The Video Game Console Library - Emerson Arcadia 2001

	Emerson Arcadia 2001
	HANDS ON REVIEW by Marriott_Guy DW FACTS by Dark Watcher
	Page content, development and design by Marriott_Guy

Developer	Manufacturer	Release Date	Country(s)	Initial Price	Model Number	Game Releases	Overall Rating
Emerson Radio	Various	May-82	Worldwide	$199 USD	See Below	Approx. 45	4.5
Ratings	Reviews	Pictures\Media	Specs\Manuals	Games\Emulation	Models	Clones	Links

Ratings
Consoles are rated based upon the available technology at the time of its release. Ratings based upon a 10 point scale (10 being excellent\very rare).
Console Design (appearance, functionality)	06
Console Durability (sturdy or frail and fragile)	07
Controllers (design, response, feel, use)	05
Graphics (graphical capability and presentation)	04
Audio (sound, music, speech, effects)	05
Media (game media format, design, durability)	08
Packaging (appeal, durability of packaging)	08
Game Library (quality, quantity of game library)	02
Innovations (technological industrial strides)	03
Gamer Value (good investment for the gamer?)	02
Collector Value (good collector investment?)	07
Games Rarity (general availability of games)	07
Console Rarity (general availability of a system)	05

Reviews

Emerson Arcadia 2001

DW FACTS
- by Dark Watcher

Emerson Arcadia 2001 was supposed to be the Atari 2600 killer. A great console with great games. Unfortunately they fell prey to complete lack of third party development, and the lack of arcade game titles. Similar to other consoles before it, they were forced to release arcade clones.

The system didn't grasp much attention and soon found its way to the bargain bin at the cost of $99. The release of the Colecovision months later sealed the Arcadia's fate. The Emerson Arcadia 2001 died after only a year and a half with 35 game releases. Most never recall it existed. Many clones of it (such as the Leonardo were released across the world though. It was also licensed and distributed in Japan by Bandai for 19,800 yen.

FACT: In an attempt to boost the system in advertisements, the Emerson Arcadia was said to have 24K of system RAM. This is actually a huge lie, and the single largest reason for historians and researchers to be VERY cautious about taking any sales-related statements at face value.

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.

Emerson Arcadia 2001

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.

Emerson Arcadia 2001 Game Catalogue (click pictures to enlarge)

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 45 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.

Pictures & Media

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

Emerson Arcadia 2001 - Front

Emerson Arcadia 2001 - General

Emerson Arcadia 2001 - Back

Specs & Manuals

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

Processor Type	Processor Speed	Other Processor Information	RAM \ Video RAM
8 bit Signetics 2650	3.58 MHz	Signetics 2637 Co-processor	1 KB \ None
Screen Resolution	Color Palette	Polygons \ Sprites	Audio
208 x 108	8 Colors (plus 1 for BG color)	N\A \ 4	Signetics 2637N (single channel)
Media Format	Media Capacity	Games Released	Other Supported Formats
Cartridge	2048 to 8192 bytes	Approx. 45	None
Internal Storage	External \ Removable Storage	Game Controllers	Other Game \ Peripheral Devices
None	None	Intellivision-style Keypads	None
Controller Ports	Network Ports	Other Ports	Audio \ Video
Two (hardwired)	None	None	RF
Power Supply - External	Other Outputs	Other Details \ Notes
Input: AC 120V, 60Hz Output: DC 12V, 0.5a	None	None
Manuals
Emerson Arcadia 2001 Owners Manual (PDF) - 1.53 MB Emerson Arcadia 2001 Service Manual (PDF) - 1.33 MB Documents courtesy of Emerson Arcadia 2001 Central

Games & Emulation

Games, media format, emulators and screen shots for titles released on this system.

Software for the Emerson Arcadia 2001 was distributed on ROM cartridges. Emerson opted to use cardboard, book-style packaging that is almost identical to the type used by Mattel for its Intellivision. These boxes are pretty sturdy compared to those utilized my Mattel and Atari. As previously discussed, for some unknown reason the cartridges came in two sizes. Besides the oversized plastic housing, there does not seem to be any technical difference between the two.

Many of the manufacturers of the Arcadia 2001 released their own packaging for games. Companies like Bandai, Leisure-Vision, Schmid and Tunix rebranded the software and sold them under their respective flag. Though many of the game titles are consistent, cartridge sizes often differ depending on the respective brand. Thusly, games for the various Arcadia 2001 and clones are not necessarily compatible.

Emerson Arcadia 2001 Game Boxes

Emerson Arcadia 2001 Game Screenshots

3D Bowling

Alien Invaders

American Football

Baseball

Brain Quiz

Breakaway

Cat Trax

Escape

Funky Fish

Grand Slam Tennis

Hobo

Jungler

Missile War

Ocean Battle

Pleiades

Red Clash

Robot Killers

Route 16

Soccer

Space Attack

Space Squadron

Space Vultures

Star Chess

Tanks Allot

Third Party Emulators
Program	Website	Description
M.E.S.S.	http://www.mess.org/	Multi-Emulator Super System is a DOS based emulator capable of running many systems including this one. It has a Windows based GUI, and should be usable by most PC systems.

Models

Additional authorized releases for this console. These are just a few of the releases for this system. Some pictures courtesy of our good friend Adrian Scheel.

Emerson Arcadia 2001
Country released: USA

Schmidt TVG-2000
Country released: Germany

Bandai Arcadia
Country released: Japan

Advision Home Arcade
Country released: France

Advision Home Arcade

Tchibo Tele-Fever
Country released: Germany

Tchibo Tele-Fever

Leisure Vision
Country released: Canada

Leisure Vision

Tunix Home Arcade
Country released: New Zealand

Poppy MPT-03
Country released: Germany

GiG Leonardo
Country released: Italy

Prestige MPT-03
Country released: France

Rowntron MPT-03
Country released: Unknown

Soundic MPT-03
Country released: Europe

Grandstand Video Master
Country released: New Zealand

Principal MPT-03 Home Entertainment Centre
Country released: France

Principal MPT-03 Home Entertainment Centre

Tempest MPT-03
Country released: Australia

Tempest MPT-03

Intelligent Home Entertainment Center
Country released: United States

Intervision 3001 Home Video Centre
Country released: Spain

Hanimex HMG-2650
Country released: Germany & Canada

Clones

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

There were a ton of clones based on the Arcadia 2001 - way too many to list.

Links

Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system.

Name	Website	Description
Emerson Arcadia 2001 Central	http://amigan.yatho.com/#software	Great site for the Arcadia!!
Game Asylum	http://store.gameasylum.us/em19ar20.html	Interesting article on this system

visitors since 01-Apr-2008
Page last updated 12-Jan-2012

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