The History of Toulouse Video Game Consoles: OC 5000 and More

One look is enough to understand. In garish yellow and orange colors, this little video games console belongs to the past. And yet, a lover of video games keeps it preciously: it is l’OC 5000. One of the 100% made in consoles Toulouse created in the 80s. A real… antique, but it’s not the only one.

What is the OC 5000?

We are far from the fine lines of the PS5 or the curvatures of a Nintendo Switch, but the OC 5000 has nothing to be ashamed of. With these two potentiometers, it could offer you a whole sequence of virtual sports. “But also shooting games, there was a gun with it”, completes Alain Hammerlinone of the founders of the “Replay82” association, in Tarn-et-Garonne.

A flagship model, widely sold at Christmas 1979, according to information from l’association Silicon In Toulouse. A console that is part of the history of video games, with all its… little sisters. In five years of existence, 1976 to 1980, the Société Occitane d’Électronique has developped around ten consoles (and a computer) made in France and above all, made in Toulouse.

The first was… the Occitel

He’s a veteran of Motorola, Jean-Luc Grand-Clémentwho created this electronics company in 1976. “The first console will be l’Occitel, a very small orange games console,” says Alain Hammerlin. For his part, this enthusiast acquired the OC 5000 very recently, “I am always looking for that rare pearl,” he says. On it, several sports games: pong, “really fashionable at that time”, but also squash, tennis, driving range, and even football.

“It was one of the first video game consoles to feature a difficulty level system : easy, medium, difficult,” explains the enthusiast.

A history of consoles

But before it, a few other video games passed into the hands of Toulouse residents and the whole world. “The success of the practice is linked to the series of Pongs that it distilled from 1977,” writes the silicon association.

After Occitel in 1976, it was the Match console which will be released on the market. A sequel to the first console, but this time all in black, “much more modern than orange,” laughs Alain Hammerlin.

Comes next l’Occitel 003 in 1978. “What was really original was that the lower part of the console could be detached! » And this time, with real joysticks. Another surprising console and still in a retro design: the OC4 in the form of… walkie-talkies!

Pigeon shooting game

Then the OC 5000 arrives, only to be overtaken by the OC 6000 and the OC 7000, “with a pigeon shooting game, you had to shoot… on a white square. Yes, with a little imagination! » Finally in 1979, on the penultimate creation of the company: the first X1 computer“for educational purposes”.

In May 1979, the Ministry of National Education launched a call for tenders for an operation called “10,000 microphones in Education”. The company is one of the two companies selected! A final console will be released on the market: l’OC 2000. The first console from the Société Occitane d’Electronique with cartridges. A flagship model in the world of video games, notably with the most famous: the NES released in 1987 in Europe.

A disappearing society

The company is experiencing real growth between 1977 et 1978, with “350 consoles produced per day and 700,000 console sales, at least in France. » And the Société Occitane d’Électronique also manages to sell around the world. To the extent that Tag International and the Societe Generale became shareholders with 20 million francs in turnover in 1978.

But Toulouse society closed its doors in 1980, after five short years of existence. “In June, it filed for bankruptcy, following difficulties encountered in the field of video games. There were then around 600 machines delivered to customers, including 300 to high schools,” explains the silicon association. Consoles then disappear from homes and schools.

A show to discover the console, this Sunday

“It is very rare to find these consoles, high schools and colleges threw away the first X1 computers, for example. » Alain was able to obtain two OC 5000 and add them to his collection of around fifty retro consoles. “100% Toulouse, there’s a lot of nostalgia in having it,” he smiles. It will be possible to discover this console and play it during the “Insert Coin” video game show at Canals (Tarn-et-Garonne)near Montauban, this Sunday November 12, 2023.

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