Engineering:Action Max
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 Action Max with light gun | |
| Manufacturer | Worlds of Wonder |
|---|---|
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Third generation |
| Release date | 1987 |
| Media | VHS tape |
| CPU | HD401010 |
| Display | 2 character, 7 segment LED score display |
The Action Max is a home video game console using VHS tapes for games.[1][2] It was manufactured in 1987 by Worlds of Wonder.[3][2] The system had a limited release outside the U.S.
Gameplay
The Action Max system requires the player to also have a VCR,[4] as the console has no way to play the requisite VHS tapes itself. Using light guns, players shoot at the screen.[2] The gaming is strictly point-based and dependent on shot accuracy, and as a result, players can't truly win or lose a game. The system's post-launch appeal was limited by this and by the fact that the only real genre on the system were light gun games that played exactly the same way every time,[2] leading to its quick market decline.[5]
Games
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Five VHS cassettes were released for the system:
- .38 Ambush Alley, a police target range
- Blue Thunder, based on the eponymous 1983 motion picture
- Hydrosub: 2021, a futuristic underwater voyage
- The Rescue of Pops Ghostly, a comic haunted-house adventure
- Sonic Fury, aerial combat, bundled with the system
Technical specifications
- CPU: HD401010
- Internal Speaker
- TV mounted "Score Signal"[6][7]
- 2 character, 7 segment LED score display
See also
- Control-Vision, a prototypical VHS video game console
- View-Master Interactive Vision, another VHS-based console
References
- ↑ "Action Max". 2011-03-22. http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1008&st=2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 James, Adam (2017-11-21). "The Most Bizarre Console Flops In Gaming History" (in en-US). https://www.svg.com/94780/bizarre-console-flops-gaming-history/.
- ↑ Slaven, Andy (2002). Video game Bible, 1985-2002. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford. p. 352. ISBN 1553697316.
- ↑ Gellene, Denise (14 December 1987). "BIG TROUBLE IN TOYLAND: Debt-Ridden Worlds of Wonder, the Maker of Teddy Ruxpin, Is Looking for Way Out of Woods". Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-14-fi-19281-story.html.
- ↑ Plunkett, Luke (March 28, 2011). "Only In The 80's Would They Put Video Games On A VHS Tape". https://kotaku.com/only-in-the-80s-would-they-put-video-games-on-a-vhs-tap-5786220.
- ↑ Meston, Zach (2007). "Rare Systems". Video Game Collector Magazine (9): 10.
- ↑ Rozenkrantz, Jonathan (1 June 2017). "Action Max: Notes on a Deictic Dispositif" (in en-CA). Milieux Institute of Concordia University. http://residualmedia.net/action-max-notes-on-a-deictic-dispositif/.
External links
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