From Bedrooms To Billions: Synopsis and Review

Created by Anthony and Nicola Caulfield 2014

This synopsis and review will highlight the key points from each section of the film followed by my own opinion at the end. If you are in education, this film alongside this synopsis could help you plan a lesson on the history of computing developement or gaming. Enjoy!

The Jist:

From Bedrooms to Billions is a documentary film that was funded using crowdfunding donations from the retro gaming and computing industry after pitches to television broadcasters were unsuccessful. The documentary tells the story of how the UK ignited the first roots of what is now a billion dollar, international entreatment industry. It also charts the changes in computing, programming and gaming from the 1970’s through to the present day, and how the industry itself has changed as a result.

The Emergence of Gaming:

• The advent of the microprocessor was seen as the advent of the ‘nerd in an anorak’. The thought that coding could be used to make video games was a second thought for hobbyist developers.
• The release of the ZX81 with a book to support coding and the BASIC programming language allowed people to experiment and change the controls. There were family, cultural and educational implications.
• The early era was crucially hobbyist. There was little money to be made and most people enjoyed connecting coding practices with a working model on screen. There were magazines developed that gave sample code that could then be modified and debugged. There was a fascination with cause and effect. Early gaming came from this fascination.
• Advances in memory and colours meant that gaming was achievable but not considered a money making platform. Initially schools would use coding to swap educational games. The advent of the Arcade era changed the perception of gaming. It became a social platform and a commodity that could be paid for. Hobbyists would attempt to recreate, expand and develop arcade games at home.

The Home Computer Age:

• The Sinclair Spectrum was one of the first mass created home platform units that was affordable and obtainable. It had a sophisticated 48k+ memory with better sound, graphics and the ability to save and load via cassette tapes.
• Hobbyists began to rally in to teams to collate the skills required not just to program the games they wanted to make, but to also make them aesthetically pleasing through good design.
• Sinclair himself had said that there would soon be a computer in every home which would allow a gaming lifestyle.
• The government ran a scheme with the BBC Micro computer to allow every school to have a computer. It was a very accessible system with the ethos very much of ‘learn as you do’. There was the ability to produce graphics to even greater capacity.
• The Commodore 64 was released as a rival to the Sinclair Spectrum with enhanced memory, sound and scrolling. Developers soon found layering shortcuts and other ‘hacking’ means to really push the boundaries of the technology. Now teams needed a game ‘musician’ as games were beginning to have their own rudimentary soundtracks. The Commodore had similar capabilities of commercial synthesisers of the day.

Early 80’s Boom:

• By the early 80’s the hobby was now becoming a business that could be run, very literally, from your own bedroom. This was an emerging industry and so there were no hard and fast rules about how the market should work.
• By 1982 there was a boom in the home mail order game. As games existed on cassette tapes, they could easily be coded and then copied and distributed via advertising in catalogues and magazines or directly through shows and expos.
• The cash generated could be used to create larger business models. Hobbyists could band together and open dedicated independent retail shops with front facing staff. This led to the trend of stocking a game ready for sale rather than taking and distributing orders.
• Local indie shops became hubs for social groups where people could swap games and share their interest. Eventually talent could be scouted from here and then could be employed by publishers for game distribution by multiple programmers.

Retail and Developers:

• Large retailers such as Boots and WH Smith saw the popularity of games as entertainment and began speaking to publishers about selling the games and stocking them in stores at wholesale level.
• By 1983-4 the mail order service was now redundant. Large companies were being formed to collate, distribute, organise and represent including all promotion, advertising, artwork and royalties to developers working under their umbrella.
• 1984-5 saw the erosion of the hobbyist era by larger corporations. Companies who couldn’t keep up on their own often merged to pool connections and ideas for keeping up with aesthetic branding and advertising. However these people were still practically inventing the industry and would often dodge bailiffs and lawyers.
• Games became more polished with good graphics and more appealing characters (Jet Pac, Night Lore, Attic Attack). Rivals would send each other samples to show off what they had been able to get out of a machine.
• The new leap for publishers was to acquire the rights to develop the official game for a movie. This would involve seeing the script in advance and then liaising with the studio to create a game play vision of the corresponding film. ‘Robocop’ was the first million selling video game as a result.

Gaming Journalism:

• Games were now getting their own magazines dedicated to reviews. Initially they were reviewed by general journalists and did not appeal to the gaming community.
• ‘Crash‘ was created for users by users. The editor would employ kids from the indie shops to review games for his publication. It became an icon of trusted review material as much as its covers.
• ‘Personal Computer Games‘ was another gaming magazine with multiplatform content. Later after this magazine ceased publication, some of the writers went on to create ‘Zzap! 64‘ and employing writers after scouting at gaming tournaments.
• ‘Zzap!64’ was considered a magazine with a “hardcore gamer ego” and this was reflected in the reviews which they wrote. They also showcased new releases which made them very influential.
• Magazines would have review wars, computer system rivalry and reverence for the programmer behind a publisher. They interviewed many programmers who acquired a celebrity status. This in turn funded more magazine sales, which funded game sales and so the cycle went on.

The Bubble Bursts:

• B y the end of the 1980s there was an huge gaming industry in the UK. At this time there was the release of the Amiga and the Atari ST range. The new 16 bit machines made for higher quality games and therefore increased development teams and overheads.
• The process of creating games became longer and more formalised. The need for a coordinated, team effort sounded the death knell for the bedroom coder. Money and overheads rocketed in order to create the games as quickly as consumers wanted them. There was a loss of creativity and freedom due to the costs at stake.
• USA/Japan were seeing the evolution of gaming with teams such as EA. They were investing in larger teams whereas the UK based publishers couldn’t afford to. Smaller teams and individual developers began to go bankrupt.
• The Amiga/Atari were building to the PC gaming age, however the PC was not yet affordable for the majority of consumers. In the interim, the UK was hit with the consoles coming in from the USA and Japan.
• There was a sudden and marked change as the transition began to NES/SNES/Mega Drive/Master System etc. Some companies attempted to choose to get licenses from Nintendo or Sega. They were very expensive as were the overheads of developing the cartridges and then pay the up front fees without knowing if the costs would be recuperated. Huge numbers of smaller developers were instantly frozen out of the console market.
• The industry in the UK began to stall. The lack of innovation and originality deterred would be, home grown developers. The margins with money were so huge that publishers would not take risks. There was a huge “brain drain” as UK talent went abroad to seek work.
• In 1993-4 Sony showcased the Playstation and the 3D capabilities it provided using a dinosaur. It was a complex system with a large outlay for the development kits and then 1-2 years development cycles for games.
• Where there was money, it was well invested with less risk because the CD format could be produced as demand arose. However there were still huge development costs still prevented the majority from being a part of it. The corporate industry exploded and the UK companies all but imploded.

The Future:

• Where an early Playstation game could cost $500,000 to create and market, a game today can cost $100 million on development alone. Game releases are now huge events.
• The gaming entertainment industry is a rival to music and film. Films are now made about games rather than just games about films. The demand for realism is huge and consumer expectations are extremely high.
• Many gaming industry roles are now specialised and there is specialisation in the market by each publisher.
• The era of gaming is coming full circle with the indie game creator who can make games for a variety of platforms, including mobile, from their own bedroom. The ‘Next Gen Report‘ helped to put computer science back on the National Curriculum so that the UK gaming industry can be nurtured and home grown again.
• Gaming is considered a viable educational platform for learning. The games industry itself can be studied alongside specialist roles in the industry and business management.
• The future aim is for UK talent to be able to succeed at home.

My Review and Thoughts:

This documentary film was a very enjoyable and informative watch. It certainly generated a lot of nostalgia for me as a child of the 80’s and would do even more so for those of the 70’s and 60’s too. I felt that the interviews were informative and amusing and there was a lot to see of the old consoles. As someone who doesn’t remember the very origins of the home computer, seeing the developers alongside/actually playing their creations would have linked up things a little better for me. This is however personal preference.

It was pleasant seeing the range of filming locations and not penthouse suites and expensive development centres which I fear would have been the case if this had been a documentary about the US gaming industry. It was very modest without being self pitying about the eventual demise of the UK industry. It was good to see the developers at expo’s generating enthusiasm for the younger generation and also being involved with the ‘Next Gen Report‘ which came out when I myself was leading an old style ICT department in a school. The look in to how the UK industry was trying to find its feet again was great, especially when you were THAT teacher who had to teach THAT package of software to kids who really did not want to be word processing when they could be using Minecraft!

I did find some of the music a little loud compared to the voice audio which meant a lot of ups and downs on the remote. This could just be me being a deaf old fart but it was a tad difficult in any case. I also couldn’t find any subtitles on the streamed version I was watching on Netflix which exacerbated the deaf old fart-ness!

I would say this is a staple watch for any retro gamer with memories of gaming any time from the 1970’s onwards. It is interesting too if you are interested in the gaming industry and how it has evolved in to how it works today, or indeed a teacher who is finding an interesting point of study for your class. Do let me know if this has been useful to you in the comments section.

All content credit summarised using ‘From Bedrooms to Billions’ documentary 2014. Please view their website at www.frombedroomstobillions.com

Blaster From The Past: Star Wars Games of the 80s

Star Wars was one of THE cinematic franchises of the 1980’s. With the advent of home gaming as well as the popularity of arcade gaming, Star Wars very quickly made the jump to various game format. This article will chart the games released during this decade and their reception by the gaming community. The year indicated in each case is the year of initial release, however the date may vary across platforms.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1982)

Cover art for Atari release

 

Set on the planet Hoth, this side scrolling shooter has you battling AT-AT walkers to delay the destruction of the Rebel base. The player takes the role of Luke Skywalker in a speeder. It included several levels of difficulty both in terms of the resilience of the AT-AT’s and the weaponry and speed of them. The walkers could be destroyed by shooting and indicated the level of remaining resilience by means of a colour change. The player can occasionally get a ‘Force’ power which makes the speeder temporarily invulnerable.

The game was generally well received – the graphics and sound were praised. However the fact that you could never ‘win’ (the base was destroyed or you were) disgruntled many critics.

 

 

Star Wars: Jedi Arena (1983)

Atari cover art showing the scene that the game is based upon

 

This very simple overhead shooter is all about using the paddle to control your Lightsaber during a bit of training (think Luke and the shooter in Episode IV). You have to deflect laser blasts from the opposing player controlling the seeker (computer or player 2) and not allow your shield to be destroyed. There are 4 difficulty parameters regarding the speed or visibility of the seeker. You have up to 3 direct hits before the shield is broken and you lose. The screen is very simple with a red Jedi at the top and a blue at the bottom. The shield has three layers so that you know where you stand against your opponent.

The game was received well, however it was very simple and a format that was used before. The game is very simple but is colourful and has the ‘multiplayer’ dimension which is attractive for the social players.

 

 

Star Wars (1983)

Flyer detailing the two types of arcade unit

 

Arcade gaming was big in the 1980’s and Star Wars Arcade machines were no exception to this. This particular game arrived in arcades first and was then ported to no less than 16 different console platforms. The player is in the role of Luke in his X-fighter during the final battle of Episode IV (attack on the Death Star). There are several fighting phases which then culminate in trying to fire the torpedo in to the exhaust port of the Death Star. The game then repeats with an increased difficulty.

The arcade version samples sounds from the movie using original actor voices as did some of the later ports to home console and computer. The game was exceptionally well received and continues to rank among the top arcade games of all time.

 

 

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi – Death Star Battle (1983)

Cover art for the Spectrum cassette case

 

In this release, you are piloting the Millennium Falcon during the attempted destruction of the second Death Star in the skies above Endor. The game consists of two stages – firstly destroying TIE-Fighters in the wait for the shield to drop on the Death Star. Secondly, the onslaught on the Death Star begins with destroying the reactor and then surviving the explosion. Success leads to the game beginning again at a greater level of difficulty.

The reception to the game was cool. It was labelled unimaginative by some and lacking excitement. The graphics were also good in places and not in others which gave a lack of consistency to the quality of the experience.

 

 

 

 

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1984)

Arcade flyer artwork

This arcade upgrade  for the original Star Wars machine or original unit had a slightly different graphics presentation. The game was, again, broken in to a number of stages from across the film that take place on Endor and also in space. In this release you get to ride a speeder bike as well as the Millennium Falcon and an AT-ST. Very exciting!

It featured a different play perspective on the arcade machine than in the original incarnation which put off some of the more seasoned vector graphics fans. There was also reported control challenges. However it did have sound samples from the film which made it very immersive.

Death Star Interceptor (1985)

Stage 2 of the game as you approach the Death Star

This incarnation of the Episode IV Death Star assault is set across 3 stages. Stage one is your launch in to space with an exciting Star Wars theme tune to boot. You have to keep your vehicle inside the rings on the screen. The second stage is dodging other vehicles and debris until the Death Star gradually comes in to view (as seen above). As you finish your approach, you will head towards the Death Star and in to the trench in the run up to the good old exhaust port. The trench scrolls towards you as you travel dodging lasers, TIE Fighters and other structures. If you make it through, you get to shoot the torpedo and finally witness the destruction of the Death Star. The game then repeats with a higher level of difficulty.

The reception to the game was mixed, but mostly positive. The Commodore users were left with a game that was vastly inferior than the Spectrum version and this caused conflict (there was plenty enough already between users of these systems!), The graphics were praised, especially the 3rd trench screen with its ‘3D’ effect. The game was criticised by some for being too difficult, however others liked the challenge.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1985)

Advertisment for the conversion for arcade owners

Here is another arcade release that was designed as an upgrade for the original arcade game from 1982 or the second installment from 1984. As in previous releases, this game was also highly ported and released over a number of years on a variety of platforms. The game features the Battle of Hoth and the journey of the Millennium Falcon through the asteroid. This is essentially the build of the game with other sub sections within it. The upgrade means that the story line is extended but also there are enhancements in the visuals.

This release came after ROTJ on arcade machines and therefore had limited success. People were already paying good money to play without arcade owners needing to pay for an upgrade that sounded older than the most recent film and it didn’t come with a new unit, simply cover up stickers. Therefore many owners simply didn’t bother upgrading. It was however much better received than ROTJ was with a return to the original vector style graphics.

 

Star Wars (1987)

The Famicom cover art taken from the original movie poster

 

So here is a Star Wars release for the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom) system. The Famicom was the Japanese Nintendo Entertainment System earlier equivalent and so this game would have had a large potential market. It is also a rarer game as it was only released in Japan (makes sense!). The game is based on the first film but does have material that come from all three. It is a side scrolling platform game with two levels of difficulty that takes you from planet to planet as Luke Skywalker using the force and wielding a lightsaber.

The game is almost toe curling in its difficulty and, of course, there is no save in home consoles at this time. It was often difficult to work out what you had to do to progress from one section to the next. There were few clues and before the age of internet and gamer guides, many players became frustrated. But perhaps the most cardinal sin? Luke has black hair as there were not enough colours available to make him blonde!

 

 

Star Wars: Droids (1988)

The cover art closely resembled the cartoon artwork

Its been hard to find out much about this last gem of the 1980’s. From what I can glean from various databases is that it was an adventure game where C-3PO and R2-D2 escape from various rooms as they are attacked by other droids. It was also tied in to a 1980’s cartoon of the same name, although the story line was not featured in the cartoon at any point.

From what I have managed to find on various console databases, it was not a popular title as it was considered boring and too focused on younger gamers. Maybe the market was ready for bigger things from consoles such as the NES which was released in 1985. It’s difficult to know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for part two of this Star Wars Games listing which will look at the continued release of games across even more platforms in to the 1990’s!

Game Boy And Its Techni’Color’ Dreamconsole

In my previous piece, I began to detail how the Game Boy release changed the face of portable gaming and some of the most popular and enduring titles that emerged at the time. In the next part of this retrospective series, I will explore how the release of the Game Boy Color created further shift in the portable market. Also in this piece I would like to tell you a bit more about the competition that was released at the time and why the Game Boy Color continued to endure as the best seller.

Just a quick point before I start. Color vs. Colour. For my fellow British readers and anyone else using UK English, please don’t think I have gone mad. I’m on a teaching career break at the moment so my primary thrill in life is to correct spelling and grammar in online articles. I promise that by using the term ‘Color’, I am using the registered brand spelling and not being vowel lazy. If I use the term ‘colour’ it is in fact about the colour of the unit itself. For any Stateside or American English readers, you won’t be bothered in any way but there it is! If I now make any spelling or grammar mistakes I really am going to have to eat humble pie.

The Game Boy Evolves

So, on to the order of the day. Game Boy Color had already been delayed as I explained in my last piece, because the original model had been so enduring that public demand really didn’t exist for much in the way of development. It was in fact developer pressure that began the impetus for change. There had been the various unit colour changes and some slimming down of the dimensions and weight, but nothing much else until the release of the Game Boy Color in 1998.

The unit itself measured 133mm x 75mm x 27mm which meant it was smaller than the Game Boy Pocket but larger than the Game Boy Light. At 138g in weight, it again fell between the earlier models from the first generation of units. It had twice the processing speed of the predecessor and 3 times the memory which made gaming faster and potentially more complex. The screen resolution, sound capabilities and built in user input remained the same. Two AA batteries provided 30+ hours of gaming joy (Allegedly, I never managed to make one set last this long). The screen was smaller at 60mm but it was in COLOUR! It is hard for anyone who isn’t from that generation to understand what it is like seeing colour portable gaming for the first time (I imagine rather like seeing colour television for the first time). It wasn’t the first handheld with the colour capability but it was the first one that people went pretty darn crazy for because of the established success of the original model. The palette stretched to 32,768 available colours, quite a change from the grey, grey, grey and…well grey of the first generation model.

 

[Tweet “It is hard for anyone who isn’t from that generation to understand what it is like seeing colour portable gaming for the first time”]

Industry Changer

The stand out, ground breaking industry first feature in portable gaming from Nintendo? Simple. Backwards compatibility. If you had the Color unit but could only afford a new game on your birthday, you didn’t have to wait twiddling your thumbs instead of the D-Pad. You simply inserted a cartridge from your library of up to 1048 games (depending very much on your location). This was a pretty phenomenal gamble considering that the hook of the Color unit was, well the colourful colours, and the old games still ran in grey. So, Nintendo ensured that every Game Boy Color game with a release title in full, glorious, shiny colour. The choice was between ‘Tetris DX’, ‘Wario Land II’ or ‘Pocket Bomberman’ – established titles from the past generation of handheld which therefore drew the player in to a familiar genre while showing the new unit to its full capability.

‘Wario Land – Super Mario Land 3’ on Game Boy vs. ‘Wario Land II’ on Game Boy Color

 

Nintendo then released cartridges which fell in to 2 types. Type A were the backwards compatible cartridges. The game boxes would have screenshots of the game in colour and black & white. The cartridge would be a slightly different shape but would play in all past and current models of the Game Boy. Type B were the forwards compatible cartridges. These were a different shape again and slightly see through. The box and cartridge would also clearly state that the game was for the Color unit only. You would also get a cheery message if you tried to use it in your older model telling you that it wasn’t going to happen (we all had to try it, kids always do when you tell them it won’t work).

 

Palette potentials and associated key combos for GBC

Some games were released as special ‘Hi-Colour’ versions or with ‘Special Palettes’. You could also use different button combinations to experiment with the palette you were using. For example, if you were using an original Gameboy game, you could upgrade to 10 (yes 10) shades of grey instead of 4. You could also invert the colours if that took your fancy. It could cause a few problems though, especially if sprites on the screen suddenly became indistinguishable from the background because you had a pastels fetish!

Backwards compatibility was the reason that Gameboy Color blew the other, sometimes more advanced competition, out of the water. No other system was launching with such an established and diverse library of game choice. The content wasn’t new, so it had been tried and tested before. This meant that the developers could build on the existing popularity of characters such as Mario and Donkey Kong to name but a few.

Unit Variation

Nintendo didn’t disappoint with the colour range of the Gameboy Color units. The initial release was a different colour for each of the colours in the ‘Color’ logo. These were Berry (C), Grape (G), Kiwi (L), Dandelion (O) and Teal (R). There was also ‘Atomic Purple’ which was a see through unit casing with a purple tint to it. There were then 7 limited edition units, mainly for the Japanese market and mostly a clear casing with a coloured tint. 7 separate Pokémon variants were released, for example the ‘Pikachu’ version was a yellow and blue unit with the Pokémon logo, artwork and coloured buttons that came with a copy of Pokémon Yellow. I would have sold my soul for that as a kid. Or now.

Shut up and take my money/soul.

As before, there were also the special variants that were particular releases for branding or other purposes. The Ferrero company, for example, bought out a ‘Happy Hippos’ edition to coincide with the release of their new chocolate of the same name (remember those?) and only 111 of them to boot. Hello Kitty bought out two versions and Tommy Hilfiger even had a unit made in their brand. Many of these units were regional and limited in their run. Therefore today they are obviously the more valuable and collectable types. Check out Wikipedia’s more in depth list for more information about these and other Game Boy generations.

Competition…or lack of?

So maybe I’ve been a little one sided on the “Nintendo rule the world” fence. Let’s flesh these out a bit to understand why they didn’t work out.

Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Colour

The Neo Geo Pocket Color

Released in Japan in 1998 (just a week after the Game Boy Color) the original Pocket lasted just a year and never made it to Europe or America. The total mis-timing of the console was rather silly…releasing a monochrome unit a week after one of the biggest game companies in the world released a colour one. The colour version was released in 1999, 5 months after the debut of the Gameboy Color, by which time it was simply too late. The rise of Pokémon in the new millennium and the stronger sales of Bandai’s Tamagotchi and WonderSwan meant that the NGP Color and its library of 84 games stalled. Developers and retail support evaporated. The units were discontinued by 2001 having sold just 2 million units, combined, in 3 years. The whole company never recovered and folded in 2007. Yikes.

Bandai WonderSwan

WonderSwan was powerful but a bit of a fail really.

The name may sound a little strange but it was intended to highlight the aesthetics of the unit and the capabilities it offered. It was released only in Japan in 1999. Bandai had already been HUGE internationally with the detention inducing, sleep depriving Tamagotchi (you may have heard of those).  However, yet again, it was another company that failed to make the pitch at the right time. They released a black and white unit. There was no colour model until 2000 over 2 years since the Gameboy Color and they then released a Crystal version in 2002. It was the main rival to Nintendo on the handheld market after the Neo Geo was pulled. A release library of 50 games and eventually 9 unit colours was well thought out and an online poll involved the user in choosing and naming new colours for 3 limited edition units. There were a few reasons why the WonderSwan endured a little longer. Firstly, it was cheaper. Always a perk if you are on pocket money. It also had a meaty battery life and some Anime titles which were very popular. It also did this funky thing where you could play vertically and horizontally, plus it had some very awesome accessories such as data transfer dongles and software developing kits. It ceased development in 2003 having sold just 3.5 million units combined. The announcement of the impending release of the Game Boy Advance was attributed to the failure of the unit.

Game Gear/Oh Dear. Even ‘Sonic The Hedgehog‘ couldn’t save you.

Sega Game Gear and NEC Turboexpress

Now this was playing with the big boys. Sega Game Gear was the main contender to Nintendo in the portable market. It was the only console that rivalled the Game Boy Color because it had been around for 8 years already. Yes…Years. So why wasn’t it wiping the floor with a Game Boy shaped mop? Well, it was a rush job which is such a shame as it really had potential.

It was in colour and backlit, something that Nintendo still hadn’t managed to sort out even with 8 years extra to try. It shared titles with Sega home consoles such as ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ and ‘Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse‘. It also had fast processing capability. But it ran on 6AA batteries that only lasted 3-ish hours. Unless you had an army of rechargeables or a very, VERY generous allowance, batteries were going to bankrupt you quickly. Also, if you were anything like me, you spent 3 hours just deciding what socks to wear let alone gaming. It did have some great accessories though such as the TV Tuner. It cost nearly as much as the Game Gear itself but it was portable TV, in colour, under the duvet. Not that there was much in the way of late night TV in the 90s. There were also charger units, magnifiers and different colour releases but we all know that they had been around since the late 1980s with the original Game Boy.

The titles, familiar as they may be, were limited. Nintendo had a monopoly on the market that meant developers were contracted to them. Sega began to tire of the lack of opportunities for their handheld device when their home consoles were doing so well (Master System, Mega Drive and so on). There were also many issues surrounding the advertising of the Game Gear outside of Japan. Sega were criticised for mocking Nintendo users as fat and having low IQs. Then there were the more, er, smutty adverts.

As my Nan would say…Such smut. Especially for the British consumer. Naughty Naughty.

Yuck. Definitely the ‘Dad Dance’ of handheld gaming.

But then Sega never did have a reputation for being well behaved in the advertising stakes and it had never hurt their sales in the past. At any rate, they switched their focus back to home consoles and had notched up a fairly decent count of 11 million sales. The issue was that Nintendo had sold over 118 million. Yikes.

Interestingly (and briefly as there isn’t a huge amount to say) the NEC Turboexpress also failed at around the same time, due to similar issues with battery life and lack of developer interest. It also had a dreadful problem with the sound components failing and pixels burning out. It also looked pretty uncool and was wacky expensive.

 

Atari Lynx

Atari just couldn’t seem to get it right in the hardware department.

I have a weak spot for Ataris. I had an ST as a kid and adored it so I’m sad that for some reason unknown to man or beast, I never played a Lynx or a Jaguar It has the special tiara that says ‘First colour LED handheld console ever’. In 1989 no less which was the same year that Game Boy released their 4 shades of dust. Game Boy also didn’t have other capabilities that the Lynx had such as a sleek hand hugging design, horizontal and vertical gaming and very advanced graphics that used a fast processor to zoom in on sprites and create a mock-3D effect. It was hugely advanced for the time and should have left the Game Boy for dust. However it was plagued with a poor battery life (4-5 hours) and a limited software library of just 72 titles across its shelf life. It released an updated version in 1991 and sales were bolstered in to the mid-90s very briefly when the Jaguar console was released and died a horrible, painful death. Sales figures are very widely debated from half a million to 2 million, but the poor sales and the curse of the Jaguar certainly played a huge part in the demise of Atari during the 90s.

In Conclusion…

The Gameboy Color had a limited life when compared with its original incarnation. The Gameboy Advance was announced for a 2001 release and the Color reign was very quickly taken over by something new. It is interesting on reflection just how much of a grip Nintendo had on the market even though the only first they had was the backwards compatibility. It still fell way behind by nearly a decade in terms of the colour display. Even by the time they caught up, there was still no backlight and the design was dated. But Nintendo had an established game library, a clear selling strategy and audience, reliable componants and power and Pokémon. Combined sales of the Original and Color units were 118.69 million and those sorts of sales are untouchable. However if you then think that 84.52 million sales of games were just from the Pokémon franchise across 4 years on these generations of consoles…well, let’s leave that for another article!