Well see that is the funny thing, my thinking at the time when it was released was more like Wow! a game console with the power of an Amiga 1200 and I can expand it into a full blown Amiga Computer! CD attachments were both expensive and kind of fiddly requiring either a PCMCIA type connection or a SCSI connector on an accelerator card on the 1200. The CD32...
Even though they're never practical, I always dug and continue to dig turning videogame systems into computers. Obviously both of Commodore's post C64GS console entries, the CDTV and CD32 could be turned into their respective Amiga counterparts (the CDTV far more easily), which top of my head is probably the last time something specific like that happened. I wouldn't necessarily count the Net Yaroze system for the PS1, but I would have to count the ability to give the PS3 the ability to run Linux. In fact, I just ordered Yellow Dog Linux to turn my PS3 into a dual console/computer hybrid on my big HDTV. Why? Just because I can, not for any - and there's that word again - practical reasons.
Let's see, top of my head, what could be turned into a computer from a console:
- Bally Astrocade (keypad entry)
- APF M/MP1000 (into the Imagination Machine; one of the first if you don't count the Astrocade)
- Mattel Intellivision (Keyboard Component and later the ECS)
- Atari 2600 (Spectravideo add-on)
- Coleco ColecoVision (Adam)
- Atari XEGS (disqualified)
- CDTV (Amiga 500)
- CD32 (Amiga 1200)
Planned, but never officially released (of course I'm just limiting myself to US systems):
Well see that is the funny thing, my thinking at the time when it was released was more like Wow! a game console with the power of an Amiga 1200 and I can expand it into a full blown Amiga Computer! CD attachments were both expensive and kind of fiddly requiring either a PCMCIA type connection or a SCSI connector on an accelerator card on the 1200. The CD32...
Even though they're never practical, I always dug and continue to dig turning videogame systems into computers. Obviously both of Commodore's post C64GS console entries, the CDTV and CD32 could be turned into their respective Amiga counterparts (the CDTV far more easily), which top of my head is probably the last time something specific like that happened. I wouldn't necessarily count the Net Yaroze system for the PS1, but I would have to count the ability to give the PS3 the ability to run Linux. In fact, I just ordered Yellow Dog Linux to turn my PS3 into a dual console/computer hybrid on my big HDTV. Why? Just because I can, not for any - and there's that word again - practical reasons.
Let's see, top of my head, what could be turned into a computer from a console:
- Bally Astrocade (keypad entry)
- APF M/MP1000 (into the Imagination Machine; one of the first if you don't count the Astrocade)
- Mattel Intellivision (Keyboard Component and later the ECS)
- Atari 2600 (Spectravideo add-on)
- Coleco ColecoVision (Adam)
- Atari XEGS (disqualified)
- CDTV (Amiga 500)
- CD32 (Amiga 1200)
Planned, but never officially released (of course I'm just limiting myself to US systems):
- Bally Astrocade (Z-Grass add-on)
- Milton Bradley Vectrex (expansion)
- Atari 5200 (keyboard+)
- Atari 7800 (keyboard+)
Any others? We can certainly do any territory, but that would make things cumbersome (the Famicom has an add-on, the Creativision, etc.).
Books!
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
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Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.