A Mini-Doc on the Micro Genius consoles some have heard of, TXC Corp as a parent company and some consoles you've likely never seen before! Krikzz Website: krikzz.com/store/ Twitter: @RetroSunday_YT
I’m from Malaysia and I do remember playing the Micro Genius IQ501 back in the 80s. I even had the console when I was a kid back then. I don’t recall they sell the Dendy here though. The Micro Genius was very popular back then as we can see it selling at all the malls in KL. Renting was also very popular during that time, whereby you pay a dollar and they allow you to play any game for half an hour. These rental concept was available at most malls, or your neighbourhood shops. Truly good old days. Also we had no idea what is a NES or Famicom during the time as everyone was playing the Micro Genius
Thanks Andrew, always appreciate comments and you gave me some solid info on rental and sales location I appreciate it! Still trying to get a bigger picture might do another documentary down the road. Thanks again for watching and commenting! :D
andrew lee. dendy could not be sold in other countries dandies from the company Steepler were only in russia. Dendy were produced since the end of 1992 by Steepler, assembled in Taiwan from Chinese components by order of Steepler and mainly sold in Russia. Over time, the console of the series also began to be assembled at the Chinese Subor plant and at the Russian Tenzor plant. The Dendy lineup was divided into two categories - the main Classic and the budget Junior - which differed in design, quality and price. The Classic were copies of the Micro Genius console from the Taiwanese TXC Corporation and were manufactured in the same factory. Junior were created using cheaper technology specifically for Steepler. Dendy was produced in several modifications. In general, the lineup was divided into two categories - the main Classic and the budget Junior. The first console in the series was a copy of the Taiwanese Micro Genius IQ-501, whose design was based on Sharp's Twin Famicom. The Taiwanese company TXC Corporation has rethought the design of the Twin Famicom and made console more compact. Steepler rebranded the IQ-501 as the Dendy Classic and released it on December 17, 1992. Since the summer of 1993, the Dendy Junior console was released for sale, which became “a simplified version of the Classic. Dendy Junior was created on a reduced cost technology and used a "system on a chip". The prefix was originally developed by TXC Corporation on request specifically for Steepler, to compete with suppliers of Chinese clones, which were of poor quality and sold cheaper. The design of the console was copied from the original Famicom. The next model was the Dendy Junior II, which had a rounded similar to the Dendy Junior, but the gamepads were non-detachable and the second of them lacked the Start and Select buttons. After the Junior II, the Dendy Junior IVP went on sale, which dropped the Junior III name because unknown competitors released a modified Junior II model under that name. Steepler decided not to compete with them and immediately released the Black Junior IVP. The final model of the series was the Dendy Classic II, based on the Micro Genius IQ-502, with a new rounded design and new gamepads. In addition, it was planned to put on sale the Dendy Pro model, based on the Micro Genius IQ-1000, which was distinguished by the presence of one wired and one wireless gamepad, but in the end, it went on sale only in a limited batch of 1000-1200 units, which sold poorly.( PS: IQ-801" IQ-701 are similar to American nes. IQ-801 gamepads are like dendy classic. And the IQ-901 console looks like a gamepad. And Super King II has a gamepad like classic 2. But these console models were not in Russia.)
@@RetroSunday Retro Sunday Hi, I'll update this comment and expand on my previous comment. I wrote to andrew lee, you can also add to my previous comment. yeah, xD
Use to hire these back in the day lol good times.. especially when you had to tune it into the TV and still couldn't get a clear picture and played it regardless of the fuzzy pic 😂
That's so cool to hear, it's crazy to think that a couple people have reached out saying the same thing with next to no views on the video so cool! What console did you grow up with? The Micro Genius or something else? Thanks for watching and commenting! :D
In my country "Algeria" the famiclones were my childhood in the 90s , like many kids in that time . I had a "mega drive" like famiclone console , then my father bought us a keyboard famiclone called "golden tiger" where you can learn and play games . Most games cartridge that came with, have 9999in1 games when actually they were repeated games , you can find in them : super Mario bros , tank , duck hunt , Bomberman, dr.mario , exite bike , and sometimes you can find hacked pirted games . Anyway great video 👍
Micro Genius was extremely popular in Malaysia back in the days because of their marketing. We had Micro Genius TV ads but never anything from Nintendo not even their games. As for the console itself it was rock solid and best of all it had AV-out while most other clones had just the RF.
my first console was iq901 and i liked it so much. after destroying iq901 i tried many of famiclones but i couldnt find any better. iq901 was superior quality.
Thanks for watching and commenting, glad you enjoyed! :D Was really nice to dive into something I'd recently discovered around the time of the video, some of the Micro Genius games are actually really good like Thunder Warrior.
there were very few dendy classic secam signale released, they contained gpu processors with rgb output. Today, having made the mod, you get the perfect picture.
Dendy was actually Russian market console , Pegasus was sold in Poland , which all were rebranded micro Genius. There was even video game program in Russia called Dendy New Reality
Slowly piecing together all of the pieces to the puzzle with the help of the comments section. Thanks for watching and commenting, really do appreciate the info! :D
@@RetroSunday if you need more info let me know I know pretty much everything bout those consoles, I grew up in Russia before moving to the states, so I had those in my childhood
@@Roman-wv4rd Will do, thanks for the offer! I may make another bigger documentary in the near future so if I do I'll be sure to toss some questions your way, have a good weekend! :D
I was on kik today talking to someone in Uzbekistan about my game collection and he mentioned the Micro Genius that he had growing up which I've never heard of until today so I went to RU-vid and your video was perfect! I live in the US so I never knew of this system
I'm from Canada and hadn't heard of it till I started collecting for it a few years back. Glad to hear you and a handful of other people from around the world have enjoyed the video! :D Actually a cool company with many console variations. Some still haven't been re-discovered along with the true library of Micro Genius games, so it'll be interesting so see what we discover in the future. Thanks for watching and commenting!
That 1001 i think is a 72 pin, but it looks like the bezel was extended or adapted. I bet it was an easy adapt feature for distributors to make it region frievdly based on cart availability
A lot of the later "Microgenius" consoles aren't even made by TXC or actually had the rights to use the Microgenius brand. This was a common practice for other smaller manufacturers in Taiwan, when TXC stop the famiclone production in late 1994. For example that IQ-3000 is actually a NOAC Subor famiclone with a Microgenius logo put on, in Malaysia Gentry realesed a Snes clone made in mainland china back in 1996, and used the Microgenius brand to sell the console, and a lot of Sega Megadrive clones used the Microgenius brand without the rights from TXC.
Thanks for the info. I figured the late Micro Genius consoles (like the 3000) weren't done by TXC considering the timeline but you assured me with this comment, thanks again! :DDo you know of any iQ console beyond the 3000?
@@Unnamed1990 Thanks for the quick reply, I'd love to see a picture of either of those consoles if ya ever find one. If you do be sure to hit me up here or on Twitter @RetroSunday_YT
I have a couple of Famiclones including the D30 xiao ba wang 小霸王 Subor in your video 18:27. The D30 a NOAC (NES on a chip). I changed the crystal and soldered 3 connection points on the board. Now it run NTSC 60hz.
im from Malta europe when i was a kid everyone had micro genius here now i just purchased a boxed iq2000 super condition with all manuals leaflets itsvery very rare to find it boxed and in pristine condion , I watched all your video very very intresting super like
Not sure I've had a commenter from Malta yet so that's cool. An iq2000 boxed in the condition you describe certainly is rare, congrats on that pickup and thanks for watching and commenting! :D
In the rest of post-soviet countries, Dendy was a slang. Also, Micro Genius has something called "Dendy mode". It just slowed the frame rate down to 50 fps, thanks to the vertical sync(many games and GPU drivers today offer this feature to sync the frame rate with your monitor's refresh rate) and it being sold to regions that is mostly PAL(with post-soviet countries, you had to use the PAL/SECAM converter). You can experience it yourself with the FCEUX emulator by enabling Dendy mode on an NTSC game.
I also wanted to mention cartridges. Most of the bootleg cartridges actually had games in Japanese(also Famicom exclusives, like Kiyatto Ninden Teyandee, aka Samurai Pizza Cats). And seeing the so-familiar kanji(thank you China), people thought that the game is in Chinese, while they couldn't understand shit. And speaking of Famicom exclusives, Battle City became a huge hit there, while in Japan, it was a market failure.
I am waiting for Sam's Journey Famicom Edition in the mail. I can't wait for Mischief Castle, Orange Island and Piopow to come out this year. I play on the HG-938 with a Mayflash SNES/NES PC controller adapter 9 pin to NES plug in and an 8 Bitdo Dongle with the Firmware Update to use the NES Online Controller. It came with two 2.4ghz controllers but I wanted to feel more official.
So cool, did you happen to own or still own any of the Micro Genius consoles or exclusive games? Regardless, what consoles and games would you recommend that you grew up with or just something exclusive to your area? Thanks for watching and commenting! :D
I don't like rom hacks, so all the games I have are just bootleg Famicom games and even NES games, we got everything all 3 mario games, all 3 adventure island games, contra, ninja Gaiden, tiny toons ect, the only games we never got are the ones with battery backups, so no Zelda, final fantasy, Kirby, I only got to play those many years later
Great documentary and fun walk through memory lane! AFAIK not many Malaysians had the Famicom or NES. In fact, at the time I had no idea the Micro Genius was the NES (I was exposed to the NES via ads in Marvel and DC comic books) No consoles were ever officially lauched in Malaysia until the PS2. To this day Sony is the only console manufacturer to officially release their consoles here.
Appreciate the comment, glad you enjoyed the video! Why were no official consoles launched in Malaysia? Also, what's your top couple favourite video games? Enjoy your week! :D
@@RetroSunday I'm not sure why we never had any official console launches here, maybe it's the proliferation of pirated software here, especially for the Famicom, PS1, PS2, Xbox 360, and Wii We do have a local distributor for Nintendo products, but there's no official launches. Microsoft has a regional South East Asia Xbox Facebook page, but the consoles were only officially released in Singapore The console I spend the most time with these days is the PS2, although I will always have sentimental attachments to the SNES and PS1 as they were my first consoles
@@myretronation Cool man thanks for the info I appreciate all of it. I'd love to visit Malaysia one day to check out the video game market and get a true feel for the history over there. Pirating always been illegal here so I can see the difference there for sure. PS2 library is one of the best if not, Sega Genesis is always on the top of my list but I do love me some N64 and PS1 also.
@@RetroSunday Do come, especially after the pandemic is over :) Not much of a market here though, especially for retro games The software pirates are pretty much gone, the entire marketplace is 70% PlayStation and 30% Switch Malaysia is a PlayStation country, and practically every current console gamer has a PS4
I dove into a similar rabbit hole when I imported a NASA NS-81A, a Taiwan-made NES clone sold in Spain. Then I discovered similar ones like the Creation DY-636, made by Dar Yar Electronics in Taiwan also sold in Spain. There are all kinds of variants of these sold in Spain under various brands such as NASA, Creation, SINASA, Space, Brigmton, YESS!, Lavis, Dido etc. Some have an internal 60-pin Famicom cart slot where a multicart is plugged in for "built-in" games. Some also have a top-loading Famicom cart slot along with the front-loading NES cart slot. Most of them have a discrete chipset, but the later ones use a glob top noac. The consoles are PAL 50Hz but I converted them to NTSC 60Hz by swapping out the PPU and CPU, so they work fine on North American tv's.
I've seen the NASA logo while researching Micro Genius stuff, didn't know about it till you commented. I feel like I learned a lot about that style of famiclone from what you've stated alone, the whole idea of built in games has always been a cool idea to me (snail maze on Master System) I wonder what kind of games they had built into the console? Any multi-cart work to access the games or something specific? Any exclusive titles for any of these consoles? Sorry for all of the questions but I'm curious now and I was surprised when I found the Micro Genius had a very small but exclusive library of games for the console nonetheless. Not a fan of the whole 50hz scene myself but modded is the way to go for sure. Thanks for watching and commenting, enjoy your weekend! :D
@@RetroSunday I doubt they made any exclusive games. Most of multicart pcbs that were plugged into the internal slot are the same multicarts that are also available separately in a Famicom cart or inside a NES cart with a 60-to-72 pin adapter. I have a few of the same multicarts that are the same as the "built-in" multicarts as on my clones. The carts have early Famicom/NES games on them. Some of them, like the 168-in-1 or the 190-in-1 have mostly duplicates of the same games that start on different stages. Other carts like the 20-in-1, 42-in-1 and 52-in-1 actually have that many games without any repeats. I like that these old multicarts usually have some interesting menus with music. The consoles have a lot of variations of the motherboard. I have a Creation DY-636 that has the internal cart slot with the multicart, and another one that doesn't have the internal cart slot but instead has the same multicart integrated into the console's pcb. I have a Brigmton that in addition to the internal cart slot, has a door on the bottom of the console so you can access and change out the built-in game without needing to disassemble the console. I also had a NASA that had a built-in IR sensor for a wireless controller, but mine didn't come with the controller.
@@RetroSunday Also I did see a Micro Genius IQ-801, which looks similar to the NASA/Creation NES-style clones. It was also sold under the SPICA brand. I have a Micro Genius IQ-201 with the digital clock, although the clock doesn't work. Not sure what the digital clock was used for.
@@SaturnHST man that's so cool, I've seen a lot of that with lesser known famiclones they seem to have variation in mobo sometimes without rhyme or reason considering time or production and what they had out already or were working on.
@@SaturnHST Hmm, I've seen a handful of IQ consoles on random ebay style sites for Spain, UK and China for fair prices I may collect more next season when I'm not literally dead broke lol. Internal digital clock on the mobo? Not some accessory right? You don't feel like making RU-vid videos? You have some great knowledge and passion for retro stuff it seems :D
My parents are from Poland. We had a Pegasus. The Pegasus IQ-502 was made by Micro Genius. But I heard the original Pegasus called MT777 was made by a different company. Still don't know which one. Right now I only own a Pegasus MT-777. I am still looking for an IQ-502
Thanks for the comment always love the new info coming in from different areas of the world. Interesting, I'd like to do a part 2 to this video and focus on a few more companies and console variations when I get time. Where you live currently? I might be able to find you a 502 I'll check tonight or tmro, thanks for watching! :D
@@RetroSunday You're welcome. If you need more information don't hesitate to ask me. I am a console collector so I am also interested in these less known systems. I live in Germany. You'd be my hero if you find one. I have never seen one on ebay. I have seen the Pegasus MT-777 already three or four times but never the IQ-502 :D
Pegasus IQ-502 right? I messaged this guy already about separating the bundle but let me know if this is the console you're talking about in the pictures. www.ebay.ca/itm/334086433670?hash=item4dc91a6b86:g:oeAAAOSwjCxg-iTC
@@RetroSunday hi, that's the console I am looking for. Where did you find it? I have only once seen the original Micro Genius one. I have seen it on ebay shipping from the USA. The Pegasus ones you can only find in Poland. The Pegasus was seperated into 3 revisions. Only the first was good I guess. I'm sorry for the late response. I thought I answered your question.
Hi, if youre interested, im from Latvia, in 1994 my dad bought a console called ''Zhiliton'', i was 7 years old and it was first time i saw something like that. I think it broke later, and then parents bought me console ''Nikita''. Both were basically famiclones in Sega plastics. But i found it only when i got internet 10 years later. I dont know where and by what company they both were made, but would be interesting to find out.
Heyy, thanks so much for the comment. Hmm, the Nikita sounds familiar, cool to hear they were wrapped in Sega plastics though as that doesn't sound as familiar to me. I had a viewer reach out recently and explain to me some specific console and company launches in his part of the world (Spain). I'll do a little research today or tmro and I'll get back to you in this comment with the date, brand, region, etc. for both the Zhiliton and the Nikita consoles soon. Thanks again for watching and commenting and enjoy your weekend! :D
Just checked very quickly and I believe the "Zhilton 938" was a Sega Genesis model 1 case with famiclone hardware under the hood made and released by Dendy in both Latvia and later in Russia and some asian markets. The Nikita I've seen before as far as brand name but never in the Sega Model 2 shell that I saw a picture of. The "Nikita" also looks like it was sold under the Dendy brand and possibly in similar areas. Dendy has a long arm when it came to software and hardware under their umbrella considering they handled many more 3rd party famiclone companies along with most of the Micro Genius stuff around this time. Not too sure, but both of these console likely came out in the early 90's. I'll do more research some other time but that's what I got for ya for now. Enjoy! :D
the iq 501 from colombia,"nichiman" was imported and modified,"socket" by daibutsu....cartridges say..."hecho en colombia" made in colombia....i have a nichiman modified....
Thanks for the comment. That's so cool, there are so many companies involved in third party 501 software/hardware it could really be a video on its own. Any exclusive titles for the Nichiman you're aware of? Thanks again! :D
You called the Micro Genius consoles Atari? That's awesome, it's cool to hear these comments from around the world I appreciate it. Did they sell under the name Atari or were they sold as Micro Genius brand and Atari was the name that caught on? Also, what is "sup handheld"? Thanks for watching and commenting! :D
I found a really cool Chinese bootleg for the mega drive, SOUL EDGE. I believe the copyright is 1997. Uses three buttons better than a lot of fighting games that looks very nice as well. Try to? I subscribed.
Nice, I did a little research so it's essentially a port of Soul Blade from the PS1 eh? Cool nonetheless, I'd like to travel to Brazil and Japan to scour the Genesis/MegaDrive markets some day. Thanks for watching, commenting and subscribing! :D
Do you or anyone else who has commented know of the official list of exclusive games made for the Micro Genius consoles? I own a handful and I think my list has about 3 or 4 more games than listed on the wiki. Anyway, thanks for watching and commenting! :D
Yes. NES power supply will work for sure and if Famicom power supply is same voltage and connection then I can't see why that wouldn't work as well. I personally use an aftermarket Genesis/NES dual power supply but I've used NES as well. Thanks for watching and commenting! :D
@@tengkusulaiman Hell ya, so many variations of the Micro Genius consoles, cool that you remember though. Where are you from and what store would you have purchased or rented games back then?
@@RetroSunday Im in Malaysia. I bought brand new when I was teenager. The console have built in game about 30 games. I had a "10 in 1" game cartridge. Which have super mario 3, splitted by world level 1 to 8, then 2 other game of duck hunt/clay shot & smb1.
Hey, I found my original iq-501 controller and Hori controller on Ebay you have to check every day tho. Also, have a iq-501 model controller with NES pins. Short answer, search Ebay a couple times a day at least and you'll find one soon. Thanks for watching and commenting! :D
Haven't checked and I'll be pretty busy rest of the week, if you can't find the ROMs for the games I own let me know. If I can't find them after that, I'll definitely dump them if I can. Also, thanks for watching and commenting! :D
I have a Famiclone collection that's larger than most. I don't make videos and I don't usually host show n tells, but I must say that the amount of consoles that were made definitely if they were all accumulated would definitely have put a sizeable dent in the Nintendo fortune. I cannot wait to see a Xbox clone or a PlayStation clone God the world will go nutz, especially if they can get it to play disks
I find it astounding how large the famiclone console was outside of the USA and Canada after making this video. Never seen an Xbox original or PS2 clone myself, would be cool tho. Thanks for watching and commenting! :D
lol that's awesome, thanks for the comment. What games do you remember playing on it? The Super King II is fairly hard to find nowadays. Thanks for watching also! :D
Awesome, I was only able to get the console separate when I found it. I did however manage to get 2 original Micro Genius controllers and an original Light Gun in box with my iq-501. Did he purchase this recently or back in the day? Thanks for watching and commenting! :D
Thanks for the tip, I captured this stuff from a $19 AV to HDMI converter so it's gonna be terrible no matter what. I even edited contrast and colour after capturing. Once I have some sort of decent HDMI cap for NES and Micro Genius you'll see the difference lol. Thanks for watching and commenting! :D
the plastic smell after you unboxing it is something else..can't get that smell from modern console..LoL... and 999 in one cart (No repeat) is just a lie..it's just same repeated game with a little tweak and power up..yuck!
oh yeah? lol which console did ya unbox I'm curious and I also wonder what plastic they use compared to modern consoles? I've found a couple more official Micro Genius titles since the video, didn't make a bid on Chinese Chess complete on ebay and it recently sold for about $170usd. Thanks for watching and commenting! :D
Hi, I'm from Russia. A few months ago I bought a famiclone called Basic Computer with a 50/60 Hz switcher. I was completely sure it hasn't anything in common with Micro Genius, but I found quartz resonator with a sign TXC inside. I think that the list of clones was longer than we have expected
Hey Nord Odin I'll be sure to refer to this and do some research on this console soon :D I've had some cool comments from around the world and I feel like I could make a 2nd part to this down the road, would be a tonne of research to do but I might try and put something together next year. Still looking for a few Micro Genius games to complete the collection also. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@nordodin5815 TXC simply produced these quartz resonators at that time (in fact they still make them) and they were in many devices, for example they are often found in the original Mega Drive and Genesis, especially in the first models, but this of course does not mean that these consoles were produced by TXC. This Basic Computer has nothing to do with Micro Genius clones.
