Amstrad GX4000
Image Attribution
Title: Amstrad-GX4000-Console-Set
Creator: Evan-Amos
License: Public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Credit: Own work
Special Feature
First British game console
| Manufacturer | Amstrad |
|---|---|
| Equipment Type | Game Console |
| Model Name | GX4000 |
| Family Name | Amstrad GX4000 |
| Years | 1990 – 1991 |
| CPU | Zilog Z80 @ 4MHz |
| RAM | 64 KB |
| Original Price | £25 |
| Resolution | 640 X 200 |
| Colours | 16 |
| Sound | General Instrument AY-3-8910 |
| Units Sold | 15000 |
Description
The Amstrad GX4000 was the the first console made by a British company and the only one made by Amstrad, despite coming out in the same month (September 1990) as the Mega Drive’s European release the console was similar in hardware to the third generation consoles which were still selling well due to their reduced price and wide library of games. The console came with a racing game called Burning Rubber which was a version of an arcade game from 1982. The GX4000’s library was more limited as a lot of its game were cartridge versions of games made for the now six year old CPC, additionally the cartridge games were £25 as opposed to the CPC cassettes which were £4. The console was a huge flop with only 15000 sold and only 27 games were made, within only 10 months of the console’s release some shops were selling it for as little as £30 which was under a third of the original price and the console was discontinued not long after that.