PlayChoice-10

Infobox VG
title= Nintendo PlayChoice-10


caption=
developer= Nintendo
publisher= Nintendo
released= 1986
genre= Retro
modes= Up to 2 players
platforms= Arcade
input= 8-way joystick, 2 buttons, light gun
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 was an arcade machine which consisted of 10 different games that were previously available only on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) home console.

Description and history

By the late 1980s, console systems were quickly catching up with the arcade machines in terms of popularity. Therefore, the video game companies decided to capitalize on this trend by making stand up arcade machines out of their existing console systems. Many companies tried this tactic. Sega presented a machine which contained several Sega Master System and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games. SNK's NeoGeo was another cartridge-based system that was simultaneously available at the arcade and for home console use. In fact, several of their machines can still be found in arcades.

Nintendo, being the industry leader at the time, was especially successful with this concept. Nintendo packed its most popular games into a machine case and called it 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). Normal NES cartridges could not be used; rather, the PlayChoice used special expansion cards containing (usually unmodified) NES games along with an extra 8KB ROM to display hints. Because the PlayChoice-10 output 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 also created a standalone PlayChoice which only had a single available game [ [http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/nes/history/nes_arcade.html PlayChoice history] (Accessed June 9 2006) ] .

List of available games

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

* "1942" (1985 Capcom)
* "Balloon Fight" (1986 Nintendo)
* "Baseball" (1985 Nintendo)
* "Baseball Stars" (1989 SNK Corp.)
* "Captain Skyhawk" (1989 Milton Bradley)
* "Castlevania" (1987 Konami Inc.)
* "Contra" (1988 Konami Inc.)
* "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers" (1990 Capcom)
* "Double Dragon" (1988 Technos)
* "Double Dribble" (1987 Konami Inc.)
* "Dr. Mario" (1990 Nintendo)
* "Duck Hunt" (1985 Nintendo)
* "Excitebike" (1985 Nintendo)
* "Fester's Quest" (1989 Sunsoft)
* "Gauntlet" (1985 Atari Games Corp.)
* "Golf" (1985 Nintendo)
* "The Goonies" (Konami Inc.)
* "The Goonies II" (1986 Konami Inc.)
* "Gradius" (1986 Konami Inc.)
* "Hogan's Alley" (1985 Nintendo)
* "Kung Fu" (1985 Irem)
* "Mario Bros." (1986 Nintendo)
* "Mario Open Golf" (1991 Nintendo)
* "Mega Man 3" (1990 Capcom)
* "Metroid" (1986 Nintendo)
* "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!" (1987 Nintendo)
* "Ninja Gaiden" (1989 Tecmo)
* "" (1990 Tecmo)
* "" (1991 Tecmo)
* "Pinbot" (1988 Rare Ltd.)
* "Power Blade" (1991 Taito)
* "Pro-Wrestling" (1986 Nintendo)
* "Rad Racer" (1987 Square Co., Ltd.)
* "Rad Racer II" (1990 Square Co., Ltd.)
* "RBI Baseball" (1987 Tengen)
* "R.C. Pro-Am" (1987 Rare Ltd.)
* "Rockin' Kats" (1991 Atlus Soft.)
* "Rush'n Attack" (1987 Konami Inc.)
* "Rygar" (1987 Tecmo Ltd.)
* "Shatterhand" (1991 Jaleco)
* "" (1990 Rare Ltd.)
* "Super C" (1990 Konami)
* "Super Mario Bros." (1985 Nintendo)
* "Super Mario Bros. 2" (1988 Nintendo)
* "Super Mario Bros. 3" (1990 Nintendo)
* "Tecmo Bowl" (1989 Tecmo Inc.)
* "Tennis" (1985 Nintendo)
* "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (1989 Konami Inc.)
* "" (1990 Konami Inc.)
* "Track & Field" (1987 Konami Inc.)
* "Trojan" (1986 Capcom)
* "Volleyball" (1986 Nintendo)
* "Wild Gunman" (1985 Nintendo)
* "World Cup Soccer" (1990 Technos)
* "Yo! Noid" (1990 Capcom)

References

External links

*KLOV game|id=9043
* [http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3b3qa/pc10/videog.htm Tribute to the PlayChoice-10]
* [http://playchoice.riemen.net PAR PlayChoice-10 Games and Resources]