Game Wave

Game Wave Specifications

The Game Wave Family Entertainment System, commonly abbreviated as Game Wave, was a home video game console released by ZAPiT Games in 2005. It was designed to be a family-friendly console and included a variety of games such as trivia, puzzles, and card games.

One of the unique features of the Game Wave was its use of DVD media instead of traditional game cartridges. Players could load games onto the console using DVD discs, which made it easy to switch between different games without having to physically swap out cartridges.

Despite being marketed as a family-friendly console, the Game Wave had relatively limited success and was eventually discontinued. However, it remains an interesting footnote in the history of home video game consoles.

The Game Wave was packaged with both RCA and S-Video cables, along with 4 IR-based wireless controllers (modeled after typical DVD remote controllers) and a case that holds up to 6 controllers. The case and console are designed to sit side-by-side on a shelf to form a complete wave shape.

The primary processor of the system is the Mediamatics 8611, which is coupled with 16 megabytes of SRAM and 2 megabytes of NOR flash memory storage. An Altera MAX II CPLD is also used. An Atmel serial EEPROM is used for save data. The system uses a dedicated 2 channel audio DAC in order to avoid royalties for the one integrated in the Mediamatics processor.

Game software for the Game Wave Family Entertainment System is typically scripted in Lua.

The system can operate as a typical DVD player.

The Game Wave controller has 4-directional navigational buttons used for menu navigation and DVD playback control. The controller has 4 alphabetical buttons along the top labeled "A", "B", "C", and "D" designed primarily for selecting responses in trivia games. A numeric keypad lines the bottom of the controller with Menu and Setup buttons.

The Game Wave controllers came in 6 colors: blue, yellow, green, red, purple, and orange. Blue, yellow, green, and red come packaged with the console, whereas the purple and orange controllers could be purchased separately for an MSRP of $30. Each controller color has a different IR beat frequency, allowing the console to differentiate the different controllers for multiplayer gameplay for up to 6 players (if the game in question supports it).

Due to the shape of the controller and marketing concerns for a "Family Entertainment System," no heavily action-based game genres are present within the Game Wave's 13 game library. Rather, the software library consists mainly of trivia and puzzle games. In addition, many Game Wave games are heavily inspired by other video games and TV shows. A 14th game, Quiz Konnect was developed for the India market.