Xonox, a division of

K-tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...

Software, was an American third-party manufacturer of cartridges for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...

ColecoVision ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer exp ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness W ...

, and

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the ...

in the early 1980s. Xonox was one of many small video game companies to fold during the

Video Game Crash of 1983 The video game crash of 1983 (known as the Atari shock in Japan) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985, primarily in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including ma ...

History

Xonox, based in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

, started developing Atari

cartridge Cartridge may refer to: Objects * Cartridge (firearms), a type of modern ammunition * ROM cartridge, a removable component in an electronic device * Cartridge (respirator), a type of filter used in respirators Other uses * Cartridge (surname), a ...

s during the height of the 2600's popularity. Xonox capitalized on the novelty and perceived value of "double-ender" cartridges. These could be inserted into the console on one of the two ends, each end offering a different game. Different double-ender configurations could package the same game with different counterparts. Xonox was not the first company to try this;

Playaround PlayAround was formed by Joel H. Martin, co-founder of American Multiple Industries, the first Atari 2600 adult video game company. PlayAround purchased the rights to American Multiple Industries's titles and released them as "double-enders" - ex ...

did it earlier with their adult-themed titles. Xonox eventually abandoned this idea and began releasing single versions of some of the titles previously offered as double-enders as well as a few new titles.

Games released

Atari 2600

Standard cartridges

*''

Artillery Duel ''Artillery Duel'' is an artillery game originally written for the Bally Astrocade by Perkins Engineering and published by Bally in 1982. John Perkins wrote the game first in Astro BASIC, submitting it to ''The Arcadian'' fanzine, from which it ...

'' *''

Chuck Norris Superkicks ''Chuck Norris Superkicks'' is a video game produced by Xonox in 1984. It was later sold as ''Kung Fu Superkicks'' when the license for the use of the name Chuck Norris expired. The game was produced for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, Atari 2600, and ...

'' *''

Ghost Manor ''Ghost Manor'' is a horror video game that was released by Xonox in 1983 for the Atari 2600 and VIC-20. It was generally packaged in a double ended cartridge and a cassette tape along with one of three other games in an effort to appeal to ...

'' *'' Motocross Racer'' *''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

'' *''

Sir Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

'' *'' Spike's Peak'' *'' Tomarc The Barbarian''

Double-enders

*''Artillery Duel/Chuck Norris Superkicks'' *''Artillery Duel/Ghost Manor'' *''Artillery Duel/Spike's Peak'' *''Chuck Norris Superkicks/Ghost Manor'' *''Chuck Norris Superkicks/Spike's Peak'' *''Ghost Manor/Spike's Peak'' *''Robin Hood/Sir Lancelot'' *''Motocross Racer/Tomarc the Barbarian''

ColecoVision

Standard cartridges

*''

'' *''

'' *'' It's Only Rock n' Roll'' *'' Motocross Racer'' *''

'' *''

'' * '' Slurpy'' * '' Tomarc the Barbarian'' * '' Word Feud''

Double-enders

*''Artillery Duel/Chuck Norris Superkicks'' *''Motocross Racer/Tomarc the Barbarian'' *''Robin Hood/Sir Lancelot''

Commodore 64

*''Artillery Duel'' *''Chuck Norris Superkicks'' *''Ghost Manor'' *''Motocross Racer'' *''Robin Hood'' *''Sir Lancelot'' *''Spike's Peak'' *''Tomarc the Barbarian''

References

Companies based in Minnesota Defunct video game companies of the United States Atari 2600 {{US-videogame-company-stub