Entex Industries

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.

Entex Industries, Inc.
IndustryToys and Electronic games
Founded1970
FounderG.A. (Tony) Clowes, Nicholas Carlozzi and Nick Underhill
Headquarters
Compton, California
,
U.S.

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The company originally made model kits and Lego-like connectable toy bricks called Loc Blocs,[1] before later moving into the handheld and tabletop electronic game market.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
  1. "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.
  2. "Entex Handheld Games". The Handheld Games Museum. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  3. "Entex Adventure Vision". Atari Gaming Headquarters. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  4. "Entex Games". miniarcade.com. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  5. "Entex Pac Man 2". The Handheld Games Museum. 2009-06-04.
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