View source for Konix Multisystem

{{Short description|Cancelled video game system}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{original research|date=January 2015}}
{{Lead too short|date=May 2025}}
}}
{{ infobox console
| image        = [[File:Konix Multisystem Logo.png|frameless]]
| caption      = <!-- include if image is not a logo -->
| manufacturer = Konix
| type         = [[Video game console]]
| releasedate  = Presented in 1989, cancelled <!-- use {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} - omit "|DD" or "|MM|DD" if necessary -->
| price        = <!-- this is price at initial release, not the current price -->
| media        = 
| input        = 
| power        = 
| cpu          = 16-bit 8086 processor
| storage      = 
| memory       = 128 to 768 KB
| display      = 
| dimensions   = 
| weight       = 
| related      = [[Atari Jaguar]]
| graphics     = Custom blitter; 4096 colours; Resolutions:  256×200 (256 colours), 512×200 (16 colours), 256×200 (16 colours)
| memory card  = 880KB 3.5" floppy disk, [[ROM cartridge|Cartridge]]
| sound        = Custom RISC-based DSP, 8 channel stereo
| CPUspeed     = 6 MHz
}}

The '''Konix Multisystem''' was a cancelled video game system under development by Konix, a British manufacturer of [[computer]] peripherals.

== Initial concept ==

The Multisystem began life in 1988 as an advanced Konix peripheral design intended to build on the success of the company's range of joysticks. The design, codenamed Slipstream,  resembled a dashboard-style games controller, and could be configured with a steering wheel, a flight yoke, and motorbike handles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/konix-multisystem-the-british-console-that-never-was/|title = Konix Multisystem: The British console that never was|date = 23 February 2018}}</ref> It promised advanced features such as [[force feedback]], hitherto unheard of in home gaming.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/the-video-game-console-that-never-was-452568184|title=The Video Game Console That Never Was|date=11 April 2011 }}</ref>

However, it soon became apparent that the Slipstream project had the potential to be much more than a peripheral. Konix turned to their sister company Creative Devices Ltd, a computer hardware developer, to design a gaming computer to be put inside the controller to make it a stand-alone console in its own right.

== Flare Technology ==

It was shortly after this development began that Konix founder and chairman Wyn Holloway came across a magazine article that described the work of a British group of computer hardware designers whose latest design was looking for a home.<ref name="hist">{{citation|author=Graeme Kidd & Simon Goodwin|title=February 1989 issue of ACE Magazine|publisher=[[Future Publishing]]}}</ref>

The article in question, published in issue 10 of ''[[ACE (games magazine)|ACE]]'' magazine in July 1988, featured [[Flare Technology]], a group of computer hardware designers who, having split from [[Sinclair Research]] (creators of the [[ZX81]] and [[ZX Spectrum]] home computers), had built on their work on Sinclair's aborted [[Loki (computer)|Loki]] project to create a system known as Flare One.<ref name="ace1988082">{{cite news |last1=Wilton |first1=Andy |date=August 1988 |title=Flare |pages=30–33 |work=Advanced Computer Entertainment |url=https://archive.org/details/ace-magazine-11/page/n29/mode/1up |access-date=26 November 2020}}</ref>

Flare's [[prototype]] system was [[Zilog Z80|Z80]] based but featured four custom [[Integrated circuit|chips]] to give it the power to compete with peers such as the [[Amiga]] and [[Atari ST]].  The 1MB machine (128k of [[Read-only memory|ROM]], 128k of [[video RAM]], 768k of system [[RAM]]) promised graphics with [[256 colours]] on-screen simultaneously, could handle 3 million pixels per second, output 8 channel stereo sound and had a [[blitter]] chip that allowed vertical and horizontal [[hardware scrolling]].<ref>{{citation|author=Steve Cooke|title=July 1988 issue of ACE Magazine|publisher=Future Publishing}}</ref>

Flare were specifically aiming their machine at the gaming market, eschewing such features as [[80 column]] text display (considered the requisite for business applications such as [[word processing]]) in favour of faster graphics handling. This meant that in spite of its modest [[8-bit]] [[CPU]] the system compared well against the [[16-bit]] machines in the market at the time. It could move [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprite]]s and block graphics faster than an Atari ST, and in 256 colours under conditions when the ST would only show 16 colours. It could also draw lines 3 times faster than an Amiga and even handle the maths of [[3D model]]s faster than the [[32-bit]] [[Acorn Archimedes]].

In spite of these specifications and bearing in mind their target gaming market, Flare aimed to retail their machine for around {{Inflation|UK|200|1988|fmt=eq|orig=yes|cursign=£|r=-1}},{{Inflation/fn|UK}} half of what the Amiga and ST were selling for. Ultimately, Flare's resources to put it into mass production were limited.<ref name="ace198808">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/ace-magazine-11/page/n29/mode/1up | title=Flare | work=Advanced Computer Entertainment | last1=Wilton | first1=Andy | date=August 1988 | access-date=26 November 2020 | pages=30–33 }}</ref>

== Development ==

Holloway approached Flare and proposed a merger of their respective technologies to create an innovative new kind of gaming console with the computer hardware built into the main controller and in July 1988 a partnership was formed.<ref name="hist" /> Development work was carried out by Flare, with assistance from British games programmer [[Jeff Minter]].

Konix wanted the machine to use a 16-bit processor, so the Z80 was removed and replaced with an [[8086]] processor. They also demanded that the colour palette be expanded to 4096 colours, the same as that of the Amiga. To reduce manufacturing costs, the Flare One's four custom chips were integrated into one large chip. In order to keep the cost of software down, it was decided that the software media would be 3.5” [[floppy disk|floppy disc]]s<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/konix-multisystem-the-british-console-that-never-was/|title = Konix Multisystem: The British console that never was|date = 23 February 2018}}</ref> rather than ROM cartridges used universally by consoles up to that time.

The embryonic console was revealed to the computing press at a toy fair held at [[Earls Court Exhibition Centre]] in February 1989. It boasted market leading performance, [[MIDI]] support and revolutionary peripherals including a [[light gun]] with [[recoil]] action and the Power Chair, a [[Electric motor|motorised]] seat designed to reproduce in the home what "sit-in" arcade games such as ''[[After Burner]]'' and ''[[Out Run]]'' delivered in the [[Video arcade|arcades]]. Another innovative feature was the ability to link two MultiSystems together to allow for head-to-head two player gaming.<ref name="specs">{{citation|author=Richard Monteiro|title=March 1989 issue of ACE Magazine|publisher=Future Publishing}}</ref> Release was slated for August that year.<ref name="hist" />

Several games in development had a version produced for the Konix Multisystem, including [[Vivid Image]]'s ''[[Hammerfist]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/konix-multisystem-the-british-console-that-never-was/|title = Konix Multisystem: The British console that never was|date = 23 February 2018}}</ref>

A redesigned system oriented around a 32-bit processor clocked at 30 MHz with support for CDs exclusively was announced in 1993 in collaboration with TXC.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Konix to bring out 32-bit system |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |date=April 1993 |volume=6 |issue=4 |page=54}}</ref><ref name="wyn"/>

== Reception and games ==

Despite the impressive specification on paper, the design did suffer from some limitations. Nick Speakman of software developer Binary Designs pointed out that "the custom chips are very powerful, but they require a lot of programming talent to get anything out of them. The screen handling [also] isn't as fast as we anticipated it to be."

Brian Pollock of software publisher Logotron highlighted the limitations caused by the shortage of RAM (kept low to keep prices down), “My only concern is memory, or lack of it. For instance, in the game that I'm writing I am using six-channel FM synthesized sound. Now that takes up a hell of a lot of memory. I couldn't usefully fit any more samples, and that's sad.”<ref name="specs" />

The memory issue was also flagged by ''[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]]'' magazine, which pointed out that the floppy disk format meant that games had to be loaded into the machine's RAM (originally intended to be 128k) in turn requiring the system to be constantly accessing the disk drive. Konix intended to remedy the problem with RAM upgrade cartridges, provided that the price of RAM fell in the future.<ref name="crash">{{citation|title=March 1989 issue of Crash Magazine|publisher=Newsfield}}</ref>

Overall though, programmers received the system positively. Jeff Minter described the controller itself as "superb," while Chris Walsh of [[Argonaut Games]] stated that "Polygon based games like ''[[Starglider 2]]'' are going to be easy to program. The machine is geared up to rotating masses of vertices at incredible rates."<ref name="specs" /> However, of the original Flare One's vertex computation performance, ''[[Zarch]]'' author David Braben had noted that whilst similar levels of performance might be difficult to achieve on an Archimedes computer, the performance bottlenecks in solid 3D games were actually "scanning databases of shapes and putting polygons on screen".<ref name="ace198808" />

Numerous game developers were recruited to produce games for the system, including Jeff Minter's [[Llamasoft]], [[Electronic Arts]], [[Psygnosis]], [[Ocean Software|Ocean]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://whatculture.com/gaming/10-unreleased-video-game-consoles-you-never-knew-existed?page=10 | title=10 Unreleased Video Game Consoles You Never Knew Existed | date=9 May 2016 }}</ref> [[Palace Software|Palace]] and [[U.S. Gold]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://whatculture.com/gaming/10-unreleased-video-game-consoles-you-never-knew-existed?page=10 | title=10 Unreleased Video Game Consoles You Never Knew Existed | date=9 May 2016 }}</ref> with Konix promising 40 games to be available by Christmas.<ref name="crash" /> [[Lucasfilm]] was mooted as a developer with the possibility of releasing their own branded version of the machine in the US, but nothing was ever confirmed.<ref name="wyn">[http://www.konixmultisystem.co.uk/index.php?id=interviews&content=wyn#start Interview with Wyn Holloway at the Konix MultiSystem Archive]</ref>
<ref name="lucas">{{citation|title=December 1989 issue of [[The Games Machine]]|publisher=[[Newsfield Publications|Newsfield]]}}</ref>

Games known to be in development for the system during 1988 included Llamasoft's ''[[Attack of the Mutant Camels]]'' (as ''Attack of the Mutant Camels '89''), [[Studio 3|System 3's]] ''[[Last Ninja 2]]'', [[Vivid Image]]'s ''Hammerfist'',  and Logotron's ''Star Ray''.<ref name="games">{{citation|author=Paul Glancey|title=April 1989 issue of [[Computer and Video Games]]|publisher=[[EMAP]]}}</ref> A game called Bikers was to be developed by Argonaut Software to be included as a free game with the system.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.konixmultisystem.co.uk/index.php?id=interviews&content=jon#start | title=Slipstream: The Konix Multi-system Archive }}</ref>

== Demise ==

Signs of trouble in the progress to the release of the console did not take long to arrive. By May the release date had slipped from August to October. By October, a first quarter 1990 release was envisaged. The December edition of ''The Games Machine'' magazine revealed the scale of the problem. According to company sources, Konix had been on the brink of calling in receivers. Cheques had bounced, employees hadn't been paid and software development had been brought to a halt in mid-October as developers had reached the stage where they could continue no further without a finished machine.<ref name="lucas" />

In March 1990 it was revealed that Konix had sold the rights to sell their joystick range<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/konix-multisystem-the-british-console-that-never-was/|title = Konix Multisystem: The British console that never was|date = 23 February 2018}}</ref> in the UK to [[Spectravideo|Spectravision]] who also manufactured the rival QuickShot joystick range.<ref>{{citation|title=March 1990 issue of The Games Machine|publisher=Newsfield}}</ref> They had effectively sold off the family silver in order to keep the MultiSystem project alive. Autumn 1990 was to be the new release time.

Eventually, beset by delays and in spite of all of the media coverage and apparent demand for the machine, the project ultimately went under when Konix ran out of cash without a completed system ever being released.

== Legacy ==

After the project was abandoned, Flare Technology began work on a new project, ''Flare Two'', which was eventually bought by [[Atari]] and, after further development, formed the basis for the [[Atari Jaguar]] game console.

The original Flare One technology was purchased by arcade gambling machine manufacturer Bellfruit for use in their quiz machines. Drivers for these games are also included in the multi emulator [[MAME]].<ref>[http://mamedev.org/source/src/mame/drivers/bfcobra.c.html MAME page for Bellfruit's Flare One applications] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311180029/http://mamedev.org/source/src/mame/drivers/bfcobra.c.html |date=2010-03-11 }}</ref>

The Konix Multisystem's design was later released independently by a Chinese company<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/games/konix-multisystem-the-british-console-that-never-was/|title = Konix Multisystem: The British console that never was|date = 23 February 2018}}</ref> called MSC (MultiSystem China) as the MSC Super MS-200E Multi-System, although this was simply an inexpensive PC games controller, without any special internal hardware.

Video taped footage showing several games being worked on for the system survives. Excerpts from the footage were later issued on the cover disc of issue 8 of ''[[Retro Gamer]]'' magazine.

A playable version of the unreleased ''Attack of the Mutant Camels '89'' was included in [[Digital Eclipse]]'s video game compilation ''[[Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story]]''.

== Specifications ==

* CPU: 16-bit 8086 processor (running at 6&nbsp;MHz)<ref name="specs" />
* Co-processor: [[Application-specific integrated circuit|ASIC]] processor 
* RAM: 128K RAM; later it would be upgraded to 256K RAM after complaints from developers. An optional 512K RAM cartridge was considered to boost the total RAM for the machine to 768K.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.konixmultisystem.co.uk/index.php?id=overview| title = Slipstream: The Konix Multi-system Archive}}</ref>
* Graphics:
** Custom [[blitter]]
** 4096 colour palette
** Resolutions:
*** 256×200 (256 colours)
*** 512×200 (16 colours)
*** 256×200 (16 colours)
* Sound:
** Custom [[RISC]]-based [[Digital signal processor|DSP]]
** Stereo sound
* Storage: Custom 880KB 3.5" disk drive
* Misc: Cartridge expansion slot

== References ==

{{refs}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.konixmultisystem.co.uk/index.php?id=home Konix MultiSystem Archive]
* [http://old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=2&c=1024 At Old-Computers.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115114531/http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?st=2&c=1024 |date=2011-11-15 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070202221729/http://home.wanadoo.nl/hessel.meun/konix/konix-menu.htm Press coverage]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070702034301/http://home.wanadoo.nl/hessel.meun/msc/msc-main.htm The MSC Multi-System]

{{Fourth generation game consoles}}

[[Category:X86-based game consoles]]
[[Category:Fourth-generation video game consoles]]
[[Category:Vaporware video game consoles]]
[[Category:Game controllers]]
[[Category:Video game hardware]]