Pyuta Jr. by Tomy

Console Name: Pyuta Jr
Original Name: ぴゅう太Jr.
Release Date: July 1983
Original Price: ¥19,800
Country of Origin: Japan
Manufacturer: Tomy
Discontinued In: 1985
Built In Games: G-BASIC Programming Language and Drawing Application
Number of Games Cartridges: 26
 

History
Tomy, a Japanese toy maker decided to release a computer in 1982. Produced by Matsushita, the computer was released in Japan in 1982 under the name Tomy Pyuuta. The computer was then released in the UK as the Grandstand Tutor and in the U.S. as the Tomy Tutor. The Pyuta was a 16-bit gaming computer which could have easily tackled the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64. But Tomy decided to target  high school students by marketing the computer as a “drawing computer”.

In the first 4 months, Tomy manage to sell around 40,000 computers, which was nearly half of their 90,000 target for the first year. But in July 1983, with the release of the Nintendo  Family Computer (famicom),  the sale dropped drastically. To fight back, Tomy decided to release a “consolized” version of the Pyuta  called the Pyuta  Jr.

Release
The Pyuta Jr. was released in 1983 at a retail price of ¥19,800. The console was a stripped-down version of the Pyuta . The keyboard had been removed, leaving only the necessary keys use by the games. The G-BASIC was also removed, leaving only the ability to draw onscreen and play games. The Pyuta Jr. was fully retro compatible will  all Pyuta games.

Demise
The Pyuta Jr. was released in the middle of the Japanese Console War were more than 7 video games were released in about 2 months. Like most of the other consoles, it was unable to gain any traction. Although the system uses a 16-bit CPU, the games were looking more like upgraded ColecoVision graphics. Games for the Tomy Pyuuta and the Pyuuta Jr. continued to be made, but the whole line was discontinued in 1985 with about 140,000 units of both the computer and the console sold.

Games
The Pyuta Jr. is compatible with the 26 cartridges released for the Tomy Pyuta.

  • ボンブマン (Bomberman)
  • モンスターイン(Monster Inn)
  • ザウルスランド (Zaurus Land)
  • ターピン (Tarpin)
  • フロッガー (Frogger)
  • スクランブル (Scamble)
  • ナイトフライト (Night Flight)
  • マリンアドベンチャー (Marine Adventure)
  • ミッションアタック (Mission Attack)
  • トラフィックジャム (Traffic Jam)
  • ミステリーゴールド(Mistery Gold)
  • ドンパン (Dangan)
  • ミッキーマウスのアスレチックランド (Mickey Mouse Athletic Land)
  • プーヤン (Puyan)
  • ジャングラー (Jean Guller)
  • ガッタンゴットン (Gattan Gotton)
  • メイズパトロ (Maze Patrol)
  • トロン –  (Tron)
  • Mr. Do!
  • バミューダトライアングル(Bermuda Triangle)
  • 四人麻雀 (Four People Mahjong)
  • トリプルコマンド (Triple Command)
  • スーパーバイク (Superbike)
  • レスキューコプター (Rescue Copter)
  • ベースボール (Baseball)
  • バトルファイター (Battle Fighter)
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