The GX4000 is a video game console that was manufactured by Amstrad. It was the company's short-lived attempt to enter the games console market. The console was released in Europe in 1990 and was an upgraded design based on the then still-popular CPC technology. The GX4000 shared hardware architecture with Amstrad's CPC Plus computer line, which was released concurrently. This allowed the system to be compatible with the majority of CPC Plus software.
An Amstrad GX4000 with its accompanying game controller
Amstrad GX4000 PCB.
The GX4000 offered RGB video capability with the SCART connector in back.
The connectors on the front of the console.
Amstrad was a British consumer electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar. During the 1980s, the company was known for its home computers beginning with the Amstrad CPC and later also the ZX Spectrum range after the Sinclair deal, which led it to have a substantial share of the PC market in Britain. In the following decade it shifted focus towards communication technologies, and its main business during the 2000s was the manufacture of satellite television set-top boxes for Sky, which Amstrad had started in 1989 as the then sole supplier of the emerging Sky TV service.
Sugar Tower in Brentwood, England (pictured in 2005)
Amstrad 7070 tape deck (c. 1970s)
The Amstrad CPC 464 personal microcomputer (1984)
Amstrad PCW8512 word processor (1985)