Nintendo's PlayChoice-10, the original MVS

4 years before SNK unleashed the Neo Geo MVS on the world, Nintendo did something similar with the PlayChoice-10. Unlike the Vs. System, which were arcade versions of NES games specifically modified for the arcade industry, the PlayChoice-10 housed specially manufactured versions of the actual NES versions. I say specially modified, because you couldn't just put any NES game you wanted inside of a PlayChoice-10 (although originally I thought that was what you could do when I was a kid). They had a set list of games available for them. But unlike the Vs. system releases, they functioned exactly like the NES games that you could buy at the store. But instead of having to put another coin in to continue a game if you were to die, you could keep playing until the amount of time from the quarter(s) you put in had expired. And that means the timer could run out while you were still in the middle of laying baddies to waste in the game you were playing. So I decided to make a little appreciation post for it. While it didn't quite set the world on fire like the Neo Geo MVS did 4 years later, it was still a fascinating piece of tech. I remember always being fascinated by these machines. And they were where I had played certain NES games for the first time ever, such as Mega Man 3 for example. There were different kinds of PlayChoice-10 cabinets available, including a counter top one similar to but not quite like the Arcade1UP Space Invaders machine I own.



If I were to have a PlayChoice-10 of my own, this is a list of games I think I would have on it based on the titles that were released for the hardware:

1.Mega Man 3
2.Metroid
3.Trojan
4.Rad Racer
5.Gradius
6.Castlevania
7.Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
8.Rescue Rangers
9.Yo! Noid
10.Rockin' Kats

I don't know if they would be in that order, but Mega Man 3 would definitely be the first one on the list being that I am a huge fan of the Blue Bomber as you may be aware by now.