| Industry | Toys and Electronic games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1970 |
| Founder | G.A. (Tony) Clowes, Nicholas Carlozzi and Nick Underhill |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Entex Industries, Inc. [1] was an American toy and electronic game manufacturer based in Compton, California. [1] The company was active during the 1970s and 1980s.[ clarification needed]
Background
The company was formed in 1970 by G.A. (Tony) Clowes, Nicholas Carlozzi and Nick Underhill. [1] It was based at 303 West Artesia Blvd, [2] Compton. Its name was derived from taking Nicholas' and Tony's initials and adding an 'X' on the end to form NTX, which when spoken sounds like Entex. [1] Nick Underhill's initial was not included as he had joined the company after the name had already been chosen, but before it opened for business. [1] The company logo consisted of an RAF bullseye with a smiling face in the middle. [2] In 1980, the company achieved sales in excess of $100 million. [2] The company folded in the early eighties, due in part to increasing competition from video game consoles and computer games which quickly became a preferred form of entertainment, much to the cost of the electronic games industry. [3]
Products
The company originally made model kits and Lego-like connectable toy bricks called Loc Blocs, [1] before later moving into the handheld and tabletop electronic game market. Electronic games produced by Entex have been described as "high end" [4] and "high-quality" [3] and the company itself used the motif "Games for the discriminating player", [4] indicating that the more expensive end of the market was specifically targeted. Many Entex products were rebadged and sold under license outside the US. [5]
Conventional Electronic Games
Entex produced LCD, LED and VFD-based electronic games, including 3-D Grand Prix, Blast It, Defender and Pac Man 2 amongst others. [2] In 1976, Entex Industries released the Gameroom Tele-Pong dedicated home video game console.
Programmable Electronic Games
In order to compete with video consoles, [3] Entex introduced two cartridge based tabletop electronic game systems in 1981–1982, called Select-A-Game and Adventure Vision. [3] In particular, the Adventure Vision, along with its cartridges have become highly sought after collector's items. [1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "ADVENTURE VISION: A History of Entex and the rarest Tabletop system". Jim Combs, Video Game Trader Magazine, Issue #2, February 2008. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ a b c d "Entex Handheld Games". The Handheld Games Museum. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ a b c d "Entex Adventure Vision". Atari Gaming Headquarters. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ a b "Entex Games". miniarcade.com. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ "Entex Pac Man 2". The Handheld Games Museum. 2009-06-04.