CatPix Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) At first I had the system. Then I got games for it. The games... A whole lot of 11 games, still shrinkwrapped! (mostly. It's so old and cheap that most of it fall apart). So what is an Advision Home Arcade anyway? Well it's nothing but a French licenced version of the Emerson Arcadia 2001. A good point is that unlike most clones, it's (said to be) compatible with Emerson carts. The bad point is that Emerson carts are way more expensive than Advision carts! Strangely, the box system have the same picture on front and back. So there isn't really a front and a back. The onbox description (translated from French) : "Advision Home Arcade" "Adventure on the screen!" - The Home Arcade game system can be plugged easily on any color or black and white TV - Just introduce the cassette in the slot designed for it on the system - Game sounds will be reproduced on your TV speaker - Games handles are equipped with removeable pads (I guess that they mistranslated "joysticks") - They are linked to the system by "telephone style" cable - Each handle is fitted with 12 multifunction keys - Turn your TV in arcade game - 9V PSU provided with the system - This console can be used in a caravan, boat, car - Red light power indicator - HA2 model (probably means that HAnimex is behind that system...) - Made by and distribued by Advision France (ha, take that,Apple! For anyone wondering, this system and carts all come from Hong Kong) - Conformity to french norms is guaranteed by Advision Quite a lot of useless babble by today's standards... And weird one, too. Even if the French average customer had not great knowledge of video game system in 1982 (or it could have been out even later), at the time, only Pongs systems would have an internal speaker. Mentioning the PSU is strange too... and that line on the used of the system in a boat... WTF? I guess it come straight from Emerson's ads? A tag mention a "special price" handwritten, of 1080 (French Francs probably). If we assume that special price was put on in 1985, when French stores cleared their shelves of all game systems because of the 8 bits computer craze and the fall of US consoles, it give us a rough estimate of 280€. So, around 390US$. Well, the PS4 isn't THAT expensive after all... The system itself is pretty akin to the Emerson version. It's more rounded, there is no stupid fake wood grain, and all buttons are square. The slot shape is slightly different too. Some French version are said to have a DIN plug outputting RVB+sound. Sadly, this one doesn't. Oddly enough, one side of the box got a French game title (La fuite on the featured example), the other got the original English title. The same goes for the back of the box, which feature the English name, but a plain text description of the game (in French). Much like the Emerson carts, the Advision carts come in two flavors : tall and short. Front and end label are in English, so I suppose they are the Emerson original ones. Interestingly enough, the overlays are translated in French. Something that neither Mattel nor Colecovision did. On the other hand, they are really crude looking. I don't know if the Emerson one are as blank as those ones. As usual for the time, the notices are in black and white, but the paper is a somehow quality glossy paper. Interestingly enough, the back of the cart feature the back of the box, minus the rainbowy game title. Last but not least : I always heard that the Emerson library was made of unlicenced ripoff from famous arcade games, and less famous ones. Well, it's either wrong or just misinformation. True, games on the upper row here are copies of famous games (Cat Trax, a kind of PacMan clone, Escape is a kind of Berzek clone, and Breakout.. is Breakout). But games on the lower row are all labeled in the lower right corner "Licenced : Arcade game" and you can read under the title for each 3 "Patent by Konami Industry Co, LTD" The game title screen also feature the Konami copyright and original arcade title. Well that's it. How does it compare with the Arcadia 2001? It's a nice thing to discoved, 30 years later, games still unopened and in so mint state. Don't worry, fellow gamers. Only 3 games were spared; all of the others were opened and played a bit, and will be played more! Edited December 9, 2013 by CatPix 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Well, thanks for all the details and pics! - This console can be used in a caravan, boat, car So, isn't a caravan a line of vehicles following each other? What an odd statement... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted December 9, 2013 Author Share Posted December 9, 2013 Well it's also a travel trailer, but I guess caravan is less used or maybe more of an UK word? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Well it's also a travel trailer, but I guess caravan is less used or maybe more of an UK word? Oh, I see. Like an RV, a motorhome, a sleeper, a fifth-wheeler, a camper, a trailer-house...? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 That's it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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