History of video games/Platforms/Entex Adventure Vision

History

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The Entex Adventure Vision was released in 1982 at a cost of $79.99.[1][2]

A minimum of 10,000 units were produced,[3][4] though some sources give sales figures of as high as 50,000 consoles sold.[2] The system was discontinued about a year after launch.[5] The system is incredibly fragile and prone to failure, which coupled with a small production run make still functioning units rare.[3][5]

Despite its obscurity, the Adventure Vision stands out in an era flooded with copycats and clones for its unique, if flawed, design choices.

Technology

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Compute

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An Intel 8048 CPU, similar to the CPU used in the Adventure Vision.

The Entex Adventure Vision uses an Intel 8048 CPU clocked at 733 kilohertz.[2][6]

A National Semiconductor COP411L microcontroller clocked at 52.6 kilohertz handles audio for the Adventure Vision.[2][6][7]

The Adventure Vision has one kilobyte of RAM with an additional 64 bytes in the Intel 8048.[2] A BIOS is stored in one kilobyte of ROM.[6]

Display

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The display consisted of 40 red LEDs and an oscillating mirror that reflected those lights to a glass panel fifteen times a second.[1] This mechanism makes the console rather fragile.[3] Some have noted the similarity of the display to the mechanism used in the later Virtual Boy,[2] the primary difference being that this display in the Entex Adventure Vision is not stereoscopic.

The resolution of the red monochrome display is 150 by 40 pixels.[4]

Hardware

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Similar to the Vectrex, the Adventure Vision is a table top unit, self contained with its own display built in, but too unwieldy and large to be used as a proper handheld. The system is designed for ambidextrous use,[2] an excellent accessibility feature.

Game library

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Only four game cartridges were made for the Entex Adventure Vision.[5] All games for the Adventure Vision were ports of existing arcade games.

  • Defender - Shooter. This game was included with the Adventure Vision.[5]
  • Super Cobra - Shooter
  • Space Force - Similar to Asteroids.
  • Turtles - Similar to Pac Man.

References

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  1. a b "2 Rare Video Game Consoles You've Probably Never Heard Of". Fanbyte. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  2. a b c d e f g "Entex Adventure Vision". Video Game Console Library. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  3. a b c "Entex Adventure Vision". www.handheldmuseum.com. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  4. a b "Extremely rare Adventure Vision system up on eBay". Engadget. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  5. a b c d Dunn, Jeff. "Chasing Phantoms - The history of failed consoles". gamesradar. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  6. a b c "Dan B's Atari Adventurevision Tech Page". www.atarihq.com. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  7. "Entex Adventure Vision". thegamesdb.net. Retrieved 3 December 2020.