Cross-platform compatibility
Cross-platform compatibility, also called crossplay, describes video game hardware designed to play games made for competing platforms. For example, the ColecoVision, with the proper adapter, can play Atari 2600 cartridges without modification. This is similar to video game platforms with backward compatibility or forward compatibility, except those are done within the confines of a single company. Cross-platform compatibility is more like a reverse engineered clone, and therefore seen as a hostile move between two competing companies and frequently results in lawsuits, however, unlike a cloned hardware, consoles with cross-platform compatibility still have their own unique software that is not compatible with the software from the cloned machine. Sometimes manufacturers see the utility in combining their individual systems to create a cross-platform device like when Sharp and NEC created the Sharp X1 Twin which can play both Sharp X1 and PC-Engine games.
Cross-platform compatibility is rare when video game consoles are still in their prime, but so-called "retro" consoles often make use of the concept by implementing the hardware of multiple older video game consoles. For example, the Super Retro Trio is a video game console which can play NES, SNES, and Genesis games natively, but it wasn't released until 2014, long after each of the three systems were discontinued.
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Examples
- Bit60 - An 8-bit computer than can play Atari 2600 games natively.
- ColecoVision - Can play Atari 2600 games with an adapter.
- Laser 2001 - An 8-bit computer by VTech which can play ColecoVision and Atari 2600 games with an adapter.
- Mega PC - A 16-bit computer which can play Mega Drive games and MS-DOS software.
- Spectravideo SV-318 - An 8-bit computer which can play ColecoVision games with an adapter. Likewise the SV-328.
- Sharp X1 Twin - A Sharp X1 which could natively play PC-Engine games.
- TeraDrive - A 16-bit computer which can play Mega Drive games and IBM DOS software.
