Emerson Arcadia arcade ports

[Atari2008]

I've been reading up on the Emerson Arcadia 2001, and I found it surprising to learn that Emerson had programmed versions of Pac-Man, Galaxian and Defender for the Emerson Arcadia 2001 but due to Atari owning the rights they were shelved apparently. Have these ever been found and dumped? Would be interesting to see what those games look and play like.

[CatPix]

It's said that they released much of those unaltered or slightly-altered ports in Europe because I suppose copyright laws were not as good at the time and also, smaller market and the need to put the case on court in every country (a task rendered ever harder by the fact that Atari wasn't established in all of them) was probaly costing them more than the "loss".

I don't have the games right here, but I recall playing one game on the Advision Home Arcade that was akin to Galaxian. Haven't seen a Pacman like but I heard it existed.

Other games are also pretty similar to many games of the era.

[Blazing Lazers]

I too have wondered for some time what happened to the original versions of many Arcadia games that by several accounts had been completed before Atari put the legal brakes on them in the US. As things are though, you can start up any Arcadia 2001 game and quickly tell what familiar Arcade game it is a clone of.

 

The ting to keep in mind is that it was only the more prominent Arcade titles that got axed- less prominent licensed arcade titles such as Red Clash and Jungler were still released, even in the US. Many more came out for the various foreign clone systems.

[CatPix]

And were even advertised as "Arcade ports" and the ones I have display a Konami logo title, so the system also got pretty official arcade ports.

 

I like how you can read on the rainbowy ribbon "Licencié : jeu d'arcade" (licenced : arcade game) as if they feared that people might not want to buy unlicenced arcade ports )

Edited March 8, 2014 by CatPix

[Atari2008]

This is pretty interesting. I'm surprised by the number of arcade ports that were released on this obscure system. That is true, many of the released games you can tell what they're a clone of. I was just intrigued by the prospect of an official release of a major title like Pac-Man. Another interesting note, I learned that the console shell is the same as those used for the also rare APF MP1000.

[CatPix]

Well from what I read, Emerson planned to buy the licence for all games so they made them being programmed; then we all know the story : other consoles came out, they lied, and they couldn't get the right for arcade ports (mostly because they were all in Atari's hands) and they threw their system on the market for making a bit of money out of it.

 

And they failed.

 

Too bad then. I find personnally the system to be pretty nice graphic wise; it's not too blocky like on the Intellivision (and VCS but heh, it's a 1977 system) and yet it's not super detailed... It's kinda computer graphics and that's a style I like. the sound sucks, tho, for a 1982 console.

PacMan may have came out on European clones, but certainly not under the PacMan name. I heard stories about the carts displaying a PacMan title but heh, that could just be an urban legend because of the obscureness of those pre-NES system even for European (a fact that I find sad, really sad. Americans have an Interview of the very creator of the Channel F and Ralph Baer is a well know figure. We, on the other hand, aren't even sure of the YEAR of release of out first "home made" console.)

Edited March 9, 2014 by CatPix

[Atari2008]

Interesting. It sounds like Emerson had big plans for the system. I always assumed it was just a cheap system designed to cash in on the video game craze. I agree, I like the graphics from what I've seen in emulation. Colors are bright and the detail level is nice. I agree, more detailed than an Intellivision but not as detailed as other systems of that year - Atari 5200 and Colecovision. Also I like the Intellivision style controllers with the joystick attachment. Seems like a system with quirky charm. Has it seen any homebrew action?

 

That is a shame that the documentation of early European consoles is not that good. Any idea why? I do take it for granted that Jerry Lawson and Ralph Baer are week known especially among retro gamers and collectors. I'm even learning that even the obscure consoles have a devoted fan base that documents and preserves it.

 

Oh yes and the sound is quite terrible. I had to lower the volume. I did chuckle at the attempt at ominous music at the beginning of the Space Invaders clone.

[Kurt_Woloch]

Well, I think I've seen such a system in action back in 1982... it's true there were many ports, but they had partly different names and graphics... Pac-Man became Cat Trax with a cat the main character, for instance, and I think the games were sold that way in Europe. It's a different story with games Atari didn't have an exclusive license for, however. I think Konami was giving out their games to Atari's competitors, so their games could legally appear on other systems, and were ported to the Atari 2600 by third-party developers such as Coleco and Parker Brothers, not by Atari themselves. I think their licenses (for e.g. Turtles) were non-exclusive, and they even took back some licenses which remained unused (such as Track & Field by Atarisoft which wasn't released for the C-64 and later came out by Konami as a budget game).

 

As for the graphics, it's true that the background graphics has got a higher resolution than on the Intellivision, vertically (single scanline) but not horizontally (128 instead of 160 pixels). Also it was more limited in color - you had one foreground color per character, but only four different ones could appear on screen at a time, you had, I think, either a black-red-green-yellow or a blue-purple-cyan-white pallette which was the same for the whole screen, similar to the XT's CGA mode. The background could be one of 8 colors, but was the same for all characters except for the sprites which could be any of the 8 colors available. Also there were only a few user-definable characters, and only 4 tiny sprites of 8x10 pixels each in size. Generally, I think the Intellvision had better and more colorful graphics to offer.

[CatPix]

I have no idea about homebrew.

I think someone wrote a kind of demo program but I can recall if it's for the Emerson or the Radofin.

 

The Arcadia 2001 is an evolved version of the Radofin AVPS; same CPU, but more powerful GPU, more RAM, but also same sound generator.

The system was conceived by Philips, so Emerson had just to buy the plans; this is money you can save for games production.

I thikn that Emerson indeed tried to cash on the gaming market but was caught in that flow of upcoming systems and couldn't stand out.

 

 

As for early European gaming history, I have no idea really. I can assume that it's caused because multiple factors; first, most retrogamers in Europe started on computers. They might know the Radofin or the Interton, but most people assume they are copies of American systems (as indeed many systems were copies of the Channel F and RCA Studio II). Also they considered them weak at the time so they don't even think about. Youger retrogamers never heard of them and really on many websites, it seems that gaming history in Europe started with the Spectrum and/or the NES.

 

Also, all of the brand making these systems were little companies, not big and recognized names like Atari or Commodore.

Just figure out that Radofin is not only closed, but nobody ever cared about buying any right they migh had, so anyone could go and use the Radofin logos and names as they belong to nobody!

Interton from what I know doesn't exist anymore.

In France, ITMC became Yeno that is now property of Vtech and the brand wasn't used for more than 20 years until recently.

In Germany, Saba is gone I think, as well as Nordmende, and their main activity was TV anyway.

So it's very hard to find today documents and people that have worked in these companies as you have barely no infos left except maybe one adress.

 

Well and that's another reason is that informations may exist but there is a language barrier. Except for England maybe ^^

But maaybe some German fans gathered infos about the Interton Video 2000, who conceived it, and when it came, out, etc... But if they don't publish it in English, those informations are hidden to others. Same thing applies of course for French, Spanish, Italian companies.

[Atari2008]

So perhaps Pac-Man became Cat Trax because Emerson in the end wasn't able to release the official Pac-Man and changed the graphics in order to stave off a lawsuit from Atari? I was wondering if anyone ever found an actual programmed version of Pac-Man with all the original graphics before it became Cat Trax for example. Seems the Arcadia 2001 while underpowered compared to its contemporaries of 1982 - Atari 5200, Colecovision and Vectrex - would be capable of decent ports of popular arcade games of the day. I know the system gets derided and is widely panned by gamers, but are there some standout titles on it that are fun to play? I know that Cat Trax gets mentioned often as a fun title. I have the Arcadia 2001 in MESS so it would be interesting to try out some of the games.

 

CatPix, interesting theories on why so little is known of the early European systems. I looked up some of the ones you mentioned the Radofin and Interton - I like the look of the consoles. It's funny you should mentioned the Spectrum as being one of the more widely known ones, even I know of that one and my knowledge of European systems is sorely lacking. Have you ever thought of building a website that could house all this information? Seems a shame that most of this would be lost to the sands of time. Do you collect any of the early European systems?

[jhd]

The Arcadia 2001 is an evolved version of the Radofin AVPS; same CPU, but more powerful GPU, more RAM, but also same sound generator.

The system was conceived by Philips, so Emerson had just to buy the plans; this is money you can save for games production.

 

Exactly! There was a brief note in the Wall Street Journal in 1982; around the time of the system's release in the US. Emerson confirmed that they had licensed the technology from an unspecified company -- unfortunately, no more details are available. http://amigan.1emu.net/digarch/2001-faq.htm#wsapr82

[Atari2008]

Pretty interesting, I guess Emerson was looking to save money with the development of this system. They were known for cheap consumer electronics, right? I see they expected it to sell well.

[Kurt_Woloch]

Well, there seems to be another version which is closer to Pac-Man than Cat Trax is. That version goes by the name of "Super Gobbler" or "Crazy Gobbler". Look at this video:

It's still not called Pac-Man, but it sure seems to be very close to me.

 

So perhaps Pac-Man became Cat Trax because Emerson in the end wasn't able to release the official Pac-Man and changed the graphics in order to stave off a lawsuit from Atari? I was wondering if anyone ever found an actual programmed version of Pac-Man with all the original graphics before it became Cat Trax for example.

[Atari2008]

Well, there seems to be another version which is closer to Pac-Man than Cat Trax is. That version goes by the name of "Super Gobbler" or "Crazy Gobbler". Look at this video:

It's still not called Pac-Man, but it sure seems to be very close to me.

 

That's what I was looking for! Something along those lines. Now there's a Pac-Man clone if I ever saw one. Same sound effects as Cat Trax. It does seem to be a good version of Pac-Man too. Thank you for that video! I like some of the changes they put in - 3 ghosts and Pac-Man is pink. Wondering if that was their way of avoiding any legal trouble.

[CatPix]

From what I know, Cat Trax is an arcade game, before being an Arcadia 2001 game. The reason why this game isn't advertised as arcade port may be because either the orginal company that made Cat Trax was sued by Atari, or Emerson feared to be sued because of course people found think that the licenced arcade port would be PacMan, not some obscure rip-off Pacman arcade.

 

CatPix, interesting theories on why so little is known of the early European systems. I looked up some of the ones you mentioned the Radofin and Interton - I like the look of the consoles. It's funny you should mentioned the Spectrum as being one of the more widely known ones, even I know of that one and my knowledge of European systems is sorely lacking. Have you ever thought of building a website that could house all this information? Seems a shame that most of this would be lost to the sands of time. Do you collect any of the early European systems?

 

I think about making a website about. For now I gather news, articles and anything I can get for infos.

 

And I do collect early European systems and Pongs machines.

I am the proud owner of a boxed Interton VC 4000, a boxed Radofin AVPS (tho the box is very damaged), a collection of games for them (most Interton ones boxed).

I also own a Saba Videoplay and a Nordmende Teleplay (two clones of the Channel F) and a good half of the European carts released, including the European only cart n°20 : Chess, amongst other things.

[Atari2008]

From what I know, Cat Trax is an arcade game, before being an Arcadia 2001 game. The reason why this game isn't advertised as arcade port may be because either the orginal company that made Cat Trax was sued by Atari, or Emerson feared to be sued because of course people found think that the licenced arcade port would be PacMan, not some obscure rip-off Pacman arcade.

 

 

I think about making a website about. For now I gather news, articles and anything I can get for infos.

 

And I do collect early European systems and Pongs machines.

I am the proud owner of a boxed Interton VC 4000, a boxed Radofin AVPS (tho the box is very damaged), a collection of games for them (most Interton ones boxed).

I also own a Saba Videoplay and a Nordmende Teleplay (two clones of the Channel F) and a good half of the European carts released, including the European only cart n°20 : Chess, amongst other things.

Didn't realize Cat Trax was an obscure arcade game. That's interesting! Makes sense, since the Arcadia 2001 seems to have gotten quite a few lesser known arcade ports since Atari had the rights to most of the major hits. Emerson probably feared that Atari would sue them like they sued Philips Magnavox over KC Munchkin.

 

I do the same thing, if I find a rare article or ad for an obscure console, I save it, in the hopes of archiving it for the future. Sometimes I feel like joining one of those newspaper subscription sites and seeing if I can find old newspaper articles related to early consoles or ads.

 

Sounds like you have a nice collection of early European systems! Do you play them as well? I'm quite the fan of the Channel F and one of my Swedish friends has the Saba Videoplay and Nordmende Teleplay along with many other European clones. The Chess cart fortunately made it onto the Multi-Cart. I'm fascinated by the number of clones that some of our lesser known systems had. I know that the RCA Studio II is another one that had quite a few clones.

[CatPix]

I enjoy much the Fairchild clones. The Radofin/Interton not so much, but most games are pretty generic; there are good games anyway like Invaders.

The RCA Studio II I dont have any clone yet but I might get one soon.

[Atari2008]

There are some pretty good games on the Fairchild. I enjoy Dodge It, Drag Strip, Spitfire, Alien Invasion, and Sonar Search. The games on the Channel F are better than those on comparable lesser known systems.

 

Good luck with the Studio II clone, there are even some that display in color and have joysticks instead of keypads. Not much of a fun system by most standards but I enjoy its quirkiness. In terms of rare systems, I'd like to get an APF MP1000 at some point.

[Serious]

Regarding homebrew releases for this system, I think Super Bug 2 is one.

 

Someone recently posted a score for a game called Mobile Suit Gundam which I thought must be a homebrew, but apparently it was a Japanese release from 1982.

[gamecat80]

As for the graphics, it's true that the background graphics has got a higher resolution than on the Intellivision, vertically (single scanline) but not horizontally (128 instead of 160 pixels). Also it was more limited in color - you had one foreground color per character, but only four different ones could appear on screen at a time, you had, I think, either a black-red-green-yellow or a blue-purple-cyan-white pallette which was the same for the whole screen, similar to the XT's CGA mode. The background could be one of 8 colors, but was the same for all characters except for the sprites which could be any of the 8 colors available. Also there were only a few user-definable characters, and only 4 tiny sprites of 8x10 pixels each in size. Generally, I think the Intellvision had better and more colorful graphics to offer.

 

Yep, I agree. I generally group the Arcadia 2001 along with the Intellivision and Bally Astrocade, graphics-wise. The colors and resolution are similar between those systems --- better than systems like the Channel F, Atari VCS and O2; but not as good as the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. But the Intellivision and Astrocade have much better sound than the Arcadia 2001.

 

How many games came out for the Arcadia 2001 and it's clones? Something like 25-30?

[Blazing Lazers]

 

Yep, I agree. I generally group the Arcadia 2001 along with the Intellivision and Bally Astrocade, graphics-wise. The colors and resolution are similar between those systems --- better than systems like the Channel F, Atari VCS and O2; but not as good as the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. But the Intellivision and Astrocade have much better sound than the Arcadia 2001.

 

How many games came out for the Arcadia 2001 and it's clones? Something like 25-30?

 

22 are confirmed to have out in the US for the Arcadia 2001 itself. The game brochure that came with every title lists 23, and a 24th game, Spiders, was released. #4: Funky Fish and #22: Pleiades were believed to have never been released in the US, though they did receive overseas releases. All of those also happen to be licensed arcade titles too.

 

However many came out for the various other systems depends on which particular variant you're talking about- for example, the Canadian LeisureVision clone is almost identical to the US Arcadia 2001 and is one of the clone systems where even the game boxes are mostly the same, yet it had some releases not seen on the US Arcadia 2001.

 

If anyone's interested in actually trying to acquire copies of these Arcade ports, I wish you the best of luck, since you'll need it. I was recently collecting for the Arcadia 2001 and actually did manage to have all 22 US games CIB, though not all at the same time. I did so only through a miraculous string of lucky finds and by plumbing the depths of various collector contacts. One of the US arcade ports, Jungler, is among the most common Arcadia 2001 titles to find; while two others, Red Clash and Spiders, may take you years to find a copy of for any price. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on foreign Ebay sites if you want some of the Arcade ports for the various foreign clones...