1982 · Emerson · US · console
Emerson Arcadia 2001
One console sold worldwide under dozens of names, killed by the crash of 1983.
Mixed Trivial to run ▶ Watch on YouTube ↗
Image: Evan-Amos · CC BY-SA 3.0
Emerson's 1982 console, sold worldwide under dozens of names — the Palladium, the Leisure-Vision, the Poppy — in a scramble to undercut the Atari 2600 in every market at once. The crash of 1983 ended all of them together.
Its library was a set of arcade knock-offs; only Turtles and a handful of others are much remembered now.
Under the hood
- CPU
- Signetics 2650 @ 3.58 MHz
- Memory
- 1 KB
What it cost
only about 8% of a month’s pay in 1982 · about $322 today
| US launch list price ($99) |
$99 (1982)
Signetics 2650-based console released across 30+ licensed international variants. |
|---|---|
| Typical street price | — No verified mass-market street price recorded yet. |
| Units sold | ≈150,000 estimate Estimated 150,000 units across worldwide variants. |
Why it mattered
Its many rebadged versions map how the pre-crash console boom worked: a single cheap design licensed into every market at once, all of it wiped out together when the bubble burst in 1983.
Emulating it today
| Emulators | WinArcadia, AmiArcadia, MAME (arcadia driver) |
|---|---|
| Setup effort | Trivial to run (0 on this site's scale) |
| Controls | A standard modern controller covers the ordinary controls, though unusual accessories may need custom mapping. |
| Runs on a handheld | Yes |
WinArcadia and its Amiga-family port AmiArcadia are the accuracy-leading emulators and handle the Arcadia's many regional clones; MAME's arcadia driver plays the games but the wiki rates it lower. A plain cartridge system with no BIOS, so setup is install-and-open.
Firmware
This system needs no firmware file. Install an emulator, open a game, and it runs.
How many files you need: none to go and find. No separate firmware file is needed for an ordinary setup.
Firmware details checked 2026-08. Emulator requirements change — see Emerson Arcadia 2001 emulators — Emulation General Wiki for the current list.
Where the software is
Preservation catalogues describe verified dumps; they do not grant permission to download commercial software. A curated, correctly matched set is easier to use than an undifferentiated archive.
Copyright: Commercial software remains copyrighted unless its owner explicitly released or relicensed it. Homebrew, public-domain programs and current reissues should be treated separately from abandoned commercial titles.
This site names preservation projects and explains what they are. It does not link to ROM downloads.
Where to start
- Turtles 1982 maze
- Route 16 1982 maze chase
- Star Chess 1982 strategy
The verdict
A curiosity for students of the 1983 crash; the games are undistinguished clones.
There is no lost classic hiding here — emulate it for the history, not the play.
- Worth it if
- Players curious about the second wave, before the crash and willing to learn how the original machine worked.
- Not for
- Anyone who wants a large, instantly accessible library and no model, firmware or control decisions.
Scored 3/5 for fun today and 3/5 for historical importance. Those two scores decide the label at the top — a machine can matter enormously and still be no fun.
Read more & watch
This page is 50% complete against the facts we try to record for every system. Gaps are shown as gaps.