ColecoVision

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ColecoVision
Manufacturer Coleco
Type Video game console
Generation Second generation
Retail availability
  • US August 1982
Discontinued 1985
Media ROM cartridge
CPU Zilog Z80
Storage 8/16/24/32 KB
Graphics TMS9928A
Controller input Joystick/Numeric Keypad
Roller Controller
Driving Controller
Super Action Controller
Best-selling game Donkey Kong (pack-in)
Predecessor Telstar Arcade (1978)

The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries' second generation home video game console, which was released in August 1982. The ColecoVision offered near-arcade-quality graphics and gaming style along with the means to expand the system's basic hardware. Released with a catalog of 12 launch titles, with an additional 10 games announced for 1982, approximately 145 titles in total were published as ROM cartridges for the system between 1982 and 1984.[1] River West Brands currently owns the ColecoVision brand name.[2]

In 2009, IGN named the ColecoVision their 12th best video game console out of their list of 25, citing "its incredible accuracy in bringing current-generation arcade hits home."[3]

History

Coleco licensed Nintendo's Donkey Kong as the official pack-in cartridge for all ColecoVision consoles, helping to boost the console's popularity. By Christmas of 1982, Coleco had sold more than 500,000 units,[4][5] in part on the strength of its bundled game.[6] The ColecoVision's main competitor was the arguably more advanced but less commercially successful Atari 5200.[7][8][9]

The ColecoVision was distributed by CBS Electronics outside of North America, and was branded the CBS ColecoVision.

Sales quickly passed 1 million in early 1983,[10] before the video game crash of 1983. By the beginning of 1984, quarterly sales of the ColecoVision had dramatically decreased.[11]

Over the next 18 months, the Coleco company ramped down its video game division, ultimately withdrawing from the video game market by the end of the summer of 1985.[12][13] The ColecoVision was officially discontinued by October 1985.[14] Total sales of the ColecoVision are uncertain but were ultimately in excess of 2 million units, as sales had reached that number by the spring of 1984,[11] while the console continued to sell modestly up until its discontinuation the following year.[15]

In 1986, Bit Corporation produced a ColecoVision clone called the Dina, which was sold in the United States by Telegames as the Telegames Personal Arcade.[16]

Hardware

The main console unit consists of a 14×8×2 inch rectangular plastic case that houses the motherboard, with a cartridge slot on the right side and connectors for the external power supply and RF jack at the rear. The controllers connect into plugs in a recessed area on the top of the unit.

The design of the controllers is similar to that of Mattel's Intellivision—the controller is rectangular and consists of a numeric keypad and a set of side buttons. In place of the circular control disc below the keypad, the Coleco controller has a short, 1.5-inch joystick. The keypad is designed to accept a thin plastic overlay that maps the keys for a particular game. Each ColecoVision console shipped with two controllers.

All first-party cartridges and most third-party software titles feature a 12-second pause before presenting the game select screen. This delay results from an intentional loop in the console's BIOS to enable on-screen display of the ColecoVision brand. Companies like Parker Brothers, Activision, and Micro Fun bypassed this loop, which necessitated embedding portions of the BIOS outside the delay loop, further reducing storage available to actual game programming.

Technical specifications

  • ColecoVision Circuit Board, Top 1

  • ColecoVision Circuit Board, Top 2

  • ColecoVision Circuit Board, Bottom 1

  • CPU: NEC version of Zilog Z80A @ 3.58 MHz (See chip U1, marked NEC D780C-1 in circuit board picture)
  • Video processor: Texas Instruments TMS9928A (40-pin DIP located under the heat sink)
  • Sound: Texas Instruments SN76489A PSG (chip U20 on circuit board)
    • 3 tone generators
    • 1 noise generator
  • VRAM: 16 KB (as eight 16K x 1-bit chips, marked ITT 8244 4116 3N on circuit board)
  • RAM: 1 KB (as two 1K x 4-bit chips, marked UPD2114LC (U3 & U4) on circuit board)
  • ROM: 8 KB Texas Instruments TMS4764 Mask ROM (chip U2, marked TMS4764NL on circuit board)
  • Storage: ROM Cartridge of 8, 16, 24 or 32 KB capacity.

Expansion Modules and accessories

  • Expansion Module #2

  • Super Action Controller

From its introduction, Coleco touted the ColecoVision's hardware expandability by highlighting the Expansion Module Interface on the front of the unit. These hardware expansion modules and accessories were sold separately.

Released

  1. Expansion Module #1 makes the ColecoVision compatible with the industry-leading Atari 2600. Functionally, this gave the ColecoVision the largest software library of any console of its day. The expansion module prompted legal action from Atari, but Atari was unable to stop sales of the module because the 2600 could be reproduced with off the shelf parts. Coleco also designed and sold the Gemini game system, which was a clone of the 2600, but with combined joystick/paddle controllers.
  2. Expansion Module #2 is a driving controller (steering wheel / gas pedal) that came packaged with a port of the arcade game Turbo. The gas pedal is merely a simple on/off switch, so many games used the second ColecoVision controller as a gear shift for more precise speed control.[17] Note that although Coleco called the driving controller an expansion module, it actually plugs into the controller port, not the Expansion Module Interface.[18] The driving controller is also compatible with the games Destructor, Bump n Jump, and Dukes Of Hazzard.
  3. Expansion Module #3 converts the ColecoVision into a full-fledged computer known as the Adam, complete with keyboard, digital data pack (DDP) cassette drives and printer.
  4. The Roller Controller is a trackball that came packaged with a port of the arcade game Slither, a Centipede clone. The roller controller uses a special power connector is not compatible with Expansion Module #3 (the Adam computer). To remedy this, Coleco mailed an adapter to owners of both units who complained.[19] The roller controller is also compatible with the games Victory, Omega Race, and Wargames, and was also notably compatible with Atarisoft's port of their version of the Centipede video game, which used a trackball for arcade play.
  5. The Super Action Controller Set is a set of two joysticks (each resembling a boxing glove) that came packaged with the game Super Action Baseball. Each joystick has four action buttons, a 12-button numeric keypad, and a "speed roller".[20] The Super Action Controllers are also compatible with the games Super Action Football, Rocky Super Action Boxing, and a port of the arcade game Front Line.

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System's design and technology was influenced by the ColecoVision. The two are very similar in specifications and hardware features such as tile-based sprites.

According to an interview with Japanese Investment firm magazine Nikkei Electronics,[21] Which is translated by GlitterBerri's Game Translations,[22] it is stated that before work on the Famicom began, Coleco employees visited Japan to show off the ColecoVision prototype. It apparently shocked them to see the high-tech visuals and technical features Coleco had at the time. Takao Sawano, a member of the development team, brought a full version home to let his family play it and were as equally impressed with it. Takao Sawano joined Uemera, the head of Famicom hardware design, and started designing the hardware based on the specifications of the ColecoVision console. Uemura stated that it was the ColecoVision that technologically spurred him and the ColecoVision is what he had in mind when considering the image of the final product.

Similarities to other platforms

The ColecoVision contains the same CPU and graphics chip as the MSX and Sega SG-1000/SC-3000 but the MSX contains a different sound chip, the AY-3-8910. ColecoVision shares the same CPU and a sound chip with Sega Master System, also a similar but inferior graphics chip. For this reason it is not hard to port games between these systems.

Games

See also: List of ColecoVision games
ColecoVision Donkey Kong Pack-in Game Cartridge

Legacy

In 1996, programmer Kevin Horton released the first homebrew game for the ColecoVision, a Tetris clone entitled Kevtris.[23][24]

In 1997, Telegames released Personal Arcade Vol. 1, a collection of ColecoVision games for Microsoft Windows,[25] and a 1998 follow-up, Colecovision Hits Volume One.[26]

In popular culture

The value of the ColecoVision as a 1980s pop culture icon was discussed on VH1's I Love The 80's Strikes Back.[27] Several television series have aired episodes that reference or parody the console: South Park,[28] Family Guy[29] and Everybody Hates Chris.[30]

References

  1. ↑ Forster, Winnie (2005), The encyclopedia of consoles, handhelds & home computers 1972 - 2005, GAMEPLAN, p. 50, ISBN 3-00-015359-4 
  2. ↑ "Press release for River West Brands" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-12-20. 
  3. ↑ "Colecovision is number 12". IGN. Retrieved 2010-12-20. 
  4. ↑ "Coleco hits with home video games", Business Week, 1983-01-24: 31, "Most of 1982's action was in the second half, when Coleco shipped 550,000 ColecoVision game machines--which sell for $169 to $189--booking orders for nearly that many more." 
  5. ↑ Video Game Maker Says 1st-Quarter Profit More Than Tripled, Associated Press, 1983-04-20, "Arnold C. Greenberg, Coleco's president and chief executive, said more than 500,000 ColecoVision players were shipped during the first quarter, nearly equaling the number shipped in all of 1982." 
  6. ↑ "Coleco's New Video Challenge", New York Times, 1982-11-11: 1 (Section D), "Potential Colecovision buyers have also apparently been attracted by Coleco's licensing agreement with Nintendo Inc., the Japanese creator of Donkey Kong, a current arcade hit, and Universal City Studios Inc. One Donkey Kong cartridge comes with each Colecovision unit." 
  7. ↑ Aeppel, Timothy (1982-12-10), "Zap! Pow! Video games sparkle in holiday market", Christian Science Monitor: 7, "In recent weeks, two particularly hot-selling systems have emerged - the Atari 5200 and ColecoVision. Both are described as powerful 'third wave' machines, the Cadillacs of game systems, and priced accordingly at close to $200...[T]hey are sure to snatch most of the Christmas market." 
  8. ↑ Harmetz, Aljean (1984-01-10), "Sigh of Relief on Video Games", New York Times: 1 (Section D), "As for game hardware, many experts said that Atari's...5200 or Coleco's Colecovision would corner the high end." 
  9. ↑ "Coleco Strong In Marketing", New York Times, 1983-08-01, "Since its introduction last fall, Colecovision has sold about 1.4 million units...Of that total, about 900,000 were sold this year, compared with 800,000 units by Atari and 300,000 by Mattel." 
  10. ↑ Video Game Maker Says 1st-Quarter Profit More Than Tripled, 1983-04-20
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Coleco Industries sales report, PR Newswire, 1984-04-17, "'First quarter sales of ColecoVision were substantial, although much less that [sic] those for the year ago quarter,' Greenberg said in a prepared statement. He said the company has sold 2 million ColecoVision games since its introduction in 1982." 
  12. ↑ "Coleco Reassesses Its Video Games", New York Times (Reuters), 1985-06-13: 4 (Section D), "Coleco Industries is assessing its continuing commitment to the video game business...Arnold C. Greenberg, the chief executive, said no timetable had been set for a decision on continuing or dropping the Colecovision products or on whether the software for the games would continue to be produced if hardware production was discontinued." 
  13. ↑ "Video games Coleco may drop out", The Globe and Mail (Canada), 1985-06-21, "Coleco Industries Inc. of West Hartford, Conn., is considering withdrawal from the video game business in both hardware and software." 
  14. ↑ "Coleco's Net In Sharp Rise", New York Times (Associated Press), 1985-10-19, "Thursday, Coleco said the entire inventory of its troubled Adam personal computer has been sold, along with much of its Colecovision inventory. The company's chairman, Arnold Greenberg, said Coleco expects no more charges against earnings from the two discontinued products." 
  15. ↑ Kleinfield, N. R. (1985-07-21), "Coleco Moves Out Of The Cabbage Patch", New York Times: 4 (Section 3), "Coleco is now debating whether to withdraw from electronics altogether. Colecovision still sells, but it is a shadow of its former self." 
  16. ↑ "ColecoVision - 1982-1984 - Classic Gaming". Classicgaming.gamespy.com. Retrieved 2010-12-20. 
  17. ↑ http://www.the-liberator.net/site-files/retro-games/hardware/ColecoVision/colecovision-expansion-moduel-no-2-driving-controller.htm
  18. ↑ http://www.colecovisionzone.com/photos/accessory/module2%20manual.pdf
  19. ↑ http://www.colecovisionzone.com/photos/accessory/roller%20manual.pdf
  20. ↑ http://www.colecovisionzone.com/photos/accessory/superaction%20manual.pdf
  21. ↑ Niekki Magazine Nintendo famicom/NES origin interview
  22. ↑ Translation of Neikkis Nintendo Origins Interview.
  23. ↑ "Kevtris for ColecoVision - MobyGames". MobyGames<!. 2006-11-29. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 
  24. ↑ "Classic Videogame Games INTERVIEW - Kevin Horton". Good Deal Games. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 
  25. ↑ "Personal Arcade Volume One for Windows - MobyGames". MobyGames<!. 2000-05-21. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 
  26. ↑ "Classic Gamer: Colecovision Hits Volume One for Windows - MobyGames". MobyGames<!. 2000-05-30. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 
  27. ↑ "I Love the 80s Strikes Back | Show Cast, Episodes, Guides, Trailers, Web Exclusives, Previews | VH1.com". VH1.com<!. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 
  28. ↑ "Chickenpox", Season 2 Episode 23, Production no. 210
  29. ↑ "I Take Thee Quaqmire", Season 4 Episode 21, Production no. 4ACX23
  30. ↑ ~Will Harris (2007-06-04). "Everybody Hates Chris: Season One review, Everybody Hates Chris: Season 1 DVD review". Bullz-eye.com. Retrieved 2009-08-24. 

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