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  • 1972 - 1973
    • 72 - Magnavox Odyssey
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  • 1976 - 1977
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    • 81 - EPOCH Cassette Vision
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    • 82 - Coleco ColecoVision
    • 82 - Atari 5200 SuperSystem
    • 82 - Emerson Arcadia 2001
    • 82 - GCE Vectrex
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    • 83 - Casio PV-1000
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    • 86 - Famicom Disk System
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    • 86 - Atari 7800 ProSystem
    • 86 - Bit Corporation Dina 2-IN-1
    • 87 - Worlds of Wonder Action Max
    • 87 - Atari XEGS
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    • 88 - NEC PC Engine CD-ROM 2 \ TurboGrafx-CD
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    • 90 - Commodore 64 Game System (C64GS)
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    • 96 - Nintendo 64
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  DW FACTS
  - by Dark Watcher

The world was undergoing "Pong Madness". It seemed only natural that developers would create advancements to the original AY-3-8500 chip to incorporate color and even more games. This explains the amount of pong systems since each machine contained a different chip. However things were handled different in some areas particularly in Europe.

Europe did not see the release of Intellivision and Atari 2600 till the early 1980s. This allowed Pong to have a longer success. Rather then creating a new machine for each new chip, developers took the General Instruments popular line of chips and slapped them into cartridges. These carts were not like ROM carts used in later systems. They simply housed a specific General Instruments processor chip with pin outs to interface with a console. These were the PC-50X line of cartridges.

With the PC-50X cartridges available, console manufacturers were able to produce a machine that could play several games, and market them at a low cost. The units were made in Hong Kong, and were marketed by Creatronic, Hanimex, ITMC, Rollet, GrandStand , Soundic and lord knows how many other manufacturers.

The initial model SD-050 varied in terms of outward appearance (colors, etc), manufacturers names, and slight modifications. However each unit had the same overall design with two detachable controllers, and 10 buttons located on the top of the machine. These 10 buttons, which clearly identify a PC-50X based console, were used to select the different games available on each cart. The SD-050 model only produced black and white video color.

New models such as the SD-070 and SD-090 appeared and sold well into the 80's since the units were far cheaper then the newer consoles making waves in the US and Japan. These newer models played the same carts, but added additional settings, sound, and SECAM color (4 colors).

There were far too many PC-50X cart accepting consoles, and it is difficult to list them all. However here are a few listed below.

  HANDS ON REVIEW
  - by Marriott_Guy (08-Jun-08)

In 1982, Emerson Radio Corporation decided to enter the video game hardware arena with their release of the Arcadia 2001. Better known for their development of affordable electronic products, this move was not entirely a big surprise. Emerson was always looking for market niches to penetrate to utilize their existing electronics manufacturing team. As with their previous releases of low-end, price friendly electrical component ventures, the Arcadia 2001 would eventually suffer the same fate.

The Arcadia 2001 is not necessarily a bad looking machine. The sturdy, brown plastic housing has a nice accent of wood grain trimming (which was very popular at that time). The console sports a very clean user interface, located in the front and center of the unit. Soft, rounded, gold colored buttons provide easy access to the main systems functions (Reset, Select, Option, Start). The square shaped Power button that flanks these buttons to the right does not really quite fit into the scheme - almost as if this was an afterthought of the chassis design team. The two, non-detachable keypads (Intellivision-type clone) rest in cradles to the left and right, though do not truly fit visually into the design of the console (maybe another afterthought). The Arcadia 2001 does sport one of the longest video RF cables I have seen - 12' long. The plug for the 12 Volt external power supply and a Channel 3/4 switch adorn the back side of this system. There are two (2) screw 'holes' on the back as well. I have no idea what these are used for.

Underneath the hood, the Arcadia 2001 was powered by Signetics 2650 CPU running at 3.58 MHz which produced games in 8 colors and at a screen resolution of 208 x 108. The best way to describe games for the Arcadia 2001 is to think of an Atari 2600 release and inject it with a heavy does of steroids. The Arcadia 2001 was a more powerful machine that the console it was intended to dethrone, but Emerson lacked a critical component for success in the console wars - third party support.

Cartridges came in two different sizes and are black in color (USA) with well rendered artwork adorning the front of the cart (almost like a mini water color painting) and game instructions on the back. The title is displayed along the 'spine' of the cartridge in easy to read 'rainbow' lettering. The silver colored boxes are similar in size to the Atari 2600, but much more sturdy and are handsomely numbered. Many games come packaged with a controller overlay identical to the same concept used by Intellivision.

A number of popular games were developed for the Arcadia 2001, including Pacman, Galaxian and Defender. Atari successfully sued Emerson, and other companies, claiming they had exclusive rights to these game franchises. These games never saw the light of day and resulted in a waste of a great deal of capital. This left Emerson scrambling for suitor(s) to develop game software. With the Atari 5200 and the Coleco Colecovision about to be released, both being superior systems, development for the Arcadia 2001 was non existent. A total of 35 games (most arcade clones) were released for this system. Surprising, this console was manufactured and released in many different countries outside of the USA. All are basically the same, but differ in one significant way - cartridge size. Games are not necessarily compatible with all systems.

Development for the Arcadia 2001 ceased about one year after its debut. Unable to compete with technologically superior consoles that were released at virtually the same time (Atari 5200 and Coleco ColecoVision) coupled with the lack of third party software support sealed this system's fate.

Prices seem to fluctuate greatly on this system and appear to be dependant on the respective model. Though this console was a relative failure and a mere blip on the radar, it is not that rare and can be easily obtained.
 

Various picture\video media for this console.  Click pictures to enlarge.

For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love.

Game screen shots and\or videos released for this system.

Additional authorized releases for this console.  Click pictures to enlarge.

Non-licensed releases (clones).  Click pictures to enlarge.

Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system.

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