Posted February 20, 2012
Description from the website and staff:
All of you have heard of the famous failures of video games. The 3DO. The CD-i. The Apple Pippin, even. Amongst this hall of shame, however, there's a console that has managed to remain in relative obscurity.
The Pioneer LaserActive, which just happens to be the coolest failure you've never heard of.
The LaserActive was a modular Laserdisc-based console which utilitized the hardware of the Sega Genesis and the NEC TurboGrafx-16 for its games; the Sega or NEC hardware (depending on which game module was plugged in) would render the in-game sprites, while the Laserdisc quality video (encoded at a seamless 480i) would provide FMV background elements. The LaserActive was home to many arcade-perfect ports of Laserdisc arcade titles, as well as a slew of rather good original games. The console failed simply because of its absurd price: due to its modular nature, a complete LaserActive setup cost $2500+.
Due to the unique hybrid nature of the console, emulation of the LaserActive is highly unlikely. In addition, LaserActive hardware is failing at an alarming rate - if nothing is done, the console will soon be lost to time.
Which is where we come in.
We at the LaserActive Preservation Project (LAP Project) have dedicated our time, effort, and money to the next best thing - converting as much gameplay as we can to uncompressed digital video, in order for it to be preserved for the future.
To prove that we're serious, we've launched a cross-web campaign to raise awareness for the project - a web site, a Facebook group, and a YouTube channel (where all of our videos will be uploaded for the public to stream). In addition, all of our video recordings will be uploaded to the main site, in order for the video files to be circulated and preserved."
Website: http://laseractive.wordpress.com/
Games and Gameplay examples:
Pyramid Patrol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Z9VGjclLo
Rocket Coaster: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S7nfcykBcU
3D Museum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF2Y6v6GXhE
I have to say...this is some really impressive stuff...we are talking about PS2 graphics here, the tech looks amazing for it's time
What do you folks think?
All of you have heard of the famous failures of video games. The 3DO. The CD-i. The Apple Pippin, even. Amongst this hall of shame, however, there's a console that has managed to remain in relative obscurity.
The Pioneer LaserActive, which just happens to be the coolest failure you've never heard of.
The LaserActive was a modular Laserdisc-based console which utilitized the hardware of the Sega Genesis and the NEC TurboGrafx-16 for its games; the Sega or NEC hardware (depending on which game module was plugged in) would render the in-game sprites, while the Laserdisc quality video (encoded at a seamless 480i) would provide FMV background elements. The LaserActive was home to many arcade-perfect ports of Laserdisc arcade titles, as well as a slew of rather good original games. The console failed simply because of its absurd price: due to its modular nature, a complete LaserActive setup cost $2500+.
Due to the unique hybrid nature of the console, emulation of the LaserActive is highly unlikely. In addition, LaserActive hardware is failing at an alarming rate - if nothing is done, the console will soon be lost to time.
Which is where we come in.
We at the LaserActive Preservation Project (LAP Project) have dedicated our time, effort, and money to the next best thing - converting as much gameplay as we can to uncompressed digital video, in order for it to be preserved for the future.
To prove that we're serious, we've launched a cross-web campaign to raise awareness for the project - a web site, a Facebook group, and a YouTube channel (where all of our videos will be uploaded for the public to stream). In addition, all of our video recordings will be uploaded to the main site, in order for the video files to be circulated and preserved."
Website: http://laseractive.wordpress.com/
Games and Gameplay examples:
Pyramid Patrol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Z9VGjclLo
Rocket Coaster: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S7nfcykBcU
3D Museum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF2Y6v6GXhE
I have to say...this is some really impressive stuff...we are talking about PS2 graphics here, the tech looks amazing for it's time
What do you folks think?