|
|
|
History
The Bit Corporation was a Taiwanese game developer and console manufacturer. Founded in 1982, the company started to publish a few Atari 2600 games and to produce an Atari 2600 clone. In 1984, the company released the Bit 90, a computer based on the ColecoVision. As the North American video game market was experiencing the Video Game Crash, the hardware based on the ColecoVision didn’t attract much customer. As the Sega SG-1000 was already out and were using basically the same hardware as the ColecoVision, Bit Corporation decided to use their experience with the Bit 90 and to create a console that could play both games for the ColecoVision and the SG-1000.
Release
The console was released in 1986 in Taiwan under the name 創造者50 (Chuang Zao Zhe 50), which translates to Creators’ Invent 50. The design of the Chuang Zao Zhe 50 is very similar to the SG-1000 II.The game pads are the same and they can be hosted on the side, as for the SG-1000 II. The numeric keypad that was originally on the ColecoVision controllers have been moved on the console itself. Having access to both the SG-1000 II and ColecoVision game library, the console enjoyed a certain success in Taiwan. The console used the Sega SG-1000 controller pin-out makes it compatible with other Sega’s controller such as the Master System, but not with any ColecoVision controller. This limitation created some incompatibility with the games that required the Roller Controller, Super Action Controller , Driving Module Controller or 2 ColecoVision Controller . The Chuang Zao Zhe 50 also don’t implement the ColecoVision expansion port, making all external ColecoVision module not compatible.
The same year, the American video game company called Telegames approach bit Corporation to sell the Chuang Zao Zhe 50 under their own brand. Telegames which acquired a licence from ColecoVision to release a clone console, renamed as the DINA 2 in 1. Strangely enough, the system was identified on the box as Telegames Personal Arcade and not DINA 2 in 1. As Telegames didn’t had the license to produce a Sega SG-1000 clone, there was no mention in any advertising that the second cartridge port was for SG-1000 games, leaving the consumer in the dark as what it was for.
Demise
By 1986, the Nintendo Entertainment System, a system vastly superior to both Sega SG-1000 and the ColecoVision had already been released in North America The DINA 2 in 1 had little to appeal the consumer except its low price point. The first problem was the availability of the console. The system was sold as a mail-in order only and little to no advertisement was done around the launch of the console. To keep the cost down, the box didn’t include the required+12v at 300mA power supply, the RF selection box nor any instruction. The console work on Channel 13, which is really counterintuitive in North America, especially when you don’t have any instruction to figure that out. Needless to say that people who actually got this console, didn’t rave about it.
The second problem was the usefulness of the console. The ColecoVision was discontinued in 1985,but could still be purchased used for even less than the cost o the DINA 2 in 1. The DINA 2 in 1 was not fully compatible will all games and was less reliable than the ColecoVision, so there was no reason to prefer it over the original hardware. Since the SG-1000 compatibility was a “hidden” feature, the only advantage this system had over the ColecoVision was thrown out the window. In all fairness, even if the feature would have been marketed, in would have little to no impact as, it was almost impossible to acquire SG-1000 games since they were never released in North America.
Games
The system included a built-in ColecoVision game, Meteoric Shower. Although the DINA 2 in 1 is compatible with most of the ColecoVision games, some games were not compatible, mostly due to the inability to connect the required ColecoVision controller:
- Fortune Builder (need 2 separate keypads in two players, head-to-head mode)
- Front Line (Super Action Controller game)
- Rocky Super Action Boxing (Super Action Controller game)
- Super Action Baseball (Super Action Controller game)
- Super Action Football (Super Action Controller game)
- Super Action Soccer (Super Action Controller game)
- Super Cobra (second button to “bomb” does not work)
- Turbo (Driving Module Game)
- Victory (Roller Controller game)
- Slither (Roller Controller game)
Collector Note
The remaining stock of the DINA 2 in 1 was destroyed in 1994 when a tornado hit the Telegames warehouse.