ColecoVision (Platform)

ColecoVision

PLATFORM» CVIS» August 1982

The ColecoVision came out in 1982 and had a successful run as the Atari 5200's competitor until 1984.

Overview

ColecoVision is a video game console made by Coleco Industries. It was released in August of 1982. It was a home system with arcade type games. It also featured the strange ability to play Atari 2600 games, its competitor. About 120 titles were released for the ColecoVision during its lifespan. The ColecoVision came with the game Nintendo's Donkey Kong as a pack-in game and is revered as a near-perfect arcade port. This increased the popularity of the ColecoVision and by the end of 1982 the ColecoVision had sold 500,000 units. Atari's marketing for a short time claimed the 5200 was more powerful, but ColecoVision did much better than the Atari 5200 in sales, and since the 5200 was based on the Atari 400/800 which was 3 years older, this claim didn't appear to hold much truth. Although the ColecoVision, at the time showed great sales and growth, the Atari 2600 still ruled the roost. The growth of the ColecoVision and the huge install base of the Atari 2600 helped start the first true Multi-platform movement in consoles. Activision, Parker Brothers, and several other companies for a short time released some titles on near the same launch day for both consoles. The ColecoVision eventually sold more the one million units by 1983. Outside of the United States, the ColecoVision is known as the CBS ColecoVision as it was distributed by CBS Electronics. The ColecoVision was discontinued in 1984 due to the crash of the video game market in 1983. The ColecoVision had three different expansion peripherals:

Expansion Module #1: This allowed the ColecoVision to play Atari 2600 games which largely expanded the ColecoVision game library.
Expansion Module #2: This was a driving controller that came with the pack-in game Turbo. It was only compatible with two other games from the ColecoVision library: Destructor and Dukes of Hazzard.
Expansion Module #3: The ColecoVision's third expansion turned it into a computer called the Coleco Adam. It came with a full keyboard and digital dat pack cassette drives.

The primary games of the ColecoVision library were arcade games that Atari had not yet licensed. The most popular of the ColecoVision games were Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Carnival, Lady Bug, Mouse Trap, and Zaxxon.

Technical Specifications

Processor	NEC Zilog Z80A @ 3.58 MHz
RAM	1 KB (two 1K x 4-bit chips)
ROM	8 KB TMS4764 Mask ROM
Graphics	<p data-right-indent="0" data-left-indent="0">Texas Instruents TMS99928A Video Display Controller</p>* 256x192 pixel resolution 32 sprints on-screen 16 colors
Sound	<p data-right-indent="0" data-left-indent="0">Texas Intstuments SN76489A PSG chip</p>* 3 tone generators 1 noise generator
Storage	ROM Cartridge (8, 16, 24 or 32 KB capacity)

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