PlayBox 1
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 The original model (1991) with the PlayBox controller | |
| Also known as |
|
|---|---|
| Developer | Maxwell Interactive Entertainment |
| Manufacturer | Maxwell Conglomerate |
| Product family | PlayBox |
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Fourth |
| Release date | PlayBox |
| Lifespan | 1991–2004 (13 years) |
| Introductory price | $399 |
| Discontinued | WW: 2 May 2004[7] |
| Units sold | 49.18 million[8] |
| Media | CD-ROM, CD+G |
| CPU | V68000 @ 12.5 MHz |
| Storage | 6 Mbit RAM (programs, pictures, and sounds), 128 Kbit RAM (CD-ROM cache), 64 kbit RAM (backup memory) |
| Graphics | custom ASIC |
| Controller input | PlayBox controller, PlayBox Joystick |
| Best-selling game | Newgin 3, 8.34 million shipped[9] |
| Successor | PlayBox 2 |
The PlayBox 1, formerly known simply as the PlayBox, abbreviated as PB or PB1 is a home video game console developed and marketed by Maxwell Interactive Entertainment. It was released in Falland on 2 January 1991, Calesia on 7 January 1991, Elia Boreal on 13 November 1991, Elia Austral on 7 February 1992, Abaria on 1 December 1992, and Hylasia on 25 May 1993. As a fourth-generation console, the PlayBox primarily competed with the X and X.
Maxwell began development of the PlayBox following the release of the domestically successful MI-1000 in 1988. The console was developed and designed primarily by Waldish-Fallish video game pioneer Oddbjørn Treschow and Maxwell Interactive Entertainment in Falland, while additional development was outsourced in X.
The console proved popular largely thanks to its extensive game library, low retail prices, and aggressive marketing which advertised as the ideal gaming console for young adults and adolescents. In total, roughly 49.18 million units were sold, making it the X best-selling console of its time. The PlayBox spawned numerous video game franchises including Newgin, Groud Zero, Horns, Red Horizons, Chedro the Snake and The Ruler, all of which generated countless sequels.
The PlayBox marked the beginning of Maxwell's international rise to power in the video game industry, receiving critical acclaims and sold strongly. In less than decade, it became one of the first computer entertainment platform to ship over 30 million units. The PlayBox's success heralded a line of successors, beginning with the PlayBox 2 in 1998, the PlayBox 3 in 2006, and most recently, the PlayBox 4 in 2016.
History
Hardware
Games
Reception and legacy
References
- ↑ "PlayBox in Calesia". Maxwell Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ↑ "PlayBox in Falland". Maxwell Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ↑ "PlayBox in Elia Boreal". Maxwell Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- ↑ "PlayBox in Elia Austral". Maxwell Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ↑ "PlayBox in Abaria". Maxwell Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ↑ "PlayBox in the Hylasia". Maxwell Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ↑ "Original Playbox Discontinued After 13 Years Worth of Sales". Daily Times. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
- ↑ "Ammount of PlayBox Hardware Sold". Maxwell Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ↑ "Maxwell Announces 8 Million Copies of Newgin 3 Sold". Gaming Post. 2001. Retrieved 21 September 2013.