The Cassette Vision[a] is a second generation home video game console made by Epoch Co. and released in Japan on July 30, 1981.

The Cassette Vision sold around 400,000 units,[2] and was the best selling video game console in Japan before Nintendo's Family Computer.

[4] Epoch rose to become one of Japan's largest toy companies during the 1960s and 1970s, in part due to its family-run business model.

In 1980, it released the TV Vader, a dedicated home console that featured a clone of Space Invaders, which was moderately successful.

[5] Horie previously worked on the Digit-Com 9, a baseball LSI, and several of the company's earlier dedicated consoles.

[5] Epoch wanted the Cassette Vision to be based around cartridges to help clear out space in one's house, as its dedicated machines were usually big and took up room.

It claimed 70% of the market by 1982, surpassing the Cassette TV Game and Bandai's import of the Intellivision.

This version was priced at ¥5,000, far lower than the original model, and was designed specifically to be cheap and more affordable for consumers.

Epoch chose to discontinue the Cassette Vision in August 1984 due to poor sales.

To achieve this, Epoch decided to put the CPU (μPD777C or μPD778) directly in the cartridge while the shell of the console would only contain the power supply, the controls and the NTSC video and sound generation hardware.