What is Japan's History with pre-Famicom console systems?

[Anthony1]

Before the NES, and the Famicom, you had the Atari 2600, and the ColecoVision, and the Intellivision....

Did any of these systems do well in Japan? What did Japanese gamers play at home prior to the existence of the Famicom?


Or was the Famicom, the beginning of console gaming in Japan?


Basically, when I think of the early video games that were out there, in terms of both arcade and home systems, I think of American companies.


When did Japan really start getting into video games, both in the Arcade and at Home?

I'm talking about mid to late 70's and early 80's.

[Raccoon Lad]

famicoM

[Anthony1]

famicoM


Sorry, my bad, I meant Famicom

[Anthony1]

come on, somebody should know about this.


What did Japan gamers play, as far as consoles were concerned, before the Famicom?

[y-bot]

They had pong and other dedicated consoles made by Nintendo, Epoch and others. Some popular pre-Famicom consoles were the Epoch Cassette Vision and Sega SG-1000. There are also a bunch of others. They had some consoles imported for the U.S. (Atari 2600, Intellivision, Vectrex, Arcadia 2001, etc.) but I don't think any of them were popular. There's a book called "Electronic Game Collector's: 1970-80's Choice" that has lots of cool pictures of Japanese consoles.

Y-bot

[GaijinPunch]

What year was the MSX released?

I actually did see an Intellevision for 50,000 yen on a shelf of a game store for a long time. I doubt it sold.

Pre famicom, is going to be the dinky little handhelds and whatnots I believe. This, I'm sure, is why the Famicom was so well recieved.

[Mayhem]

MSX was post crash I believe. Just about. Commodore had moderate success in the land of the Sun, and any Japanese version of their machines goes for good money on eBay now. Atari I believe had good success with the 2600 (aka 2800) there now, far more than M$ are currently having with the Xbox.

[can_dude]

Bandai TV-Jack 5000
Bandai TV-Jack 8000
Epoch Cassette Vision
Casio PV-1000
Sega Sg-1000
Epoch Super Cassette Vision

This list is chronological of japanese consoles, (not computers), that never made it stateside that came before the Famicom

[IntvGene]

There is a great Japanese website on the history of video games... unfortunately, it is in Japanese..
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/cvs/odyssey/

There were a bunch of releases, none of them big, and Epoch brought over the Atari 2600 in 1979. But, I don't think that any of them saw the marketing and success to be significant. Lots of pong systems and the like.

Sega and Nintendo really got things going. Sure, the Famicom was the most popular, but the Sega systems also provided the needed competition for Nintendo during that time.

I think that it was much different over there because it caught on a little later, and there were many more hybrid game / computer consoles coming out. But, I don't think that Japan's achievements, especially arcade ones during the late 70's and early 80's. Think of what Sega alone was doing in the arcades.

[Ed Oscuro]

I've seen a Japanese Arcadia 2001 for sale (goldenshop.com.hk I think?) with a Gundam or Macross game for one of the titles. Not sure which.

MSX wasn't really "post-crash" as it was around in at least 1985, maybe a bit earlier. Not much though. The original MSX was essentially a counterpart of the PC-88 home PC. Can you count those as consoles? Not really.

[o2william]

There's a book called "Electronic Game Collector's: 1970-80's Choice" that has lots of cool pictures of Japanese consoles.

Does anybody here have this book? Is there any information about the Japanese (Kotoon) Odyssey2 in it? I've been tempted to pick up a copy just to check it out, but it usually sells for more than I'd be willing to pay without knowing more about its contents.

[tom]

Also read the book 'Game Over' the history of Nintendo.

Nintendo imported the original Odyssey in 1974/75.
Nintendo had a laser shooting arcade in 1972.
Nntendo had Pong and Breakout style consoles in 1976, even driving (Nintendo 6, Nintendo 15, Nintendo Block, Nintendo 112 Racing).
Look here and buy the fanzine:
http://www.retrogames.co.uk/magazine/html/issue_22.html

[can_dude]

Bandai TV-Jack 5000
Bandai TV-Jack 8000
Epoch Cassette Vision
Casio PV-1000
Sega Sg-1000
Epoch Super Cassette Vision


by going to the http://www.ne.jp/asahi/cvs/odyssey/ site it confirms my list of non-US released systems and non-clone systems is accurate. All of the others on the site are either clones, not consoles or have american counterparts.

[GaijinPunch]

That's an interesting site. I think if you ask the average Japanese gamer that's 25 years old or older, and mention any of the pre-Famicom systems, you'll probably get a, "Yeah, a kid in my neighborhood had one of those." and not much more.

[y-bot]

There's a book called "Electronic Game Collector's: 1970-80's Choice" that has lots of cool pictures of Japanese consoles.

Does anybody here have this book? Is there any information about the Japanese (Kotoon) Odyssey2 in it? I've been tempted to pick up a copy just to check it out, but it usually sells for more than I'd be willing to pay without knowing more about its contents.

I have this book. There is 1 page about the 1972 Odyssey, 1/2 page about Odyssey 2, and 1/2 page about Odyssey 2000. The text of the book is in Japanese. The pictures are of U.S. systems and packaging. I can send you a color photocopy if you would like.

y-bot

[y-bot]

Bandai TV-Jack 5000
Bandai TV-Jack 8000
Epoch Cassette Vision
Casio PV-1000
Sega Sg-1000
Epoch Super Cassette Vision


by going to the http://www.ne.jp/asahi/cvs/odyssey/ site it confirms my list of non-US released systems and non-clone systems is accurate. All of the others on the site are either clones, not consoles or have american counterparts.

Is Bandai TV-Jack 5000 more than a pong system with carts?
Is Dynavision a clone of something or should it be on the list above?

y-bot

[IntvGene]

I just stumbled across this Yahoo auction with what looks like three very cool Japanese books on the subject, in case anyone's interested. Too rich for my blood though... GaijinPunch can translate better, but it looks like the titles are something like Japanese Video Games of the 20th Century, Video Game Memorial and Nintendo Memorial. The series title is Video Game World Vol 1, 2, and 3.

http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d41230503

[can_dude]

TV-Jack 5000 is not much more than a pong system with carts and the Dynavision is a clone system. there are 4 or 5 dynavision systems, the original is a 2600 clone, 2-5 are Famiclones.

[y-bot]

The Dynavision in the book I have mentioned above looks like an APF MP1000 and there is a pic of a Crazy Climber cart with Atari 2600 style graphics. So this one is a 2600 clone? I didn't know that.
Thanks, y-bot

[IntvGene]

Hey Can_Dude...

Do you have the Dynavision one from Japan? I am totally not doubting you, but there were Dynavision game machines from Brazil, as seen in the DP FAQ:
http://www.digitpress.com/faq/vgcfaq.txt

A picture is here (I think):
http://gamesmuseum.tripod.com/history/gen2/2600/dynavis.jpg

But, then it seems like the Dynavision from Japan / Hong Kong? from Emerson, Asahi or Yamagiwa looks different than that one.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/cvs/odyssey/videogames/dynaex/info.html

And in this list, the Japanese Dynavision is listed as a 16-bit machine.
http://www.hirosawa-j.ed.jp/seitosakuhin/3sentaku-syakai/nisiuti/game.htm

Are these really the same systems? :? Or am I totally confused? I thought that the only Japanese Atari clone was the Epoch TV Game.

[NE146]

Here's that Nintendo Breakout Console talked about a while ago in another thread:

http://www.loose-logic.com/auc/2003-11-16/tv-blok2.jpg

[kattkatt]

Here is what you all need. Just click on the left and see everything you wanted about Japanese units: http://www8.plala.or.jp/tvgamekan/

[can_dude]

kattkatt, 9/10 of that list are either clones or arent' consoles.

NE146, that is a very cool item but a stand-alone system is not a console (not by my books anyway, and I've thoroughly investigated what a console is)

Actually that one in the japanese site is a Arcadia 2001 compatible console. (clone). And the bit rating means nothing. After all the Intellivision is 16-bit. Also Emerson Advertised the 2001 as having something like 512K memory and it only had 4k, so what-ever the bittage says, dont trust it. There are actually over a dozen companies with their own Dynavision console, the name Dynavision was only copywrited within the confines of japan so other countries followed suit and copywrited the name in their own countries...Most Dynavisions are like the Brazilian ones though.

[y-bot]

This is the one I was talking about:

But, then it seems like the Dynavision from Japan / Hong Kong? from Emerson, Asahi or Yamagiwa looks different than that one.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/cvs/odyssey/videogames/dynaex/info.html

That make sense that it would be an Arcadia 2001 clone becuase I believe there is a Crazy Climber game for that.

Someone in a post above mentioned the Bandai Arcadia 2001. I have one of those with Gundam, Doraemon, and Dr. Slump (not sure about the name of that one) carts and I got it from kattkatt.


Thanks, y-bot

[kattkatt]

kattkatt, 9/10 of that list are either clones or arent' consoles

Ehh, what do you mean. There are "every" console/unit ever released in Japan on the link I posted. From Electrotennis (the first console ever made in Japan) to the Tigers Gamecube. Just everything seems to be there.

Did you scroll down at all in the left column? Please explain.

Thanks

CC

[IntvGene]

Actually that one in the japanese site is a Arcadia 2001 compatible console. (clone). And the bit rating means nothing. After all the Intellivision is 16-bit. Also Emerson Advertised the 2001 as having something like 512K memory and it only had 4k, so what-ever the bittage says, dont trust it. There are actually over a dozen companies with their own Dynavision console, the name Dynavision was only copywrited within the confines of japan so other countries followed suit and copywrited the name in their own countries...Most Dynavisions are like the Brazilian ones though.

Who would have thought that there would be so many consoles named Dynavision?!? :) Thanks for clearing that up.

[ianoid]

I love japanese obscure stuff. Man, I love it too much. Some day I will wake up buried under a pile of it, unable to move.

some consoles that are unique in my eyes/clones as I know:

Gakken Compactvision
Epoch Cassette vision
Epoch Super Cassette Vision
Othello Multivision (a Sega SG-1000 clone)
Bandai Supervision
Bandai's TV Jacks (don't own one yet)
can't remember the other ones I own offhand

There is a Bandai Arcadia and a Bandai Intellivision, each with it's own boxes (Bandai Intellivision boxes are like some late release Inty games with the instructions slipped in the back- the main difference is the instruction book.) Both boxes for the systems are a bit different than the originals but in the same style. I've been told that there are only 4 totally unique games for Bandai Arcadia from Japan. No unique ones for Inty.

There is a well known Bandai Vectrex, which has label variation games and is just a badge variation to the US version (don't own)

Lots of pongs and great dedicated consoles, like a dedicated Space Invaders, a dedicated Baseball. Man, that guy's link has the best pong gallery I've come across.

Compiling a list of games and systems is VERY hard given the lack of good Japanese connections. Language barrier vely tarr!

ian

[ianoid]

And by the way, if anyone has a Luminous Flux Boat they'd like to sell me, I'm buying.

that last linked site makes me need diapers. Use altavista to translate it and you get a little more info.

ian

[mrjones2]

This is the one I was talking about:

But, then it seems like the Dynavision from Japan / Hong Kong? from Emerson, Asahi or Yamagiwa looks different than that one.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/cvs/odyssey/videogames/dynaex/info.html

That make sense that it would be an Arcadia 2001 clone becuase I believe there is a Crazy Climber game for that.

Someone in a post above mentioned the Bandai Arcadia 2001. I have one of those with Gundam, Doraemon, and Dr. Slump (not sure about the name of that one) carts and I got it from kattkatt.


Thanks, y-bot


If that pic in the link is a Dynavision Console, it is 99,99 % an Emerson Arcadia 2001 clone, and to be more exact it belongs to MPT-03 family of Emersons.( the game cart is by layout a MPT-03 cart )

mrjones