East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet. Likewise, one would think the realms of home video game console and IBM PC-compatible hardware would never cross paths except in the minds of the most playfully twisted hardware engineers.
But they did cross paths several times in the 1990s thanks to the salesrooms of struggling game console firms desperate to get a return on the huge sums they spent developing custom silicon—by licensing the technology to third-party accessory manufacturers. This is just a pet theory, mind you, but you'll see what I mean in the slides ahead.
At least six times in the 1990s, one could buy a product that would let you play certain home video game console games on an IBM-compatible PC without the need for software emulation. This was made possible by stuffing all the necessary console hardware onto a plug-in ISA or PCI card that then nestled into its host machine and, like a parasite, used the PC's I/O devices and power supply to its own nefarious gaming ends.
In some cases, these strange hybrid PC beasts were purpose-built for the task (such as two Sega Genesis machines you'll see ahead), but most shipped on cards that could be used in just about any IBM compatible PC. If you're at all curious about the strange world I am describing, I urge you to read through the gallery ahead.
1. 3DO Blaster (1994)
(Photo: Creative Labs, Racketboy)
2. Sega TeraDrive (1991)
(Photo: Sega)
3. CD-i/PC 2.0 (1993)
(Photo: Philips)
4. NEC PC-FXGA DOS/V (ca. 1994)
(Photo: NEC)
5. Amstrad Mega PC (1993)
(Photos: Amstrad)
6. Diamond Edge 3D (1995)
Unlike the other entries on this list, the Diamond Edge 3D could not play straight-up Saturn games, but instead Sega released six ports of its most famous Saturn games for play on the PC with this graphics card. But it still represented a strange hybridization of console and PC technology.
(Photos: Sega, VGAMuseum)
7. What Could Have Been
In 1994, Atari announced that it had licensed its Jaguar technology to California-based Sigma Designs, a firm that intended to produce a PC add-on card that would allow owners to play Atari Jaguar games. Not much was heard of these plans after that initial announcement. No doubt it would not have helped Atari's declining fortunes.
And in 2000, Sega teased a future PCI card plug-in for PCs during a Japanese press briefing that would allow PCs to play Dreamcast games. Apparently, the card never got past the prototype stage, and that's OK. We can play Dreamcast games on the actual Dreamcast just fine.
(Photos: Evan Amos)
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