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The Arcadia 2001 is a second-generation 8-bit
8-bit

Eight-bit CPUs normally use an 8-bit data bus and a 16-bit address bus which means that their address space is limited to 64 KBs. This is not a "natural law", however, so there are exceptions....
 console released by Emerson Radio Corp. The game library was composed of 51 unique games and about 10 variations. The graphic quality is similar to that of the Intellivision
Intellivision

The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600....
 and the Odyssey˛
Magnavox Odyssey˛

The Magnavox Odyssey?, known in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7000, in Brazil as the Philips Odyssey, in the United States as the Magnavox Odyssey? and the Philips Odyssey?, and also by many other brand, is a video game console released in 1978....
.

The Arcadia was not named after the company of the same name. Arcadia Corporation, manufacturer of the 2600 supercharger
Starpath Supercharger

The Starpath Supercharger was an add-on module created by Starpath to expand the game capabilities of the Atari 2600 video game console. The device resembled a long game cartridge with a handle on one end....
, was sued by Emerson for trademark infringement. Arcadia Corporation then changed its name to Starpath
Starpath

Starpath was a United States company known for creating the Starpath Supercharger in 1982. The company was founded in 1981 under the name Arcadia Corporation, but it changed its name to Starpath shortly after for trademark reasons ....
.






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Encyclopedia


The Arcadia 2001 is a second-generation 8-bit
8-bit

Eight-bit CPUs normally use an 8-bit data bus and a 16-bit address bus which means that their address space is limited to 64 KBs. This is not a "natural law", however, so there are exceptions....
 console released by Emerson Radio Corp. The game library was composed of 51 unique games and about 10 variations. The graphic quality is similar to that of the Intellivision
Intellivision

The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600....
 and the Odyssey˛
Magnavox Odyssey˛

The Magnavox Odyssey?, known in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7000, in Brazil as the Philips Odyssey, in the United States as the Magnavox Odyssey? and the Philips Odyssey?, and also by many other brand, is a video game console released in 1978....
.

The Arcadia was not named after the company of the same name. Arcadia Corporation, manufacturer of the 2600 supercharger
Starpath Supercharger

The Starpath Supercharger was an add-on module created by Starpath to expand the game capabilities of the Atari 2600 video game console. The device resembled a long game cartridge with a handle on one end....
, was sued by Emerson for trademark infringement. Arcadia Corporation then changed its name to Starpath
Starpath

Starpath was a United States company known for creating the Starpath Supercharger in 1982. The company was founded in 1981 under the name Arcadia Corporation, but it changed its name to Starpath shortly after for trademark reasons ....
. . Emerson licensed the Arcadia 2001 world-wide, and over 30 Arcadia clones exist.

Description

The Arcadia is much smaller than its contemporary competitors and is powered by a standard 12-volt power supply so it can be used in a boat or a vehicle. This portability feature, however, requires a portable television, which was extremely rare in the early 1980s. It also has two outputs (or inputs) headphone jacks on the back of the unit, on the far left and far right sides.

The system came with two Intellivision
Intellivision

The Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600....
-style control pads, but with a lighter touch on the side 'fire' buttons. The control pads have screw holes in their centers, so that one could transform them into a joystick, as with the later Sega Master System
Sega Master System

The Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986 in video gaming....
's controller. Most games came with mylar overlays which could be applied to the controllers. The console itself had five buttons: power, start, reset, option, and select.

There are at least three different types of cartridge case styles and artwork, with variations on each. Emerson-family carts come in two different lengths of black plastic cases; the short style is similar to Atari 2600 carts in overall size. This family uses a unique "sketch" type of picture label. MPT-03 family cart cases (see below) resemble Super NES carts in size and shape, except that they are molded in brown plastic. Their labels look much more modern and stylized, with only a minimal picture on each. There is also a family of what seems pirate carts, that look nothing like the others in shape, size or label artwork. The different labeled versions, however, all used the same cartridges.

Market Failure

The Emerson version of the console was essentially considered dead on arrival in the USA
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The system came out at nearly the same time as the Atari 5200
Atari 5200

The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, or simply the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a replacement for the famous Atari 2600....
 and the ColecoVision
ColecoVision

The ColecoVision is Coleco' History of video game consoles home video game console and was released August 1982. The ColecoVision offered arcade game graphics and gaming style, the ability to play Atari 2600 video games, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware....
 were released. In addition, Atari's use of exclusive rights to many games made it virtually impossible for Emerson to get popular games to the console.

Emerson actually created many popular arcade titles including Pac-Man
Pac-Man

is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway Games, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular in the United States from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is universally considered as one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and...
, Galaxian
Galaxian

is a 1979 in video gaming Shoot 'em up#Fixed shooters arcade game by Namco and released by Midway Games in the United States....
 and Defender
Defender (game)

Defender is a Shoot 'em up#Scrolling shooters shoot 'em up arcade game created by Williams Electronics in 1980. It was designed and programmed by Eugene Jarvis , Larry DeMar, Sam Dicker, and Paul Dussault....
 for the Arcadia and had them manufactured. However, Atari started to sue its competitor companies for releasing games to which it had exclusive-rights agreements and Emerson was left with thousands of manufactured games that could no longer be sold.

Variants

The Arcadia 2001 was licensed to many different companies and sold under different names. However, not all consoles are compatible due to differences in cart slots and cases.

Name Manufacturer Country Compatibility family
Advision Home ArcadeAdvisionFranceEmerson console
ArcadiaBandaiJapanEmerson console
Arcadia 2001EmersonU.S.A.Emerson console
CosmosTele-ComputerSpainEmerson console
DynavisionMorning-Sun CommerceJapanMPT-03 console
EkuseraP.I.C.JapanMPT-03 console
Hanimex MPT-03HanimexFranceMPT-03 console
HMG-2650HanimexGermanyEmerson console
Home Arcade CentreHanimexFranceEmerson console
Intelligent Game MPT-03Intelligent GameU.S.AMPT-03 console
Intercord XL 2000 SystemIntercordGermanyEmerson console
Intervision 2001IntervisionSwitzerlandOrmatu console
ITMC MPT-03ITMCFranceMPT-03 console
Leisure-VisionLeisure-DynamicsCanadaEmerson console
LeonardoGiG ElectronicsItalyEmerson console
Ormatu 2001Ormatu Electronics BVNetherlandsOrmatu console
Palladium Video Computer GameNeckermannGermanyPalladium console
Polybrain Video Computer GamePolybrainGermanyPalladium console
Poppy MPT-03 Tele Computer SpielPoppyGermanyMPT-03 console
Prestige Video Computer Game MPT-03PrestigeFranceMPT-03 console
Rowtron 2000RowtronUKMPT-03 console
Schmid TVG-2000SchmidGermanyEmerson console
Sheen Home Video Centre 2001SheenAustraliaOrmatu console
Soundic MPT-03SoundicFinlandMPT-03 console
Tele BrainMr. AltusGermanyPalladium console
Tele-FeverTchiboGermanyEmerson console
Tempest MPT-03TempestAustraliaMPT-03 console
Tobby MPT-03TobbyTobbyMPT-03 console
Trakton Computer Video GameTraktonAustraliaPalladium console
Tryom Video Game CenterTryomU.S.AMPT-03 console
Tunix Home ArcadeMonaco LeisureNew ZealandEmerson console
UVI Compu-GameOrbit ElectronicsNew ZealandOrbit console
Video MasterGrandstandNew ZealandOrbit console


Technical specifications

  • Main Processor: Signetics 2650
    Signetics 2650

    The Signetics 2650, was a very early 8-bit microprocessor. According to Adam Osborne's classic book An Introduction to Microprocessors Vol 2: Some Real Products, it was "the most minicomputer-like" of the microprocessors available at the time....
     CPU running @ 3.58 MHz
    • Some variants run a Signetics
      Signetics

      Signetics, once a major player in semiconductor manufacturing, made a variety of devices which included integrated circuits, bipolar junction transistor and MOSFET, the Dolby circuit, logic, memory and analog circuits and Motorola clone CPUs, some of which were included in the first Atari video games....
       2650A
  • RAM: 512 bytes
  • ROM: None
  • Video Display: 128 × 208 / 128 × 104, 8 Colours
  • Video Display Controller
    Video Display Controller

    A Video Display Controller or VDC is an integrated circuit which is the main component in a video signal generator, a device responsible for the production of a Television Composite video in a computing or game system....
    : Signetics
    Signetics

    Signetics, once a major player in semiconductor manufacturing, made a variety of devices which included integrated circuits, bipolar junction transistor and MOSFET, the Dolby circuit, logic, memory and analog circuits and Motorola clone CPUs, some of which were included in the first Atari video games....
     2637 UVI
  • Sound: Single Channel "Beeper" + Single Channel "Noise"
  • Hardware Sprites: 4 independent, single color
  • Controllers: 2 × 2 way
  • Keypads: 2 × 12 button (more buttons on some variants)


Games

Many of the games for the Arcadia 2001 are ports of lesser-known arcade games such as Route 16 and Jungler.
  • 3-D Bowling
  • 3-D Raceway
  • 3-D Soccer
  • Alien Invaders
  • Astro Invader
    Astro Invader

    Astro Invader was the first arcade game ever released by Stern . It debuted in the summer of 1980....
  • American Football
  • Baseball
  • Brain Quiz
  • Breakaway
  • Capture
  • Cat Trax
  • Crazy Gobbler
  • Crazy Climber
    Crazy Climber

    Crazy Climber is a Arcade game produced by Nihon Bussan in 1980. It was also released by UA Ltd. in 1982 for the Emerson Arcadia 2001 and other video game consoles....
     (unreleased)
  • Escape
  • Funky Fish
  • Galaxian
    Galaxian

    is a 1979 in video gaming Shoot 'em up#Fixed shooters arcade game by Namco and released by Midway Games in the United States....
  • Grand Prix 3-D
  • Grand Slam Tennis
  • Hobo
  • Home Squadron
  • Jump Bug
  • Jungler
  • Kidou Senshi Gundamu (only in Japan)
  • Math Logic
  • Missile War
  • Ocean Battle
  • Pleiades
  • RD2 Tank
  • Red Clash
  • Robot Killer (clone of Berzerk
    Berzerk

    Berzerk is a Shoot 'em up#Multi-directional shooter video game Arcade game, released in 1980 by Stern of Chicago....
    )
  • Route 16
  • Soccer
  • Space Attack
  • Space Chess
  • Space Mission
  • Space Raiders
  • Space Squadron
  • Space Vultures
  • Spiders
  • Star Chess
  • Super Bug
  • Super Gobbler
  • Tanks A Lot
  • The End
  • Turtles/Turpin


Emulation


  • .
  • The first (DOS) emulator.


External links

  • .
  • .
  • on the Arcadia 2001.
  • Emerson Arcadia 2001 museum entry.
  • Article about Arcadia 2001 and "clones".