Okay, who remembers this old machine? [Mattel Aquarius]

[Scream And Fly]

I bet not too many people used one of these!

http://aycu26.webshots.com/image/36905/2001179751736835134_rs.jpg

http://aycu26.webshots.com/image/36065/2001112909935676739_rs.jpg

http://aycu26.webshots.com/image/36065/2001151633476404908_rs.jpg

[nebrazca78]

That is totally cool and also the gayest thing I've ever seen.

[Scream And Fly]

That is totally cool and also the gayest thing I've ever seen.

You know, I do not think I could have described it better myself! :D

[Dark_Sol]

And ehh where is the screen or something?

[Scream And Fly]

And ehh where is the screen or something?

The screen? lol, the same place that the screen for an Atari or Commodore computer would be :)

[Dark_Sol]

The screen? lol, the same place that the screen for an Atari or Commodore computer would be :)
lol and where are the "games"? lol. It says "play games!"

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Only one thing comes to mind when I see that ...

...I prefer this version to the Broadway Cast Recording ;) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WabsF23Saos)

[sidnotcrazy]

Huh, never tried one of those. Yet I did just watch a Starcade episode where the runner-up got one.

[Joe West]

didn't they use them on Star Trek.......<g>

[blue lander]

I've got a couple of them, they seem to turn up everywhere for some reason. Probably the absolute worst gaming computer of the era.

[Pantechnicon]

There's a reason a lot of people didn't use it, i.e. - it was an also-ran against the more popular 8-bit micros of the time such as the Commodore 64 or the Atari 400/800 series. Still, it's pretty cool to have one in such nice boxy shape like that.

@ Scream & Fly: So did you use it? If so, please tell us what it's like.


I've got a couple of them, they seem to turn up everywhere for some reason.

I myself have never seen one in the wild. If I did, I'd pick it up for giggles, but then after a couple of hours it would probably be put in the garage to languish alongside my VTech Socrates (http://vidgame.net/vtech/socrates2.htm).

[y-bot]

I used to have one that still had the paperwork with it from it being a gift for listening to a time share scam presentation.

y-bot

[zemmix]

I had one. I had a number of extra ram carts for it as well and some games, multi cart plugin deal as well. I left it at my ex'es place and she never gave that back to me. To be honest, I'm not sad I lost it.

[MrSparkle]

i think they gave these things away on most of the starcade episodes along with the whites metal detector and the truely badass portable record player the size of a mans shoe lol.

[Lemmi_Is_God]

its nice to see a clean boxed version, the ones ive ran across have been dirty and in a smashed box, i passed on buying all of the ones ive seen :)

[Slate]

I've heard about them but I never saw one.

[Scream And Fly]

Haha, I have no desire to use this thing, but it's cool to have. It's actually new, never used. I would get ten times as enjoyment out of my Vic-20. :D

http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/33870/2005164991022874878_rs.jpg

[Steve W]

I've got a copy of LOGO for it, along with the modem. Both were originally shrinkwrapped, but my curiosity overpowered me.

I've never had an Aquarius. I've never even seen one in real life. At the last Oklahoma Videogame Expo, Icbrkr was planning on setting one up - to websurf on! But the hotel's Wi-Fi didn't extend into the ballroom where the expo was, so he couldn't pull it off. Bummer. That would have been a mind blower.

[BydoEmpire]

My sister and I both got one back when Kay Bee was clearing them out for $50. I even bought the cassette drive separately. It pretty much sucked, although it had decent versions of Night Stalker and Utopia. It had a reasonable BASIC, too, though I never did too much with it since the family got a c64 not too long afterwards. We eventually gave them away.


the truely badass portable record player the size of a mans shoe lol.Hah, yeah, that thing was cool. Well, about as cool as an Aquarius...

[PingvinBlueJeans]

I've got a couple of them, they seem to turn up everywhere for some reason. Probably the absolute worst gaming computer of the era.

Nope, only the third worst...
http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=5717413&imageindex=9

[Push Upstairs]

My curiosity is getting the best of me.

Why is this thing loathed so much? (besides because of its keyboard)

[ApolloBoy]

Why is this thing loathed so much? (besides because of its keyboard)

It had terribly weak capabilities compared to what was out at the time (try comparing it to the C64 or Atari 8-bit and you'll see what I mean).

[blue lander]

Nope, only the third worst...
http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=5717413&imageindex=9

The PC Jr keyboard is faaaaaaaar far better than the Aquarius one. With a little practice, you can type at a decent speed on a Jr keyboard. But the Aquarius one is a struggle no matter how much practice you have with it. It's even worse than the keyboard on an Atari 400, but I'd say the TS 1000 is the worst of all.

[MrSparkle]

wow i had no idea night stalker was released on anything other than the intellivision

[Ze_ro]

I bet not too many people used one of these!
We call them the unlucky ones.

I don't own one, but I have a couple cartridges and overlays for this thing... they couldn't possibly have made the cartridges a worse shape, they're just ugly and you can't stack them or anything.

--Zero

[GarrettCRW]

At CGE, Keith Robinson referred to the Aquarius as "The System For The '70s" during the Inty panel. I think that's all that needs to be said.

[Gentlegamer]

I saw that recently in an article on the worst PC keyboards of all time.

[Nikademus1969]

wow i had no idea night stalker was released on anything other than the intellivision

M Network made a version for the 2600 too.

[BydoEmpire]

M Network made a version for the 2600 too.The 2600 version is pretty good, too! Obviously not as much depth as the Inty original, but faster paced and fun to play.