one of the rarest and, accordingly, expensive. Especially it concerns Car marty – A special version built into the dashboard of a car and equipped with a navigation system.
Amiga cd32
If we cast aside the country of the rising sun, then the title of the first 32-bit system will depart Amiga cd32. Although computers manufactured by Commodore under the brand Amigawere in great demand in the West, in the first half of the 90s the company experienced great financial difficulties. And an attempt to enter the console market turned for Commodore not a helping hand at all, but finishing off a lying man.
The game library was very meager and the best projects for Cd32 became multi-platform versions of hits like Cannon fodder, Theme park, Syndicate and a few more. The quality of exclusives, by and large, darted from side to side – from the crunch to something trivial. Not the smallest price tag of $ 400 did not add enthusiasm to the purchase either. And the console itself suffered a complete fiasco, forcing Commodore curtail production eight months after the release Amiga cd32 and plead bankrupt.
What is curious – the prefix to this day remains in demand among enthusiasts. In particular, there are unofficial expansion modules that allow you to connect a floppy drive, hard drive and keyboard to the system, thereby turning it into a complete analogue of a PC. Later, a special software shell was created that allows you to run games from computers Amiga on the Cd32just by writing them on a blank.
Atari jaguar
Despite the failure Atari 7800 and Atari xegs, the company did not abandon attempts to regain leadership in the console market. The latter was undertaken in the first half of the 90s, when it was born Jaguar – The first 64-bit console. The launch of the new system was accompanied by a rather aggressive advertising campaign, in which PR specialists Atari quilted Mega drive and Super nintendo for their 16-bit capacity.
In reality, the golden rule worked out: “The one who laughs last” laughs. And the so-called 64-bit console was only on paper. In practice, many developers simply turned their backs on Jaguar due to its sophisticated architecture and the use of cartridges as a storage medium. However on Atari jaguar a decent amount of hits came out – albeit with an important caveat that it was only a multi-platform. “The graphics are a little better than the 16-bit” – This is not an argument that would force players to massively run to stores for a new system. The quality of the projects developed exclusively for the console was completely nightmarish. The gamepad, which was phenomenal in its inconvenience and looked like a telephone receiver swollen from diabetes, deserved special mention.
Two years after the release Jaguar company Atari released a CD drive for the console, but it was of less use than the original device. The reason is still the same – the dominance of the multi-platform and frankly empty exclusives, which I would not want to play for free.
Sega saturn
Confidence in the Japanese giant was pretty much undermined by failed add-ons for Mega drive. But instead of working on bugs in Sega pierced the bottom even more, making a number of serious marketing mistakes. And they screwed up with architecture. Story with Jaguar repeated in full – the system was so sophisticated that not everyone wanted to deal with this obscurantism. Because of this Saturn noticeably lost in graphics quality PS1, including in multi-platform projects.
It was possible to compensate for this with an abundance of sequels to the games that the audience loved since Mega drive. But instead Sega made a bet on new titles, most of which did not have the proper demand. But in native Japan, the console was selling very well for a long time – in many respects this was facilitated by the dominance of various kinds of hardcore like scrolling shooters and 2D fighting games. And although the emulation of “Saturn” has long been debugged, this system is still widely in demand among retro gamers and collectors who prefer a real console of software simulation.
NEC PC-FX
Who laughed at the plain design of the new Xbox? And how do you like such a miracle in feathers originally from the 90s? And no, this is not the system unit and not the UPS, but the console PC-FX and, in combination, the last attempt of the company Nec gain a foothold in the video game market. The attempt is obviously a failure, because the system was not able to 3D-graphics and went side by side with PS1 and Saturn. But she had a cool decoder that allows you to issue video with quality level MPEG-1. True, in the conditions of the library of 62 games, there was little use for this. In addition, most belonged to the genre of dating simulators and visual short stories, and for this reason alone the console a priori could not have at least some weight outside of Japan. And in her homeland, to put it mildly, she was not lucky. 400 thousand units sold is a fiasco.
The only thing I would like to mention is the availability of a special and insanely rare module for the PC that allows you to play projects from PC-FX. At the time, the company also produced a similar thing. 3DOgiving PC boyars enjoy projects for the console of the same name.
Virtual boy
And although 25 years have passed since the console was released, it still holds the title of the most stubborn gaming system. Virtual reality has become one of the most common topics in science fiction films of the late 80s and early 90s. Apparently, against the backdrop of the emerging fashion in the head of Humpei Yokoi (author of mega-successful handbags Game & watch and Game boy) and the idea came up of creating a console that can erase the line between a gamer and a game. Guide Nintendo reacted to this rather coolly and in every possible way forced the launch process Virtual boywishing to concentrate on development as soon as possible Nintendo 64. As Yokoi himself later admitted, he did not want to release the system in the form in which it entered the market. But, as they say, we have what we have.
Virtual boy although it was a 32-bit system, in reality it produced only a black and red image with level graphics NES. Except for a couple of primitive 3D games. The console was positioned as portable, which you would never have guessed when looking at a bulky helmet with a tripod. The image was formed using two built-in displays, and the 3D effect was achieved thanks to parallax. But, as the well-known noted Angry Video Game Nerdthe system was called Virtual boy, but not 3D boy. And games with a first-person view, creating the desired effect of immersion in virtual reality, there was nothing at all. In addition, due to the nature of the graphics, the players got tired of the process very quickly, and some even experienced migraines and nausea.
Generally, Virtual boy failed miserably in the Japanese and American markets, so the system was never released in Europe. Nintendo completely blamed the creator, thereby forcing Ekoi to leave the company’s walls in 1996. A year later, he died as a result of an accident.
Nintendo 64
One can wonder for how long the poison from the sting of that bee that bit Nintendo in the design process N64. Fearing piracy, the company decided not to change traditions and continue to use cartridges as carriers. Here are just polygonal games, to put it mildly, it was hard to feel yourself in terms of volume, only in rare cases, reached the mark of 64 megabytes of data. Because of this flagrant restriction, literally everything went under the knife – the quality of textures, video screensavers, as well as the quality and quantity of music tracks.
The flaws in the hardware stuffing also nullified numerous technical advantages over competitors – to enjoy bilinear filtering (at that time accessible only to owners of expensive 3D accelerators for PC) in conditions of low resolution images, and soap textures and frame rate problems that affected every third game, it was difficult. Looking at this, many developers turned to Nintendo backs and refused to let out for N64 not that exclusives, but even multi-platform projects. Therefore, the valuable console was for the most part games that were released under its own franchises.
However, we will be honest – against the background of other consoles from the material Nintendo 64 managed to perform better than anyone. And the figure of about 33 million consoles sold a priori can not be considered a failure. Unless in relation to the resounding success of past systems – NES and SNES. Well and, of course, to the competitor in the person PS1. How could a newcomer to the video game market lose with outstanding experience is one big question.
Apple pippin
In the first half of the 90s, the company Apple began to think about entering the console market, using the production capacities of other companies for this. So a partnership with Bandaispilled into a device called Pippin. Занятно, что идея заключалась в выпуске бюджетной версии компьютера от Apple, заточенного по гейминг. Вот только цену в 600 долларов для реалий 1996 года дешевой уже никак не назовешь. Тем более, что по своим возможностям приставка была скорее на уровне ранних 32-битных систем и, простите за грубость, в подметки не годилась не то что первой PlayStaion, а даже Saturn.
Из всего мизерного количества игр, доступных на платформе, упоминания заслуживают разве что две части научно-фантастического шутера Marathon from Bungie — эдакого предвестника будущей Halo. And also Pippin поставлялась в комплекте с модемом и веб-браузером, позволяя бороздить просторы интернета. Bandai даже не поленилась выпустить для обреченной на провал системы несколько видов клавиатур, дабы писать матерные послания в тогдашних чатиках было проще и быстрее.
