SoulBlazer Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I love reading about the history of gaming consoles, and nothing is more interesting to read, IMO, then the Arcadia. This article here about it seems dated but is quite fascinating: http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=ConsoleMuseum.Detail&id=23&game=12 Has there any more recent work and research on the system? Anyone know of a website that has pics and side by side compairson of the US vs non US releases? Do you think the system would have done well in the US if it had been released in 1982, before the Colecovision, and if they had been allowed to sell their 'arcade clones'? Did anyone ever find out who the people were designed and created the system and/or the games? Does anyone have one and some games and can comment on how it is for a gaming system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 My family owned one. Some of the games are pretty good, actually. Some of my favorites are similar to popular arcade games of the day, and some are unique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Rob Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 (edited) Does anyone have one and some games and can comment on how it is for a gaming system? I have six games for this console. Which six? These six. Actually, I just went to my game shelf and I have eight. I must've picked a few up in a lot or something. While the console isn't a horrible piece of shit, it's certainly not good either. Could it have done better if it were released two years early? Could the 7800 have done better if it were released in 1984? Duh, but neither happened. Since so much has been written on what sucks about this system, I'll comment on what's good. The End. Kidding. I like the boxes. The front of the box folds open like a book cover. There's no need to damage the top flaps of the box. Some boxes have a plastic tray for the cart to rest in, and some are just all cardboard. I don't know why. What's more odd is that some carts are six inches tall, and others are just four. None of the games are very good. It's like they weren't trying. There's a quasi-interesting Konami arcade port called Jungler, which has to do with battling dragons. Speaking of not trying too hard, some of the games have the same feel. Like Tanks A Lot and Cat Trax feel very similar. Neither game is bad, and they're kind of original. I have this game called Space Mission that was a good concept. You have to build your space station while fending off alien attackers. To build the station, you have to be docked to your mothership, but to fight back, you need to undock. Mothership mode is basically putting together a puzzle. The fight mode is you run-of-the-mill Star Wars-esque first person view space shooter. It would actually be a really good game, except the challenge level doesn't seem to change, and it's always the same space station you're building. Another title I have that looks interesting is Ocean Battle, but I have yet to try it. I don't have much else to really say about it. If there were ever some real homebrew support, maybe we could find out what could really be done with the system. I just don't find that to be too likely. Edit: That article is wrong, there were a number of clones for Arcadia 2001. There's a Breakout knock off called Break Away, there's a Missile Command clone called Missile War, there's a Galaxian clone called Space Attack, there's a Space Invaders knock off called Alien Invaders. Believe it or not, the Videogame Critic has an Arcadia 2001 page: http://www.videogamecritic.net/arcadiaaz.htm Edited October 10, 2009 by Rev. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifershalo Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 here is an interesting website about Arcadia 2001 and clones http://amigan.classicgaming.gamespy.com/agg/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 There was a multi cart published a few years ago by Ward Shrake, here are pictures of mine: later, charles here is an interesting website about Arcadia 2001 and clones http://amigan.classicgaming.gamespy.com/agg/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I have 8 Arcadia 2001/LeisureVision games i found in a lot 4 years ago thinking ill find a console for them later which i have not had luck in doing.The games are Brain Quiz Capture 3D Bowling Ocean Battle Star Chess Break Away Soccer Baseball Lost interest and they're just gathering dust. The Arcadia 2001 cant be in demand or that great,i can't even give these games away,even here at AA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Rob Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I have 8 Arcadia 2001/LeisureVision games i found in a lot 4 years ago thinking ill find a console for them later which i have not had luck in doing.The games are Brain Quiz Capture 3D Bowling Ocean Battle Star Chess Break Away Soccer Baseball Lost interest and they're just gathering dust. The Arcadia 2001 cant be in demand or that great,i can't even give these games away,even here at AA. You could give them to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I actually have a full set of Arcadia games (between the various companies). Most of them are pretty bad (playing like poorly programmed Intellivision games), but there are some gems. Most of my friends that I've shown the Arcadia to like it. Probably more for the curiosity factor than for the actual gameplay. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Using the Signetics parts seems like an odd choice. It's more what you'd expect from a system from the 70s rather than from the 80s. 512 bytes of RAM also sounds kinda paltry. Still... the gameplay didn't have to be bad. I wonder if the games were rushed or the programmers weren't that experienced. At the very least, the game designs were rushed. Maybe they spent time on PacMan, Galaxian, and Defender but when they were pulled had to throw something out there in their place. But then those games might have sucked as well. Any prototypes of them ever surface? Any homebrew games out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 There has been a ton of discussion about the 2001 in yahoo groups, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/arcadia2001consoles/ you might want to take a look at the message, there are over 2000 meesage and 108 members Using the Signetics parts seems like an odd choice. It's more what you'd expect from a system from the 70s rather than from the 80s. 512 bytes of RAM also sounds kinda paltry. Still... the gameplay didn't have to be bad. I wonder if the games were rushed or the programmers weren't that experienced. At the very least, the game designs were rushed. Maybe they spent time on PacMan, Galaxian, and Defender but when they were pulled had to throw something out there in their place. But then those games might have sucked as well. Any prototypes of them ever surface? Any homebrew games out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 There has been a ton of discussion about the 2001 in yahoo groups, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/arcadia2001consoles/ you might want to take a look at the message, there are over 2000 meesage and 108 members Lets hope my application to join that group goes better than my one to the Bally group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Tomlin Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 I did discover something interesting back in the '90s. At a flea market once, I found a cardboard box with eight games inside, packed around the edge such that the size of the box was the length + height of a single cart box. What was so interesting about this? It was a shipping box exactly the height and width of the Arcadia 2001 console's box. So there must have been some offer somewhere to get the unit with eight games, probably via some overstock or clearance place, or as a giveaway prize from a vacation homes offer. Anecdote: I once lucked into THREE Arcadia consoles new-in-box. Someone told me he had seen what he thought were Colecovisions at a Radio Shack dealer store in a small town south of San Antonio. Turned out they were three Arcadias, with the boxes partially faded from sitting in the sun for years. And no games. I took the best insides and the best box and traded it to JerryG for a Sean Kelly Vectrex multicart. There was a close call in that the shipper had treated it roughly, but I knew to ship it in another box with foam peanuts on all six sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 There has been a ton of discussion about the 2001 in yahoo groups, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/arcadia2001consoles/ you might want to take a look at the message, there are over 2000 meesage and 108 members Lets hope my application to join that group goes better than my one to the Bally group. I notice there has only been 1 post to the group this year. That looks kinda strange since there were over 150 the previous year. BTW, the admin hasn't seen my application yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 There is a boxed Ardadia on ebay, still in plastic. While it may be rare I don't think the $100 asking price is in line with demand for the system. The cart prices looked pretty high too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Rob Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 There is a boxed Ardadia on ebay, still in plastic. While it may be rare I don't think the $100 asking price is in line with demand for the system. The cart prices looked pretty high too. It's all those damned BINs. I got mine a few months ago in an auction for $60ish. It also came with an APF-M1000, Channel F, Channel F II (in box), and six complete Arcadia 2001 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I'm still looking for a CIB Arcadia 2001. I have several other clones, but not the US Arcadia box. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthkur Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 There is a boxed Ardadia on ebay, still in plastic. While it may be rare I don't think the $100 asking price is in line with demand for the system. The cart prices looked pretty high too. It's all those damned BINs. I got mine a few months ago in an auction for $60ish. It also came with an APF-M1000, Channel F, Channel F II (in box), and six complete Arcadia 2001 games. That's a hell of a great deal! Does everything work? Each one of those systems would normally sell for that much or more. You pretty much got a Buy 1 Get 3 Free deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 There has been a ton of discussion about the 2001 in yahoo groups, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/arcadia2001consoles/ you might want to take a look at the message, there are over 2000 meesage and 108 members Lets hope my application to join that group goes better than my one to the Bally group. I notice there has only been 1 post to the group this year. That looks kinda strange since there were over 150 the previous year. BTW, the admin hasn't seen my application yet. The admin of the Yahoo group still hasn't approved/denied my application. If someone is a member of the group you might let the admin know there are membership applications waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I sent a message to the group to let them know There has been a ton of discussion about the 2001 in yahoo groups, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/arcadia2001consoles/ you might want to take a look at the message, there are over 2000 meesage and 108 members Lets hope my application to join that group goes better than my one to the Bally group. I notice there has only been 1 post to the group this year. That looks kinda strange since there were over 150 the previous year. BTW, the admin hasn't seen my application yet. The admin of the Yahoo group still hasn't approved/denied my application. If someone is a member of the group you might let the admin know there are membership applications waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I sent a message to the group to let them know Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Your welcome, Russ just approved four requests. Apparently Yahoo isn't sending the admin an email to let them know there are outstanding requests. I sent a message to the group to let them know Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Since so much has been written on what sucks about this system, I'll comment on what's good. The End. ...which is one of the games listed on that multicart, ironically enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 That's one interesting thing about the Arcadia, really REALLY obscure arcade ports. If you're looking for games like Spiders, The End, Astro Invaders, Red Clash, Funky Fish, etc., then the Arcadia is the system for you. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuous Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 >Did anyone ever find out who the people were designed and created the system and/or the games? Probably Philips/Signetics for the hardware, and UA Ltd. and Bandai for the software. >Does anyone have one and some games and can comment on how it is for a gaming system? I like it :-) >Any homebrew games out there? There is Tetris, done by Peter Trauner. Also, I wrote Frogger, JTron and Super Bug 2. The world's biggest site for this machine is http://amigan.yatho.com There's game dumps, photos, manuals, emulators, technical info, etc. there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seob Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 >Did anyone ever find out who the people were designed and created the system and/or the games? Probably Philips/Signetics for the hardware, and UA Ltd. and Bandai for the software. >Does anyone have one and some games and can comment on how it is for a gaming system? I like it :-) >Any homebrew games out there? There is Tetris, done by Peter Trauner. Also, I wrote Frogger, JTron and Super Bug 2. The world's biggest site for this machine is http://amigan.yatho.com There's game dumps, photos, manuals, emulators, technical info, etc. there. Don't think philips was behind the hardware. Why would they want to compete with they're own system, the Odyssey2 or Videopac as it was called under the Philips brand name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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