Action Max

This article is about the video game console. For the television channel, see ActionMax.
Action Max
Action Max with light gun
ManufacturerWorlds of Wonder
TypeHome video game console
GenerationThird generation
Release date1987
MediaVHS tape
CPUHD401010
Display2 character, 7 segment LED score display

The Action Max is a home video game console using VHS tapes for games.[1][2] It was manufactured in 1987 by Worlds of Wonder.[3][2] The system had a limited release outside the U.S.

Gameplay

The Action Max system requires the player to also have a VCR,[4] as the console has no way to play the requisite VHS tapes itself. Using light guns, players shoot at the screen.[2] The gaming is strictly point-based and dependent on shot accuracy, and as a result, players can't truly win or lose a game. The system's post-launch appeal was limited by this and by the fact that the only real genre on the system were light gun games that played exactly the same way every time,[2] leading to its quick market decline.[5]

Games

Scan of a VHS tape game for Action Max

Five VHS cassettes were released for the system:

  • .38 Ambush Alley, a police target range
  • Blue Thunder, based on the eponymous 1983 motion picture
  • Hydrosub: 2021, a futuristic underwater voyage
  • The Rescue of Pops Ghostly, a comic haunted-house adventure
  • Sonic Fury, aerial combat, bundled with the system

Technical specifications

The Action Max motherboard
Inside the system
  • CPU: HD401010
  • Internal Speaker
  • TV mounted "Score Signal"[6][7]
  • 2 character, 7 segment LED score display

See also

References

  1. ^ "Action Max". OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum. 2011-03-22. Archived from the original on 2011-03-22. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  2. ^ a b c d James, Adam (2017-11-21). "The Most Bizarre Console Flops In Gaming History". SVG. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  3. ^ Slaven, Andy (2002). Video game Bible, 1985-2002. Victoria, B.C.: Trafford. p. 352. ISBN 1553697316.
  4. ^ Gellene, Denise (14 December 1987). "BIG TROUBLE IN TOYLAND: Debt-Ridden Worlds of Wonder, the Maker of Teddy Ruxpin, Is Looking for Way Out of Woods". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 12 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  5. ^ Plunkett, Luke (March 28, 2011). "Only In The 80's Would They Put Video Games On A VHS Tape". Kotaku. Archived from the original on August 13, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
  6. ^ Meston, Zach (2007). "Rare Systems". Video Game Collector Magazine. No. 9. p. 10.
  7. ^ Rozenkrantz, Jonathan (1 June 2017). "Action Max: Notes on a Deictic Dispositif". residual media depot. Milieux Institute of Concordia University. Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.