Videoway (lost Canadian cable-box games; 1990-2006): Difference between revisions

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'''Videoway''' was an analog interactive cable-TV system offered by Quebec, Canada telecommunications provider Videotron between 1990<ref>https://www.facebook.com/ArchivesRadioCanada/posts/10158135881866052?comment_id=10158184701436052&reply_comment_id=10158185161411052</ref> and 2006.  
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<ref>https://support.videotron.com/residential/television/illico-experience/faq-videoway</ref>, it offered teletext services such as weather, lottery results, horoscopes, road conditions, and games, in addition to interactive TV programming and on-demand entertainment.
Describing itself as the first "interactive addressable television entertainment system" in North America<ref>https://support.videotron.com/residential/television/illico-experience/faq-videoway</ref>, it offered teletext services such as weather, lottery results, horoscopes, road conditions, and games, in addition to interactive TV programming and on-demand entertainment.
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Videoway boxes were rented to clients by Videotron; as such, they are rare in the present day.  
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.
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.
==External links==
[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-17-ca-665-story.html A New Diet for Couch Potatoes, by Robert Epstein, LA Times, Oct. 17, 1991]
[https://books.google.ca/books?id=aeQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62&dq=videoway+popular+mechanics&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixn-r1wrTpAhWPbs0KHbhTC6AQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=videoway%20popular%20mechanics&f=false Riding the Toll-Free Infobahn, by George Mannes, Popular Mechanics, June 1994]


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 23:38, 14 May 2020

Vidéoway logo.jpg

The logo for Videoway, a Canadian tv service that offered several exclusive games.

Status: Lost

Videoway was an analog interactive cable-TV system offered by Quebec, Canada telecommunications provider Videotron between 1990[1] and 2006.

Describing itself as the first "interactive addressable television entertainment system" in North America[2], 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 50 games were available on the Videoway system[3].

Some of them were custom ports of existing games--most notably, Q*Bert and Burgertime--but the majority were developed exclusively for the system by the Cablo-jeux team, a division of Loto-Québec (the provincial lottery board) which partnered with Videotron to create the games. Those developed for Videotron by Loto-Québec have been lost to time.

A 1989 newspaper ad seeking games for the Videoway system. (Source: La Presse, BanQ)
A screen capture from the Videoway-exclusive game Temporel Inc
A screen capture from the Videoway game Taupe
A screen capture of the Videoway original game Fou du Roi
Name Known information Exclusive to Videoway
Bizbille Unknown
Mordicus Unknown
Puzzle A puzzle game for preschoolers[4] Yes
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 Called Steve Broom in English. A game in which the player character must sweep as many floors as possible in a multi-storey building[5] Yes
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 Video footage here. No
Questionnaire Unknown
Parchési Parcheesi Yes
Mot mystère Find-a-word puzzle that offered a new puzzle every day[6] Yes
Super Pendu Hangman Unknown
Le fou du roi A sort of Zelda/Pac-Man hybrid Yes
Les dictées du professeur Martin[7] An educational spelling game for elementary school students Yes
Hamburger Official Burgertime port No
Polux Unknown
Pirouette Unknown
Fou Brique A block breaker game with 15 levels[8] Unknown
GlobeTrotter Unknown
Tikkaro Unknown
Échecs Chess Unknown
Dames Checkers Unknown
Black Jack Blackjack Unknown
Poker Poker Unknown
Hockey Unknown
Golf Unknown
Crocomaths An educational math game Yes
Le questionneur A quiz game Yes
Bizzmut Unknown
Bon bain Unknown
Onyx A pinball game[9] Unknown
Fortuna Unknown
Les Patiences Various card games Yes
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

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.[10] 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.

External links

A New Diet for Couch Potatoes, by Robert Epstein, LA Times, Oct. 17, 1991 Riding the Toll-Free Infobahn, by George Mannes, Popular Mechanics, June 1994

References