PlayChoice-10
| PlayChoice-10 | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Distributor(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date(s) | 1986 |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players |
| Cabinet | Standard and tabletop |
| Arcade system |
CPU: Main: Z80 @ 4 MHz Game: See NES Technical Specs |
| Display | Main: Raster resolution 256 x 240 RGB (Horizontal) 52 colors Menu/hints: Raster resolution 256 x 240 RGB (Horizontal) |
PlayChoice-10 is an arcade machine which 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 which are plugged into one of the ten open slots on the PlayChoice-10's motherboard.
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.
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