The Tandy Memorex Visual Information System, the VIS, was one of the many failed CD-based multimedia platforms of the early 90s. It was released in 1992 and was essentially a consolised PC sporting an Intel 286 processor, a single speed CD-ROM drive, 1MB of RAM, a decent sound-card, an equally decent VGA graphics adapter and a special version of Windows 3.1. Not surprisingly, it wasn't the greatest gaming machine possible -I do believe the CDTV was actually better- and was a huge flop. Huge enough to remain incredibly obscure -and I suppose rare- to this very day.
Having never seen one on eBay before, I can't really tell how expensive it's going to end up being, but I'm pretty sure taking a look at this Tandy Memorex VIS auction will definitely be worth your time. It sports a fully functional VIS console, the obligatory wireless controller and 28 games/multimedia titles. Among them you'll find only a handful of well know games such as Links and The Manhole, and a ton of titles like Great Lives, Wild Animals and Kid Fun. Seller ships only within the United States.
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Never heard of this indeed. But, you know what, I really miss the 90's with all their crappy hardware, unlikely games and overly ambitious projects that made us dream and then fell flat on their buns.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct and I fully share the sentiment. Each new hardware announcement did sound dreamlike and over-ambitious, whereas people still had their jobs. Ah, the glory days...
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming this particular device didn't make it across the Atlantic - just as well really, cos as I remember, the 286 PCs we had at school could barely handle Windows 2 and floppy drives, never mind futuristic shiny metal discs.
ReplyDeleteI too think it never made it to Europe dear Bob, but can't be 100% sure. I definitely had never heard of the thing before, mind, but I can testify thay my 12Mhz 286 never really ran Windows, despite playing an almost decent game of Wing Commander.
ReplyDeleteAh, now I played Wing Commander via my trusty Amiga 1200 with it's 25Mhz 040 accelerator and 8Mb fast ram, so I never really had that problem. Loved it, so much so that I got the EA Replay collection for my PSP. Unfortunately, on the PSP, it's completely unplayable. Ah well.
ReplyDeleteNever really played Wing Commander on an Amiga myself, but I do remember loving it on my 386SX PC. Such a fantastic game; shame it didn't work well on the PSP, but I'm pretty sure such games actually require both a keyboard and a joystick.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Gnome. Sadly a d-pad, two shoulder buttons and a rather pernickety analogue nub thing don't really translate too well for games like Wing Commander - instead of being able to use the number keys to easily select commands and such, it has a labyrinthine system of button combinations - all while trying to avoid being shot down or flying straight into an asteroid. Now - on something like the PVita, or the humble DS - with their touch screens, games like that could be a much better proposition.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes. And as I already own a DS I haven't touched for a year, I believe I could love WC on it. The second screen would definitely help, though we all know that's not happening. As for the Vita, I like it. It feels like a modern version of my dear Lynx.
ReplyDeleteI have one of these and a crapload of games.
ReplyDeleteHaven't fired it up in over 16 years.
:O
Oh, wow!
DeleteAlso, it's never too late, is it?