What do you call a machine that lets you play music, games, Karaoke, interactive software and over 7,500 movies with the
highest-quality picture available?
A technical knockout.
The Pioneer LaserActive was a rare, expensive, and great
game playing machine. It provided for the first time in the history of video games, and ability to play games on LaserDiscs. A LD could store 108,000 still photos, 60 minutes of FM audio, plus
would have 540MB of space left on the LD. Compare this to only 7,000 still photos on a regular CD, and that's all that can be fit onto a CD! The LaserActive uses the MPEG-1 video standard for
sharp,
smooth FMV.
To play LD/CD etc. games, you need to buy game packs which retailed around $600 each. The first game pack was the Mega-LD pack, developed in conjunction with SEGA
Enterprises, allowed you to play 8 and 12-inch LaserActive Mega-LD disks, Sega CDs, Genesis carts, and CD+G discs. The pack came with the Mega-LD game: Pyramid Patrol, and the four-in-one CD:
Revenge of Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Columns.
The LD-ROM2 pack, developed in conjunction with NEC Home Electronics, can play 8 and 12-inch LaserActive LD-ROM2 discs, DUO
CD-ROM2 discs, Super CD discs, HuCard games, and CD+G discs. The package came with Econosaurus and the 4-in-one CD with Gate of Thunder, Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's Revenge and Bomberman.
Also available for the unit was a Laser Karaoke pack that retailed for $350. It came with a miniature mixer and microphone that could play over 250 titles.
The only LD-ROM/Mega-LD games
that were known to be released (in America) are Space Berserker, and High Roller for the Mega-LD, and Vajra, and Manhattan Requiem for the LD-ROM2.
The Game Packs...
The Sega
control pack lets you play interactive LaserDiscs, as well as Sega CD games and Genesis ROM cartridges.
The Duo control pack lets you play interactive LaserDiscs, CD-ROM2 and Super CD-ROM2
discs and all other TurboGrafx game cartridges.
The LaserKaraoke control pack lets you play 1,500 sing-along songs with on-screen lyrics, backup instrumentals and a music video. |
