Flojomojo Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Via an eBay auction found by AtariAger cjameslv, some nice pictures of this clone system using an Atari skin. The PHANTOM SYSTEM, "only manufactured in Brazil by Gradient," has the body of a 7800, the brain of an NES, the light gun from an SMS, and the controller of a SMD. I think it looks cool, certainly more so than the grey box that was the USA NES. According to the bootleg games wiki, it was the first Famiclone in Brazil. There's more about it on this Portuguese Wikipedia page here. The Phantom System was the first Brazilian famiclone, released by Gradiente during the end of the 1980s, and was compatible with NES cartridges. This console can therefore be considered a clone of the NES, at least in technical aspects. Gradiente launched it at a time when Nintendo didn't show any interest in launching the NES in Brazil. Therefore, they pounced and launched the Phantom System to meet a growing demand for a community of avid gamers looking for new systems, with the market being saturated with Atari 2600 clones. The Phantom System eventually became the most popular NES clone in Brazil. What few people know is that the Atari 7800 was almost released in Brazil. The Gradient Group, copyright holder under the brand name Atari in Brazil at the time of the announcement, came to renew the rights under the brand name for the production of the Atari 7800. However, afraid of recent failures with the Atari 5200 which came to be manufactured in Brazil at the expense of increased production of the Atari 2600, which was quite long in Brazil, and if and when very low success of the 5200 in the USA and Europe, thye chose not to renew the detention of the Atari brand and not produce the new console Atari 7800 by choosing to produce the Phantom System, clone of the NES was phenomenon throughout the world and produce games licensed by Nintendo in Brazil. However, with the whole assembly line ready to produce the Atari 7800 option was to maintain the carcass of the Atari 7800 hardware with all Nintendo adapted. See the photo of the Atari 7800 and proves that the shell was the same. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldenWheels Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 I love everything about this abomination. If it wasn't so expensive....I wish it was like 80$ like THIS beauty: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dynavision-Dynacom-Console-Made-In-Brazil-Nes-Nintendo-Full/252761191623?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41811%26meid%3D4f56e0efda2b4768a8532633e0c758ed%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D252494377194&rt=nc Looks like an XE light gun with that one! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 (edited) That is cool. 7800 case, NES guts, and Genesis controllers. I want one. Well, now we know where the 7800 case molds went... Edited April 5, 2017 by Zonie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 I love everything about this abomination. If it wasn't so expensive....I wish it was like 80$ like THIS beauty: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dynavision-Dynacom-Console-Made-In-Brazil-Nes-Nintendo-Full/252761191623?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41811%26meid%3D4f56e0efda2b4768a8532633e0c758ed%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D252494377194&rt=nc Looks like an XE light gun with that one! Wow, that's gross and dated (though I would have appreciated the silvery plastic as a kid). It makes Odyssey 2 look so sleek and sophisticated. I'll paste up the pictures so everyone can enjoy them when the auction is over. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldLeader Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 I want them both! Guess it's a good thing I'm low on money right now or I'd be adding to the collection ...LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjameslv Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Yeah i gotta admit i hovered over the BIN button a minute before i posted about it lol! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldLeader Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Hey it just sold!! Yeah The Phantom certainly looks to be of better build quality than most chintzy, lightweight Chinese Famiclones I've seen (and often collect)...And I actually didn't think $150 was outrageous...But the $40 shipping, while realistic, raised the price too high IMO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldenWheels Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Well, you guys had the fortitude where I had none (thanks to Cj for that AND for posting this). I dealt with some stress at work today and needed some retail therapy. I best offered up to 120 and they were all auto declined. So I bit. That's all of my gaming purchases for April....5 days in. LOL. Will clean it up and crack it open for some pics when I get it. I even have another 7800 power button which I hope I can use to replace that chewed up one. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 Well, you guys had the fortitude where I had none (thanks to Cj for that AND for posting this). I dealt with some stress at work today and needed some retail therapy. I best offered up to 120 and they were all auto declined. So I bit. That's all of my gaming purchases for April....5 days in. LOL. Will clean it up and crack it open for some pics when I get it. I even have another 7800 power button which I hope I can use to replace that chewed up one. LOL of course an AtariAger would snap that up. Looking forward to your photos! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldenWheels Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 LOL of course an AtariAger would snap that up. Looking forward to your photos! As a big Atari AND Nintendo fan, I could not resist after I stared at it for like the fifth time. I may even put it next to my 7800 in my setup for a while! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7800fan Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 I am still hoping for one that looks like classic Famicom but runs 2600 games. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Gradiente, eh? I heard they made pretty good MSX machines in Brazil too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0078265317 Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Modded-Virtual-Station-NES-Famicom-Clone-System-w-Controllers-Gun-150-Games-/302260678401?hash=item466023ef01:g:mwsAAOSw4A5Yq4SJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 The last one is also known as Mebeteck and is not that uncommon to see. The multicart indeed contains a nice selection of games, although none of the Nintendo released ones for whichever reason. I've also got a loose controller for that type of clone, but no system for it. While it has a DE9 connector, it should be a serial connection like NES, not parallel at all like Atari, Commodore, Sega etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Modded-Virtual-Station-NES-Famicom-Clone-System-w-Controllers-Gun-150-Games-/302260678401?hash=item466023ef01:g:mwsAAOSw4A5Yq4SJ A Famiclone fashioned to look like a PlayStation is quite common. http://ultimateconsoledatabase.com/famiclones.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Those are NOT rare at all. Collecting is getting pretty expensive in Brazil so a good-looking Phanton System is selling for about 200 dollars this days but they can still be found easily. Gradiente is a top-notch electronic company with a long history. Its products are well made and build to last. It is the corporation behind Polyvox, who released the only official, authorized Brazilian Atari. It also released one of the two Brazilian MSX computers, the Expert. BTW, IIRC the Phantom System is an official, licensed NES clone. I'll do a little research. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Let me correct myself: Gradiente tried to license NES for an official release, somewere in the late 80's. It failed. So in 1989 (circa) it released the Phantom System, a clone, a pirated version. In 1994 Gradiente joined with Estrela (a HUGE toy manufacturer) and they created Playtronic. And they licensed both NES and later SNES for an official release under that particular brand. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldenWheels Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Those are NOT rare at all. Collecting is getting pretty expensive in Brazil so a good-looking Phanton System is selling for about 200 dollars this days but they can still be found easily. Gradiente is a top-notch electronic company with a long history. Its products are well made and build to last. It is the corporation behind Polyvox, who released the only official, authorized Brazilian Atari. It also released one of the two Brazilian MSX computers, the Expert. BTW, IIRC the Phantom System is an official, licensed NES clone. I'll do a little research. Thanks very much for the local info! Once I get it and replace that power button, maybe even the LED, and clean'er up a bit...it'll look better. There didnt' seem to be any recent sales on ebay so was hard to know what I was getting into but an Atari case with Nintendo inside and Sega controllers? Awesome. I found this site which had some cool info in case anyone was interested. Interestingly it says Gradente really licensed some of their games...an odd move for a clone system IMO! http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/nes/brazil/brazil.html Can you say what games go for down there on average? Seems to be quite a few companies released them. I saw a semi-list on Nintendo Age: CCE, Milmar, Gradiente, Dynacom, Dismac, NTDEC, Playtronic Any more you can think of? As a collector whose holy trinity is Atari/Nintendo/NEC...I think I may be falling down a collecting rabbit hole. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldenWheels Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 I guess I'll see what happens...took almost a week to ship, and I had to ask about it to get that to happen it seemed. I got a tracking number which gives no returns yet. It's now relisted "or another like it". I know some folks use stock photos, but the listing says “working, real photos!”, and they can't both be real photos as both listings use the same photo. I'm also a little confused...I talked to a Brazilian kid at my work before I bought it, and he told me Brazil "used whatever the US used" when I asked him about PAL vs. NTSC. He seemed to indicate he'd brought different types of media back and they worked fine here. But Brazil appears to be PAL-M, which I guess is CLOSE to NTSC, but may display as B&W on an NTSC set. I know I can play (most) PAL games on a US system if I disable the lockout chip, I wonder if I will be able to play US games on this thing? It's 72 pin but past that...? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted April 16, 2017 Share Posted April 16, 2017 Brazil used PAL at 60 Hz/480i. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 But the power brick may be 220V. they have both 220V and 110V in Brasil, and back in those days, the wall warts were usually NOT 85-240V input, so check that before plugging it in. It may have a US blade plug or a round pin Euro plug as both are used interchangeably with either voltage... Yeah, Brazilian consumers need to be cognizant of voltage in everyday use of appliances. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Sidebar: some of those Brazilian companies had the coolest-sounding names. Especially Polyvox and Dynacom. So '80s hi-tech. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldenWheels Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 But the power brick may be 220V. they have both 220V and 110V in Brasil, and back in those days, the wall warts were usually NOT 85-240V input, so check that before plugging it in. It may have a US blade plug or a round pin Euro plug as both are used interchangeably with either voltage... Yeah, Brazilian consumers need to be cognizant of voltage in everyday use of appliances. It looks like a US blade plug but will be sure to check the voltage. Good point. Reading up on this thing and PAL in Brazil (which, granted, I should have done before I bought it, but the damn office kid goes to Brazil once a year, I thought he'd know!) I was kind of stunned to learn they have both voltages in so many places side by side, in addition to the different plug types. What a pain that must be. Guess I'll see how my TV handles PAL...I read some newer ones (of which my CRT is, relative of course to being a CRT) have a setting in the menu to go right to PAL, and some even auto select. Haven't checked it yet. I also wonder if I this thing will handle NTSC games. Sure hope so. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldLeader Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Well, on the auction the region code is set to NTSC (US/CA) ...So here's hoping it works! Sure one could ask the seller, but where's the fun in that? He set it as NTSC so it'll probably work fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 FWIW I have a South American 2600 clone and only displays in black and white. A couple weeks ago I was looking at an Applevision from Brazil, and the Pennsylvania-based seller stated (as did the photos) that only displayed in black and white, too.I've got CCE, Dactar multi, Cosmovision, and Applevision carts that run perfectly fine, though (I'm in Wisconsin). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.