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My Konix adventure - or why I created this website
I've been a games enthusiast since the days of Vic 20 and ZX81. I've been
a rampant consumer of video game and computer magazines and have always taken
a keen interest in any new machine that has come along or been mooted. I am
especially interested in Japanese games machines that never made their way
over to the UK.
Of all the machines that ever got released or were talked about, I can
honestly say in a completely unbiased way (I after all own a very healthy
multi denominational collection of computers and games machines) that no
machine up to the soon to be released Nintendo WII has ever been more
alluring and exotic, offering something that is truly different to any other
machine around.
There are several reasons why I'd go to the effort of creating a website
dedicated to telling the story of a machine that was never released. Probably
the most significant reason is that I believed the hype. I was taken in hook,
line and sinker like so many of my fellow gamers. We fell for its obvious
charms, we believed the promise of arcade style gaming in our homes, the
thrills and spills of interactive peripherals and immersing sound, bright
vibrant graphics and all for just 200 pounds, how could we resist?
The failure of the machine to get released wasn't an unexpected shock
announcement; it was more like the gradual breakdown of a relationship. There
were lots of little signs that were clear to see to objective viewers, but we
were too in love to see them. In the end all that we had left of the Konix
was a sickening felling that Alka-Seltzer couldn't ease. We had photos of
better times, Perfume soaked love letters written by the likes of ACE and TGM
magazine, but the perfume had faded.
Old cliché's are the best (isn't that a cliché?) and time
really is a healer. The Konix system, despite failing to get to market didn't
"fail" as a console, there are several machines that were released that
didn't set the world on fire quite like the NES, SNES, Genesis and PS1
did.
All the people I've talked to who were involved with designing the various
aspects of this machine have kindly allowed me to interview them and they all
can now look back on it with the cleansing healing powers of time and fondly
reminisce about what would have been a revolutionary machine. We can only
speculate about how it would have fared if released, but it is safe to say,
that in lots of little ways, this machine shaped the games industry that we
enjoy today.
In creating this website I have attempted to collate all the information
available regarding this machine. I've labored to make this site easy to use
yet informative. There may be errors or missing information - if you spot
anything, let me know and I'll fix it. And if you have ANY contributions
whatsoever regarding the KMS then please drop me an e-mail and I'll be happy to
investigate them and publish them once they are confirmed or backed up by
research.
Why I believe this website is worth reading is that it doesn't just offer my
opinion, it also offers snippets of information not commonly known to people
who have heard of the KMS, but don't know the entire story.
There are two sides to every story; I have tried to represent both sides
fairly. No one other than Wyn Holloway really knows what happened to the
multi-system. Therefore I present his version of events to you. Others may
speculate, but this is the man that created it and saw it die. At time of
writing, 18 years have passed since its death, so make your own mind up about
what he says in the interview he kindly gave me.
This may be peoples only chance to 'experience the reality' lets see if it
confirms your suspicions, leaves a bad taste in the mouth or fills in all the
gaps and gives you closure.