Grandstand Game Player (1991 - early 1990s) | Museum of Obsolete Media (original) (raw)
Introduced in the UK under the Grandstand name, the Game Player was a handheld video game console that resembled a Nintendo Game Boy, though was much less powerful.
An unusual feature of the Game Player is that the LCD screen is contained in the cartridge itself.
The Game Player came bundled with three cartridges, Football, Minefield and Invader, but these three were the only titles made available for the Game Player since the ROM for these games was contained in the console and not in the cartridge. The Grandstand Game Player doesn’t appear to have been around for long.
A very similar console was released for the US market by MGA Entertainment. This also initially came bundled with the same three cartridges as the Game Player but renamed Soccer, Bomb Finder and Invader. From 1994 to 1996, the console was branded as the Game Wizard and MGA Entertainment released a number of themed Game Wizard consoles, packaged with a bundle of two or three games. These packages included Star Wars, The Mask, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Some of the Game Wizards and cartridges in the themed bundles came in different colours, such as yellow for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
While the cartridges in the various Game Wizard bundles would work in different Game Wizards, they were not compatible with the Grandstand Game Player and are prevented from being inserted by a slightly different shaped back. In the later Game Wizard cartridges, the ROM is contained in the cartridge.
There was also a version of the Game Player for the Japanese market, sold by Epoch as the Triple-In.