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Pegasus was a video game system sold primarily in Poland and later seen in small numbers in various market including Middle East, Asia, Eastern Europe and Spanish-language markets. It was a hardware clone of the Nintendo Famicom aka Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), also called a Famiclone.

Hardware[]

Pegasus console+pad+game

A 'Pegasus' game console, with gamepad and multicart.

Processor 8-bit MOS 6502 1,79 MHz
Video Clock 5,37 MHz
Resolution 256 x 240
Color Palette 25 on screen
(out of 64 possible)
Standard NTSC ("forced" to PAL standard, 50 Hz refresh rate)
Sound 5-channel mono 1 channel noise
1 PCM
3 channels for sounds
Media ROM cartridge
(Nintendo 60-pin equivalent)

Background[]

This particular Nintendo-clone was hugely popular in Poland where it has gained cult status.

The system was manufactured in Taiwan and sold in Poland by Bobmark International, and was built to resemble Nintendo Famicom console. Pegasus, like most known Famicom clones, was compatible with 60-pin Famicom cartridges, and partially compatible with some NES games, which could be played using a special converter. Original Nintendo games weren't popular, however, due to raging piracy and high prices of original products. The majority of the games sold with and for the system were cheap pirated copies distributed by Bobmark and later by other pirates without premission from official Pegasus sellers. The games for famiclones were widely available in Poland until mid-2000s on street markets.

The IQ-502 model was sold in the Czech Republic.[1]In 1995-1996, Sat Game promoted a competitor called Video Game-GT3300 (same design as the IQ-502).

In Middle East, Pegasus brand was marketed by Mirador Traders. This models have usually Pegasus logo that looks like Mega Drive/Genesis one.

Pegasus was also released in smaller numbers, in various market like Spanish-langauge countries, Indonesia (by Spica Club), Greece (by Gotsis S.A) and in some other Asian and Eastern European countries.

The typical retail set included the system, two detachable controllers (both with "turbo" buttons, which meant 4 buttons in total; 6-button controllers also existed), power supply and RF cable. The console had a built-in RF modulator, as well as audio-video RCA connectors. Additionaly customers could bought a light gun (very similar in design to NES Zapper). The system itself didn't include any built-in games but was bundled with a pirated multicart labeled "Contra 168 in 1", which contained a few of the best-known NES titles, like Contra, Super Mario Bros., and others. Most of the games had a "trainer" feature, which allowed the player to adjust the number of lives, and even the starting level of the game.

Console Models[]

Poland (Official)[]

  • Pegasus MT777-DX (Famicom) - most know model of console sold in Poland from 1991 to 1994. There were two versions: the most popular white/grey model and the rare white/red model.
  • Super Pegasus MT888-DX - released in 1993 by Hoop Polska (logo under console). Model has a SNES shelf but plays Famicom carts.
  • Super Pegasus MT999-DX - another version of the above console released in 1994 also by Hoop Polska.
  • Pegasus IQ-502 - based on Micro Genius IQ-502 and sold from 1994 to 1999.
  • Pegasus Game Boy - Game Boy clone sold since 1993. There were two versions: YS-01 and 3000B.
  • Power Pegasus - clone of Sega Mega Drive released in 1995.

Poland (Unknown)[]

  • Pegasus MT-888DX - regular grey famicom.
  • Pegasus MT-888DX SP-60 - model with SNES shelf. It has NES Video Game System - Pegasus name at console.
  • Super Pegasus MT-555DX - model with famicom shelf. Has antennas included.

Poland (Clones)[]

Sold on Polish aution sites by Gra-Pegasus.pl

  • Pegasus AM-601 - released in the fall of 2019. It has a box translated in Polish. There was also available the Golden Five compilation from Codemasters which had a reproduction of Polish instructions from the 90s.
  • Pegasus AM-106 - released in early 2020. It has a Super Nintendo shell.
  • Pegasus Amboy A1 - released in early 2022. It has a NES shell available in Red and Silver editions.
  • Pegasus Classic - released in 2022. It has PSX design, like PolyStation.

Middle East[]

  • Pegasus MT777-DX (SNES) - model with SNES shelf.
  • Pegasus MT-999DX - rounded famiclone.
  • Pegasus Mark II - looks like PC Engine. Sold in Middle East.

Other regions[]

  • Pegasus M888-DX - same as above. Sold in Greece by Gotsis S.A.
  • Pegasus Control Center III SN-7000 - design like American version of SNES.
  • Pegasus MT-1010DX Action Set - Found in South America. Looks like NES.
  • Pegasus MT-1010DX Mark III - sold in two versions, black and white-black. They are one of the clones that used modify design of Famicom and were probably intended to be sold in Asian markets.
  • Pegasus MT-999DX - sold in Indonesia by Spica Club, based on IQ-701.
  • Pegasus MT-999DX Action Set - SNES design with Spanish text on box.
  • MT-9050DX - black famicom

End of Pegasus[]

In 1994 there were a few changes in Polish law and Bobmark took steps to make Pegasus an 'independent system' by selling games only from producers who released their NES games without the permission of Nintendo, for example, Sachen.

In the same year, Nintendo of America established Poland anti piracy program right after official sales of licensed Nintendo products on the Polish market were started by Entertainment Systems Poland.

To fight Nintendo, Bobmark made an agreement with Sega for sales of their products. Later console wasn't advertised, especially since the company released Sega Saturn and wanted to focus on the fight against the Playstation that was released in the same year. The last advertisement of Pegasus appeared in 1996 and last models were sold in 1999.

Popularity[]

In the early 1990s, the Pegasus system gained massive popularity in Poland, probably because until 1994 there was no official distributor of Nintendo products in Poland. The Pegasus consoles were mass-marketed by most of the major and smaller electronic stores. Also, the console had a warranty service provided by Eltors Electronic. Numerous VHS rentals offered an option to rent or exchange Pegasus cartridges, as well as entire systems. Pegasus was even officially advertised in the press and on TV. See a few of their ads here [1].

Video Game Press[]

Pegasus and its revisions received wide coverage in the Polish video game press. At the beginning of 1993 console was reviewed by one of the largest magazines in Poland called Bajtek. Top Secret (magazine belonging to Bajtek) also began to review games for this console. There Pegasus was called Nintendo compatible system and Bobmark was known as seller of games and consoles compatible with Nintendo standards. Top Secret later reviewed Sega games from Bobmark. This magazine also had a store where Pegasus games could be found in the offer. The last review of Pegasus games appeared in issue 43 (10/1995).

Since 1993 Pegasus games have been reviewed in the Videoman multimedia magazine. All reviews from this magazine were published in Kolorowy spis gier typu NINTENDO (which was initially advertised as Kolorowy spis gier typu PEGASUS). This magazine later revive games for Sega from Bobmark and the original NES games from authorized distributors.

The last magazine where Pegasus games were reviewed was the Świat Gier Komputerowych. Two games were reviewed in issue 12/1996.

The Gry Komputerowe magazine, that has been also reviewing console games since 1994, openly called Pegasus a weak fake of the Nintendo console. They also reviewed games on Sega but they were provided by Discomp. From 1996, they began reviewing Sega Saturn games that were provided by Bobmark.

Secret Service did not review Pegasus games, because they considered it a fairly primitive system and the reviews of it would not attract people who read reviews from advanced platforms such as Amiga or PC. In this magazine, console reviews appeared in 1996, but there were no games for Pegasus.

Pegasus was also described in non-gaming magazines like Świat Młodych 31/32 1993.

In the Czech Republic, the console was described in the 4th issue of the LeveL magazine. It was described there as one of the consoles available in the Videohry Slunicko store.

Gaming Events[]

Pegasus also appears at gaming events in Poland.

It appeared on Play Box 1995 where the first day was a press conference dedicated to this console (Power Pegasus was announced there). At the stands, in addition to a large number of Pegasus, there were also two demonstrations with Mega Drive and the game Sonic.

The situation has changed on Play Box 1996. The most seats were with Sega consoles (especially with the Saturn that premiered here). Pegasus demonstrations were also but in small numbers.

Trivia[]

  • The Pegasus trademark was registered by Bobmark in April 1993.
  • From July 2019, the Pegasus trademark was registered in Poland by Dragon Trader.

References[]

External Links[]

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).
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