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| Manufacturer | Entex Industries |
|---|---|
| Type | Video game console |
| Generation | Second generation |
| Release date | 1981 |
| Successor | Entex Adventure Vision |
The Entex Select-a-game is a handheld game system released in 1981 by Entex Industries. Entex released six games for the device before they dropped support in 1982 in favor of the Entex Adventure Vision.
The Select-a-Game uses a 7 x 16 vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) array of large dots as the main display. [1] It can display two colors, red and blue. These are combined with static overlays for each game. Together they make up the display. The system is basically a display and controller for the games with no built-in processor power. Each game cartridge contains a microprocessor programmed with the appropriate game code in it. In this respect, it is very similar to the concept of Milton Bradley's Microvision system released a few years earlier.
The system can be powered by four C batteries, or by an external A/C power supply. The power supply was only available by mail-order.
The games released for the system are:
Space Invader 2 came with the system. In late 1981, Entex was sued by Coleco, which held the licensing rights to handheld versions of Pac-Man at the time, for copyright infringement over their upcoming release of Pacman 2. The game was pulled shortly after release as part of the settlement. Because of this, Pacman 2 is the rarest game released for the system. The game cartridges play very similar to their hand held counterparts (Entex made quite a few hand held games such as Space Invader 2, Basketball 3, Pacman 2, etc.).
The Arcadia 2001 is a second-generation 8-bit home video game console released by Emerson Radio in May 1982 for a price of US$ 99, several months before the release of ColecoVision. It was discontinued only 18 months later, with a total of 35 games having been released. Emerson licensed the Arcadia 2001 to Bandai, which released it in Japan. Over 30 Arcadia 2001 clones exist.
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Adventure Vision is a cartridge-based video game console released by Entex Industries in either August or October 1982. The launch price of the system was $79.95. The monitor, game controls, and computer hardware are all contained within a single portable unit. The LED monitor can only display red pixels. Four games were released, all of which are arcade ports. Approximately 10,000 were produced.
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Entex Industries, Inc. was an American toy and electronic game manufacturer based in Compton, California. The company was active during the 1970s and 1980s.
Turtles is a video game developed by Konami and published in arcades in 1981 by Stern and Sega. The Sega version was published as Turpin (ターピン). Turtles is a maze game where the player is a turtle trying to bring baby turtles to their homes while avoiding beetles.
Galaxian 2 is a handheld electronic game that was released in 1981 in the US by Entex Industries. It was also released the same year in Japan under the name Astro Galaxy and in Europe under the name Astro Invader. The game was also released under the Futuretronics brand in Australia.
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