<s>
The	O
Konix	B-Device
Multisystem	I-Device
was	O
a	O
cancelled	O
video	O
game	O
system	O
under	O
development	O
by	O
Konix	B-Device
,	O
a	O
British	O
manufacturer	O
of	O
computer	O
peripherals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Konix	B-Device
Multisystem	I-Device
began	O
life	O
in	O
1988	O
as	O
an	O
advanced	O
Konix	B-Device
peripheral	O
design	O
intended	O
to	O
build	O
on	O
the	O
success	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
range	O
of	O
joysticks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
promised	O
advanced	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
force	B-Device
feedback	I-Device
,	O
hitherto	O
unheard	O
of	O
in	O
home	O
gaming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Konix	B-Device
turned	O
to	O
their	O
sister	O
company	O
Creative	O
Devices	O
Ltd	O
,	O
a	O
computer	O
hardware	O
developer	O
,	O
to	O
design	O
a	O
gaming	O
computer	O
to	O
be	O
put	O
inside	O
the	O
controller	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
a	O
stand-alone	O
console	O
in	O
its	O
own	O
right	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
shortly	O
after	O
this	O
development	O
began	O
that	O
Konix	B-Device
founder	O
and	O
chairman	O
Wyn	O
Holloway	O
came	O
across	O
a	O
magazine	O
article	O
that	O
described	O
the	O
work	O
of	O
a	O
British	O
group	O
of	O
computer	O
hardware	O
designers	O
whose	O
latest	O
design	O
was	O
looking	O
for	O
a	O
home	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
article	O
in	O
question	O
,	O
published	O
in	O
issue	O
10	O
of	O
ACE	O
magazine	O
in	O
July	O
1988	O
,	O
featured	O
Flare	O
Technology	O
,	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
computer	O
hardware	O
designers	O
who	O
,	O
having	O
split	O
from	O
Sinclair	O
Research	O
(	O
creators	O
of	O
the	O
ZX81	O
and	O
ZX	B-Operating_System
Spectrum	I-Operating_System
home	O
computers	O
)	O
,	O
had	O
built	O
on	O
their	O
work	O
on	O
Sinclair	O
's	O
aborted	O
Loki	B-Device
project	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
system	O
known	O
as	O
Flare	O
One	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flare	O
's	O
prototype	B-Application
system	O
was	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
based	O
but	O
featured	O
four	O
custom	O
chips	O
to	O
give	O
it	O
the	O
power	O
to	O
compete	O
with	O
peers	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
and	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
1MB	O
machine	O
(	O
128k	O
of	O
ROM	B-Device
,	O
128k	O
of	O
video	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
768k	O
of	O
system	O
RAM	B-Architecture
)	O
promised	O
graphics	O
with	O
256	O
colours	O
on-screen	O
simultaneously	O
,	O
could	O
handle	O
3	O
million	O
pixels	O
per	O
second	O
,	O
output	O
8	O
channel	O
stereo	O
and	O
had	O
a	O
blitter	B-General_Concept
chip	I-General_Concept
that	O
allowed	O
vertical	O
and	O
horizontal	O
hardware	O
scrolling	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Flare	O
were	O
specifically	O
aiming	O
their	O
machine	O
at	O
the	O
gaming	O
market	O
,	O
eschewing	O
such	O
features	O
as	O
80	O
column	O
text	O
display	O
(	O
considered	O
the	O
requisite	O
for	O
business	O
applications	O
such	O
as	O
word	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
)	O
in	O
favour	O
of	O
faster	O
graphics	O
handling	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
meant	O
that	O
in	O
spite	O
of	O
its	O
modest	O
8-bit	O
CPU	B-Device
the	O
system	O
compared	O
well	O
against	O
the	O
16-bit	B-Device
machines	O
in	O
the	O
market	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
could	O
move	O
sprites	O
and	O
block	O
graphics	O
faster	O
than	O
an	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
,	O
and	O
in	O
256	O
colours	O
under	O
conditions	O
when	O
the	O
ST	O
would	O
only	O
show	O
16	O
colours	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
could	O
also	O
draw	O
lines	O
3	O
times	O
faster	O
than	O
an	O
Amiga	B-Device
and	O
even	O
handle	O
the	O
maths	O
of	O
3D	O
models	O
faster	O
than	O
the	O
32-bit	O
Acorn	B-Device
Archimedes	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
spite	O
of	O
these	O
specifications	O
and	O
bearing	O
in	O
mind	O
their	O
target	O
gaming	O
market	O
,	O
Flare	O
aimed	O
to	O
retail	O
their	O
machine	O
for	O
around	O
£200	O
,	O
half	O
of	O
what	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
and	O
ST	O
were	O
selling	O
for	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Konix	B-Device
wanted	O
the	O
machine	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
16-bit	B-Device
processor	I-Device
,	O
so	O
the	O
Z80	B-General_Concept
was	O
removed	O
and	O
replaced	O
with	O
an	O
8086	B-General_Concept
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
demanded	O
that	O
the	O
colour	O
palette	O
be	O
expanded	O
to	O
4096	O
colours	O
,	O
the	O
same	O
as	O
that	O
of	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
keep	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
software	O
down	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
decided	O
that	O
the	O
software	O
media	O
would	O
be	O
3.5	O
”	O
floppy	B-Device
discs	I-Device
rather	O
than	O
ROM	B-Protocol
cartridges	I-Protocol
used	O
universally	O
by	O
consoles	O
up	O
to	O
that	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
boasted	O
market	O
leading	O
performance	O
,	O
MIDI	O
support	O
and	O
revolutionary	O
peripherals	O
including	O
a	O
light	B-Device
gun	I-Device
with	O
recoil	B-Application
action	O
and	O
the	O
Power	O
Chair	O
,	O
a	O
motorised	O
seat	O
designed	O
to	O
reproduce	O
in	O
the	O
home	O
what	O
"	O
sit-in	O
"	O
arcade	O
games	O
such	O
as	O
After	B-Application
Burner	I-Application
and	O
Out	B-Application
Run	I-Application
delivered	O
in	O
the	O
arcades	O
using	O
hydraulics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
games	O
in	O
development	O
had	O
a	O
version	O
produced	O
for	O
the	O
Konix	B-Device
Multisystem	I-Device
,	O
including	O
Vivid	O
Image	O
's	O
Hammerfist	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
RAM	B-Architecture
:	O
128K	O
RAM	B-Architecture
-	O
later	O
it	O
would	O
be	O
upgraded	O
to	O
256K	O
RAM	B-Architecture
after	O
complaints	O
from	O
developers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
optional	O
512K	O
RAM	B-Architecture
cartridge	B-Protocol
was	O
considered	O
to	O
boost	O
the	O
total	O
RAM	B-Architecture
for	O
the	O
machine	O
to	O
768K	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Brian	O
Pollock	O
of	O
software	O
publisher	O
Logotron	O
highlighted	O
the	O
limitations	O
caused	O
by	O
the	O
shortage	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
(	O
kept	O
low	O
to	O
keep	O
prices	O
down	O
)	O
,	O
“	O
My	O
only	O
concern	O
is	O
memory	O
,	O
or	O
lack	O
of	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
memory	O
issue	O
was	O
also	O
flagged	O
by	O
Crash	O
magazine	O
,	O
which	O
pointed	O
out	O
that	O
the	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
format	O
meant	O
that	O
games	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
loaded	O
into	O
the	O
machine	O
's	O
RAM	B-Architecture
(	O
originally	O
intended	O
to	O
be	O
128k	O
)	O
in	O
turn	O
requiring	O
the	O
system	O
to	O
be	O
constantly	O
accessing	O
the	O
disk	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Konix	B-Device
intended	O
to	O
remedy	O
the	O
problem	O
with	O
RAM	B-Architecture
upgrade	O
cartridges	B-Protocol
,	O
provided	O
that	O
the	O
price	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
fell	O
in	O
the	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jeff	O
Minter	O
described	O
the	O
controller	O
itself	O
as	O
"	O
superb	O
,	O
"	O
while	O
Chris	O
Walsh	O
of	O
Argonaut	O
Games	O
stated	O
that	O
"	O
Polygon	O
based	O
games	O
like	O
Starglider	B-Application
2	I-Application
are	O
going	O
to	O
be	O
easy	O
to	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Flare	O
One	O
's	O
vertex	O
computation	O
performance	O
,	O
Zarch	B-Application
author	O
David	O
Braben	O
had	O
noted	O
that	O
whilst	O
similar	O
levels	O
of	O
performance	O
might	O
be	O
difficult	O
to	O
achieve	O
on	O
an	O
Archimedes	B-Device
computer	O
,	O
the	O
performance	O
bottlenecks	O
in	O
solid	O
3D	O
games	O
were	O
actually	O
"	O
scanning	O
databases	O
of	O
shapes	O
and	O
putting	O
polygons	O
on	O
screen	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numerous	O
game	O
developers	O
were	O
recruited	O
to	O
produce	O
games	O
for	O
the	O
system	O
,	O
including	O
Jeff	O
Minter	O
's	O
Llamasoft	O
,	O
Electronic	O
Arts	O
,	O
Psygnosis	O
,	O
Ocean	O
,	O
Palace	O
and	O
U.S.	O
Gold	O
,	O
with	O
Konix	B-Device
promising	O
40	O
games	O
to	O
be	O
available	O
by	O
Christmas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Games	O
known	O
to	O
be	O
in	O
development	O
for	O
the	O
system	O
during	O
1988	O
included	O
Llamasoft	O
's	O
Attack	B-Application
of	I-Application
the	I-Application
Mutant	I-Application
Camels	I-Application
,	O
System	O
3	O
's	O
Last	B-Application
Ninja	I-Application
2	I-Application
,	O
Vivid	O
Image	O
's	O
Hammerfist	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Logotron	O
's	O
Star	O
Ray	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
company	O
sources	O
,	O
Konix	B-Device
had	O
been	O
on	O
the	O
brink	O
of	O
calling	O
in	O
receivers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
1990	O
it	O
was	O
revealed	O
that	O
Konix	B-Device
had	O
sold	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
sell	O
their	O
joystick	O
range	O
in	O
the	O
UK	O
to	O
Spectravision	O
who	O
also	O
manufactured	O
the	O
rival	O
QuickShot	O
joystick	O
range	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
beset	O
by	O
delays	O
and	O
in	O
spite	O
of	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
media	O
coverage	O
and	O
apparent	O
demand	O
for	O
the	O
machine	O
,	O
the	O
project	O
ultimately	O
went	O
under	O
when	O
Konix	B-Device
ran	O
out	O
of	O
cash	O
without	O
a	O
completed	O
system	O
ever	O
being	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
abandoned	O
,	O
Flare	O
Technology	O
began	O
work	O
on	O
a	O
new	O
project	O
,	O
Flare	O
Two	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
eventually	O
bought	O
by	O
Atari	O
and	O
,	O
after	O
further	O
development	O
,	O
formed	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
Jaguar	I-Device
game	O
console	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Drivers	O
for	O
these	O
games	O
are	O
also	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
multi	O
emulator	O
MAME	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Konix	B-Device
Multisystem	I-Device
's	O
design	O
was	O
later	O
released	O
independently	O
by	O
a	O
Chinese	O
company	O
called	O
MSC	O
(	O
MultiSystem	O
China	O
)	O
as	O
the	O
MSC	O
Super	O
MS-200E	O
Multi-System	O
,	O
although	O
this	O
was	O
simply	O
an	O
inexpensive	O
PC	O
games	O
controller	O
,	O
without	O
any	O
special	O
internal	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
