While it is common knowledge that North America faced a video game crash in 1983, few people know about the Japanese Console War that happened around the same time. If we look back at the Japanese video game landscape at the beginning of the 1980s, we see that very few Japanese consoles existed. Some companies, such as Bandai and Epoch, imported North American consoles into Japan, but due to their high price tags, they never became popular. In 1983, the Japanese video game market was ready for home consoles, and while the market was crashing on the other side of the ocean, the Japanese one was booming. From arcade makers to toy makers, everybody wanted to be first to market in what would become a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Over a span of a few months, 7 home video game consoles were released in Japan. We all know how the story ends. The Nintendo Famicom emerged as the victor of this war and later reinvigorated the North American video game market. Also known as the Nintendo Family Computer, the console was released on July 15, 1983, for a price of ¥14,800. It sold 60 million units worldwide, and more than a thousand games were released for it.

But what about the 6 other consoles? Let’s dig up the graves of those that didn’t survive the Japanese Console War.

 

	May 9, 1983 – The My Vision by Nichibutsu Japan Bussan Ltd., also called Nihon Bussan, is a Japanese game production company founded in October 1970. At the beginning of the 1980s, the company was making arcade games and decided to release its own video game console. Released under the Nichibutsu brand, the console was distributed by Kanto Denshi, a company that distributed office automation equipment such as personal computers. As a result, the console was only available in computer stores. The console was very expensive, had no detachable controllers and required a second console for those who wanted to play with a friend. The games released for the console were all logic and card games, which didn’t appeal to younger players. Although the release of the Famicom was definitely the last nail in the coffin, it’s safe to say that this console would have failed anyway. Only 50,000 consoles were sold in its short lifespan, which makes it very hard to find today. Price: ¥39,800 Discontinued: 1984 Number of games : 6
July 15, 1983 – The Family Computer by Nintendo The Family Computer (Famicom), was the first cartridge-based console made by Nintendo. It instantly became a power house in Japan, leaving their competitor in the dust. It would eventually make it’s way to North America and revive the video game market which had crashed on that side of the world due to subpar release. The Famicom (and Nintendo Entertainment System) would eventually sell more than 60 million units worldwide and support more than a thousand games. Price: ¥14,800 Discontinued: ~1990 Number of games : 1300
	July 15, 1983 – The SG-1000 by Sega Released the same day as the Nintendo Famicom, the SG-1000 was Sega’s answer to Nintendo’s flagship console. In 1982, after pulling out of the arcade industry, Sega decided to move to the home computer market and started working on the SC-3000, a computer with a built-in keyboard. When Sega learned of Nintendo’s plans to release a games-only console, it quickly decided to follow the same path and released the SG-1000. The SG-1000 was by far the most successful console after the Nintendo Famicom, but even with more than 160,000 units sold, it was no match for Nintendo’s flagship console. Sega slightly updated the design one year later with the release of the SG-1000 II, but with no hardware change, the console was still underpowered compared to the Famicom and also fell into the abyss. Sega would finally release the Sega Mark III (Sega Master System) in 1985, which would eventually become a more serious challenger to the Famicom’s domination. Price: ¥15,000 Discontinued: July 1984 Number of games : 75
July 19, 1983 – The Cassette Vision Jr. by Epoch The Cassette Vision Jr. is Epoch’s answer to the Nintendo Famicom and the Sega SG-1000. The original Cassette Vision once ruled the video game landscape in Japan. When Nintendo and Sega released their consoles, Epoch was not yet ready to release the Super Cassette Vision, so it instead released a trimmed-down version of the Cassette Vision for about a third of the price of a Famicom. The Cassette Vision Jr. was never meant to be a contender against Nintendo and Sega and, in this sense, it must be judged accordingly. It did relatively well for a time but was discontinued in 1985, when the Super Cassette Vision was finally released. Price: ¥5,000 Discontinued: 1985 Number of games : 10
	July 1983 – The Pyuta Jr. by Tomy  The Pyuta Jr. is the console version of the Tomy Pyuta, a 16-bit computer released by Tomy a year earlier. Priced at ¥59,800, the computer had a good start, selling more than 40,000 units in the first few months, but in July 1983, with the release of the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom), sales dropped drastically. To fight back, Tomy decided to drop the price of its computer and to release the Pyuta Jr. Priced at ¥19,800, the console was compatible with all the games of the Pyuta. Although the system used a 16-bit CPU, the games looked more like upgraded ColecoVision graphics, which made it hard to compete with the Famicom. As the Pyuta Jr. was basically a Pyuta computer in a console shell, the cost of keeping this console alive was not very high, especially since the games were being designed for the computer version anyway. But in the end, the console didn’t sell well at all and was discontinued alongside the Tomy Pyuta in 1985. Price: ¥19,800 Discontinued: 1985 Number of games : 26
October 1983 – The PV-1000 by Casio In the early 1980s, Casio was one of the most respected brands in electronics. Building on its recent success, Casio decided to extend its reach and release two other devices to appeal to gamers: the PV-1000, a dedicated video game system, and the PV-2000, a computer loosely based on the MSX standard. The PV-1000 was released in October 1983. Priced at ¥14,800, the console was in the same range as the Nintendo Famicom. Released alongside a decent number of titles by Namco and Konami, the PV-1000 was set to be a challenger in the race for the best 8-bit console. The very popular Famicom was out of stock in many stores, and Casio hoped to capitalize on that by offering an alternative to Nintendo’s hit console. The exact reason for the console’s demise is unknown. Many factors may have played a role, including poor marketing and the confusion created by the PV-2000 computer, which also used cartridges but was incompatible with the PV-1000. Nevertheless, after only a few weeks on store shelves, the PV-1000 was discontinued, which makes it extremely rare today. Price: ¥14,800 Discontinued: 1983 Number of games : 13
	October 1983 – The Compact Vision TV Boy by Gakken Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947. Although its main revenue stream is magazines, Gakken decided to dabble in educational toys in the 1970s. Between 1980 and 1983, Gakken released a ton of handhelds and tabletop games, the most notable being Super Puck Monster, a Pac-Man clone that was later licensed by Coleco and released as the Coleco Pac-Man mini arcade. At the time, the Epoch Cassette Vision had 70% of the market share, while the more advanced systems, like the Arcadia 2001, the Intellivision, the Odyssey² and the Epoch Cassette TV Game (Atari 2600), captured only a fraction of the market due to their high retail prices. Gakken decided to use the same approach as the Epoch Cassette Vision by creating a low-cost video game system and a low-cost computer system. The Gakken Compact Vision TV Boy was finally released in October 1983. But by the time of its release, the video game landscape had changed completely. The Famicom was dominating the market, and the price of the console had dropped significantly. Gakken’s console had little to no success and was quickly discontinued, and the microcomputer project was ultimately cancelled. Price: ¥8,800 Discontinued: 1983 Number of games : 6

 

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