The XaviXPORT

A XaviXPORT.

The XaviXPORT is a console that has maintained its obscurity despite the fact that it's still available to purchase new in 2016 (at $54.99, it's cheaper than most new games for Xbox One, PS4 and Wii U) and has been out for twelve years. Launched in 2004, the XaviXPORT has a library of ten games, most of them sports games. The system uses cartridges that are placed face-up on the panel that says "XaviXPORT" and pushed down, and each game comes with wireless controllers that are equipped with motion sensors (much like the Wii) and represent and are controlled like their real-life equivalents; for instance, the "Baseball" game comes with a baseball bat-like controller and baseball, and the player swings the ball to hit the bat, much as in a real life game of baseball. An infrared sensor on the console receives information from the motion sensors. 

Arcade Perfection For The Home: SNK Neo Geo AES vs. RDI Halcyon

Welcome back to Obscure Video Game Systems! It's been over a year since my last post.

The Neo Geo AES and RDI Halcyon may seem like an odd choice of systems to compare: they were on the market at different times, had different game libraries, and vastly different levels of success on the market.

The Neo Geo AES sold over a million units, making it successful for its niche market (although its sales did pale in comparison to its main competitors, the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo), while the Halcyon was never formally released, with only two games completed and about 10-20 prototype units made.

-Price. Both systems were marketed as "luxury video game systems", and were far more expensive than their mainstream competition. A Neo Geo AES, with a game included, would set you back $650 at its 1991 launch ($1,150 in 2016 dollars). The Halcyon was planned to launch at a staggering $2,500 in 1985 - even unadjusted for inflation, that's more than most high-end PCs today. Adjusted for inflation, it's $5,600 in 2016 dollars - that's 14 PS4s at launch price!

-Timing. The Neo Geo AES was released to a booming video game market in 1991. The Halcyon was set for release in January 1985, at the nadir of the video game crash.

-Games. The Neo Geo AES was just a home version of a SNK's arcade board at the time; the Neo Geo MVS. In the early 1990s, the MVS (and, by extension, the AES) was far more powerful than any other home console or computer at the time, and was one of the most powerful arcade boards on the market. In addition, the fighting game genre was red-hot at the time, and SNK was known for making some of the highest-quality fighter games. Shooters and sports games were also popular in the early '90s, and SNK put out high-quality games in those genres. The Neo Geo offered the full arcade library of one of the leading arcade game manufacturers, if one was willing to pay.
The RDI Halcyon followed on the "laserdisc game" craze, exemplified by games such as Dragon's Lair. Only two games were made for it; four were in development, but none were completed.

The Mega Duck

Background/History
The amusingly-named Mega Duck was released in 1993. It was made by a Hong Kong based company, Welback Holdings. Games were distributed by Thin Chen (better known as "Sachen"), which was one of the leading publishers of unlicensed NES games. It was yet another Game Boy competitor, and looked fairly similar to the Game Boy. In fact, many Mega Duck games were released for the Game Boy later on.
Like the Game Boy, it had a monochrome LCD screen, a + shaped D-pad, Select and Start, and B and A buttons. Games were said to be on par with the earliest Game Boy games. The screen is said to be of slightly higher quality than the Game Boy. About 35 games were released. The cartridges were thin and small, much like Sega Game Gear cartridges.
The Mega Duck was released in parts of Europe and Brazil. In Brazil, it was known as the "Cougar Boy".
One system, two VERY funny names. What the heck?

What Makes It Obscure?
The Mega Duck was released in limited geographical areas over 20 years ago. It is very rare nowadays. The Cougar Boy is even rarer.

Epoch Cassette Vision

Background/History:
The Cassette Vision was released on July 30, 1981 by a Japanese toy company called Epoch. The system was said to have power roughly equivalent to the Atari 2600. One unusual feature of the Cassette Vision was its controllers. The controllers had two knobs each (one for horizontal movement, the other for vertical movement), and two buttons for each player. Start, Select, and power buttons were located in the center. In effect, the console and both controllers were one unit. Another unusual feature is that the individual game cartridges contain key components of the system functions, such as the RAM and video processor.
In 1983, a cost-reduced version of the Cassette Vision was made, called the Cassette Vision Jr. Controls were redesigned for this unit into 1 directional lever on the left side and 4 push buttons on the right side.

What Makes It Obscure?
Its Japan-only release, eventual overshadowing by the Famicom, and over three decades since release have relegated it to obscurity. It also wasn't very successful - though its successor, the Super Cassette Vision, saw more success. Only 12 games were released for the Cassette Vision before it was superseded by the Super Cassette Vision in 1984.

Gizmondo - Includes A TOTALED FERRARI!!!

Background/History:
Tiger Telematics, the manufacturer of the Gizmondo, was founded in the early 2000s in Sweden. In late 2003, the buzz began circulating around a new system called the "Gametrac". In August 2004, the as yet unreleased device was renamed the "Gizmondo". It was released in England on March 19, 2005, in Sweden in late summer 2005, and in the USA on October 22, 2005.
Prior to its release, the Gizmondo was expected to be a huge success. Extensive advertising was put out, and launch parties featuring celebrities were thrown - the company had blown through many millions of dollars before the first console was sold. The system had internet, text messaging, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and GPS - features never before seen on a handheld video game system. As a handheld game system, it was relatively powerful, being capable of 3D graphics capabilities approximately on par with the Sony PlayStation 2. The price was $400, but if you opted for a "Smart Adds" enabled unit, the price was cut to $229.

What Makes It Obscure?
The Gizmondo isn't the most obscure system out there. This was a video game system with lots of hype that was released in the Internet era. It has gotten its fair share of fame, including a mention as "Worst Console of All Time" by GameTrailers. One of the main executives behind the Gizmondo, Stefan Eriksson, had ties to the Swedish Mafia and got in a well-publicized car crash that split an Enzo Ferrari in half. Amazingly, no one was killed in the crash, and Eriksson was sentenced to two years in prison.
The Gizmondo was discontinued on February 6, 2006, when Tiger Telematics went bankrupt. Having spent just 11 months on the market, total sales were less than 25,000.
It is probably the most spectacular console failure in history, and while it isn't the most obscure, it does have the most interesting story.

Stefan Eriksson's wrecked Enzo Ferrari, from wreckedexotics.com

The Gamate

Gamate and 3 games. Image from here, courtesy of Miguel Duran of Museo 8 Bits.

Background/History:
After the Game Boy came out in 1989, numerous competitors came out to compete in the handheld market. All three major Nintendo competitors had one; Sega had the Game Gear, Atari had the Lynx, and NEC had the Turbo Express, which was literally a portable Turbo Grafx 16. These four were by no means the only handheld competitors. Spurred by the new market and lower cost of developing a handheld, several companies offered handheld video game systems.
One of these systems was called the Gamate, launched in 1990. It was created by Bit Corporation, a Taiwanese video game company active from 1982-1992. Bit was known for its Atari 2600 games and software compatible clones of other systems, such as the Famicom, Atari 2600, Sega SG-1000, and Colecovision. Many of their products were made under different brand names, such as Puzzy and Zimag. The company had worldwide reach, and many of their products never made it to US shores.
The Gamate was a Bit product that made it to US shores; in addition, it was sold all over the world. Australia, parts of Europe and Asia, and Argentina were the known regions the system saw release. Local distributors, not Bit itself, distributed the console.
The system used a card form factor for its games, as shown in the picture. It had an LCD screen, much like the Game Boy - no color and no back-light.
Bit Corporation went out of business in 1992, and a fellow Taiwanese company, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) and its subsidiary Funtech (known later for the Super A'Can) continued to produce the Gamate until at least 1993. The last game was released in 1995, by which time over 70 games had been released.
The serial number on the back of the Gamate indicates production year and order - for instance, "9142115" is the 42,115th Gamate produced in 1991.
There are two variants of the system's appearance. The G-1001 has an x-shaped D-pad, and the G-1002 has a + shaped D-pad. There is also a white Gamate with red buttons.

What Makes It Obscure?
The Gamate never sold in numbers comparable to the Game Boy or even the Sega, Atari, or NEC handheld offerings.
In addition, quality was in many ways lower than the Game Boy. While the system itself was assembled in a quality manner, the LCD screen quality was inconsistent. There were two different types of LCD screen on the Gamate - a "worse" one and a "better" one. Some units had the worse LCD, some had the better one. "Ghosting" - a blurry and faint appearance exhibited by objects on screen - was exhibited by the system, and was far worse on the "worse" LCD screen. The mono sound of the Gamate was distorted and of low quality if played without headphones; with headphones, the sound quality improved greatly, due to the fact that the system could only output stereo through the headphone jack.

VTech CreatiVision

VTech CreatiVision.

Background/History:
The CreatiVision was introduced in 1981 by VTech, a company now known for its cordless phones and children's electronic learning products. However, "VTech" actually stands for "Video Technology Limited", as the system got its start in video game systems; it's first product was a PONG clone, released in 1977.
The system was a sort of computer/video game hybrid, like several other consoles of the time. It was a console with capabilities fairly close to the ColecoVision, launched the next year. Controllers had a joystick with buttons on the side, but both controllers could be used as a keyboard; each controller had one side of the keyboard. The system could be expanded with a floppy disk drive, cassette player, printer, and BASIC cartridge.
The CreatiVision was manufactured in Hong Kong, but primarily released in European countries. (VTech is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden) It also made it into various other countries, including South Africa and Japan. Israel got the system as the Educat 2000, and Australia got it as the Dick Smith Wizzard.
When the video game crash of 1984 hit, VTech had the foresight to shift their total focus to the computer market. In 1984, they released a line of computers called the Laser 2001, which were based on CreatiVision hardware and compatible with the games.
The CreatiVision and Laser 2001 were discontinued in 1986.

What Makes It Obscure?
This is one of those systems that's primarily obscure because of age and its release which never reached the US market.