| Aladdin Deck Enhancer | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Information | |
Type(s) |
Peripheral |
| Camerica | |
Platform(s) |
NES |
| Awards | Covers | Credits | Gallery | Help Patches | Reviews | Screenshots | Videos | |
The Aladdin Deck Enhancer, manufactured by Camerica, was a device that one would plug into a Nintendo Entertainment System. It contained a bypass chip which would work with the lock-out chip inside the Nintendo Entertainment System. With this hardware in the deck, one would then insert a much smaller cartridge containing a game into the Aladdin Deck Enhancer.
The idea behind the Aladdin Deck Enhancer was to provide a cheaper means with which to make the game cartridges, mainly due to the fact that each cartridge requires its own 10NES lock-out chip, RAM and extra circuitry. Camerica was one of the major purveyors of unlicensed NES games, so the Deck Enhancer was a logical creation for them. Also, since the slot for the actual game was much smaller, less material was needed to produce a cartridge. However, by the time the product was released the Super Famicom/SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis had already released and the product never had a large installed base to warrant a large amount of software. Camerica never recuperated from the release and shortly was forced to close down.
Codemasters' game Dizzy Prince of the Yolkfolk designed by the Oliver twins was enhanced for the NES and retitled Dizzy the Adventurer and originally bundled with the Aladdin. Only another six titles were ever released all primarily from Codemaster's library. More titles were listed as "Coming Soon" on the Aladdin's box art, but never released as Aladdin cartridges. CJ's Elephant Antics wasn't released as a standalone game at all but was part of the Quattro Arcade NES cartridge which contained three other games. Aladdin games were typically identical to their standalone counterparts with a few exceptions. Dizzy the Adventurer was the only one to receive any improvement, having a faster character, changed items system, and 250 instead of 100 stars to collect (other smaller things were changed as well). Baseball Pros on the Quattro Sports Aladdin cartridge seems to have a small problem. It always plays ten innings despite the score, rather than ending after nine when the score isn't tied.
Video games announced but never released[ | ]
- Bee 52
- Big Nose the Caveman
- CJ's Elephant Antics
- DreamWorld Pogie
- F-16 Renegade
- Go! Dizzy Go!
- Metal Man
- MiG-29 Soviet Fighter
- Stunt Kids
- Team Sports Basketball
- The Ultimate Stuntman