Konix Multisystem
A cancelled British console with advanced features and a controller-based design.
The Konix Multisystem was a video game console that never reached the market, developed by the British peripheral maker Konix. Originally conceived in 1988 as an advanced add-on called Slipstream, it was designed as a dashboard-style controller that could be fitted with a steering wheel, flight yoke, or motorbike handles, and promised force feedback—a feature then unheard of in home gaming. The project soon grew beyond a peripheral, and Konix enlisted its sister company Creative Devices Ltd to design a gaming computer that would fit inside the controller, turning it into a standalone console.
Around this time, Konix founder Wyn Holloway read an article in ACE magazine (issue 10, July 1988) about Flare Technology, a group of hardware designers who had left Sinclair Research and built on their work for Sinclair’s abandoned Loki project to create a system called Flare One. Flare’s prototype used a Z80 processor but relied on four custom chips to compete with machines like the Amiga and Atari ST. It had 1MB of memory (128k ROM, 128k video RAM, 768k system RAM), displayed 256 colors on screen simultaneously, handled 3 million pixels per second, produced 8-channel stereo sound, and included a blitter chip for hardware scrolling. Flare targeted the gaming market, omitting features like 80-column text display to prioritize graphics speed. Despite its 8-bit CPU, the system could move sprites and block graphics faster than an Atari ST (in 256 colors where the ST could only show 16), draw lines three times faster than an Amiga, and handle 3D math faster than the 32-bit Acorn Archimedes. Flare aimed to sell the machine for about half the price of the Amiga and ST, but lacked the resources for mass production.
Holloway approached Flare in July 1988, proposing a merger to create a console with the computer built into the main controller. Development was handled by Flare, with help from programmer Jeff Minter. Konix insisted on a 16-bit processor, so the Z80 was replaced with an 8086, and the color palette was expanded to 4096 colors (matching the Amiga). The four custom chips were integrated into one to cut costs, and software was distributed on 3.5-inch floppy disks instead of ROM cartridges to keep game prices down.
The console was first shown to the press at a toy fair at Earls Court in February 1989.
Quick Facts
- Manufacturer
- Konix
- Release Date
- Presented in 1989, cancelled <!-- use YYYY · MM · DD - omit "
- Cpu
- 16-bit 8086 processor
- Memory
- 128 to 768 KB
- Related
- Atari Jaguar
- Graphics
- Custom blitter; 4096 colours; Resolutions: 256×200 (256 colours), 512×200 (16 colours), 256×200 (16 colours)
- Memory Card
- 880KB 3.5" floppy disk, Cartridge
- Sound
- Custom RISC-based DSP, 8 channel stereo
- Cpu Speed
- 6 MHz
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Konix Multisystem began life in 1988 as the Slipstream, a dashboard-style controller peripheral for Konix's joystick range. It could be configured with a steering wheel, flight yoke, or motorbike handles and promised force feedback, a feature unheard of in home gaming at the time. Konix soon decided to turn the peripheral into a standalone console, enlisting sister company Creative Devices Ltd to design the internal computer hardware. Shortly after, Konix founder Wyn Holloway read about Flare Technology, a group of hardware designers who had split from Sinclair Research and created the Flare One prototype. Flare's system was Z80-based with four custom chips, offering 256 on-screen colors, 8-channel stereo sound, and hardware scrolling. Holloway proposed merging Flare's technology with Konix's controller concept, and a partnership formed in July 1988. The Z80 was replaced with an 8086 processor, the color palette expanded to 4096 colors, and the four custom chips integrated into one to reduce costs. Software was delivered on 3.5-inch floppy discs instead of cartridges. The console was revealed at a toy fair in February 1989, with a planned August release. It featured MIDI support, a light gun with recoil, the Power Chair (a motorized seat for sit-in arcade experiences), and the ability to link two systems for head-to-head play. A redesigned 32-bit version with CD support was announced in 1993.
Reader's Guide
The Konix Multisystem is significant as a high-profile cancelled console that showcased the ambitions and challenges of the British gaming industry in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Despite impressive specifications—such as faster sprite and line drawing than the Atari ST and Amiga—the system faced limitations including difficult-to-program custom chips, insufficient RAM, and reliance on floppy disks that required constant disk access. Developers like Jeff Minter praised the controller, and numerous publishers including Electronic Arts, Psygnosis, and Ocean were recruited, with 40 games promised by Christmas. However, delays plagued the project: the release slipped from August 1989 to October, then to early 1990, and eventually to autumn 1990. By December 1989, Konix was on the brink of receivership, with bounced checks and unpaid employees halting development. In March 1990, Konix sold the rights to its joystick range to Spectravision to fund the Multisystem, but the project ultimately collapsed due to lack of cash. After cancellation, Flare Technology's work evolved into the Atari Jaguar, while the original Flare One technology was used by Bellfruit in arcade quiz machines. A Chinese company later released the MSC Super MS-200E, a PC controller with no internal hardware. Surviving video footage of games in development was released on a Retro Gamer cover disc, and a playable version of Attack of the Mutant Camels '89 was included in a Digi release.
Did You Know?
- The Konix Multisystem began as a peripheral called Slipstream, which could be configured as a steering wheel, flight yoke, or motorbike handles.
- The system's custom chips were integrated into one large chip to reduce manufacturing costs.
- A motorized Power Chair was designed to reproduce sit-in arcade experiences like After Burner and Out Run.
- After the Multisystem was cancelled, Flare Technology's work formed the basis for the Atari Jaguar.
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