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.