Grandstand (game manufacturer)

Grandstand (also known as Grandstand Leisure Products) is a video game console and electronic game manufacturer and distributor. It was based in the United Kingdom and New Zealand[1] and was active in the 1970s and 1980s.

Grandstand
IndustryVideo games
Headquarters
United Kingdom 
Number of locations
United Kingdom, New Zealand

Overview

The company behind the Grandstand label was Adam Leisure Group PLC of Harrogate, UK.[1][2] The company chiefly imported electronic products from other manufacturers such as Epoch, Tomy & Entex,[1][3] selling them in the UK re-branded under the Grandstand name.

Some imported products' names were changed for the UK market.[1][3] For example, the Tomy tabletop electronic game sold in the US as Pac Man (and in Japan as Puck Man) was released by Grandstand in the UK re-badged as Munchman.[4]

Products

Grandstand released numerous products over the years of which some are listed below. There were large numbers of similar variations, alternative names and model numbers typically referring to multiple evolutionary versions of the various game consoles and electronic games. Particularly, this is found with the Pong type game consoles[5] as the semiconductor technology rapidly progressed during the period that the Grandstand brand was active.

The Grandstand Video Entertainment Computer (Fairchild Channel F variant)

Pinball Machines

Grandstand Pinball Wizard

Grandstand collaborated with Tomy based on the popular Tomy Astro Shooter Pinball which was rebranded as the Grandstand Pinball Wizard, an electric wall-plug based pinball machine.

Video game consoles

Integrated pong consoles

The black & white T.V. Game 2000[6] and the colour capable T.V. Game 3000[7] were fully integrated Pong-derived consoles sold under the Grandstand label in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Processor-cartridge based consoles

Subsequently, the primitive cartridge-based Grandstand Colour Programmable video game console[8][9] (sold in New Zealand as the Mark III Video Game[9]) and several compatible Grandstand programmable video game cartridges[10] were introduced. These consoles, belonging to the PC-50x Family, were still essentially Pong type affairs, but had a limited selection of cartridges available, each housing a different General Instruments processor chip AY-3-8xxx.[11] This arrangement allowed for some variation in gameplay[8][12] including the implementation of simple racing games featuring Pong-era graphics.[10] However, these systems lack the flexibility found in later ROM cartridge based consoles, and there were never more than a few such processor-based cartridges released.[8][11]

ROM-cartridge based consoles

Later, the potentially more versatile[12] ROM Cartridge based Fairchild Channel F was licensed, rebadged and released under the Adman Grandstand label as the Video Entertainment Computer in the UK (pictured). The company sold rebadged SG-1000s in New Zealand.[13]

Tabletop electronic games

Astro Wars, Munchman, Caveman, Scramble, Firefox F-7[14] and The Big Game[15] amongst others were popular VFD-based tabletop electronic games released by Grandstand in the early 1980s.[3][16][17]

Handheld electronic games

Grandstand also produced LCD-based handheld electronic games such as Mini-Munchman,[18] Scramble,[19] Caveman[20] and Crazy Kong.[21]

In addition Grandstand released 4 different games (6 total including name variations), including BMX Flyer, in the Multicolorlaser 6000 series. Manufactured by Tomy these were licensed for sale in the UK and featured a multi-colored backlit LCD.[22]

Projector-based 'Light' games

The projector-based game system was developed by Hong Kongese company Playtime Products, and was released in other regions where it is known as the Light Games Color LCD Projector. It was Playtime's only console to be sold. Fantastiko released the "PROJECTOR MEGA VIDEO GAME Color LCD system" in Italy in 1988, while Grandstand rebranded it as "Light Games LCD Colour Projection System" for the UK, and Hunter Caesar Toys (Defunct in 1996) released it for Australia.[23] It was a tabletop projector based machine with built-in controller, that ran games on small cartridges with LCD windows. Light would be directed through the LCD window and magnified onto a wall. The window was painted with a semi-transparent background and the black LCD display would block the light from passing through. This provided 'big screen' entertainment and was a novelty at the time. The visual design and 'animation' being projected from these game carts were somewhat reminiscent of Nintendo's popular Game & Watch series of electronic handheld game devices that consisted of a segmented LCD display being pre-printed with an overlay. The machine ran from D sized batteries and was available for sale in various parts of Europe including the UK.[24] 13 games were developed for it.[25]

Accessories

Accessories were also marketed under the Grandstand name, such as the Universal Mains Adaptor.[26]

References
  1. http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~pinwhiz/gs.htm
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-01-10. Retrieved 2009-05-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "TalkTalk Webspace is closing soon!!". www.talktalk.co.uk.
  4. "Tomy Pac Man, Etc". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  5. "Binary Dinosaurs - PONG!". www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk.
  6. http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?st=3&c=1288
  7. http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?st=3&c=1289
  8. "PC 50 X General Instrument Consoles - Ultimate Console Database". ultimateconsoledatabase.com.
  9. http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~pinwhiz/weird.htm
  10. http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~pinwhiz/gscart.htm
  11. "Dark Watcher's Console History". Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  12. "Fairchild Channel F - Ultimate Console Database". ultimateconsoledatabase.com.
  13. Marley, Scott (December 2016). "SG-1000". Retro Gamer. No. 163. Future Publishing. p. 60.
  14. "Grandstand Firefox F-7". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  15. "Grandstand The Big Game Soccer". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  16. "Buy Grandstand For Sale at Console Passion - Old Games & Retro Consoles". consolepassion.co.uk.
  17. "Grandstand Museum". www.retro-games.co.uk.
  18. "Grandstand Mini-Munchman". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  19. "Grandstand Pocket Scramble". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  20. "Grandstand Caveman LCD". www.handheldmuseum.com. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  21. "Grandstand Crazy Kong". www.handheldmuseum.com.
  22. "Grandstand BMX Flyer". www.handheldmuseum.com. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  23. "20th Century Retro Games gallery page for Light Games". 20thcenturyvideogames.com. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  24. zadoc (2017-01-15). "A closer look at the Projector MEGA VIDEO GAME Color LCD console". Imgur. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  25. www.CONSOLLECTION.de (2014-12-30). "CONSOLLECTION.de entry for Light Games". Facebook. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  26. "Grandstand Universal Mains Adapter". www.handheldmuseum.com.
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