Colecovision

The Colecovision is Coleco's third generation video game console, released in August 1982. It offered arcade-like graphics and controllers, and an initial catalog of 12 titles, with 10 more promised titles on the way. more...

All told, approximately 170 titles were released on plug-in cartridges during its lifetime. The controller was a flat joystick, two side buttons, and a number-pad, which allowed the user to put inserts for customized buttons. The majority of titles in its catalog were conversions from coin-operated arcade games. The ColecoVision introduced two new concepts to the home videogame industry - the ability to expand the hardware system, and the ability to play other video game system games.

Background

Coleco offered an add-on module that made it compatible with the industry-leading Atari 2600, giving it the largest software library of any console of its day. The module prompted legal action from Atari, but Atari was unable to stop sales of the module due to the fact that the Atari 2600 was all off the shelf parts. Coleco was also able to make and sell the Gemini game system which was an exact clone of an Atari 2600 but with combined joystick/paddle controllers.

A second module came with steering wheel and pedal controllers, for use with the games Turbo and Destructor. The third and final module, released in the summer of 1983, expanded it into a full-fledged computer, the Coleco Adam. Coleco prototyped an expansion module to provide compatibility with the Mattel Intellivision, but never released it.

By Christmas of 1982, Coleco had sold 500,000 units, mainly on the strength of its bundled games. While Atari's fortune had risen on the popularity of Space Invaders, Colecovision was the first console to feature the hit Donkey Kong, by Nintendo. The Colecovision's main competitor in the next-generation console space was the arguably more advanced but less commercially successful Atari 5200.

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