Description

The Videopac G7200 is a variant of the Videopac G7000. The console had on introduction price in the Netherlands of fl. 699,-. It has a 23 cm built-in black- and white screen and Philips called it therefore a ’spelmonitor’ in other words ’game monitor’. With its keyboard and display the G7200 looks in fact more like a PC. The G7200 however, featured the same “limited” processor as the G7000, making it inadequate to run as a full-fledged PC / console hybrid.

Advertisements argued that if mom and dad wanted to watch television, the built-in black- and white screen offered a sollution by allowing the kids to continue playing in their room. The fun was almost literally endless. A win-win situation, right? The advertisement also states that: ’the rich contrast of the black and white monitor makes the displayed images as clear as on a colour tv’. In practice this statement proved to be wrong, because many Videopac games used colour to distinguish gameplay elements from each other. The black and white screen even made some games virtually unplayable.

The G7200, just like some versions of the G7401, has however a great advantage over other Videopac variants. It had the option of connecting the Videopac to a TV via SCART. This was made possible with a separate an 8-pin adapter and resulted in a clearer and sharper image compared to the G7000.

The two controller ports of the console are placed in the black plastic on the front. From my own experience I can say that they are very difficult to approach. To properly place the controllers, you need to tilt the entire console on its back and at the same time push, with some pressure, the 8-pin connector into the correct, poorly visible, hole. Not really ideal. Finally, three buttons have been placed on the front to adjust the contrast, brightness and volume.

The regular G7200 was made by Philips. The German Schneider and the French Radiola Jet also released their own variant of the G7200 under license. Both in a deep blue color, much like the Videopac N60.