The Eight 8-bit Japanese Consoles of 1983

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

I’ve been watching Famidaily, as I’ve taken an interest in the Famicom. They posted up this image near the start of their series to showcase the systems that released before years’ end in Japan. The country had been slowly getting more and more towards video games in the home for some time, and while I don’t know why necessarily, it all sort of exploded in 1983. Before this, there was little need for home systems because arcades were much easier to get to than in western countries due to the more compact and travel friendly layout of the country’s inner cities.


How many of these do you know? I know for my part that I did very poorly, as I only know the Famicom, the SG-1000, and the PV-1000. Those were made by Nintendo, SEGA, and Casio respectively. Many of these other systems I’d love to know more about because I find this era of Japanese gaming to be fascinating. The one furthest to the left sorta looks like an Atari 5200, actually!

Post automatically merged: Today at 3:35 PM

One more note: it’s interesting to see the effect of the Pong console still present in the design logic of these systems. All systems that have controllers not built into the body, for example, still have them hardwired. The SG-1000 had a controller port, but it was only for a second controller, and the main “player 1” controller was hardwired. Nintendo, obviously, also went down this road and even built a decent microphone into the second controller (which also means the second player can never press start or select, which limited developers later down the road).

 

[driftwood]

Atari Inc. released the Atari 2800 in Japan in 1983. That maybe what that is.

 

[PhaseJump]

I choose to believe the lack of PC Engine here is causing at least one nerd out there to be screeching at his screen.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

I choose to believe the lack of PC Engine here is causing at least one nerd out there to be screeching at his screen.

Well, said hypothetical nerd needs to suck it up, since that console released four years later. This is not “all the Japanese video game systems of the 80’s”, this is SPECIFICALLY the ones released in 1983.

 

[driftwood]

Well, said hypothetical nerd needs to suck it up, since that console released four years later. This is not “all the Japanese video game systems of the 80’s”, this is SPECIFICALLY the ones released in 1983.

it's also not 8-bit.

 

[PhaseJump]

it's also not 8-bit.

Yes, it is.

Early 80s consoles are relics of the dark ages.

Atari's 5200 is a blight on humanity. The only redeeming quality can be made that it used analog sticks before the ignorant Nintendocore console warriors showed up to brag about inventing it more than a decade later.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Yes, it is.

They speak the truth!
The PC Engine has an 8 bit CPU. I don’t recall what exactly on it IS 16 bit, but I remember that it was something that allowed them to fudge the numbers when bringing the system westward. Doesn’t matter much anyway. The system is still awesome regardless of what number it has attached to it.

Post automatically merged: Today at 5:43 PM

Early 80s consoles are relics of the dark ages.

Atari's 5200 is a blight on humanity. The only redeeming quality can be made that it used analog sticks before the ignorant Nintendocore console warriors showed up to brag about inventing it more than a decade later.

This opinion is very common, and it’s one I’ve held in my life before. I think it stands true when divorcing games from the context of their creation, but I feel much more strongly towards many of these games and systems when I view them with the context of the world around them at the time, the paperwork and hardware they came alongside, all the promotional material made for them, etc.

The appeal is very different for these early systems, but it’s very much still there at least for me. Still isn’t going to make me love the 6 million old ass tennis and baseball games though!

 

[mrrgrrgrr]

They speak the truth!
The PC Engine has an 8 bit CPU. I don’t recall what exactly on it IS 16 bit, but I remember that it was something that allowed them to fudge the numbers when bringing the system westward. Doesn’t matter much anyway. The system is still awesome regardless of what number it has attached to it.

It has an 8-bit CPU, but the GPU is 16-bit.

The PC Engine was also the first home console to have a CD add-on, and it had awesome games like Ys Book I & II and Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Peak stuff.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

It has an 8-bit CPU, but the GPU is 16-bit.

The PC Engine was also the first home console to have a CD add-on, and it had awesome games like Ys Book I & II and Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Peak stuff.

Been playing Double Dungeons recently, thanks to a recommendation from Bjork in my “first person dungeon crawlers” thread.
It’s super fun, and I’ve been having a great time! I didn’t click with Bonk’s Adventure on the PC Engine like I hoped, but I’ll try Bonk’s Revenge and Bonk 3 to see how I feel!


I feel like we’ve gotten off topic regarding 1983 JP region consoles though… oh well!

 

[PhaseJump]

Famicom and Sega's Colecovision clone were the only ones that mattered.

 

[mrrgrrgrr]

Been playing Double Dungeons recently, thanks to a recommendation from Bjork in my “first person dungeon crawlers” thread.
It’s super fun, and I’ve been having a great time! I didn’t click with Bonk’s Adventure on the PC Engine like I hoped, but I’ll try Bonk’s Revenge and Bonk 3 to see how I feel!


I feel like we’ve gotten off topic regarding 1983 JP region consoles though… oh well!

lol I'll help put thing back on track (although I will say that Bonk's Revenge is a much better game than Bonk's Adventure).

Between the consoles shown, I'm really only familiar with the Famicom and the SG-1000 since I'm both a Nintendo fan and a SEGA fan. I imagine most people won't recognize the other consoles, but it's fun to look at their designs and see how each company tried to tackle the market. You got knobs, levers, and... a keyboard on the console itself? It's hard to imagine that kind of stuff on a video game console nowadays, but back then it was the wild west of console gaming where people were throwing things at the wall to see what stuck.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

lol I'll help put thing back on track (although I will say that Bonk's Revenge is a much better game than Bonk's Adventure).

Between the consoles shown, I'm really only familiar with the Famicom and the SG-1000 since I'm both a Nintendo fan and a SEGA fan. I imagine most people won't recognize the other consoles, but it's fun to look at their designs and see how each company tried to tackle the market. You got knobs, levers, and... a keyboard on the console itself? It's hard to imagine that kind of stuff on a video game console nowadays, but back then it was the wild west of console gaming where people were throwing things at the wall to see what stuck.

You and I both noted the lever one. Is it… a train system of some sort? I can imagine a system coming out whose whole point is to house a train simulation game. I’ll have to look into that one, as it’s by far the most eye catching.

 

[mrrgrrgrr]

You and I both noted the lever one. Is it… a train system of some sort? I can imagine a system coming out whose whole point is to house a train simulation game. I’ll have to look into that one, as it’s by far the most eye catching.

According to this website, this console was called "The Compact Vision TV Boy" and it was discontinued the same year it released. Only 6 games were ever made for it. No train games, but there were games involving helicopters and tanks. Upon closer inspection, it looks like that lever is just a joystick with a handle.

Edit: They have a whole section regarding 1983 Japanese consoles. It's a good read. A lot of these consoles didn't last very long in the market, sadly.