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Revision as of 20:47, 24 June 2004 by Maximus Rex (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)A Family Game is a video game console, usually with several games built-in (without requiring extra cartridges to be functional), with the outer shell designed in a way to mesmerize 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 were often direct copies of Famicom and Atari VCS games, such as Pitfall, Berzerk or Frogger, while other times their name or display colours changed. All of those had from dozens to hundreds of games packed (or even thousand, if you considered the hundreds of hacked game versions), accepting more games via a cartridge, which could hold more software.
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 joysticks.
Since the hardware was made of poor plastic, assembled in 3rd world asian countries and with no virtual software development costs, those machines are sold with a price tag as low as a game for a new console, making them very popular with low-income households, despite being terribly outdated (more recent Family Game machines aren't much better graphically than mid 80's 8-bit consoles).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 discarded the RF Unit in favour of a antenna