Tiger 2-XL Robot (partially lost compact cassette tape edutainment games; 1992-1995): Difference between revisions

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(The Tiger 2-XL was a successor to the original Mego 2-XL toy. This version used compact cassette tapes to store games. Only a few of these tapes have been digitized and uploaded online.)
 
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==References==
==References==
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[[Category:Lost video games]]
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Revision as of 18:31, 16 June 2019

Tiger Scholastic Series.jpg

An advertisement showing the Tiger 2-XL Robot with the Scholastic Series, some of the last tapes produced before it was discontinued.

Status: Partially Found


In 1992, toy company Tiger produced the Tiger 2-XL robot, a children’s toy used the play trivia games and Choose Your Own Adventure games. It was an attempt at a modernization of the original 2-XL robot, which was produced by Mego in 1978. While the original robot stored the trivia questions and answers on 8-track tapes, the Tiger version used compact cassette tapes. This allowed the tapes to be recorded with four mono audio tracks in the same direction. This is different from normal compact cassette tapes, as two tracks would usually be recorded in stereo in one direction, while two more tracks would be recorded in stereo in the other direction. As the questions were asked, the player would select their answer by pressing one of the four buttons on the robot. This would switch the track, and the different tracks contained different responses for different answers. This allowed 2-XL to “respond” differently depending on the player’s answer. [1] The English versions of the tapes are the most well-known. As with the original 1978 Mego 2-XL, the English voice was provided by Dr. Michael J Freeman, the inventor of both 2-XL variants. The Tiger 2-XL was taken off the market in 1995.

Preservation

The compact cassettes that were used for the Tiger 2-XL can be easily erased with a permanent magnet. Additionally, as this toy was for young children, the tapes may not have been well-cared-for. Thankfully, compact cassette tape players are still being made, though they are uncommon. Proper preservation requires a stereo tape deck. However, recording is not intuitive due to all four tracks being recorded in the same direction. While two tracks will play normally from beginning to end, the other two will play in reverse from end to beginning. This will need to be fixed using an audio editor. Also, the tracks may become misaligned due to variations in tape speed. This will also require correction later.

United States Releases

As with the original Mego 2-XL, the U.S. release of the Tiger 2-XL is more well-documented than releases in other countries. Fan-sites have compiled a total of 44 U.S tapes that are known to have released. Four other tapes appeared on Later 2-XL boxes, but it is unknown whether they were produced. The Scholastic Series was released in 1994, as the last proper series of tapes for the system. However, a single tape, a Power Rangers tie-in, was released in 1995 shortly before Tiger discontinued the system. [2] Some of these tapes have made their way online through the Internet Archive. There is also a web-browser-based 2-XL simulator produced by Mouser of DonationCoder.com, which allows users to interact with a virtual 2-XL and play some of the tapes. [3]


Title Status Year of Release
2-XLebrations! Existence Unconfirmed N/A
African Safari Lost 1992
All-Time Top Topics Lost 1992
Amazing World Records Lost 1992
Are You Afraid of the Dark? – Nickelodeon Lost 1994
Batman: Carnival of Crime Found 1993
Batman: The Sizzling Scheme Lost 1993
Careers & You - Scholastic Series Lost 1994
Count on 2-XL (possibly released as “Count On It”) Existence Unconfirmed N/A
Count On It – Scholastic Series Lost 1994
Fascinating Facts Lost 1992
Food Facts and You Lost 1992
Friends From Far Away Existence Unconfirmed N/A
Fun and Games Lost 1992
Fun With Words – Scholastic Series Lost 1994
Geography and You – Scholastic Series Lost 1994
Incredible Sports Feats Lost 1992
Jurassic Facts Lost 1993
Jurassic Park: Chaos in Jurassic Park Lost 1994
Letter Perfect Lost 1993
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Attack of the 100 Foot Teenagers Lost 1995
Monsters, Myths, & Dinosaurs Lost 1992
Music Maker Lost 1993
Nature & You – Scholastic Series Lost 1994
Oceans of Fun Lost 1993
On the Go! Existence Unconfirmed N/A
Pet Parade Lost 1993
Planet Earth Found 1992
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!: The Strange & True Lost 1992
Safety First - Scholastic Series Lost 1994
Say Hello to Famous Folks Lost 1992
Spider-Man: For King and Country Lost 1994
Sports World Lost 1992
Stars and Planets Lost 1993
Star Trek – The Next Generation: Blinded by the Light Lost 1994
Storymaker Lost 1992
Superman – The Man of Steel: A New Hero in Town Lost 1994
Superman – The Man of Steel: Mayhem in Metropolis Lost 1994
Surprise Package Lost 1992
Tales from the Cryptkeeper: If Wishes Were Hornets Lost 1994
Trivia Time Lost 1992
Treasure Chest of Facts and Fun Lost 1992
Voyage to Outer Space Found 1992
World of 2-XL Found 1992
World of Animals Lost 1992
World of Science Lost 1992
X-Men: Deadly Games Lost 1994
X-Men: Ghosts That Haunt Us Lost 1994


International Releases

A small number of non-U.S. releases have been documented on 2-XL fan-sites. At least five tapes were released in Germany by the toy company, Joker. These releases are known from pictures of German packaging that were posted to a 2-XL fan-site. Audios clips from two of these tapes have also been uploaded online. At least four tapes were released in Italy by the company Gig, who rebranded many toys from the around the world for the Italian market. Three of these tapes were found on a Gig promotional flier, which also contains blurry images of six tapes. The titles on these six items are not legible. An audio clip from one of these tapes has been uploaded online. At least five Spanish-language tapes are known to exist via a YouTube video by "Forever Toys", but it is unclear if this was a release in Spain, Mexico, or another country. At least one tape was known to have been released in France, but the distributor is unclear. All of these releases were based on existing U.S. releases from Tiger, but they were performed in their countries’ native languages. Finally, the Tiger 2-XL was released in the United Kingdom by toy company Tomy. These tapes, like the U.S. releases, were recorded in English by Michael J Freeman. However, at least one tape had noticeable differences from the U.S version. [4]

German Releases

Title English Translation Status Description
Geschichten, die Noch Keiner Kent Stories That Nobody Knows Yet Lost This was the German release of the U.S. tape, “Storymaker”.
Das Galubt Kein Mensch That Does Not Believe Man Partially Found This was the German release of the U.S tape, “Fascinating Facts”.
Dinos, Monster und Gespenter Dinos, Monsters, and Ghosts Lost This appears to have been a German release of the U.S tape, “Monsters, Myths, & Dinosaurs”, although it curiously substitutes Ghosts for Myths
Unser Planet Erde Our Planet Earth Lost This appears to have been a German release of the U.S tape, “Planet Earth”.
Die Welt des 2-XL Pre-school Facts & Fantasies Partially Found This was the German release of the “World of 2-XL”, which seems to have been the introductory tape in all countries.

Italian Releases

Title English Translation Status Description
Il Mondo di 2-XL The World of 2-XL Partially Found This was the Italian release of the “World of 2-XL”, which seems to have been the introductory tape in all countries.
Nel Mondo Della Musica The World of Music Lost This appears to have been the Italian release of “Music Maker”
2-XL Detective 2-XL Detective Lost The U.S. equivalents, if any, for this tape are unclear.
Viaggio Nello Spazio Space Travel Lost This appears to have been the Italian release of the “Voyage to Outer Space”

Spanish-language Releases (Country Uncertain)

Title English Translation Status Description
El Mundo de 2-XL The World of Music Partially Found This was the Spanish-language release of “The World of 2-XL”
El Mundo de la Ciencia The World of Science Lost This was the Spanish-language release of “World of Science”.
Monstruos, Mitos, y Dinosaurios Monsters, Myths, and Dinosaurs Lost This was the Spanish-language release of “Monsters, Myths, and Dinosaurs”.
Unknown #1 Unknown Lost This appears to have been the Spanish-language release of “Planet Earth”, but the only images have the title obscured.
Unknown #2 Unknown Lost This appears to have been the Spanish-language release of “Fascinating Facts”, but the only images have the title obscured.

French Releases

Title English Translation Status Description
A la découverte de 2-XL The World of 2-XL Partially Found This was the French release of the “World of 2-XL”, which seems to have been the introductory tape in all countries.

Known U.K.-Modified English Releases

Title Status Description
Sports World Partially Found Differences have been documented with the wording of question #15 and the options on question #16

Gallery

A U.S. commercial for the Tiger 2-XL (Courtesy of GeorgeVHS).

Video evidence of the Spanish-language Tiger 2-XL tapes (Courtesy of Forever Toys).

An Italian commercial for the Tiger 2-XL (Courtesy of Latte e Cartoni Time Machine).

A demonstration of the U.K. release of the 2-XL by Tomy (Courtesy of Robot Elixir).

References