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| A '''Family Game''' is a ], usually with several games built-in, with the outer shell designed to mimic popular consoles such as the ], the ], the ]/] or the ]. | A '''Family Game''' is a ], usually with several games built-in, with the outer shell designed to mimic popular consoles such as the ], the ], the ]/] or the ]. | ||
Revision as of 14:39, 16 September 2004
A Family Game is a video game console, usually with several games built-in, with the outer shell designed to mimic popular consoles such as the Atari 2600, the Famicom, the Sega MegaDrive/Genesis or the Sony Playstation.
The majority of the games on these consoles are direct copies of Famicom and Atari VCS games, such as Pitfall, Berzerk or Frogger, often with their title or display colours changed. Family Games have anywhere from dozens to hundreds of games built in, and some consoles accept more games via cartridge.
The usual Family Game controller port has a standart DB9 (9-pin) configuration, allowing these consoles to operate with Atari 2600 and Sega MegaDrive/Genesis gamepads.
Since the hardware is made of cheap plastic, assembled in Third World Asian countries and with virtually no software development costs, these machines are sold with a price tag as low as a game for a new console. This makes them very popular with low-income households, despite being terribly outdated (more recent Family Game machines aren't much better graphically than mid 80's 8-bit consoles).
It's fairly easy to find Family Game consoles, both new and used, in many countries, mostly in street fairs, pawn shops and utilities shops. Some of the most recent models even discard the RF unit in favour of a antenna