PlayChoice-10

PlayChoice-10 is an arcade machine that can consist of as many as 10 different games previously available only on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) home console. The games for this system are in the modular form of circuit boards that are plugged into one of the ten open slots on the PlayChoice-10's motherboard.

PlayChoice-10
DeveloperNintendo
ManufacturerNintendo
Release dateAugust 1986 (August 1986)[1][2]
Lifespan1986-1992
DiscontinuedJuly 31, 1992 (July 31, 1992)
CPUZ80 @ 4 MHz
DisplayMain: Raster resolution 256 × 240 RGB (Horizontal) 52 colors
Menu/hints: Raster resolution 256 × 240 RGB (Horizontal)
PlatformNES-based
PredecessorNintendo VS. System
Control panel of the Playchoice-10

Description and history

Having found success in the home console market with the NES, Nintendo developed arcade hardware to run its most popular NES games inside an arcade cabinet. Dubbed the PlayChoice-10, the machine was compatible with the NES, but with some key differences. An extra CPU controlled the gameplay timer, game select, and displayed hints for the current game on a separate monitor. On single-monitor systems, a button would switch between gameplay and the hint screen. Most normal NES cartridges could not be used; rather, the PlayChoice used special expansion cards containing NES games along with an extra 8KB ROM to display hints. Because the PlayChoice-10 outputs RGB video using a slightly different palette, games did not look exactly the same as they did on the NES. It is in fact possible to replace the NES PPU with the PlayChoice-10 PPU, allowing it to output RGB natively.

Each machine had a different mix of games in it. Instead of a player getting to play one game until it was finished, the player got a fixed time limit to play as many PlayChoice games as they wanted to. Nintendo created several variations of the hardware, including a standalone PlayChoice unit which only had a single available game. By the late 1980s, other companies developed similar systems. Sega's Mega-Tech and Mega Play hardware was capable of running certain Sega Master System and/or Sega Mega Drive/Genesis games. SNK's Neo Geo was another cartridge-based system that was made available for both arcades and home consoles.

Nintendo announced on July 31, 1992 that it would no longer manufacture arcade equipment.[3][4]

List of available games

The following is a list of all 52 games that were made available on various PlayChoice-10 machines.

First party

Third party

See also

References
  1. "Nintendo's 'PlayChoice-10'". Cashbox. 1986-08-30.
  2. "Year In Review: August"". Cashbox. 1987-01-17.
  3. "Nintendo Will No Longer Produce Coin-Op Equipment". Cashbox. 1992-09-05. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  4. "Nintendo Stops Games Manufacturing; But Will Continue Supplying Software". Cashbox. 1992-09-12. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
  5. Majaski, Craig (23 August 1989). "Super Mario Bros. 3 Just 1 Of 5 New Games In PlayChoice 10 Arcade Machines". Nintendo Times. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.