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,
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The company originally made model kits and Lego-like connectable toy bricks called Loc Blocs,[1] before later moving into the handheld and tabletop electronic game market.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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