My dad could have bought a Sinclair Spectrum in 1982, it would have been the cheaper option, but instead he bought the C64. 40+ years later I'm STILL playing the C64 😂
@@Sinistar1983😅 The trouble is, early adopters of technology never know if their choices will turn out to be successful in the market. There have been several great hardware designs that never caught on, whilst simpler hardware grabs a huge market share. So it was often a case of buy and hope for the best. The C64 was successful, despite it's slower clock speed and terrible BASIC.
@@another3997 but the C64 had much better sound and graphics and those were key. And it's BASIC was still good enough for kids to trigger their fascination for the computer world.
I grew up with a Commodore 64, my cousins with the ADAM. They went through at least 3 ADAMs due to issues. A shame because the ADAM was actually a brilliant machine. We did a lot with it including running CPM.
I started developing and fell in love of generative art and music on a sega sc3000. It had an amazingly powerful basic, and thanks to the lack of games I learned to code just 10 years old. The sc 3000 was just wonderful. Polyphonic fm chip and true 16 colors graphics.
I owned a Coleco Adam when I was a boy that I picked up from a second hand shop. I used it primarily to play Coleco games on and print some things up for fun. It had an extremely loud printer! At the time I had little utility for a computer.
Yes, there are a few of us. In Brazil there was a joke in which CCE was jokingly mentioned as "CCE - Comecei Comprando Errado" or in english "It all started by making the wrong purchase", because they were considered of very poor quality and build. I was the proud owner of a Gradiente Expert MSX computer, Gradiente was a higher end competitor and the how the brands were viewed back then impacted it ( I had a Polivox Atari, I don't remember CCE's clone selling that well, but CCE was focused on low quality, really cheap, throw it out of the door as fast as you can, which did work ). It is fun and interesting to see a non-biased perspective from outside, as in my mind the "Comecei Comprando Errado" stuck so hard, that is still how I view the brand.
I got a boxed base Aquarius off of a table of $5 items at a flea market in 1989 or '90, sold as not working (it worked fine though it did get really warm in use). It was kind of interesting to see the differences between it and Dad's TI-99/4A, Timex Sinclair 2068, and TRS80. I definitely liked it the least between it and those 3, but I had some fun in BASIC on it in spite of it's trash keyboard. I don't know if it was ever worth it's original price, but for 5 USD, it was okay for a few hours of entertainment as a kid. I've got it packed up in my garage though and haven't had it on since before I last moved about a decade back...probably should make sure it's still in working condition.
That was the first computer i played, my brother lent it from someone Matel Aquarius. my dad read out the basic programs and i typed them in, i was about 8 sorry 10 years old
The Coleco Adam had such promise! I wanted one so bad! Glad I could not afford one at the time. Instead I got a Yamaha PSS-480 Music Station, and Yamaha QX-21 sequencer. The best pre-computer purchase I ever made.
My father bought us 4 kids an ADAM when they had a price drop to $199 in 1984. We loved that computer and damn sure go his money's worth out of it. We used it about equally as an Colecovision Console and as a Family Computer. I taught myself to do some basic programming as an 8 year old following the very thick instruction book included with the ADAM. I loved the Cassette Tapes and as a kid I was blown away by how much data they could hold compared to even an NES Cartridge. I imagine if someone paid $499 for it they wouldn't have had as fond a memory as us.
As a kid I was skeptical about the Mattel Aquarius, not because of Mattel or the product itself. I remember a salesman at the notoriously sketchy Crazy Eddie's in NYC telling my dad that it would help him balance his checkbook. One couldn't believe anything they said! He walked away, and I followed him. We were soon to be saved by the Commodore 64.
Balance your checkbook was a BASIC program that you could program, but the Aquarius only held 126 lines of code, so you couldn't program much and couldn't save programs so needed to write a new program each time. snafu and Tron were fun though.
Ah the Adam. I remember this being sold at Zellers (Canadian retailer like KMart) but in the toy section! It was obvious that these weren’t selling well. My family already had an upgraded Atari 400 , 48K with a disk drive. Great times those early home computer days!
I had an Aquarius, bought from Dixons in the UK IIRC, and I really liked it, but it developed a fault and was returned for a refund. Now, many years later, I bought a dead one off eBay and revived it :)
From a business perspective, I can't fault Nintendo for scrapping the VES/AVS in favor of the NES model. That said, I've always wished they went with the computerized design and released the Famicom Disk System as an add-on in other markets. Not only could the rest of the world have played the original Zelda and Metroid games the way they were meant to be experienced, but think of all the great homebrew games that could have been created and shared so easily. It's unlikely that they could have competed with Commodore or IBM in the business market, but they could have been THE premiere computer for gamers and hobby programmers.
I still have my original Aquarius that was bought on sale from Asda in 1984 If I remember correctly. The computer was packaged with the data recorder and the 16K RAM pack, all for the princely sum of £49.
if Coleco would have shipped their units on time and ironed out the serious bugs with the system before launch, it had a strong chance of being a huge success. I actually knew two people that had Adams back in the day but this was like around 1985-87 period and I have a feeling they got these at heavy discounts as they were clearing the final inventory long after it's launch.
I _love_ the SC-3000. I was at an Amiga event where one was being auctioned off, and no one seemed to know what it was or care. Even though someone had brought a hardkey variant along. :(
As a kid, I learned a life lesson: If two companies offer the same product and one throws in a free color tv, always pick the other one.. There is not such a thing as a free TV
Great research, indeed! But... What the heck, CCE MC-1000 is HERE! 😂😂😂 I've only read about it in an Wikipedia article, I've never seen one in front of me, however I had a Top Game when I was a child in 1991, my loving NES clone (even though it had technical failures in my TV, such as wrong colors and a missing audio channel in my Sanyo TV set at home...). I can't help but admire CCE's tenacity over the years, even though quality control wasn't their real priority in the 1980s and 1990s. And shamefully, CCE has dared to make a computer of their own (despite basing upon a model from Korea, as you mentioned) in a real misstep of strategy! A very weak 8-bit computer, unfortunately, that didn't add props to CCE's reputation. A relief that they discontinued few months later. I can't help but think, what if CCE made the right technical decisions in making the MC-1000? How much the Brazilian industry would be stimulated to have a proper system to call as their own? I'm very much surprised to see a proper game off this system rolling in this episode...! I didn't know that an emulation of the MC-1000 even existed! Hahahaha... 😅 And, as I can see, you had a hard time making the little Jackie Chan jumping... I think I know this game in the MSX, however the version here is severely downgraded. Laird, you really surprised me in this one... Thank you! Hoping to see more episodes of failed computer systems in the world indeed! P.S.: CCE has some nicknames that gave an idea of their reputation here in Brazil. The one I remember the most is "Comecei Comprando Errado", which means "I've Started Buying Wrong". Or even, "Comprei Componentes Estragados", which is "I've Bought Damaged Components"! P.S. 2: And your pronunciation was right in the strong syllables, even with your English accent! 🎉
According to everything I read online Lenovo bought CCE then sold the company back to the original owners some years later, happy to be corrected though.
@@TheLairdsLairIt is a little more complicated than that. Lenovo bought it for a large sum of money to be paid on several installments. And the deal had this weird clause that stipulated that the transfer would only be officially completed after the last installment was paid in full. Then they did a lot of improvements into CCE's former factories, bringing new tech and know-how from China and whatnot hoping to tap into what they expected to be a huge potentially untapped Brazilian consumer market that was ripe for the taking. But their plans went sour really fast; they were very disappointed with the return of their investment and decided to bail on the whole deal. They basically just gave up and returned CCE to its previous owners! And that without making a single cent back; they just cutoff their losses, didn't pay the last installment and let the company fall back to the previous owners as per the contract terms, that were very happy to get the company back in better shape than it was when they sold it. Although it still exists in some shape today, CCE is now just a distant (mostly bad) memory for most Brazilians as the company left the market altogether a few years later (circa 2015-16 if I remember correctly).
Italian here, I remember a schoolmate got the SC-3000 for Christmas. The games were really good! Of course it was doomed to die as the Commodore 64 was dominating the scene.
Thank you. Ah, the Coleco ADAM - such a meme of a computer I imported one from the US a few years ago as something of a joke system... it rapidly became by far my favourite 8-bit computer for it's combination of crazy quirks and genuine awesomeness. I've developed a few hardware addons for it and it gets a good deal of use from me. IMO this computer failed largely as a result of idiot management shoving what is no more than an engineering demonstrator out of the door instead of properly developing it.
Considering the sales of the C64 and Amiga and that they've both been used by hobbyists and commercial endeavors (C64s were used a lot as teleprompt sources and chargens for cable company announcement screens, Amigas were used in many flightsims and for video editing and CGI production with the Video Toaster), I'll give Commodore that credit.@@TheLairdsLair
I have an SC-3000 French RGB model with an SC-3000 Survivors multicart in Wales, UK. I wish Retro Gaming Cables would make a Packapunch SCART cable for it (the 8-pin DIN and pinout are different to the Master System 1 / Mega Drive 1 one). So I'm stuck with the original 80s SCART cable at the moment.
I had Sega 3000H with Super control station. (New Zealand) The number of games was more limited than rival systems but adequate. The joysticks were poor quality but I rebuilt them with micro switches. I used it for more serious applications as it could run CPM off disc so could run CPM software with a simpler font (more columns) Combined with the Centronics interface and RS232 I could use a standard printer and connect to local bulletin board that the local Sega dealer operated it was fine. The 3in discs were good but expensive. Replaced it with a Sinclair QL which again was poor for games but just fine for Word processing and spreadsheet and used the same printer. This saw me through to the Windows age. Although I have been a Linux user since 2000
i loved this video. be more interested to see more videos like this and some amazing facts for stuff like the MSX line,, Amstrad series, and the Sega Teradrive.
I have done multiple videos on all of those things including 10 Amazing MSX Facts, 10 Amazing MSX2 Facts and Obscure Sega Systems! Looks like you have some more videos to watch! 😜
@@TheLairdsLair guess i do have to see some videos you got some great content though. there is a console called the gizmondo I would like to see a video on as it had a interesting history or something like the arcade boards from Sega or Namco.
I actually had an Aquarius. Nice machine, but the graphics architecture was very limited. It is something that should have been done in 1978. It should have had multi colour character mode at least, with an freely configurability palette. Mattel should have instead turned an enhanced intellivision into a cartridge based computer from the start in a shape format more like the Atari. Even with the first version. And either offer cheap clip on (maybe removable) keyboard, and plug in ram rom interface cartridge card that slots in the back to upgrade it, or sell it as a basic computer. So, that people could buy an game console with internal cartridge port hole, and keyboard clip mount points, as a lower cost option, or the thing fully equipped, as a higher cost option. The thing about the internal cartridge port, is it would be upgradable at anytime, and you could put new processor, sound or graphics in it. If it was two cartridge slots high, people could put an arm or Intel board in today, and a 3-3.5inch floppy back then (what was needed was a 2-2.5 inch floppy that could latter also have an optical version). With all this, a basic text character mode with 10 and 20 column character mode with hardware scrolling feature. So, the low resolution 10+ column characters can be used for smooth scrolling backgrounds. Just very basic enhancements that can use rom based character images and in future be expanded into a computer. 40 and 80 columns are preferable to have as well. Even if these do not get used for the next few years, a big cost is in designing new chips. So, you could add simple features that enable you to do more as you can afford it over the next 5 years. If you look at some of the better colourised Sinclair ZX81 games using modern colour cartridge, they can look a lot more exciting than the Intellivision, from less exciting without the cartridge. The Intellivision needed better colour and graphics options. Two things win on these types of games, higher contrast in colour (which the Atari VCS had, as well as a range of colours) and brightness. It's about excitement. The whole sports focus was a bit of a mis step too. Novel is exciting, which the UK home computer market produced by the bucket load. Novelty, produces a dopamine hit, so contrast and colour. The Commodore VIC 20 had some better colour, which had it's own limitations, such as colour pallet constraints, which still followed a bit in the Commodore 64, from old graphics architecture developed years before. It produced a lot better games than the Intellivision. That level of graphics, with some primitive sprites, could have been in the 1970's. The thing that plagued the industry was cheap asseness. The Atari 8 bit, then the Commodore 64 and Amiga, being exceptions, where they spent money making better chips. But, this continued on, with companies buying off the shelf graphic chip parts, and derivatives, but not really pushing the boundaries. The old Motorola graphics chips were a common one. 2 colours of very limited colour options at 256 columns wide, and 4 colours at 128 with limited colour options, and limited graphics. Most of those machines failed. A lot of people went to Commodore, even the Sinclair Spectrum vastly outsold them, and the VIC 20 looked better, because you could pick each of the 2 or 4 colours (with some limitations). They needed to do a larger pallet, pallet switching version, character graphics with multi color mode, smooth scrolling sync, and 16 colour 128x96 mode, and increasing the features every second year. I'm not even talking sprites here. It would have been a lot more appealing early on. By the time the Commodore 64 came, they needed to have new versions of modes with double the bits per pixel on each node, and offer a new enhanced new double pixel resolution mode (256 to 512, then double the horizontal resolution, while also swapping to 320 width then 640 width etc, and introduced accelerated hardware. We see the Sega Master systems used a design that MSX should have pursued, along with higher 80 column resolution mode, to get into low end business computers where Commodore sold (as it had come). If you are going to have dozens of companies, even hundreds, fail against Commodore by using a pre-dated standard, you might as well all invest money, as a group, into making a better graphics chip. A design like used in the Sega Mega drive, would have been a better followup after that, but with double the resolution for 80 column. It's primitive compared to the Amiga, but it would do. You are selling on price, and enough functionality. That is why Sega succeeded. Even the Commodore 64 could have been enhanced with more sprites, more pallette, and freer pallette choices. The last one, would have allowed more colour effects and raster manipulation. But, it needed an 80 column mode for business use. They were including the vic2 chip along side 80 column chips latter in the 128 and one line of business machines, and I think just the 40 column Vic in another. The chip only needed pallette registers, all colours of each mode being assignable (meaning the nibble ram being a byte) and double the sprites per line, with two sprite being able to be combined into one with double pixel width (4 colours hires, 16 colours Multicolor with each sprite, and colour stacking like msx 2 did) and 160x120 mode 16 colours. If a second edition was doable for an 128, a year after, I would introduce 640x240 mode, and double pixel bit width modes, meaning multi colour goes to 16 colours and 160x120 to256 colors, if not have an option for quadruple but width modes. Let's say they stick with the original 8 sprites with enhancements, first edition to lower cost, and go to 16, and 32 on future editions, as 8 sprites takes up most of the existing chip. That's enough to do home and business machines below the Amiga, until the 1990's on an increased sales rate for longer. But Commodores MOS semiconductor would need to redo their fab, or outsource the production. Even IBM went to Japan to get technology to expand their graphics. The Motorola chip used in the machine, I would have put the 16 colour TV graphics mode to the monitor, integrate the graphics chips, and expand form there to 320 column 16 colour and 640 column 16 colour. Which some companies did. Before going to exotic resolutions and frame rates. Simplify the architecture and integrate it down to one or two chips with the processor (this is IBM we are speaking of, one of the richest companies) and sold that as a cut cost personal machine, like a smaller better version of the Tandy, after I saw the original PC was a hit. I would have made an enhanced business PC with a better chipset again. If the Amiga chip people wanted to sell to me, I would say, yes I'll buy that. Commodore got the home computer market, and IBM, partly (due to the clones) got the business market, where either company could have got both with a different direction. In my research, I've determined that 8 bit home computer like graphics, could have been done in a console by 1978. That 16 bit like graphics, and processor, could have been done by the time of the Amiga. 16 bit business machines by the late 1970's, 32 bit after. We simply went down the wrong architecture path. There were better simpler architectures we could have done at lower to similar, transistor counts on chip. Which means, similar costs. The big problems are memory and storage. But if you want the memory you buy a more expensive version or buy the memory. I had been researching the idea in the day, of storing programs on paper, which could replace tapes and discs they included in gaming magazines. such a system could sell software on, and there are a few other things I want to work on for a retro machine, to solve the other issues.
I'm actually envisioning, a 5mm thin tablet like device with display and keyboard, which could have been done in the mid 1970's, using production technology I had been researching, however the battery is the issue, wherever a usable battery can fit, or has to be the size of nid sized book, and how much memory. It could be 8 bit, or 16 bit. The display technology, I have to find if technology, or capability, to make suitable switching drivers were available in those days.
Since you're interested in obscure machines from outside the US and the UK, may I recommend a look at the Orao? It was apparently quite a successful computer with some interesting capabilities, designed and sold in what was then Yugoslavia. An especially rare feature was that it had high-res monochrome graphics but NO text mode: text was drawn from a character ROM, meaning that you could mix text and graphics easily; and also meaning it was probably hideously slow.
It’s a shame that there’s no mention in this video of the huge ‘sting in the tail’ of the Aquarius, which is that it now has a modern successor that’s actually good! I refer to Sean Harrington’s Aquarius+ machines (of which there are now two models - the new, cheaper Mini drops the legacy ports). These are fully backwards compatible with all Aquarius software and most peripherals (a small collection, admittedly), but they also have VASTLY improved capabilities, including lots of RAM, incomparably better graphics, six-channel sound, a greatly enhanced BASIC and modern features such as SD card storage and Wi-Fi. Development is ongoing and the Aquarius+ has recently gained the ability to run CP/M in an 80-column screen mode. They’re available now and are well worth a look for an interestingly different modern retro computer system. (Oh, and it’s an open source project too.)
I had an Adam. The basic was a really close to Applesoft, but IIRC, the various addresses were not. Also, that datasette? It's only the on-tape format that's proprietary. .
Australia sc3000 sold by John sands which was a board gaming company here towards the end of its life in 86 was able to run games from compact cards….i had the floppy drive also was a great little system and beat the coco, vic 20 and the amstrad at the time…theyfetch a huge resale price now
i remember the commercial for the Aquarius! that's all i remember about it, though - i didn't even remember the name, but i was 05 and more interested in coloring books
The Coleco Adam, its the same as the ColecoVision but with the printer as the power supply, and combine that with a defective tape drive and low-budget build quality.
I've played with an aquarius a bit in the early 80s - wasn't much you could do without the extended cartridges! I think proper basic came on a cartridge and the internal one wasn't much cop. I remember the attempted launch of the Adam in the UK which went as well as expected! Too many manufacturers selling to a market that wasn't big enough for them all. Had to be pretty bad if you were already behind the low end like the spectrums before you managed to even release your computer.
I seem to recall the Aquarius bundles being sold at KB Toys in the U.S. for $50 at one point. Not knowing anything about it, I was tempted to get one. Thankfully, I didn't waste my money on it. I already had a C64 at that point, and didn't need some no-name computer.
Never had any of these when new, had a TI99/4A, but did acquire the Aquarius and SC-3000 many years later. While the Aquarius is fairly awful I do like the SC-3000 quite a bit, albeit for a game machine versus it's original intended uses as a home PC. I do, technically, have a Coleco Adam but with a keyboard and printer, where the actual PSU is located, I have no idea if it's functional.
Does anyone remember back in 1984 at the Eaton's centre there was a computer store there. Anyway I remember on my home from school I would often drop in to see the Adam computer and I think they had this game (Buck Rogers) playing on demo mode; looked pretty good. Also that was the only time in my life I saw the Apple Lisa computer; funny I recall no one was really interested in it.
I had one CCE Top Game Famiclone wheb I as 13, in 1990. The game pads where horrible :D but it made me a very happy kid playing SMB for the first time.
Back in the eighties, I saw a small computer with rubber keys that gave a beep sound when you pushed them and it also had special keys with "Invader" type space things printed on them. I don't know what it was and I never saw one again so it was probably not a big success.
The Tandy CoCo did not rush to market and was not released (the first time) during the video game crash. It was released in 1980 for the original version.
9:40 Well not exactly.. The NES/Famicom was a console first and then an attempt was made to make it into a PC. The Atari 800/400 had already been established in the PC market place since the late 70s, and it came first before all other Atati PCs or consoles, except the 2600 (and PONG). The Atari XE GS was an Atari 65XE, in a different form factor to be a Gaming console with detachable keyboard. It was fully compatible with prehipreals and software from all the previous Atari 400/800, XL, and XE models. It was not a console before that, like the NES/FamiCom was. With that said, however, the Atari 5200 was a console that shared the same guts/architecture as the Atari 400/800 (it predates the Atari 1200XL by a month) but none of the hardware is compatible with existing Atari 8bit hardware (cartridges were different, all peripherals were different).. but the software (mostly) was compatible.
How about the laser 128 apple 2 c* clone... Vtech still makes "learning game systems" like the v.smile line... But the laser 128 and 128 ex, was the only actual computers they made.. i believe had somehow been mostly like an apple II c, but the disk drive from an apple Ii e, or something.. i had one i used for years and years. Learning basic qnd getting shareware disks after the apple 2 lifespan ended. Also one of few apple clones in the US.
Having been a Magnavox Odyssey2 user, I faintly remember its successor computer the O2000. I never even saw the O2000 in stores. I guess that qualifies as failed doesn't it?
Ah ok! The Odyssey 3 AKA the Philips Videopac G7400 - that was released in Europe under the latter name, but the North American release was cancelled. I have done an entire video covering that story: th-cam.com/video/KPAF5DOm04I/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=TheLaird%27sLair Definitely not a computer, just a console with a rubbish keyboard, much like the previous model (it's just an enhanced version of the 02/Videopac, not really a new system).
We love obscure and failed systems? Of Course, Laugh? I almost bought one! In my case I was looking for my first computer and the Oric 48 was looking very tempting at a local tiny computer shop where it was £10 cheaper than the 48k Spectrum (and a good bundle). When you are working paper rounds, that £10 was a lot!
@@TheLairdsLair But back then we did not know its flaws... I boringly stuck to the spectrum as they had a previous hit with the ZX81. Besides, Smiths and Boots had games for the specy, can't remember seeing Oric games in either of those shops. You know, it's the logic of a 15 year old ;)
When I asked for a Spectrum for Christmas my dad went to look in the new Toys R Us that had just opened in Brent Cross (I think it was the first one in the UK) as he was working right by it and came back with a catalogue. He tried to convince me that the Atari XE was a much better buy, as it came with lots of software and accessories and the graphics looked much better (they had them all set up on display) but I was adamant I wanted a Speccy because that's what all my friends had. In hindsight I probably would have picked the Atari XE . . . . . .
@@TheLairdsLair Bentalls, likely 81 ish, they had a computer section up on the top floor. Atari 800 running star raiders, oh my, that became my hearts desire. As we were poor (single parent family), it was paper round/working evenings in a shop to save up enough to buy a computer, I could eventually afford a Spectrum. First paycheck for my first proper job after leaving school, Dixons had the Atari 800xl +cassette deck on sale for just about the same amount. Never has a frivolous purchase given me so much joy! Hunting for software became part of the fun. Found carts in the oddest of places. Wound up getting a 2600 from a car boot fair to rescue my Atari back from Mum (she's discovered Qix and Gateway to Apshai and the fight was on!).
Surprised you didn't mention the APF Imagination Machine. It was an extension of the APF-M1000 games console which turned it into a full-size computer. The console docked into a large keyboard which also had a tape drive and expansion ports.
APF aren't a successful console company though, I think you missed the point there! I did cover that console in this video however: th-cam.com/video/ZXbYzCnu7Vw/w-d-xo.html
Don't think I've ever heard of the Adam computer, i don't know what to say about that. Anyway, elsewhere the Aquarius lasted 4 months? What! From my memory it got an awful lot of press for that short life... or maybe In a time before the internet and targeted advertising, they were ahead of the game. I see after watching this video, they were trying to sell to me (all of them). Sadly I already had a Z80 based computer supplied by my dad. So they were fighting an up hill battle, probably from underground. CCE MC-1000 sounds really interesting, although more the events and people that led to it.
That last clip for an Aquarius showed a salesman that looked like someone's grandpa, who was he trying to sell to? The kids in the 1980's were using video recorders, consoles and computers, my generation in our 20's were buying the stuff for ourselves. if we wanted information on what systems to get we ask our own age group or even the kids, we didn't ask our parents or grandparents because they were out of their depth. Sell it to the kids and they will tell their parents what they want for Christmas.
It was aim at the parents of kids in the 6-10 year old range which by this time were really the only ones who might be interested in that kind of setup. Note how he's focused on what you get for x amount of dollars, that's what parents understand far more than the kids and the parents were ultimately the ones in control of the money.
I was disappointed as an Intellivision owner who stared at that picture of the keyboard component on the box for hours and hours on end, only to see that watered down and replace with the ECS, only to see that replaced by the Aquarius. It was obviously DOA. Not only was it completely underpowered, everyone I knew already had a C=64 by the time we even heard of it. Aside from the power of the original Intellivision design and the brilliant sports games marketing, Mattel never did seem to make the right decisions.
Excellent. I think that Atari had the exact opposite problem, sadly. As much as I love my 800XL, it is plainly obvious to me that Atari did NOT have the resources to be a great computer company while still being a great gaming console company. I can't help but think that the failure that was the 5200 project would have been much better (and probably even released a year earlier), had they simply been more focused on it and not on the excellent 800 line of computers (which they unfortunately and ironically shoehorned into becoming the 5200 that we got). History shows that Atari peaked with the 2600 (and I know it because Atari became an instant playground laughing stock when the NES arrived, maybe earlier), so I do not think the corporate decision to run a split-hardware company was at all worth it, in retrospect. The truth is, they were envious of Apple's profit margins and simply followed the "big" money path instead of embracing their pioneering role in consoles.
A series of events really changed the course of things for Atari. Obviously the video game crash was big blow for them, but several other things were going on. Among them was Atari providing funding to Amiga Corp (82-83). Atari had a couple of stipulations: they would have a 1 year exclusive period to use the tech for a 16 bit game console, after which Amiga could release a computer, and if Amiga failed to repay the loan they would forfeit the tech. Atari being sold to Jack Tramiel in 1984, who left Commodore a company he founded, over disagreements with the Board of Directors. Commodore bought out Amiga and repaid their loan to Atari. Tramiel sued to bar them from using Amiga's technology, delaying it's launch. Commodore sued Atari because they lured/hired away Commodore engineers/developers/programmers. The Atari ST ended up being developed by those responsible for the Commodore 64, while the Amiga was developed by those responsible for the Atari 2600 and 800. It is bizarre that they would use the 800's internals to make the 5200 yet it was incompatible. It is like they did not want to/or could not cross that boundary between console and computer. 🤔 Atari notably barred Coleco from porting Donkey Kong to their Adam computer after Coleco showed it running on the machine at a trade show. Atari had the exclusive rights to publish the game on computers, while Coleco could port the game for consoles. This event supposedly sunk the deal they were working with Nintendo to distribute the Famicom in the West. The Atari 7800 was announce in 1984, (and had an early release in a few big US markets), but that was during the crash. The console was developed by an external company who had yet to be paid when Atari was sold. Tramiel did not pay until 85, after which the console had its official launch in 86. By this time the NES took over the market, and the Master System would launch soon too.
Am sooo glad you mentioned the nintendo avs system fpr wich i wish nintendo still just release it to target a different market,also about that adam computer, i wonder if the adams family did had a addam computer,hahaaa🤣😁 Now about that mattel aquarius, it does makes me wonder if it not a form of UNFAIR COMPETITION by using names of your competitors in your commercials against them??? I know other companies such as atari,coleco and sega did it too,BUT i always tout that it was never allowed to do that, also because it is just being too unfair, as you really could hurt somebody else’s business in such a rudless harsh way with all the potential financial consequences, I suppose that the state did eventually came up later with a new law to NO LONGER be allowed to use competitor’s names in your commercials against them in order to allow more fair competition,otherwise i would consider that as unfair false competition.
Another mention is the Acorn electron. Growing up it just wasn’t often you saw them outside of a classroom in its bbc micro form. I believe containers full of them went unsold. But when you think back to the 80s, Acorn was very nearly the British version of Apple. It’s easy to say these home computers were all flops. But in defence of the industry at the time, nobody had a true standard to work with, or what a home computer should actually be. Of course we know it as the PC now, but back then very few companies actually had that concept. Maybe Apple and Amiga or very basic Amstrad work stations.
Oh definitely! But Acorn weren't a console company, so that wouldn't fit within the remit here. I did actually cover the Electron's woes in this video: th-cam.com/video/F97OwZiGKuE/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=TheLaird%27sLair
You never know though. Think of the Amstrad CPC that had reasonable success being launched 5 years later than that Atari 800 or 2 years later than the C64 but had no Sprites nor hardscrolling like these two. It was just better than the ZX Spectrum.
Although it sold 2.5 million units and not technically a failure, I always felt the TI 99 4/a was a failure. The software selection was poor and never matured even though it was around for 4 years. It seemed like games were never ported to it (Atari/Commodore). There were a handful of first party games, some of which were and are iconic for sure, but no one expected TI, even back then, to be a games company. So we were left with type-in programs and the occasional Atarisoft port at the local shops. The rest were dreadful edutainment titles. The TI was arguably positioned for the business market with its endless expansion ports. But that never went anywhere as long as IBM was around. So for me, it was a flop since it never found its footing in the marketplace. The hardware was ambitious for 1979, but at a whopping release retail price of $1,150 which didn't help.
To say that the Nintendo BASIC was almost as useless as the 2600 one is... quite the exaggeration indeed. You can actually make things with the Nintendo BASIC, as simple as they'd have to be. You get, like, 60 bytes on the Atari? That's only enough to make you cry.
I was kinda hoping Mattel would take the top 3 slots (not just the ill fated Aquarius, but also the ill fated Intellivision Keyboard Component and also the ill fated Intellivision Entertainment Computer System). I mean, the Aquarius may have been a bad product with little or no reason to exist, but the Keyboard Component and ECS had even worse reasons to exist and were the sort of clusterfudge that Sega of America couldn't have replicated.
Thne CCE computer sucked, it was not even color, just boring green and the Aquarius was just as bad with it's horrible graphics which Intellivision blew away and it had controllers even more hated than the Intellivision.
Wait a minute...should the Adam computer be included? The production of the Adam computer started before the game crash. While it did launch during the crash Colleco wasn't really effected by it like Atari and Intellivision. It wasn't their console that killed their video game division...it was the Adam. Colleco turned a nice profit on Colecovisions in 1983 while Atari and Mattel faced record losses.
Oh I dunno, of the machines covered I only saw the Aquarius on sale here in the UK high streets at the time. I saw an Adam at "The alternative computer show", the only time I have ever seen one for real. I also saw at that show the brand new SAM Coupe (I Bought some atari 8 bit carts and a 130XE at that show)
I wanted the ADAM to add to my Colecovision back then. Thank goodness my dad was tech savvy and got me the C64 instead.
My dad could have bought a Sinclair Spectrum in 1982, it would have been the cheaper option, but instead he bought the C64. 40+ years later I'm STILL playing the C64 😂
The best option
@@Sinistar1983😅 The trouble is, early adopters of technology never know if their choices will turn out to be successful in the market. There have been several great hardware designs that never caught on, whilst simpler hardware grabs a huge market share. So it was often a case of buy and hope for the best. The C64 was successful, despite it's slower clock speed and terrible BASIC.
@@another3997 but the C64 had much better sound and graphics and those were key. And it's BASIC was still good enough for kids to trigger their fascination for the computer world.
I grew up with a Commodore 64, my cousins with the ADAM. They went through at least 3 ADAMs due to issues. A shame because the ADAM was actually a brilliant machine. We did a lot with it including running CPM.
I started developing and fell in love of generative art and music on a sega sc3000. It had an amazingly powerful basic, and thanks to the lack of games I learned to code just 10 years old. The sc 3000 was just wonderful. Polyphonic fm chip and true 16 colors graphics.
I owned a Coleco Adam when I was a boy that I picked up from a second hand shop. I used it primarily to play Coleco games on and print some things up for fun. It had an extremely loud printer! At the time I had little utility for a computer.
Yes, there are a few of us. In Brazil there was a joke in which CCE was jokingly mentioned as "CCE - Comecei Comprando Errado" or in english "It all started by making the wrong purchase", because they were considered of very poor quality and build. I was the proud owner of a Gradiente Expert MSX computer, Gradiente was a higher end competitor and the how the brands were viewed back then impacted it ( I had a Polivox Atari, I don't remember CCE's clone selling that well, but CCE was focused on low quality, really cheap, throw it out of the door as fast as you can, which did work ). It is fun and interesting to see a non-biased perspective from outside, as in my mind the "Comecei Comprando Errado" stuck so hard, that is still how I view the brand.
PS: your pronunciation was fine and stop on, just a bit of understandable accent :D
A fellow Brazilian has picked up on the exact same meaning of CCE here too!
@@jessicaluchesi I'm the fellow Brazilian. Prazer em conhecê-la!
Don't forget: Conserta, Conserta, Estraga. (fix, fix, fails.) Or also: Conjuntos de Componentes Estragados. (set of failed parts)
In otherwords, the CCE home computer was a rip-off of a rip-off version of Samsung's SPC-1000 series of computers. (13:30)
I got a boxed base Aquarius off of a table of $5 items at a flea market in 1989 or '90, sold as not working (it worked fine though it did get really warm in use). It was kind of interesting to see the differences between it and Dad's TI-99/4A, Timex Sinclair 2068, and TRS80. I definitely liked it the least between it and those 3, but I had some fun in BASIC on it in spite of it's trash keyboard. I don't know if it was ever worth it's original price, but for 5 USD, it was okay for a few hours of entertainment as a kid. I've got it packed up in my garage though and haven't had it on since before I last moved about a decade back...probably should make sure it's still in working condition.
That was the first computer i played, my brother lent it from someone Matel Aquarius. my dad read out the basic programs and i typed them in, i was about 8 sorry 10 years old
The Coleco Adam had such promise! I wanted one so bad!
Glad I could not afford one at the time. Instead I got a Yamaha PSS-480 Music Station, and Yamaha QX-21 sequencer. The best pre-computer purchase I ever made.
My father bought us 4 kids an ADAM when they had a price drop to $199 in 1984. We loved that computer and damn sure go his money's worth out of it. We used it about equally as an Colecovision Console and as a Family Computer. I taught myself to do some basic programming as an 8 year old following the very thick instruction book included with the ADAM. I loved the Cassette Tapes and as a kid I was blown away by how much data they could hold compared to even an NES Cartridge. I imagine if someone paid $499 for it they wouldn't have had as fond a memory as us.
if the parent spent $499 the kids would just have as much fun as you, as they don't care about home finances at that age.
As a kid I was skeptical about the Mattel Aquarius, not because of Mattel or the product itself. I remember a salesman at the notoriously sketchy Crazy Eddie's in NYC telling my dad that it would help him balance his checkbook. One couldn't believe anything they said! He walked away, and I followed him. We were soon to be saved by the Commodore 64.
Balance your checkbook was a BASIC program that you could program, but the Aquarius only held 126 lines of code, so you couldn't program much and couldn't save programs so needed to write a new program each time. snafu and Tron were fun though.
Ah the Adam. I remember this being sold at Zellers (Canadian retailer like KMart) but in the toy section! It was obvious that these weren’t selling well. My family already had an upgraded Atari 400 , 48K with a disk drive. Great times those early home computer days!
I had an Aquarius, bought from Dixons in the UK IIRC, and I really liked it, but it developed a fault and was returned for a refund. Now, many years later, I bought a dead one off eBay and revived it :)
12:56 : The Gem1000 looks identical to the Jupiter Ace 1000.
It is very similar in design, yes!
@@TheLairdsLair Actually my bad, I was thinking of the Jupiter Ace 4000 :)
From a business perspective, I can't fault Nintendo for scrapping the VES/AVS in favor of the NES model. That said, I've always wished they went with the computerized design and released the Famicom Disk System as an add-on in other markets. Not only could the rest of the world have played the original Zelda and Metroid games the way they were meant to be experienced, but think of all the great homebrew games that could have been created and shared so easily. It's unlikely that they could have competed with Commodore or IBM in the business market, but they could have been THE premiere computer for gamers and hobby programmers.
Has the Timex put the large cover on it to hold the monitor or is it just that much space needed to enclose it all
I still have my original Aquarius that was bought on sale from Asda in 1984 If I remember correctly. The computer was packaged with the data recorder and the 16K RAM pack, all for the princely sum of £49.
if Coleco would have shipped their units on time and ironed out the serious bugs with the system before launch, it had a strong chance of being a huge success. I actually knew two people that had Adams back in the day but this was like around 1985-87 period and I have a feeling they got these at heavy discounts as they were clearing the final inventory long after it's launch.
Lol that's when my dad bought one at Canadian Tire. Our families first computer, and last computer for 11 years lol
I _love_ the SC-3000. I was at an Amiga event where one was being auctioned off, and no one seemed to know what it was or care. Even though someone had brought a hardkey variant along. :(
I have a PAL SC-3000H with a lot of games. Really like it. Great to use and fun to see what came before the Master System.
Here's another brazilian to say that.... WHAT!!! My jaw dropped when I saw CCE MC-1000 on this video!
As a kid, I learned a life lesson: If two companies offer the same product and one throws in a free color tv, always pick the other one.. There is not such a thing as a free TV
Great research, indeed! But... What the heck, CCE MC-1000 is HERE! 😂😂😂 I've only read about it in an Wikipedia article, I've never seen one in front of me, however I had a Top Game when I was a child in 1991, my loving NES clone (even though it had technical failures in my TV, such as wrong colors and a missing audio channel in my Sanyo TV set at home...). I can't help but admire CCE's tenacity over the years, even though quality control wasn't their real priority in the 1980s and 1990s. And shamefully, CCE has dared to make a computer of their own (despite basing upon a model from Korea, as you mentioned) in a real misstep of strategy! A very weak 8-bit computer, unfortunately, that didn't add props to CCE's reputation. A relief that they discontinued few months later. I can't help but think, what if CCE made the right technical decisions in making the MC-1000? How much the Brazilian industry would be stimulated to have a proper system to call as their own?
I'm very much surprised to see a proper game off this system rolling in this episode...! I didn't know that an emulation of the MC-1000 even existed! Hahahaha... 😅 And, as I can see, you had a hard time making the little Jackie Chan jumping... I think I know this game in the MSX, however the version here is severely downgraded.
Laird, you really surprised me in this one... Thank you! Hoping to see more episodes of failed computer systems in the world indeed!
P.S.: CCE has some nicknames that gave an idea of their reputation here in Brazil. The one I remember the most is "Comecei Comprando Errado", which means "I've Started Buying Wrong". Or even, "Comprei Componentes Estragados", which is "I've Bought Damaged Components"!
P.S. 2: And your pronunciation was right in the strong syllables, even with your English accent! 🎉
A fellow Brazilian has picked up on the exact same meaning of CCE here too!
I saw that Adam advert and nearly called the quoted telephone number. 😁Considering what you got for the price, it should have been a massive bargain.
CCE left the brazilian market years ago.They were bought by Lenovo-but after the deal was cancelled all the factories were shut down.
According to everything I read online Lenovo bought CCE then sold the company back to the original owners some years later, happy to be corrected though.
@@TheLairdsLairIt is a little more complicated than that. Lenovo bought it for a large sum of money to be paid on several installments. And the deal had this weird clause that stipulated that the transfer would only be officially completed after the last installment was paid in full. Then they did a lot of improvements into CCE's former factories, bringing new tech and know-how from China and whatnot hoping to tap into what they expected to be a huge potentially untapped Brazilian consumer market that was ripe for the taking.
But their plans went sour really fast; they were very disappointed with the return of their investment and decided to bail on the whole deal. They basically just gave up and returned CCE to its previous owners! And that without making a single cent back; they just cutoff their losses, didn't pay the last installment and let the company fall back to the previous owners as per the contract terms, that were very happy to get the company back in better shape than it was when they sold it.
Although it still exists in some shape today, CCE is now just a distant (mostly bad) memory for most Brazilians as the company left the market altogether a few years later (circa 2015-16 if I remember correctly).
Thanks for the interesting explaination!
I had an Adam and I lucked out getting a unit that was the one out of 5 that worked great.
Italian here, I remember a schoolmate got the SC-3000 for Christmas. The games were really good! Of course it was doomed to die as the Commodore 64 was dominating the scene.
Thank you.
Ah, the Coleco ADAM - such a meme of a computer I imported one from the US a few years ago as something of a joke system... it rapidly became by far my favourite 8-bit computer for it's combination of crazy quirks and genuine awesomeness. I've developed a few hardware addons for it and it gets a good deal of use from me. IMO this computer failed largely as a result of idiot management shoving what is no more than an engineering demonstrator out of the door instead of properly developing it.
Great informative video, Kieren. I'm still hoping Sega will get back into the hardware/console business someday 🤞🏻
Aww, i was really hoping to see the Commodore Plus/4 mentioned!
When were Commodore a successful console company?
Considering the sales of the C64 and Amiga and that they've both been used by hobbyists and commercial endeavors (C64s were used a lot as teleprompt sources and chargens for cable company announcement screens, Amigas were used in many flightsims and for video editing and CGI production with the Video Toaster), I'll give Commodore that credit.@@TheLairdsLair
I guess it wasn't the dawning of the age of Aquarius?
I have an SC-3000 French RGB model with an SC-3000 Survivors multicart in Wales, UK. I wish Retro Gaming Cables would make a Packapunch SCART cable for it (the 8-pin DIN and pinout are different to the Master System 1 / Mega Drive 1 one). So I'm stuck with the original 80s SCART cable at the moment.
I had Sega 3000H with Super control station. (New Zealand)
The number of games was more limited than rival systems but adequate. The joysticks were poor quality but I rebuilt them with micro switches.
I used it for more serious applications as it could run CPM off disc so could run CPM software with a simpler font (more columns)
Combined with the Centronics interface and RS232 I could use a standard printer and connect to local bulletin board that the local Sega dealer operated it was fine.
The 3in discs were good but expensive.
Replaced it with a Sinclair QL which again was poor for games but just fine for Word processing and spreadsheet and used the same printer.
This saw me through to the Windows age. Although I have been a Linux user since 2000
i loved this video. be more interested to see more videos like this and some amazing facts for stuff like the MSX line,, Amstrad series, and the Sega Teradrive.
I have done multiple videos on all of those things including 10 Amazing MSX Facts, 10 Amazing MSX2 Facts and Obscure Sega Systems!
Looks like you have some more videos to watch! 😜
@@TheLairdsLair guess i do have to see some videos you got some great content though. there is a console called the gizmondo I would like to see a video on as it had a interesting history or something like the arcade boards from Sega or Namco.
I hadnt heard of the last two entries, very interesting video!..
Great name, lol
I actually had an Aquarius. Nice machine, but the graphics architecture was very limited. It is something that should have been done in 1978. It should have had multi colour character mode at least, with an freely configurability palette.
Mattel should have instead turned an enhanced intellivision into a cartridge based computer from the start in a shape format more like the Atari. Even with the first version. And either offer cheap clip on (maybe removable) keyboard, and plug in ram rom interface cartridge card that slots in the back to upgrade it, or sell it as a basic computer. So, that people could buy an game console with internal cartridge port hole, and keyboard clip mount points, as a lower cost option, or the thing fully equipped, as a higher cost option. The thing about the internal cartridge port, is it would be upgradable at anytime, and you could put new processor, sound or graphics in it. If it was two cartridge slots high, people could put an arm or Intel board in today, and a 3-3.5inch floppy back then (what was needed was a 2-2.5 inch floppy that could latter also have an optical version). With all this, a basic text character mode with 10 and 20 column character mode with hardware scrolling feature. So, the low resolution 10+ column characters can be used for smooth scrolling backgrounds. Just very basic enhancements that can use rom based character images and in future be expanded into a computer. 40 and 80 columns are preferable to have as well. Even if these do not get used for the next few years, a big cost is in designing new chips. So, you could add simple features that enable you to do more as you can afford it over the next 5 years.
If you look at some of the better colourised Sinclair ZX81 games using modern colour cartridge, they can look a lot more exciting than the Intellivision, from less exciting without the cartridge. The Intellivision needed better colour and graphics options. Two things win on these types of games, higher contrast in colour (which the Atari VCS had, as well as a range of colours) and brightness. It's about excitement. The whole sports focus was a bit of a mis step too. Novel is exciting, which the UK home computer market produced by the bucket load. Novelty, produces a dopamine hit, so contrast and colour.
The Commodore VIC 20 had some better colour, which had it's own limitations, such as colour pallet constraints, which still followed a bit in the Commodore 64, from old graphics architecture developed years before. It produced a lot better games than the Intellivision. That level of graphics, with some primitive sprites, could have been in the 1970's.
The thing that plagued the industry was cheap asseness. The Atari 8 bit, then the Commodore 64 and Amiga, being exceptions, where they spent money making better chips. But, this continued on, with companies buying off the shelf graphic chip parts, and derivatives, but not really pushing the boundaries. The old Motorola graphics chips were a common one. 2 colours of very limited colour options at 256 columns wide, and 4 colours at 128 with limited colour options, and limited graphics. Most of those machines failed. A lot of people went to Commodore, even the Sinclair Spectrum vastly outsold them, and the VIC 20 looked better, because you could pick each of the 2 or 4 colours (with some limitations). They needed to do a larger pallet, pallet switching version, character graphics with multi color mode, smooth scrolling sync, and 16 colour 128x96 mode, and increasing the features every second year. I'm not even talking sprites here. It would have been a lot more appealing early on. By the time the Commodore 64 came, they needed to have new versions of modes with double the bits per pixel on each node, and offer a new enhanced new double pixel resolution mode (256 to 512, then double the horizontal resolution, while also swapping to 320 width then 640 width etc, and introduced accelerated hardware.
We see the Sega Master systems used a design that MSX should have pursued, along with higher 80 column resolution mode, to get into low end business computers where Commodore sold (as it had come). If you are going to have dozens of companies, even hundreds, fail against Commodore by using a pre-dated standard, you might as well all invest money, as a group, into making a better graphics chip. A design like used in the Sega Mega drive, would have been a better followup after that, but with double the resolution for 80 column. It's primitive compared to the Amiga, but it would do. You are selling on price, and enough functionality. That is why Sega succeeded.
Even the Commodore 64 could have been enhanced with more sprites, more pallette, and freer pallette choices. The last one, would have allowed more colour effects and raster manipulation. But, it needed an 80 column mode for business use. They were including the vic2 chip along side 80 column chips latter in the 128 and one line of business machines, and I think just the 40 column Vic in another. The chip only needed pallette registers, all colours of each mode being assignable (meaning the nibble ram being a byte) and double the sprites per line, with two sprite being able to be combined into one with double pixel width (4 colours hires, 16 colours Multicolor with each sprite, and colour stacking like msx 2 did) and 160x120 mode 16 colours. If a second edition was doable for an 128, a year after, I would introduce 640x240 mode, and double pixel bit width modes, meaning multi colour goes to 16 colours and 160x120 to256 colors, if not have an option for quadruple but width modes. Let's say they stick with the original 8 sprites with enhancements, first edition to lower cost, and go to 16, and 32 on future editions, as 8 sprites takes up most of the existing chip. That's enough to do home and business machines below the Amiga, until the 1990's on an increased sales rate for longer. But Commodores MOS semiconductor would need to redo their fab, or outsource the production.
Even IBM went to Japan to get technology to expand their graphics. The Motorola chip used in the machine, I would have put the 16 colour TV graphics mode to the monitor, integrate the graphics chips, and expand form there to 320 column 16 colour and 640 column 16 colour. Which some companies did. Before going to exotic resolutions and frame rates. Simplify the architecture and integrate it down to one or two chips with the processor (this is IBM we are speaking of, one of the richest companies) and sold that as a cut cost personal machine, like a smaller better version of the Tandy, after I saw the original PC was a hit. I would have made an enhanced business PC with a better chipset again. If the Amiga chip people wanted to sell to me, I would say, yes I'll buy that. Commodore got the home computer market, and IBM, partly (due to the clones) got the business market, where either company could have got both with a different direction.
In my research, I've determined that 8 bit home computer like graphics, could have been done in a console by 1978. That 16 bit like graphics, and processor, could have been done by the time of the Amiga. 16 bit business machines by the late 1970's, 32 bit after. We simply went down the wrong architecture path. There were better simpler architectures we could have done at lower to similar, transistor counts on chip. Which means, similar costs. The big problems are memory and storage. But if you want the memory you buy a more expensive version or buy the memory. I had been researching the idea in the day, of storing programs on paper, which could replace tapes and discs they included in gaming magazines. such a system could sell software on, and there are a few other things I want to work on for a retro machine, to solve the other issues.
I'm actually envisioning, a 5mm thin tablet like device with display and keyboard, which could have been done in the mid 1970's, using production technology I had been researching, however the battery is the issue, wherever a usable battery can fit, or has to be the size of nid sized book, and how much memory. It could be 8 bit, or 16 bit. The display technology, I have to find if technology, or capability, to make suitable switching drivers were available in those days.
Since you're interested in obscure machines from outside the US and the UK, may I recommend a look at the Orao? It was apparently quite a successful computer with some interesting capabilities, designed and sold in what was then Yugoslavia. An especially rare feature was that it had high-res monochrome graphics but NO text mode: text was drawn from a character ROM, meaning that you could mix text and graphics easily; and also meaning it was probably hideously slow.
I'll look it up, thanks!
Inherited my fathers video game collection, and the Adam was part of it, and it still works!
That's amazing considering the high failure rates of the Adam.
What is that dungeon crawler at 15:30, please?
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
It’s a shame that there’s no mention in this video of the huge ‘sting in the tail’ of the Aquarius, which is that it now has a modern successor that’s actually good! I refer to Sean Harrington’s Aquarius+ machines (of which there are now two models - the new, cheaper Mini drops the legacy ports). These are fully backwards compatible with all Aquarius software and most peripherals (a small collection, admittedly), but they also have VASTLY improved capabilities, including lots of RAM, incomparably better graphics, six-channel sound, a greatly enhanced BASIC and modern features such as SD card storage and Wi-Fi. Development is ongoing and the Aquarius+ has recently gained the ability to run CP/M in an 80-column screen mode. They’re available now and are well worth a look for an interestingly different modern retro computer system. (Oh, and it’s an open source project too.)
I certainly would have mentioned them had I known they existed, but I didn't see any references to them at all whilst I was doing my research!
That's outside the scope of the video. The video would be an hour long if everyone's pet project were mentioned.
I had an Adam. The basic was a really close to Applesoft, but IIRC, the various addresses were not.
Also, that datasette? It's only the on-tape format that's proprietary. .
Australia sc3000 sold by John sands which was a board gaming company here towards the end of its life in 86 was able to run games from compact cards….i had the floppy drive also was a great little system and beat the coco, vic 20 and the amstrad at the time…theyfetch a huge resale price now
i remember the commercial for the Aquarius! that's all i remember about it, though - i didn't even remember the name, but i was 05 and more interested in coloring books
The Coleco Adam, its the same as the ColecoVision but with the printer as the power supply, and combine that with a defective tape drive and low-budget build quality.
@7:20 what is that penguin doing to disintegrate the floor?
So does the sc3000 and the floppy station that accompanies it have any chances of being found in Akihabara Or is it a lost cause?
You never know!
I've played with an aquarius a bit in the early 80s - wasn't much you could do without the extended cartridges! I think proper basic came on a cartridge and the internal one wasn't much cop. I remember the attempted launch of the Adam in the UK which went as well as expected!
Too many manufacturers selling to a market that wasn't big enough for them all. Had to be pretty bad if you were already behind the low end like the spectrums before you managed to even release your computer.
I seem to recall the Aquarius bundles being sold at KB Toys in the U.S. for $50 at one point. Not knowing anything about it, I was tempted to get one. Thankfully, I didn't waste my money on it. I already had a C64 at that point, and didn't need some no-name computer.
Never had any of these when new, had a TI99/4A, but did acquire the Aquarius and SC-3000 many years later. While the Aquarius is fairly awful I do like the SC-3000 quite a bit, albeit for a game machine versus it's original intended uses as a home PC. I do, technically, have a Coleco Adam but with a keyboard and printer, where the actual PSU is located, I have no idea if it's functional.
Shelby of Tech Tangents actually made an ADAM Micro ATX power supply replacement which makes the printer power supply irrelevant.
Does anyone remember back in 1984 at the Eaton's centre there was a computer store there. Anyway I remember on my home from school I would often drop in to see the Adam computer and I think they had this game (Buck Rogers) playing on demo mode; looked pretty good. Also that was the only time in my life I saw the Apple Lisa computer; funny I recall no one was really interested in it.
I had one CCE Top Game Famiclone wheb I as 13, in 1990. The game pads where horrible :D but it made me a very happy kid playing SMB for the first time.
Back in the eighties, I saw a small computer with rubber keys that gave a beep sound when you pushed them and it also had special keys with "Invader" type space things printed on them. I don't know what it was and I never saw one again so it was probably not a big success.
A friend from school had the Sega computers. In Australia they were sold by the company John Sands.
The Tandy CoCo did not rush to market and was not released (the first time) during the video game crash. It was released in 1980 for the original version.
I never said it was rushed to market or released during the crash, quite the opposite in fact.
CCE MC-1000 is halfway through the Nintendo chapter 10:03 for anyone wondering why there were only 4 instead of 5.
I don't know why it's not picking up that chapter and it won't let me edit it in.
9:40 Well not exactly.. The NES/Famicom was a console first and then an attempt was made to make it into a PC. The Atari 800/400 had already been established in the PC market place since the late 70s, and it came first before all other Atati PCs or consoles, except the 2600 (and PONG). The Atari XE GS was an Atari 65XE, in a different form factor to be a Gaming console with detachable keyboard. It was fully compatible with prehipreals and software from all the previous Atari 400/800, XL, and XE models. It was not a console before that, like the NES/FamiCom was.
With that said, however, the Atari 5200 was a console that shared the same guts/architecture as the Atari 400/800 (it predates the Atari 1200XL by a month) but none of the hardware is compatible with existing Atari 8bit hardware (cartridges were different, all peripherals were different).. but the software (mostly) was compatible.
You've completely missed point I was making, I meant the design is like the XEGS.
@@TheLairdsLair fair enough
How about the laser 128 apple 2 c* clone... Vtech still makes "learning game systems" like the v.smile line... But the laser 128 and 128 ex, was the only actual computers they made.. i believe had somehow been mostly like an apple II c, but the disk drive from an apple Ii e, or something.. i had one i used for years and years. Learning basic qnd getting shareware disks after the apple 2 lifespan ended. Also one of few apple clones in the US.
Having been a Magnavox Odyssey2 user, I faintly remember its successor computer the O2000. I never even saw the O2000 in stores. I guess that qualifies as failed doesn't it?
I can't find a reference to that anywhere do you have any links or sources?
The only Magnavox branded computers I can find are PC compatibles.
@@TheLairdsLair It was also called the Odyssey3 and the G7409 in different advertisements. According to the wiki, it sold in very limited quantities.
Ah ok! The Odyssey 3 AKA the Philips Videopac G7400 - that was released in Europe under the latter name, but the North American release was cancelled. I have done an entire video covering that story:
th-cam.com/video/KPAF5DOm04I/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=TheLaird%27sLair
Definitely not a computer, just a console with a rubbish keyboard, much like the previous model (it's just an enhanced version of the 02/Videopac, not really a new system).
We love obscure and failed systems? Of Course, Laugh? I almost bought one! In my case I was looking for my first computer and the Oric 48 was looking very tempting at a local tiny computer shop where it was £10 cheaper than the 48k Spectrum (and a good bundle). When you are working paper rounds, that £10 was a lot!
I've covered the Oric on the channel a couple of times, it's an interesting computer, but I wouldn't have picked one over my Spectrum either!
@@TheLairdsLair But back then we did not know its flaws... I boringly stuck to the spectrum as they had a previous hit with the ZX81. Besides, Smiths and Boots had games for the specy, can't remember seeing Oric games in either of those shops. You know, it's the logic of a 15 year old ;)
When I asked for a Spectrum for Christmas my dad went to look in the new Toys R Us that had just opened in Brent Cross (I think it was the first one in the UK) as he was working right by it and came back with a catalogue. He tried to convince me that the Atari XE was a much better buy, as it came with lots of software and accessories and the graphics looked much better (they had them all set up on display) but I was adamant I wanted a Speccy because that's what all my friends had. In hindsight I probably would have picked the Atari XE . . . . . .
@@TheLairdsLair Bentalls, likely 81 ish, they had a computer section up on the top floor. Atari 800 running star raiders, oh my, that became my hearts desire. As we were poor (single parent family), it was paper round/working evenings in a shop to save up enough to buy a computer, I could eventually afford a Spectrum. First paycheck for my first proper job after leaving school, Dixons had the Atari 800xl +cassette deck on sale for just about the same amount. Never has a frivolous purchase given me so much joy! Hunting for software became part of the fun. Found carts in the oddest of places. Wound up getting a 2600 from a car boot fair to rescue my Atari back from Mum (she's discovered Qix and Gateway to Apshai and the fight was on!).
Still have my old Oric-1 in its original box. Not working, but it's there as a reminder of how I got into 6502 assembler in a big way :)
Surprised you didn't mention the APF Imagination Machine. It was an extension of the APF-M1000 games console which turned it into a full-size computer. The console docked into a large keyboard which also had a tape drive and expansion ports.
APF aren't a successful console company though, I think you missed the point there!
I did cover that console in this video however: th-cam.com/video/ZXbYzCnu7Vw/w-d-xo.html
@@TheLairdsLair Oh? I thought they had at least some success in the Pong clone market. Regardless, I'll check that one out!
Don't think I've ever heard of the Adam computer, i don't know what to say about that.
Anyway, elsewhere the Aquarius lasted 4 months? What! From my memory it got an awful lot of press for that short life... or maybe In a time before the internet and targeted advertising, they were ahead of the game. I see after watching this video, they were trying to sell to me (all of them). Sadly I already had a Z80 based computer supplied by my dad. So they were fighting an up hill battle, probably from underground.
CCE MC-1000 sounds really interesting, although more the events and people that led to it.
The Aquarius (1) was my first computer. Bought it back then new for 99 gulden (less then 45 euro).
That last clip for an Aquarius showed a salesman that looked like someone's grandpa, who was he trying to sell to? The kids in the 1980's were using video recorders, consoles and computers, my generation in our 20's were buying the stuff for ourselves. if we wanted information on what systems to get we ask our own age group or even the kids, we didn't ask our parents or grandparents because they were out of their depth.
Sell it to the kids and they will tell their parents what they want for Christmas.
It was aim at the parents of kids in the 6-10 year old range which by this time were really the only ones who might be interested in that kind of setup. Note how he's focused on what you get for x amount of dollars, that's what parents understand far more than the kids and the parents were ultimately the ones in control of the money.
I was disappointed as an Intellivision owner who stared at that picture of the keyboard component on the box for hours and hours on end, only to see that watered down and replace with the ECS, only to see that replaced by the Aquarius. It was obviously DOA. Not only was it completely underpowered, everyone I knew already had a C=64 by the time we even heard of it. Aside from the power of the original Intellivision design and the brilliant sports games marketing, Mattel never did seem to make the right decisions.
Excellent. I think that Atari had the exact opposite problem, sadly. As much as I love my 800XL, it is plainly obvious to me that Atari did NOT have the resources to be a great computer company while still being a great gaming console company. I can't help but think that the failure that was the 5200 project would have been much better (and probably even released a year earlier), had they simply been more focused on it and not on the excellent 800 line of computers (which they unfortunately and ironically shoehorned into becoming the 5200 that we got). History shows that Atari peaked with the 2600 (and I know it because Atari became an instant playground laughing stock when the NES arrived, maybe earlier), so I do not think the corporate decision to run a split-hardware company was at all worth it, in retrospect. The truth is, they were envious of Apple's profit margins and simply followed the "big" money path instead of embracing their pioneering role in consoles.
A series of events really changed the course of things for Atari.
Obviously the video game crash was big blow for them, but several other things were going on.
Among them was Atari providing funding to Amiga Corp (82-83). Atari had a couple of stipulations: they would have a 1 year exclusive period to use the tech for a 16 bit game console, after which Amiga could release a computer, and if Amiga failed to repay the loan they would forfeit the tech.
Atari being sold to Jack Tramiel in 1984, who left Commodore a company he founded, over disagreements with the Board of Directors.
Commodore bought out Amiga and repaid their loan to Atari.
Tramiel sued to bar them from using Amiga's technology, delaying it's launch.
Commodore sued Atari because they lured/hired away Commodore engineers/developers/programmers.
The Atari ST ended up being developed by those responsible for the Commodore 64, while the Amiga was developed by those responsible for the Atari 2600 and 800.
It is bizarre that they would use the 800's internals to make the 5200 yet it was incompatible. It is like they did not want to/or could not cross that boundary between console and computer. 🤔
Atari notably barred Coleco from porting Donkey Kong to their Adam computer after Coleco showed it running on the machine at a trade show. Atari had the exclusive rights to publish the game on computers, while Coleco could port the game for consoles. This event supposedly sunk the deal they were working with Nintendo to distribute the Famicom in the West.
The Atari 7800 was announce in 1984, (and had an early release in a few big US markets), but that was during the crash.
The console was developed by an external company who had yet to be paid when Atari was sold. Tramiel did not pay until 85, after which the console had its official launch in 86. By this time the NES took over the market, and the Master System would launch soon too.
Am sooo glad you mentioned the nintendo avs system fpr wich i wish nintendo still just release it to target a different market,also about that adam computer, i wonder if the adams family did had a addam computer,hahaaa🤣😁
Now about that mattel aquarius, it does makes me wonder if it not a form of UNFAIR COMPETITION by using names of your competitors in your commercials against them??? I know other companies such as atari,coleco and sega did it too,BUT i always tout that it was never allowed to do that, also because it is just being too unfair, as you really could hurt somebody else’s business in such a rudless harsh way with all the potential financial consequences,
I suppose that the state did eventually came up later with a new law to NO LONGER be allowed to use competitor’s names in your commercials against them in order to allow more fair competition,otherwise i would consider that as unfair false competition.
Another mention is the Acorn electron. Growing up it just wasn’t often you saw them outside of a classroom in its bbc micro form. I believe containers full of them went unsold. But when you think back to the 80s, Acorn was very nearly the British version of Apple. It’s easy to say these home computers were all flops. But in defence of the industry at the time, nobody had a true standard to work with, or what a home computer should actually be. Of course we know it as the PC now, but back then very few companies actually had that concept. Maybe Apple and Amiga or very basic Amstrad work stations.
Oh definitely! But Acorn weren't a console company, so that wouldn't fit within the remit here.
I did actually cover the Electron's woes in this video: th-cam.com/video/F97OwZiGKuE/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=TheLaird%27sLair
On the subject of failed computers, whatever happened to the Enterprise 128?
It failed, lol
I'm sure I'll cover it in a video at some point.
You never know though. Think of the Amstrad CPC that had reasonable success being launched 5 years later than that Atari 800 or 2 years later than the C64 but had no Sprites nor hardscrolling like these two. It was just better than the ZX Spectrum.
Although it sold 2.5 million units and not technically a failure, I always felt the TI 99 4/a was a failure. The software selection was poor and never matured even though it was around for 4 years. It seemed like games were never ported to it (Atari/Commodore). There were a handful of first party games, some of which were and are iconic for sure, but no one expected TI, even back then, to be a games company. So we were left with type-in programs and the occasional Atarisoft port at the local shops. The rest were dreadful edutainment titles.
The TI was arguably positioned for the business market with its endless expansion ports. But that never went anywhere as long as IBM was around. So for me, it was a flop since it never found its footing in the marketplace. The hardware was ambitious for 1979, but at a whopping release retail price of $1,150 which didn't help.
I can certainly see your thinking, but it wouldn't fit within the remit of this video regardless.
Anybody else just dying to hear him say, "And now for something completely different..."?
Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!
To say that the Nintendo BASIC was almost as useless as the 2600 one is... quite the exaggeration indeed.
You can actually make things with the Nintendo BASIC, as simple as they'd have to be. You get, like, 60 bytes on the Atari? That's only enough to make you cry.
Bomb jack! Loved that game!
the Aquarius was such a lovely, and useless, computer
I was kinda hoping Mattel would take the top 3 slots (not just the ill fated Aquarius, but also the ill fated Intellivision Keyboard Component and also the ill fated Intellivision Entertainment Computer System). I mean, the Aquarius may have been a bad product with little or no reason to exist, but the Keyboard Component and ECS had even worse reasons to exist and were the sort of clusterfudge that Sega of America couldn't have replicated.
I covered the IKC/ECS debacle in the failed expansions video, so didn't want to repeat it.
Where’s the Tomy tutor???
What successful console did Tomy produce then to qualify it?
I thought CCE Sang Bad Moon Rising 🤣
It is peculiar that the Aquarius seemed to have a game that could have been Tetris if they had polished it more.
That Tetris is a modern homebrew.
Brilliant video thank you! I had subscribed in the past but then noticed I had been unsubbed without my knowledge. Perhaps raise with TH-cam?
That happens a lot, I've had it happen to me. I'm not sure what causes it, but its a well-known issue.
@@TheLairdsLairI immediately resubbed. Thanks for all the work you do- great stuff:)
Welcome back, glad you enjoy the content!
Thne CCE computer sucked, it was not even color, just boring green and the Aquarius was just as bad with it's horrible graphics which Intellivision blew away and it had controllers even more hated than the Intellivision.
Wait a minute...should the Adam computer be included? The production of the Adam computer started before the game crash. While it did launch during the crash Colleco wasn't really effected by it like Atari and Intellivision. It wasn't their console that killed their video game division...it was the Adam. Colleco turned a nice profit on Colecovisions in 1983 while Atari and Mattel faced record losses.
It just says "failed" its not about the North American crash, otherwise neither the Sega SC-3000 nor CCE MC-1000 would be there!
Boringly british
Not as boring as this comment, I doubt you even know what British means.
Oh I dunno, of the machines covered I only saw the Aquarius on sale here in the UK high streets at the time.
I saw an Adam at "The alternative computer show", the only time I have ever seen one for real. I also saw at that show the brand new SAM Coupe (I Bought some atari 8 bit carts and a 130XE at that show)
I assumed he meant me, not the content, because none of the systems in this video are remotely British in any way shape or form.
@@TheLairdsLair Yeah, maybe i'm too forgiving. Sometimes it's best not to get in a battle of wits with an unarmed man (him, not you) ;)