Platforms 2012

I thought to start a new "platforms" wishlist thread:

- Delete the Atari XL/XE platform. It could have been me over 10-12 years ago who requested that platform, but look what happened. 0 games. And the few XE games are under the normal 400/800 platform. I have changed my opinion here and now think that only one platform for all Atari 8-bit computers is sufficient and you can easily handle special XL/XE games with tags.

- Rename PSP2 to PS Vita or PSV or whatever the official abbreviation is.

- I request to remove the Odyssey 200 and other super old "consoles" that had only built in game-variants (mostly pong variants). Maybe even remove the original Odyssey. We could add a new platform which comprises all these different consoles and even similar electronic handheld devices like the Game&Watch games.

I'll use this to ask again for some missing platform :





Plus: I noticed long ago (but never reported it) that platforms aren't sorted alphabetically in the search drop-down list. It may be difficult to find a specific platform.

EDIT: some problems with the quotes ?

The "broken" URL breaks the quotes I think. And [ [quote:] ] is old style and shouldn't be used anymore, not that it helps when quote post still adds them.

I've fixed dandyboh post.
I've to fix the editor to not use the old quoting style ... done.

also, improvement test:

The original Odyssey not only had cartridges that functioned as different games, there were four that needed to be purchased separately.

Wikipedia describes all Odyssey platforms as dedicated consoles (no removable media of any kind), dunno how right or wrong they're on this.

The original Odyssey is a hard-wired dedicated console. It had cartridges, but these only changed parameters (setting jumpers) of the same basic ball & paddle game. I don't know whether this should be considered a dedicated or extendable console since it's really in between, but in my opinion closer to a dedicated one.

Then there was the Odyssey² which was a genuine cartridge-based console.

All other Odysseys with their number designations are dedicated consoles, each with different features, configurations, and combination of offered games. Old-computers.com is pretty comprehensive on these.

Odyssey³, an extensively improved version of the Odyssey², also used cartridges.

Uzebox
CPU: 8-Bit ATMega644 @ 28.6 MHz (However, it can do up to 1 MIPS per MHz)
Graphics 240x224x256, 32 real sprites (more can be faked)
Storage: SD/MicroSD
Memory: 4K
Input: 2 SNES Joypads, Mouse
Network: Ethernet
At least 39 complete games and 13 in development.

Notably noted by DesuraNET

Memorex VIS / Tandy VIS / Memorex MD2500
CPU: AMD [email protected] MH, 80287-12@12 MHz (math co-processor)
Graphics 640x480x24-bit color, 512k video RAM
Sound: 16-bit Stereo, headphone jack, microphone jack
Media: 2X CD-ROM
Memory: 1 MB RAM
Storage: 32k flash (removable)
Input: 2 Wireless IR Joypads, PS/2 mouse (optional), PS/2 keyboard (optional), PS/2 Joypad (optional)
Network: 2400 Baud Modem (upgradable to 4800)
SMRP: $699 (later $399)
About 70 titles (at least half of these are games)

Released in December 1992 it was one of those Multimedia systems (Like CD-i). It has firmware based on Modular Windows (a subset of Windows 3.1 that eventually became Windows CE). The software is not at all Windows 3.1 compatible and the VIS will not load run Windows 3.1 software (Note, Sega Dreamcast is similarly based on Windows CE). Modular Windows itself ran on a full version of MS-DOS 3 and the '1 Megabyte' of RAM includes the infamous 640k DOS limit. The ADAC-1 based video hardware was made by Cirrus Logic and allowed for RF out, S-Videoout and RCA style AV out. The sound chip by Yamaha was Adlib Gold compatible but not Sound Blaster compatible.
VIS is short for Video Information System. The Tandy VIS is simply a rebranded Memorex VIS. The Memorex MD2500 VIS is simply a Memorex VIS priced at $399. About 11,000 units were sold.

Game Wave http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Wave_Family_Entertainment_System

Vii, from JungleTac, China, released in 2007, 7th generation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vii)

I'm a bit confused by Windows Phone
It should be a new platform, but I've found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xbox_Live_games_on_Windows_Phone

MicroBee, from Applied Technology, Australia, June 1982. At least 14 games.
MicroBee

EDIT :


I'm not very aware of it, but I know that most third-party XBLA games are coded with XNA, the same as Windows Phone games.

Here's a partial list of games that use XNA

The Wikipedia article on "Xbox games on Windows Phone" is a bit misleading I suspect. It's probably just a list of games found on Xbox that are also available on the phone, not some Xbox game support on the phone itself. A bit like having a list of iOS games on Android when they mean games released for iOS that are also available on Android. They don't even seem to be talking about games that were originally released for Xbox, but rather any games that are on both (e.g. the bottom released game Zombies is only on Windows Phone with Xbox release sometime in the future).

We too have a list XNA games, though I think I'm the only one having done anything for it. I haven't used external lists to complement it, so it's severely missing on non-Windows games.

SuperGrafx, though according to that page it only has 7 games for it, so a tag might be more useful even if misleading (it's backwards compatible with the previous platform, but the games themselves aren't).

The platform is already there as "NEC Supergraphx", I'm not sure that's a valid spelling. There are some other platforms which are slightly misleadingly labled, I'll make some suggestions later.

The PC-Engine CD was released in 1988 in Japan, not 1990.

Seems like a misspelling here.

HyperScan by Mattel, released in 2006, 7th generation.

Hardware specs:
Sunplus SPG290 SoC
UART, I²C, SPI etc.
Composite Video Output (SoC supports TFT display, but the HS does not use it)
16 MB SDRAM System Ram
640×480 Native Resolution
65,535 colors (RGB 565 mode)
1 USB port
RFID Scanner (13.56 MHz)
RFID Storage: 96 bytes of user memory + 8 bytes unique ID + 6 bytes of one time programmable memory
CD-ROM drive

Only five games released + one status unknown (cancelled or released in smal quantities) and one cancelled.

PlayStation 4 will be released in summer or Christmas of 2013 ("holiday 2013" so take that as you will), no backward compatibility with PS3 because it uses x86 architecture instead of PS3's Cell arch. Supposedly games for PS1-3 will be available for it via streaming service similar to OnLive.

Hardware (not sure if these are final?)
* 8 GB GDDR5 system RAM, shared with GPU
* 64 bit 8-core AMD Jaguar CPU
* Unidentified Radeon GPU (custom?)
* Blu-ray
* USB 3.0
* 802.11n WiFi
* Bluetooth 2.1

Likely has 720p and 1080p as native resolutions, or only the latter.

shield.nvidia.com/
Project SHIELD

NEC PC-9801 has wrong release date. The PC-98 series started in 1982 instead of 1989.

Is there anything to suggest SHIELD is any different from Ouya as far as needing more than just a tag on the Android game entry?

Seems to have wrong hardware as well.

CPU: (all are x86) 8086, 80286, 80386, 80486, Celeron, and NEC V30 (practically 80186) were used with different releases of the platform. Not 68030.
... 5 to 16 MHz except for the Celeron variant with 443 MHz
No such resolution as 890 x 690.
Inclined to believe some of the specs were copied from Sharp X68030.

PC-88 seems to have problems as well...
CPU: µPD780, µPD70008, NEC V50 (PC-88VA)... µPD processors are Z80 compatible, V50 is Intel 8088 (x86) compatible
Sound: PC Speaker (or just monotonous beep), later models had YM2203 or YM2608 too depending on model
ROM: 72 kB
RAM: 112-816 kB depending on model, only up to 244kB outside of 88VA model
graphics-vise it had at most 256 colors paletted out of 16bit color space

Guess not.

Ouya is trying to diverge from that by having Ouya exclusive games though, which is what they did a fundraiser for recently. Dunno how incompatible they're with regular Android platforms though, or if they just need the gamepad (which would make Shield and Xperia compatible with Ouya "exclusives").

Xbox One

CPU: AMD 8-core
RAM: 8 GB (5 GB available to games/apps)
Media: Blu-ray
GPU: some AMD Radeon
Connectors: 3x USB, HDMI

So it's very similar to PS4 in hardware.

Windows RT may or may not deserve its own platform. It's technically same as Windows 8, but for ARM processors (instead of x86) and aimed at mobile devices (tablets mainly). I don't know if there are any games for it specifically yet, but it's unlikely that games won't be made for it. Unfortunately browsing Windows Store is limited to people who have Windows 8/RT, so I can't go verify this as I don't have nor do I have any intention of ever getting either.

Primary reason for having its own platform for WinRT is that it's not compatible with Win8 and older.

And on the what RT stands for (I couldn't find an answer), but I presume it's RISC Technology in reference to the processor (like previous Windows NT was New Technology for the new non-DOS-based kernel). If that even matters for anything.

MicroBee: Australia, not Austria :)

Plus:

HTML5 and/or browser should have their separate platforms from Internet Only. Certain HTML5 and other browser games can be played offline, so internet only is misleading.

Suggesting "Internet Only" may be my biggest UVL mistake ever.

Sorry.

Currently it covers telnet/ssh and browser/http[5] games. So it isn't that bad. The former are definitely internet only, though theoretically you could play them offline as well (host your own server and connect to it, but I don't think anyone does that really or is their intended use).

I think that renaming "Internet Only" into something more appropriate is only a matter of time.

I do that. Though I admit I mainly have done that to get screen shots. However, I still play some MUDs that way.

Bump

Got a headache by using "Internet Only" for entering the game "Lemmings 32k", which as basically a java-based browser game (and can be played offline as well). But I had no better option.

Shield is now a tag. There's 20-40 games optimized for it so far, but none(?) that are exclusive to it.

Gamate, by Bits Corporation, handheld, 1990, 4th generation. Around 70 games.

Windows Phone 8 needs its own platform as it is no longer WinCE based as Windows Phone 7 and earlier were.

Agreed, WindowsCE and Windows Phone 8 may not be as incredibly different as Mac Classic and Mac OS X, but they are at least as different as UNIX and Linux. As such it needs to be a separate platform.

Interact Home Computer, by Interact Co. of Ann Arbor MI., 1979, later rebranded as "Victor Lambda I" by company "Lambda System" for the French market. Uses an Intel 8080A running at 2Mhz. It has a RAM of 16 KB and a ROM of 2 KB.

(As a personal reminder: some games were reviewed in Tilt #1, #8, #10, #12, #17, #20).

Windows Phone 8 is actually closer to the desktop version of Windows 8 than WinCE, except it's ARM based (Qualcomm Snapdragon) rather than x86.

Does that actually have custom OS or did it have DOS or CP/M on it? I find it rather unusual for x86 being used outside of the IBM PC platform and derivatives/clones.

Doesn't particularly scream out DOS, any CP/M users recognise these resolutions? Could be a Tandy IBM compatible type situation. It's sort of IBM compatible with a type of DOS derivative or DOS-like clone.

Yeah, that display hardware looks like on par of some early programmable calculators... I have no idea.

I just know that it works with BASIC (which has to be loaded from a tape, not built-in).

I also found this:



(source).

The same website proposes a list of software: around 40 games were released according to it.

(Note: "Hector" is the name of an upgraded version of the Victor Lambda)

The operating system is in BIOS with essential elements (to actually doing anything productive) expected to occur on the cassette (like with a bootloader disk). The OS apparently has no name simple being "The Interact Home Computer BIOS". It was developed for the original Interact Home Computer by Jack Unger. Someone could ask him for more details, he's on Linkedin.

Also, found a list of games:
101 Blackjack
102 Star Track
103 Concentration
105 Video Chess
106 Interact Microchess
107 Backgammon
108 Reversi
201 Add 'EM UP
202 Computer-A-Color
203 Hangman
206 Knockdown
207 Edu-Basic (non-game?)
208 Music Maestro
301 Regatta
302 Trailblazers
303 Dogfight
304 Showdown
305 Computer Maze
306 breakthrough
401 Biorhythm (non-game?)
? Level II Basic Demonstrations (may include games)
? Volleyball

Found another ones:

DAI Personal Computer, by InData (Belgium), released in 1980.
(As a personal reminder: games are reviewed in Tilt #7, #8, #17).

VTech Laser 200 by VTech, released in 1983, also known as the Salora Fellow in Finland, Texet TX8000 in the UK and Dick Smith VZ 200 in Australia and New Zealand.
Operating system BASIC V1.2, CPU Zilog Z80A clocked at 3.58 MHz, Motorola 6847 video processor, 6-22KB USER-RAM + 2KB VRAM, 16KB ROM, Display 32×16 (8 colors), 128×64 graphics (2 background, 3 foreground colors).
(As a personal reminder: games are reviewed in Tilt #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #15, #16, #17, #22).

Sanyo PHC-25, by Sanyo (Japan), released in 1983.
CPU: NEC D780C (compatible Zilog Z80A), 4 MHz, 16K RAM, 6KB VRAM, 24K ROM, Text Modes: 16 x 16 / 32 x 16, Graphic Modes: 64 x 48 (8 colors) / 192 x 128 (4 colors) / 256 x 192 (4 colors).
(As a personal reminder: two games are reviewed in Tilt #8).

Jupiter Ace, by Jupiter Cantab (UK), released in 1982, used Forth programming language. Followed by Jupiter ACE 4000 in 1983.
CPU: Zilog Z80A clocked at 3.25 MHz, Memory: 1 kB, expandable up to 49 kB (Video SRAM excluded).
(As a personal reminder: three games are reviewed in Tilt #8).

Camputers Lynx, by Camputers Limited (UK), released in 1983.
CPU: Z-80A, 16K ROM, 48K RAM, Camputers BASIC, Display Text: 24 lines of 40 characters; Graphics: 248 by 256; Eight colours.
(As a personal reminder: games are reviewed in Tilt #8, #10, #11).

Memotech MTX (MTX500, MTX512 and RS128), by Memotech (UK), released in 1983. Similar to MSX but not compatible.
Z80A, 32/64/128KB RAM depending on the model, 32KB ROM, Basic language + built-in assembler.
(As a personal reminder: games are reviewed in Tilt #16).

Mega Duck / Cougar Boy, by Welback Holdings (HK), released in 1993, sold in Germany, France, Netherlands and Brazil.
Handheld console, about 40 games.

Amstrad PCW, by Amstrad (UK), released in September 1985, dedicated word processing computer (PCW stands for Personal Computer Wordprocessor) but several games were released on it.
CPU Zilog Z80 A running at 4 MHz (but is slowed down by the internal clock to 3,4 Mhz), 256 KB RAM (16 banks of 16 kb each), text mode 90 x 32, graphic mode 720 x 256 (PAL), 720 x 200 (NTSC), monochrome (black & green), OS : CP/M, CP/M+.
(As a personal reminder: games are reviewed in Tilt #34, #35, #36, #43, #47, #61, #65).

I agree with this. The Odyssey 200 just has built-in games, it is not a real console like Odyssey 2 or Odyssey 3.

About Odyssey 3: this console does not exist with this name. It was planned to be released in USA as Odyssey 3, in Europe as Videopac + G7400, but the American version was cancelled. So I think it is strange that G7400 games are listed for a platform that never existed.

We should rename Odyssey 2 as Videopac and Odyssey 3 as Videopac+ G7400; or only rename Odyssey 3. I don't know if the Odyssey 3 was released before Videopac, if positive, we could choose to keep Odyssey 2 name; but definitely, not Odyssey 3, as the console was never sold with this name (and add the release date: 1983)..

And I also request again:

No O³ consoles were made for retail sales. But O³ games were sold on store shelves.

Are you sure about that? I can only find games' boxes labelled as "Videopac+", not "Odyssey³".

My grandma was a world class geek, fan of Intel CPUs, and videogame collector. She had a BK7600 GY02 Odyssey², the Voice, Chess Module, Trackball, and every North American Odyssey² and Odyssey³ game and a few from Japan as well. Her "+" games (games with Odyssey³/Videopac G7400 specific features) were in retail Odyssey³ boxes. Of course she had no O³ to fully enjoy them, but they were retail games in retail boxes. Oh, and the C7420 Module (with Basic)

It was only 25 years later that I began collecting O² stuff and found out just how incredible her collection was.

OK, thank you for this information, I didn't know that. As Odyssey 3 was never released and Odyssey 3 games boxes pictures impossible (?) to find on the internet, I thought none game was labelled as Odyssey 3.

Some fixes so far:
- PC-Engine CD release date
- NEC PC-98 release date, CPU and resolution
- NEC PC-88 CPU, sound and memory.
- MicroBee country.

Oh, forgot to say. I think Odyssey³ is not the best name for the platform. Videopac 7400 is much more recognizable worldwide.

Question about the Sharp X1 series. From my understanding there are three major releases in the Sharp X1 series.

Sharp X1
Sharp X1 Turbo
Sharp X1 Turbo Z

In UVL we have Sharp X1 and Sharp X1 Turbo Z as platform. How should I enter "Sharp X1 Turbo" games? What makes the most sense regarding this platform.
a) Only have one single platform Sharp X1 and tag for "turbo" and "turbojavascript:void(0);z" games?
b) Three separate platforms?
c) Renaming platform "Sharp X1 Turbo Z" to "Sharp X1 Turbo" to inlude both "Z" and non-Z Turbo games?

I tend to c) because it seems that ROM collections differentiate between these two platforms, but don't have special Turbo Z collections.

Sorry All, I am very new to this site/forum (only last couple of days) and found this site very interesting as I, and my Son have just embarked on trying to collect each main console from each generation.

But, Correct me if I am wrong, but having just myself acquired a Phillips Videopac G7000, I was under the impression that it was just the UK Branded name for the Magnavox Odyssey (following Magnavox and Phillips merger), not a different/later machine.

Then I thought no Odyssey 3 (under any name shape or form) was ever released.

All of the Odyssey variants - like 200, 400, 2000 etc. where all named Phillips......, followed by slightly different number, in UK, and some had a different appearance, but where the same machine. Where as the G7000 looks exactly the same.

Anyway - I must confess, my collection may seem small as I am only collecting UK release consoles, not those that were specific to USA or Japan

The Philips G7000 is the European version of the Odyssey2. The Odyssey3 was never released. But a successor of the G7000 was released as Philips G7400. The G7400 is downwards compatible with all G7000 games. Only a handful of games used the extra capabilities of the G7400 though. The games were released as Videopac+. It is assumed that the G7400 would have been the Odyssey3 if it had been released in the US. And since most people know the machine under its Odyssey name Odyssey3 appears often as machine name. But yes, it could be renamed in UVL to Philips G7400.

Hi and welcome!

Magnavox did release many consoles, but most of them only had a limited number of games built-in, with no possibility to play another games (such consoles are not listed in UVL - or they can be using the "custom" platform).

There are three others, "real" consoles with games which can be purchased separately:

The first one, Odyssey (1972), is the very first game console in the world. Released in 1973 in Europe.
The second one, Odyssey² (1976), was released as Philips Videopac G7000, Philips Videopac C52, Radiola Jet 25, Schneider 7000 and Siera G7000 in Europe.
The third one, Odyssey³, was planned but not released in the USA, but it was released in Europe (1983) as Philips Videopac+ G7400 and Brandt Jopac+ 7400.

It seems that Odyssey³ games were published in the USA nonetheless.

Many thanks for your kind welcome and your helpful, detailed response.

I am afraid I won't be able to contribute anything helpful, as not really know what I am doing - other than playing games on consoles - nothing about the consoles themselves, but I look forward to learning from you all.

What confused me was I have the Game 34 Satellite Attack on Phillips Vidoepac and could only find it listed as an Odyssey3 game. and I was thinking I am sure it's meant to be an Odyssey2 but yet that game is not listed under Odyssey2

I do also have a handful of other games that I can not find listed on this site, and no idea how I would go about "adding" them.

Now I understand about why we leave off a listing of the Odyssey 200 - etc. as they only have built in games, which applies to my Binatone TV Master 4+2.
(6 games built in, but 2 only become playable if you have the separate Gun attachment")

But I am not sure where my Radofin Telesports III fits, as I think it is a Gen 1 (despite being released in 1978 - after the Radofin 1292 APVS) but yet does, I understand, have 7 cartridges available for it - I only have one - 1001 "Superstars" but I think there are meant to be others. But as it is made after the 1292 is it actually a gen 2 and compatible with 1292 cartridges? I have not yet dared to try, but I am guessing not.

Then I have my Acetronic MPU-1000 - which I believe IS a direct clone of the Radofin 1292 APVS which is cross compatible with their games but I only have cartridge 27 "Invaders" , which again I can't find listed here.

Just in case you would be interested (but doubtful) in seeing photo's of my collection - to help correct me if I have mis identified any of my items, I also have them on my facebook page and my Collectorz Page

You can only add games when you are an editor. For that the admin (Andrea) has to promote your account to editor. Lately he is seen a bit rarely actually (hope all is well). You might want to do the official request via the menu: users -> contact UVL staff -> request type: be an editor. Hopefully he will see the message soon. Don't be afraid if it takes a day or two. (Wish we other moderators could promote normal accounts to editor... but we can only remove editors). That way you can add the missing games you own to add it to your "collection list".


I am a collector myself and I love photos of collections. I prefer photos of the complete game rooms/collections though ;-)
Check out those sites for a start if you want to know what I mean:
http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery2/main.php
https://www.assemblergames.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?10-Member-Game-collections

Brilliant, Many thanks - wow, boy have I got something to work towards, my collection is really disorganised at the moment, but got an idea now how to get started properly now, thanks.

I'd also like to say welcome!



No doubt you can contribute something helpful! So, if you like, just let Andrea know that you want to be an editor like teran said. Your contribution would be much appreciated.


teran, is there a picture of your collection on that site? Would be interesting to have a look at it.

Not on those sites. But I posted a few pictures some time ago in this UVL thread

http://www.uvlist.net/forum/thread/45122

Timex Sinclair 1000 & Timex Sinclair 1500 were authorized clones of the ZX81 with several enhancements. If there are any TS1k or TS1.5k exclusives, then tagging should be sufficient.

Timex Sinclair 2048 was an authorized ZX Spectrum clone with improvements and differences preventing full compatibility. Tagging exclusives should be sufficient. The Spectrum SE was based on this machine.

Timex Sinclair 2068 was based on the ZX Spectrum, again with enhancements. But hardware and firmware differences meant that it was only compatible with about 10% of ZX Spectrum software. Also, it had its own format ROM cartridge port completely incompatible with ZX Spectrum. It is a different system there are at least 9 games. Later Timex and 3rd party expansions containing Spectrum ROMs were used for Spectrum emulation for nearly 100% compatibility.