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. 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 you 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.

Games

The ColecoVision had quite a few great games; its game library was primarily a collection of overlooked (but fun) coin-op ports. Coleco's software approach was to go after licensed arcade games that Atari had missed and to make cartridges for the 2600 and Intellivision in addition to its own system. Realizing that Atari had firm support from Namco (creators of Pac-Man and many other hits), Coleco involved itself with companies like Sega, Konami, and Universal. The ColecoVision had enough power to produce nearly perfect arcade-quality ports, which boosted its popularity quite a bit. Industry magazines like Electronic Games were unanimous in their enthusiasm over Coleco's marvelous machine.

Related Topics:
Atari - Intellivision - Namco - Pac-Man - Sega - Konami - Universal - Electronic Games

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Some of the more popular games included Donkey Kong (the pack-in), Donkey Kong Junior, Carnival, Ladybug, Mouse Trap, , and Zaxxon. The system's translation of Spy Hunter may be the best version of the game short of arcade emulation. The ColecoVision didn't really have many revolutionary new games, since most of its popular titles were arcade ports. Still, there are a few notable original titles like War Room, Illusions, and Fortune Builder, an early milestone in the style of Sim City. Most cartridges did not have an end-game to beat, but instead would loop around to the begining, such as Cosmic Avenger.

Related Topics:
Donkey Kong - Donkey Kong Junior - Carnival - Ladybug - Mouse Trap - Zaxxon - Spy Hunter - War Room - Illusions - Fortune Builder - Sim City - Cosmic Avenger

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All Coleco cartridges and most third-party titles had a twelve second delay before the game select screen showed up. One reason for this that is commonly cited (and apparently mentioned in a magazine at the time) is that before the ColecoVision reached the marketplace, Coleco invested heavily in advertising for the system, building up significant demand. The problem was software support. Few programmers knew the ColecoVision's quirky assembly language, and there wasn't time to train them. So the engineers at Coleco designed an emulator that allowed programmers to code in a far more common and well known language, Pascal. Coleco then hired programmers familiar with Pascal to design software for the ColecoVision, and thus were able to provide software to meet the demand. The only problem with the scheme was a twelve second delay the emulator caused while starting up. This story, while entertaining, is not true. The real reason behind the twelve second delay is a loop in the ColecoVision BIOS, so the delay was purely intentional. Some companies like Parker Brothers, Activision, and Micro Fun avoided the delay by simply bypassing the loop in the BIOS.

Related Topics:
Pascal - BIOS - Parker Brothers - Activision - Micro Fun

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Coleco was infamous for not putting out the cartridges it advertised. In most cases, it isn't certain if games that never came out were advertised using actual screenshots of a game or artist renditions designed to look like a completed game. Nevertheless, over fifty ColecoVision games were advertised in catalogs or on boxes, but never released. To this day, ColecoVision owners lament their inability to play announced games like Dracula (arcade game) and Tunnels and Trolls.

Related Topics:
Dracula (arcade game) - Tunnels and Trolls

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In 1997, ColecoVision was given its first "homebrew" game, the Tetris clone Kevtris by Kevin Horton. Since then, designer of homebrew games John Dondzila has released three new ColecoVision games, Space Invasion, Star Fortress, and Purple Dino Demo.

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