Terminator (video game system)

Terminator is an 8-bit video game console. It is a Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clone, a system that resembles the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) platform. It was widely popular in the 90s in Eastern Europe, in countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to economical restraints, the fourth generation video consoles the Sega Mega Drive or SNES were not popular in these countries. The previous generation remained highly popular, particularly Terminator which was the most successful NES clone. It left a mark in pop culture and 1990s youth, establishing itself as antonomasia for 8-bit video gaming, to the point of being more popular than the original.

The system used original or pirated NES/Famicom cartridges. Most versions were bundled with cartridges such as "1,000,000 in 1", supposedly featuring a million games, only a small number of which actually being separate games and the rest just renamed versions of the latter. Usually these were popular games such as: "Super Mario Bros" or "Duck Hunt". They were renamed though, possibly in an attempt to avoid lawsuits.

Terminator was sold with a light gun, which also resembled the original Nintendo gun accessory except for a sleeker and more futuristic design. It is difficult to determine an exact price for the system, but in place like Gabrovo, Bulgaria in the mid 90s, one could buy it for the rough equivalent of 10 euros. In Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war, it was 15 euros equivalent.

Terminator was the most popular NES pirate in Bulgaria. Later a pirate of the Terminator called Ending Man appeared. The NES cartridges that were found in Bulgaria were mostly pirate. Originals were very expensive and hard to find. Some of the most popular games to appear were "Contra", along with some pirate ports, "Batman" (called "Batman 2") and a cartridge with lots of games like "Mario", "Duck Hunt" and "Clay Shooting".