Amstrad GX4000 System Review | Nostalgia Nerd

The Amstrad GX-4000 was Alan Sugar's attempt to enter the game console market during the early 90s. It bombed, mainly due to a lack of games, but also because of the dated hardware used. This video features all the GX4000 games, an introduction to the system and it's life story. Enjoy!

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[RUOK]

My Mam took me to Dixons to get a console when I was about 6, they had a display with this console on. I remember vividly telling her yes I want that one, I want that one! However the sales assistant convinced her it was a dead system and that I should buy a Master System... wherever that man is now, I owe him a debt I can never repay.

[ShelvedGamer]

My dad worked at Amstrad at the time. That was a disappointing Christmas lol. I had a copy of Barbarian II with mine which struggled to work.

[BadgerOff]

Wow, this is a blast from the past! I actually owned one of these things back in the day! My uncle was the manager at a Currys (or Comet, i forget which one) and, knowing that I was into games, he gave me one of these Amstrads for free, with about 5 or 6 games bundled with it. They clearly weren't selling too well lol. I remember him saying at the time, "this system is discontinued now, so you won't find any other games for it". He wasn't wrong lol.


I can't actually remember what games I even had on it (almost certainly Burnin' Rubber though), but at the time it didn't seem to be too bad of a console! Admittedly, my only point of reference up till that point was the Acorn Electron, but the Amstrad was still pretty cool.


I wish I still had it now. It's one of many systems I had that just disappeared one day and I barely noticed (I blame my parents lol)

[obsoletegeek]

I'm soooo tempted to pick up one of these. It looks like rubbish, but I volunteer for a local gaming expo and would love to set one up in the console free play area!

[thefurthestmanfromhome]

Alan Sugar ACTUALLY said regarding bits:

If we followed the bit rules, we would of been dead and buried a long time ago.

The end user doesn't know whether it's 16 or 8-bit, working with gas, steam or elastic bands.

[x_ace_x]

I only remember the Amstrad GX4000 and the Commodore 64GS as they were covered in the first few issues of MEAN MACHINES magazine, the console spin-off of CVG magazine back in 1990. I did have a Commodore 64 computer anyway which was already a good 5 years old anyway so you could probably get hold of one cheaper than the C64GS console anyway and the games worked on both.

I do remember seeing a bumper sticker around the time saying "My other console is a GX4000" which me and my friends found hilarious at the time.

[robintst]

The first half of the 90s was a weird time for the console market. So many companies throwing their hat into the ring without even the slightest understanding of what makes a successful platform. Nowadays it's understood that it's corporate suicide to go toe-to-toe with the big dogs if you're new and untested. There's really ever only room for 3 at the top, maximum.

[Tomsonic]

We actually had one of these awful things back in the day. My parents bought it, but then decided to go for the Sega Master System instead. The GX4000 just sat in the attic for many years and I powered it up recently - still seems to work!

[eddiehimself]

"How many copies did this game sell?"
"2"
"2 what? 2 million? 2 thousand?"
"No, just 2. 2 copies."

[Larry]

Burning Rubber was barely even an original game too, most of the code seems to be from WEC LeMans .

[thefurthestmanfromhome]

In July 1991 Dixons dropped the price to £19 with their buying director saying they were getting out of it, it certainly fell short of their expectations.

Amstrad blamed poor sales on the UK recession, however console sales for Sega and Nintendo had been huge.

[cbpoppet]

Arthur Fowler bought Martin one for Christmas in Eastenders. No wonder he turned to a life of crime.

[Halbared]

NIce vid, I remember when this came out and even as kid, I knew it was a lemon.

[iana]

You know, I'm familiar with the CPC 464 as family friends had one when I was a child - I spent a bit of time faffing about with it during visits to their house while the adults chatted. I think they may have replaced it with a 6128, but the GX4000? I have never seen one, and was only vaguely aware of it. Thanks for this little foray into the story of this rare console.

[FoxyRhino]

Played Burning Rubber on one of these at the excellent Cambridge Computer Museum this weekend. Had never heard of this console before but thought Nostalgia Nerd would have a review of it

[NotHimJim]

I only somehow found your channel recently and I'm enjoying going through all of your vids!!! Great stuff!!

[SEIFER]

A friend had an Amstrad computer with that controller and Burning Rubber. I remember the blisters from that d-pad.

[euandunn]

I just got given one from my grandparents today that they found in their attic

[grahambaker]

As a mainly retro collector, I got one of these some time ago - (I can't remember when exactly) - from a local guy and I paid £15 CIB with the Burning Rubber cartridge. Have never played it since owning it, though!

[idimidodjimi]

Tnx for video, you got us spoiled, keep them coming !