| RECHSOFT | |
| Type of Company | Mechanical (1960-1989) Gaming (1990-Present) |
| Founded at/in | 1960 (Mechanical) 1990 (Gaming) |
| Defunct at/in | (N/A.) |
| Headquarters | Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
RECHSOFT (German for COMSOFT, which is, in turn, short for Computer Software.) is a German gaming company mostly known for Napoleonic Warfare.
History
Pre-Gaming
In 1960, RECHSOFT was founded as a mechanical repair company in Berlin, Germany. The company gained insight into the industry of computers in 1970, where they started building parts for pinball games, and, in 1975, arcade games.
Introduction to Consoles
In 1985, RECHSOFT was tasked with creating replacement parts for Nintendo Entertainment Systems. In January 1989, RECHSOFT revealed it had entered the gaming market with a console, the AtHome.
Console Wars
RECHSOFT continued to release the AtHome Disc in June 1995, solidifying it's place in the console market, along with gaining fame for the phrase that the CEO said to an interviewer about the AtHome Disc's 18-bit graphics, compared to Nintendo, Sega, and Sony, who had all created their own, 3D consoles;
"I personally believe that the AtHome Disc being only 18-bit compared to the other 32-bit and 64-bit consoles does not matter, for it does not matter how the game looks, but how it plays. If a game looks good, but does not play well, then that game is not a good game. What matters is not how advanced a game is, graphics-wise, but how much players like it. The players are the ones that truly rule the industry. Not us."
21st Century
In 2000, RECHSOFT released the VectorMan as their alternative to the Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation. The VectorMan was known for it's above average physics engine.
Consoles
- AtHome (Gen 3, released October 1990, 10-bit graphics) - The first console to use avatars. It also included a disk system with three floppy disks: the Speed Enhancer Disk, which reduced lag, but reduced the graphics and removed the sound, the Avatar Creator Disk, which allowed players to make characters, and the Cleaning Disk, which cleaned the console of any errors.
- AtHome Disc (Gen 4, released June 1995, 18-bit graphics) - The only sprite-based console to use disks only instead of cartridges. The system came with AtHome Disc versions of the original AtHome's floppy disks, but as laserdiscs. The first console to have internet compatability.
- VectorMan (Gen 5, released January 2000, 66-bit graphics) - The first RECHSOFT console to feature full-body avatars (now named Avvies), instead of simply headshots of them. The system also used disks, and had the Cleaning Disk and Speed Enhancer, while the Avatar Creator was simply an option if the Home button was pressed, along with Date/Time options.
- Away (Gen 6, released October 2002, 14-bit graphics) - The first and only RECHSOFT handheld, and the only one not to feature avatars. the system used small floppy disks.
- Vienna (Gen 6/7, released March 2005, 130-bit graphics) - The only console to have compatability with the Away, and the first Scarce Gaming console to have online downloads. The system used the Cleaning Disk and Speed Enhancer, while the Avatar Creator was a free download given to the player during the AtHome Cafe tutorial.
- Vienna-Budapest (Gen 8, released August 2010, HD graphics) - The first RECHSOFT console to have Voice Recognition technology, which can be used to turn the console off/on, open an app, or do almost anything. Also the first RECHSOFT console to be ahead of it's time.
- Munich Project (Gen 9, TBA, UHD) - The next RECHSOFT console. Known features are the Zwischen browser - offering news, maps, images, and stores, Wonders - a built-in VR program dedicated to showing wonders of the world, and MunichCall, which, when connected to a phone number, allows users to call from their living room without having to press one button.