Videoway (lost Canadian cable-box games; 1990-2006): Difference between revisions
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Around 70 games were available on the Videoway system. Some of them were custom ports of existing games, but many were developed in-house exclusively for the system. The latter games have been lost to time. | Around 70 games were available on the Videoway system. Some of them were custom ports of existing games, but many were developed in-house exclusively for the system. The latter games have been lost to time. | ||
[[File:Temporel Inc.jpg|thumb|left|A screen capture from the Videoway-exclusive game Temporel Inc]] | [[File:Temporel Inc.jpg|thumb|left|A screen capture from the Videoway-exclusive game Temporel Inc]] | ||
[[File:Taupe.jpg|thumb|left|A screen capture from the Videoway game Taupe]] | |||
[[File:Fouduroi.jpg|thumb|left|A screen capture of the Videoway original game Fou du Roi]] | |||
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" | {| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 50%;" | ||
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! Taupe | ! Taupe | ||
| | | A version of Bulldozer where you play as a mole || Unknown | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Styx | ! Styx | ||
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! Le fou du roi | ! Le fou du roi | ||
| | | A sort of Zelda/Pac-Man hybrid || Yes | ||
|- | |- | ||
! Hamburger | ! Hamburger | ||
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==Emulation attempts== | ==Emulation attempts== | ||
Videoway boxes were rented to clients by Videotron; as such, they are rare in the present day. People have attempted to emulate the 100% proprietary system, without success.<ref>https://forums.bannister.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=99891&page=1</ref> Source code for the Videoway-exclusive games is said to be held in the "Videotron vault", and efforts to retrace it have been in vain. | [[File:Videoway terminal.jpg|thumb|right|A Videoway cable box]] | ||
Videoway boxes were rented to clients by Videotron; as such, they are rare in the present day. | |||
People have attempted to emulate the 100% proprietary system, without success.<ref>https://forums.bannister.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=99891&page=1</ref> Source code for the Videoway-exclusive games is said to be held in the "Videotron vault", and efforts to retrace it have been in vain. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 16:53, 14 May 2020
The logo for Videoway, a Canadian tv service that offered several exclusive games.
Status: Lost
Videoway was an analog interactive cable-TV system invented by Michel Dufresne and offered by Quebec, Canada telecommunications provider Videotron between 1990 and 2006.
Describing itself as the first "interactive addressable television entertainment system" in North America[1], it offered teletext services such as weather, lottery results, horoscopes, road conditions, and games, in addition to interactive TV programming and on-demand entertainment.
Availability of Videoway
Videoway never achieved the level of adoption its inventors initially hoped for, losing a massive share of its audience every year once the internet began to gain traction among consumers.
At its peak, Videoway had boxes in approximately 300,000 Canadian residences, mainly in the French-speaking province of Quebec, where Videoway and its parent company Videotron were based. Around 70,000 households in the London, Great Britain area were also equipped with Videoway systems in the early 1990s via the Quebec company's British branch, which folded in 1997.
The games
Around 70 games were available on the Videoway system. Some of them were custom ports of existing games, but many were developed in-house exclusively for the system. The latter games have been lost to time.
| Name | Known information | Exclusive to Videoway |
|---|---|---|
| Bizbille | Unknown | |
| Mordicus | Unknown | |
| Temporel Inc. | A puzzle game set in a pyramid. A recreation of this game, created from memory, is available online thanks to a fan effort. | Yes |
| Gaston Labrosse | Example | |
| Taupe | A version of Bulldozer where you play as a mole | Unknown |
| Styx | Unknown | |
| Fléchette | Darts | Unknown |
| Bowling | Bowling | Unknown |
| Boycott | Unknown | |
| Plunk | Unknown | |
| Colorimage | A coloring game for children | Unknown |
| Mr. Chin | Unknown | |
| Questionnaire | Unknown | |
| Parchési | Parcheesi | Yes |
| Mot mystère | Find-a-word puzzle | Unknown |
| Super Pendu | Hangman | Unknown |
| Le fou du roi | A sort of Zelda/Pac-Man hybrid | Yes |
| Hamburger | An official port of Burgertime | No |
| Polux | Unknown | |
| Pirouette | Unknown | |
| Foubrique | A block breaker game | Unknown |
| GlobeTrotter | Unknown | |
| Tikkaro | Unknown | |
| Échecs | Chess | Unknown |
| Dames | Checkers | Unknown |
| Black Jack | Blackjack | Unknown |
| Poker | Poker | Unknown |
| Hockey | Unknown | |
| Crocomaths | An educational math game | Yes |
| Bizzmut | Unknown | |
| Bon bain | Unknown | |
| Onyx | Unknown | |
| Fortuna | Unknown | |
| Patapom | Unknown | |
| Formes magiques | Unknown | |
| Poussin coquin | Unknown | |
| Tacotac | Unknown | |
| Q*Bert | An official port of Q*Bert | No |
| NucléR | Unknown | |
| Zipper | Unknown | |
| Évasion | Unknown | |
| Déplus | A Yahtzee game | Unknown |
| Logix | Unknown |
Emulation attempts
Videoway boxes were rented to clients by Videotron; as such, they are rare in the present day. People have attempted to emulate the 100% proprietary system, without success.[2] Source code for the Videoway-exclusive games is said to be held in the "Videotron vault", and efforts to retrace it have been in vain.