In this instance, the "What Makes It Obscure" section seems to describe the system well.
What Makes It Obscure?
In the late 1980s, the video game market was on a meteoric rise, led by the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Atari 7800, Atari XEGS and Sega Master System were quickly introduced to compete, but by 1987 the NES had 90 percent of the market. The remaining 10 percent of the market was almost entirely controlled by the Master System, 7800, XEGS and the earlier Atari 2600, which was marketed as a budget console.
There were several consoles fighting over the tiny remaining sliver of the market. One of these was the Action Max, launched in 1987 by a company called Worlds of Wonder (WoW). WoW was a toy company known at that time for the Teddy Ruxpin doll and Lazer Tag.
It's a theme that comes up time and time again: this system failed. For one, it required a VHS player, and only half of people in the US had a VHS player at the time. The system hooked up to a VHS player and used VHS tapes as opposed to game cartridges.
The system's fatal flaw was its limited capabilities. The system was only capable of playing light gun games. Gameplay was point based, depending on shot accuracy: players could not truly win or lose a game. There were five games released, and all had similar gameplay, only varying on theme.
The Action Max died a quick death, and WoW closed for good in late 1990.
No comments:
Post a Comment