The Gakken Compact Vision TV Boy (Japanese: TV ボーイ, Hepburn: TV bōi) is a second generation home video game console developed by Gakken and released in Japan in 1983 for a price of ¥8,800.[1]
 | |
 A Gakken Compact Vision TV Boy | |
| Developer | Gakken |
|---|---|
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Second generation |
| Release date |
|
| Introductory price | ¥8,800 |
| Media | ROM cartridge |
| CPU | Motorola MC6801 |
| Memory | 2k RAM |
| Display | 128 × 192 pixels, 9 colors (only 4 can be shown at the same time) |
| Graphics | Motorola 6847 |
The system was made to compete with the Epoch Cassette Vision, which had a market dominance of 70% in Japan.
The console was released months after the Nintendo Famicom and Sega SG-1000 which, although more expensive at ¥15,000, were more advanced and had more features as well as bigger games libraries; furthermore, Epoch had just launched the Cassette Vision Jr. revision for ¥5,000. These factors made the system obsolete from the start, with a high price tag, few and comparably rudimentary games, and a strange form factor, leading to poor sales. As a result, it is now a rare collector's item among some retro gamers.
In January 2024, the Gakken Compact Vision TV Boy game console hardware and six games were ROM dumped, scanned and preserved.[2] This console could only be played on the MAME emulator.[2]
Technical specifications
edit- CPU (cartridge): Motorola MC6801 (8-bit)[1][3] clocked at 4 MHz
- RAM: 2 Kb[1]
- Internal graphics: Motorola MC6847: 128 × 192 pixel; 9 colors (only four at the same time: white, orange, green and magenta or yellow, green, red and blue)[1][3][2]
Games
editThere were only six games officially released for the system, each being sold for ¥3,800, and designed for a single player.[1][4]
- Excite Invader
- Mr. Bomb
- Robotan Wars
- Chitaikū Daisakusen (Japanese: 地対空大作戦, 'The grand operation of surface-to-air') - a port of Super Cobra
- Frogger
- Shigaisen 200X-nen (Japanese: 市街戦200X年, Hepburn: shigaisen nisen-ekkusu-nen, 'Urban warfare year 200X')
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Compact Vision TV Boy by Gakken – the Video Game Kraken".
- ^ a b c "Every Gakken Compact Vision TV Boy Game Preserved & Scanned! – Gaming Alexandria".
- ^ a b "Gakken Compact Vision TV Boy [BINARIUM]". binarium.de. Archived from the original on 2023-02-05. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- ^ "The Video Game Console Library". Video Game Console Library. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
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