What if Tandy made a console.. What would it be?

[ryoder]

I loved Tandy computers and wonder what their Amiga CDTV like system would be.

Would it be cartridge based or run CDs? Would it have a MT32 inside and play Sierra games off of bootable CDs?

Would they build blitter chips and tile based graphics modes or at least have the type of scroll registers in the EGA chip to allow for platform games?

Why didnt they become the juggernaut they could have?

[zylon]

Tandyvision II

[Nateo]

I'd like to think Tandy would use something stranger than just a CD or a cartridge. Like these wacky 3 inch quick disks!

[pacman000]

I was thinking of a CoCo 3 based system. It would've fit the time period, with the XEGS, C64GS, CPCGS. Just a last minute capitalization on their 8-bit stuff.

 

They did release the VIS, for the all-in-one CD multimedia market. That counts, right?

[JamesD]

Whatever it is, it would probably make the Amiga CD32 look well made

[BassGuitari]

The Color Computer is probably the closest thing to what wed call video game console that Tandy designed and produced.

 

Tandy licensed several dedicated video games in the 70s, and of course the Tandyvision. The handheld TV Scoreboard systems units seem to be unique to Tandy, but I dont know if they actually designed it.

[Bill Loguidice]

Tandy flirted with making a deal with Mattel regarding the future of Intellivision, but that never got past the meeting/memo stage before the Crash. If you want to count it - and you probably should - their Memorex VIS was a console. Not a very good console - or even multimedia device as it was positioned - but a console nonetheless.

[pacman000]

The handheld TV Scoreboard systems units seem to be unique to Tandy, but I dont know if they actually designed it.

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tandy/index.html

 

Claims to have every Tandy handheld listed. Based on RadioShack's old catalogs.

 

 

If you want to count it - and you probably should - their Memorex VIS was a console. Not a very good console - or even multimedia device as it was positioned - but a console nonetheless.

Wondered this for awhile, why didn't Tandy license the CD-I instead of developing their own system?

[jhd]

While they did no re-brand it as their own, here in Canada, for a few years in the early-1990s, Radio Shack sold the Turbo Graphics-16 console.

 

I doubt that it was a big seller. For many years afterwards, some local stores were still trying to clearance piles of dusty accessories -- despite the consoles having long been discontinued.

 

I am not certain if we received the Memorex VIS; I do not recall having seen it in stores, and I owned a Tandy PC at the time.

[BassGuitari]

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tandy/index.html

 

Claims to have every Tandy handheld listed. Based on RadioShack's old catalogs.

 

No, not those. This:

 

[pacman000]

Tandy VIS promo video:

 

 

Um... Ok. That's worse than Atari's The Cave.

[LoTonah]

While they did no re-brand it as their own, here in Canada, for a few years in the early-1990s, Radio Shack sold the Turbo Graphics-16 console.

 

I doubt that it was a big seller. For many years afterwards, some local stores were still trying to clearance piles of dusty accessories -- despite the consoles having long been discontinued.

 

I am not certain if we received the Memorex VIS; I do not recall having seen it in stores, and I owned a Tandy PC at the time.

 

No doubt it sat there for so long--their pricing of TG16 gear was attrocious. I loved my TG16, but I refused to buy any of my stuff from RS and instead did a lot of mail-order stuff.

[Bill Loguidice]

They did carry stuff for various consoles at various times, but I don't think they ever did well with them because of the aforementioned pricing. Radio Shack was never particularly price competitive with most things.

[pacman000]

 

No, not those. This:

 

That looks nice! Old-Computers.com does list a few similar models from other companies:

 

Here's Tandy's: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=3&c=719

Here's one by Universum: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=3&c=1104

Another by Hanimex: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=3&c=682

And another by Hanimex: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=3&c=683

 

Don't know if these are the same internally or if they just look similar. If they are the same I don't know who came up with the design.

Edited February 27, 2018 by pacman000

[jhd]

Good catch!

 

Given that Radio Shack and Hanimex were selling in completely different markets (North America vs. Western Europe), it is entirely likely that both models may have come from the same original manufacturer, presumably located somewhere in Asia.

 

For another example, look at how Emerson Electronics licensed (and rebranded) existing hardware into their Arcadia 2001 console.

https://www.digitpress.com/faq/arc2001.htm#wallstreet

[Nebulon]

 

No, not those. This:

 

 

I have one of those.

 

I can't make the darn thing work.

[Nebulon]

How about this? (I copied the link from the another thread on here):

https://sites.google.com/site/tandycocoloco/wordpak-2

 

Then you'd have a console with a 6809 coupled with MSX2 graphics.

 

They could then throw in the sound chip from the Tandy 1000.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Nebulon