Terminator 2 (console)

Terminator 2

BS-500 AS (Terminator) with the original controllers, gun and 3 cartridges.
Also known as	终结者二, Super Design Ending-Man BS-500 AS, Ending-Man S-700, Jippy, Top Console, K-007, Batman/Family Computer II, Retro 8 bit TV console, Terminator 2020
Manufacturer	Shin Ten Do Co. Ltd, Ending-Man
Type	Video game console
Generation	Third
Release date	Early 1990s (original) Late 2019 (rerelease)
Discontinued	Circa 2014-2016 (original)
Media	ROM cartridge (Nintendo Famicom 60-pin standard)
CPU	1.66-1.79 MHz emulating 8-bit MOS 6502 @ 5.37 MHz
Display	PAL, NTSC, NTSC 4.43, PAL-60: 256 x 240, 25 colors (out of 64)
Sound	noise channel, PCM channel, 3 sound channels

Terminator 2 (Chinese: 终结者二; pinyin: Zhōngjié zhě èr) or Super Design Ending-Man BS-500 AS is a video game console sold throughout countries of the former Eastern Bloc, Italy (as Top Console), Greece, Spain, Finland (as Ending Man S-700), Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Malaysia, South Korea (as K-007 and Batman/Family Computer II), Kenya, India and Pakistan. Other variations include Ending man JJ-80-50, TERMINATOR 7. It is a hardware clone of the Nintendo Famicom.

Background

This particular Famiclone was hugely popular in Poland, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Pakistan, India, Kenya, Iran and Bosnia, throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. The system has gained cult status, and was widely available on flea markets and even in some electronic stores.

Due to political and economical restraints, the fourth and the fifth generation consoles such as the Sega Mega Drive, SNES, or PlayStation were not immediately available, and after their release, some of them were expensive for the average individual. The third generation remained highly popular because of their high availability and low prices, particularly the Terminator 2, which was one of the most successful Famicom clones. It left a mark in pop culture and 1990s-2000s youth, establishing itself as antonomasia for 8-bit video gaming, to the point of being more popular than the original NES in these regions.

The Terminator 2, like most known Famicom clones, was compatible with 60-pin Famicom cartridges (as well as 72-pin NES cartridges, which could be played via an adapter). Original Nintendo games were not popular due to their high prices and poor availability (except for the Game Boy, which was also pirated in these regions after its release). The majority of the games sold with and for the system were cheap unlicensed copies, manufactured mostly in Russia and China. Games for the Terminator 2 were still widely available in Central and Eastern Europe throughout the 2000s, mostly on street markets and in small toy stores.

Within the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Atlantida Enterprise LTD company sold a Dendy competitor, the Jippy game console, which was a clone of Ending Man. The console also used a mascot similar to Dendy - a similarly dressed hippopotamus named Jippy. It had headphone jacks and switches to activate the "turbo-pause". According to various estimates, 15,000 units were sold, including 5,000 in Moscow, Russia. A TV show Jippy Club was produced on the local Donetsk TV station. The project closed in 1994.

In South Korea, Kuk Je Academy sold this console as K-007 starting from 1991 and year later, Mega System released its version called Batman/Family Computer II.

Console

The insides of the Terminator 2.

The typical retail set included the system, two detachable controllers (both with "turbo" buttons, which meant 4 buttons in total), a light gun, which also based on the original Nintendo gun accessory except for the design, a power supply and an RF cable. The console had a built-in RF modulator, as well as mono audio and composite video through RCA connectors. The system itself was powered by an NES-on-a-chip ASIC, otherwise known as an NOAC. It usually outputs video in PAL format, however it can be output in various video systems such as NTSC with some slight modifications. The system uses a 60-pin cartridge connector for games and is compatible with most Famicom games (and 72-pin NES cartridges via an adapter). A cartridge removal lever was included like with the original Famicom. The system could include built-in games, however the most common versions were bundled with multi-game cartridges such as "1000000 in 1" or "9999999 in 1", supposedly featuring a million games, only a small number of which actually being separate games and the rest just being renamed versions of the latter. Usually these were popular games such as Super Mario Bros. or Duck Hunt. Occasionally they were renamed, possibly in an attempt to avoid lawsuits.

Design

The box of the console was changed many times over the years, but the most common one was inspired by the Japanese Sega Mega Drive (particularly the Japanese Model 2 variant), using colorful triangles in the background and similar logo writings designed to purposefully confuse buyers.

The unit itself combines design patterns of both models of the Sega Mega Drive, being similar in size and shape to the second model but having characteristic CD-ROM inspired circle around the cartridge slot and blue reset and power buttons inspired by the first model's reset button. Some sets even featured a controller which looked like the original Sega Mega Drive's six button controller.

Pricing

The Terminator 2 consoles were mass-marketed by most of the major and smaller electronic stores. It is difficult to determine an exact price for the system, but in places like Gabrovo, Bulgaria in the mid 90s, one could buy it for the rough equivalent of €10. In Romania in 2015 it cost about €10, and in mid-90s roughly the equivalent of $7–10. In Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war it would cost the equivalent of €15. In Poland it used to cost equivalent of €9 to €15 and the games €1 to €2. In Georgia, in early 2000s it used to cost the equivalent of €6 to €15.

From 1998 until 2000, the Terminator 2 console used to cost €15 to €25 in Serbia. A normal price for a copied cartridge was €0.5, part of which were unauthorized "1,000,000 in 1" cartridges, containing several repeating games. In the early 2000s, the Terminator lost popularity in Serbia because of increased availability of new consoles. In 2013, the price of the console was €11 and it was still sold in Chinese shopping malls throughout Serbia.

Reintroduction

After the original was discontinued around 2014-2016, the console was reintroduced in late 2019 with a significant redesign. This new version of the console comes with a new box, occasionally with a generic name like "Retro 8 bit TV console" or a more well-known name like "Terminator 2020". As of 2020, this console can still be purchased from Chinese online retailers, priced about €20.

The design of the console remains mostly the same as the original, with several major differences. The most obvious ones were the size of the blue buttons, being slightly bigger and less tall, the "Ending Man" logo is smaller and spells "Terminator®" with 3 Chinese characters below (in some variations the logo is non-existent), the cartridge removal lever is no longer functional unlike the original and is only present for aesthetic purposes, the power LED was moved from next to the power button to the front center of the console, and the controller plug is now a 9-pin connection similar to that used in the Atari 2600 and the Sega Mega Drive, instead of the 15-pin connection that the Famicom and the original Terminator used.

Other differences that were not major to the console include the cover having a hinge (sometimes black or blue) while the original model had a black slider, the console now powered by a USB-to-MicroUSB cable connected to a USB power adaptor instead of an AC/DC adapter with a DC connector, 2 RCA connectors (yellow and white) instead of 3 (red, yellow and white) connectors (coinciding with the elimination of the built-in RF modulator from the original), the number of vent holes in the back decreased from 20 to 12, the text in the circle around the top of the console was either changed or removed, and the controllers were changed in shape and plug: the shape is more ergonomic but still simplistic with the "Ending Man" logo printed on, keeping the 4 buttons, start and select, and the direction pad, as well as the design of the plug changed to match with the new connector on the console.

This new model is still compatible with 60-pin Famicom cartridges (and 72-pin NES cartridges via an adapter). It continues to use an NES-on-a-chip ASIC as with the original model.

See also

• Dendy
• Pegasus