Videopac+ G7400
Philips Videopac+ G7400 console
ManufacturerPhilips
TypeHome video game console
GenerationThird generation
Release date1983 (1983)
CPUIntel 8048 @ 5.91MHz
Memory6 KB RAM, 1 KB ROM
DisplayRF modulator, composite, RGB; 320×238 resolution
GraphicsIntel 8245, EF9340, EF9341
Sound1 channel, 8 sounds
PredecessorPhilips Videopac G7000
SuccessorPhilips CD-i
Philips MSX

The Philips Videopac+ G7400 is a third-generation home video game console released in limited quantities in 1983,[1] and only in Europe; an American release as the Odyssey³ Command Center was planned but never occurred. The G7400 was the successor to the Philips Videopac G7000, the European counterpart to the American Magnavox Odyssey².[2] The system featured excellently tailored background and foreground graphics.[3]

The G7400 could play three types of games: all normal G7000 games, special G7000 games with additional high-res background graphics that would appear only when played on the G7400, and G7400-only games with high-res sprites and backgrounds.

Odyssey³

There were plans to release the G7400 in the United States as the Odyssey³ and later as the Odyssey³ Command Center; the system was demonstrated at the 1983 Consumer Electronics Show,[4] and some prototypes have been found. The Odyssey³ was never released, mostly because company executives concluded that it was not technologically advanced enough to compete in the marketplace, and the video game crash of 1983 ended all lingering hopes for a release.

The Odyssey³ was to feature a real mechanical keyboard, unlike the membrane keyboard found in the G7000 and Odyssey², as well as a built-in joystick holder for dual-joystick games. Prototypes for a 300 baud modem and a speech synthesizer are known to have been made, and a laserdisc interface was planned to allow even more advanced games.

Specifications

  • CPU: Intel 8048, 5.91 MHz
  • RAM: 6 KB + 192 Byte
  • ROM: 1 KB
  • Display: 320×238×16 (Intel 8245 for G7000 compatible 128x64 16 color graphics and EF9340+EF9341)
  • Audio: 1 channel, 8 sounds
  • Input / Output: RF modulator, Péritel/SCART connector (with RGB), joystick port(s), ROM cartridge port
  • Expansion
    • The Voice – Speech synthesis unit, compatible with G7000
    • Chess Module – Increased the G7400's computing power such that it could play chess, also compatible with G7000
    • Microsoft BASIC Home Computer Module (C7420) – Similar to above, with the purpose of converting the G7400 into a "real" computer, not compatible with G7000. An additional Z80 CPU with 16 KB RAM and 16 KB ROM.

Legacy

The Videopac Collection Volume 1 was released on Steam on November 24, 2022. It uses O2EM for emulation and includes the G7400 versions of the games when applicable.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wolf, Mark J.P.; Perron, Bernard (8 October 2013). The Video Game Theory Reader. Routledge. pp. 312–. ISBN 978-1-135-20519-5.
  2. ↑ L'Europeo (in Italian). Vol. 39. Editoriale Domus. November 1983. pp. 282–. Il tutto, tradotto dal computerese, significa che invece di programmi si tratterà di una nuova consolle per far girare i programmi stessi, più precisamente il Philips G7400 Il vecchio Philips Videopac aveva il difetto di essere il videogioco con la ...
  3. ↑ Bali, S.P. (1 March 1994). Colour Television: Theory and Practice. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. pp. 373–. ISBN 978-0-07-460024-5.
  4. ↑ 1983 CES Odyssey Command Center Promo. Philips. January 14, 2012 [1983] – via the Internet Archive.
  5. ↑ "Videopac Collection 1 on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
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