The ColecoVision is a second-generation home video game console created by Coleco. It was first sold in North America in August 1982 and later released in Europe in July 1983 by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision.

The ColecoVision provided a gaming experience similar to powerful arcade machines, which was better than other consoles like the Atari 2600 and Intellivision. The first set of twelve games on ROM cartridges included the first home version of Nintendo’s Donkey Kong, which came with the console. About 136 games were made for the ColecoVision between 1982 and 1984. These included Sega’s Zaxxon and versions of less-known arcade games like Lady Bug, Cosmic Avenger, and Venture.

Coleco added special parts and controllers to improve the console’s features. "Expansion Module #1" let the ColecoVision play games from the Atari 2600. "Expansion Module #3," released later, turned the ColecoVision into the Adam home computer. The ColecoVision hardware was mainly used for displaying games, while the Adam handled controls and new software. The system could run all ColecoVision games as well as new Adam software.

Coleco stopped making the ColecoVision in 1985 when they left the video game market. They had already planned to focus on their popular Cabbage Patch Kids toy line after the Adam computer’s failure.

Development

Coleco entered the video game market in 1976 during a time when companies made consoles for specific games. They released their Telstar consoles, but as more companies entered the market, it became too crowded, and Coleco nearly went out of business. However, they found success with handheld electronic games that competed well against products from Mattel, the market leader. Coleco also created small tabletop arcade games using rights from companies like Sega, Bally, Midway, and Nintendo. Sales of these electronic games helped Coleco survive until 1982, but the market for these games began to decline. Despite this, Coleco’s president, Arnold Greenberg, still wanted to make a home video game console.

Eric Bromley, who led engineering for ColecoVision, explained that Greenberg wanted to create a home console that could play high-quality arcade-style games. However, the cost of parts, especially memory, made this difficult. In 1979, Bromley designed a system using a Texas Instruments video chip and a General Instrument audio chip, but the project was not approved because memory was too expensive. Around 1981, Bromley read an article in The Wall Street Journal stating that memory prices had dropped. After calculating the costs, Bromley found the system could be made within Coleco’s budget. Within ten minutes of telling Greenberg, they decided to name the console "ColecoVision."

Coleco knew that Atari had sold many consoles by offering games from arcades, so they tried to work with Nintendo in 1981 to get access to their arcade games. Bromley met with Nintendo’s president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, in discussions that followed Japanese customs. Yamauchi only offered games that seemed unimportant. After a meal with Yamauchi, Bromley saw a new Donkey Kong arcade cabinet, which had not yet been released in the West. He believed this game would be popular and asked Yamauchi for exclusive rights to it. Yamauchi agreed if Coleco paid $200,000 upfront and gave them $2 per unit sold. Greenberg approved the deal, though no formal contract was signed. Later, Bromley learned from Yamauchi’s daughter that Yamauchi had given the rights to Atari. With her help, Bromley got Yamauchi to sign a formal agreement. Coleco announced they would include Donkey Kong with the console, which surprised many people, as journalists and retailers questioned why they would give away such a popular game.

Release

The ColecoVision was released in August 1982. By Christmas 1982, Coleco had sold over 500,000 units, partly because Donkey Kong was included with the console. The ColecoVision's main competitor was the Atari 5200, which was less successful in sales. Sales reached more than 1 million units by early 1983.

The ColecoVision was sold by CBS Electronics outside North America and was called the CBS ColecoVision in those regions. In Europe, the console was released in July 1983, about one year after its North American launch. Sega Enterprises tried to make a Japanese version of the console, but it was changed into the SG-1000 before being released.

By early 1984, sales of the ColecoVision dropped sharply. In January 1985, Coleco stopped selling the Adam, which was a home computer that worked with the ColecoVision. By mid-1985, Coleco planned to leave the video game market. The ColecoVision was officially stopped from being sold in October 1985. Total sales are not exactly known, but they were more than 2 million units. The console continued to sell in small numbers until it was discontinued.

In 1983, Spectravideo announced the SV-603 ColecoVision Video Game Adapter for its SV-318 computer. The company said the $70 product let users "access all ColecoVision video game cartridges."

Hardware

The ColecoVision uses the Zilog Z80 CPU and a type of Texas Instruments TMS9918 video chip that was introduced in 1979.

On NTSC ColecoVision consoles, all first-party cartridges and most third-party software titles have a 12.7-second pause before showing the game select screen. CBS Electronics shortened this pause to 3.3 seconds in the BIOS for their PAL and SECAM ColecoVision consoles.

From its introduction, Coleco emphasized the ColecoVision's ability to expand hardware by including the Expansion Module Interface on the front of the console. These hardware expansion modules and accessories were sold separately.

Expansion Module #1 allowed the ColecoVision to work with Atari 2600 cartridges and controllers. It used the fact that the Atari 2600 used widely available components and included a copy of the 2600's custom chip, the TIA. The ColecoVision did not change or process the game code from 2600 cartridges; it only provided power, clock signals, and audio/video connections to the expansion module, which operated independently. This made the ColecoVision the console with the largest software library at the time. This feature led to legal action from Atari. Coleco and Atari reached a settlement, and Coleco received a license to use Atari's patents. This license also applied to Coleco's Gemini game system, a standalone copy of the Atari 2600.

Expansion Module #2 is a driving controller (steering wheel and gas pedal) that comes with the cartridge Turbo. The gas pedal is a simple on/off switch. Though Coleco called this a "module," it connects to the controller port, not the Expansion Module Interface. This controller works with the cartridges Destructor, Bump 'n' Jump, Pitstop, and The Dukes of Hazzard.

Expansion Module #3 changes the ColecoVision into the Adam computer, which includes a keyboard, digital data pack (DDP) cassette drive, 64 KB of RAM, and a printer.

The Roller Controller is a trackball that comes with the cartridge Slither, a version of an arcade game. The roller controller uses a special power connector that does not work with Expansion Module #3 (the Adam computer). Coleco sent an adapter to users who had issues with compatibility. Another cartridge that uses the roller controller is Victory. A joystick switch on the roller controller lets it work with all cartridges, including WarGames, Omega Race, and Atarisoft's Centipede.

The Super Action Controller Set, released in September 1983, includes two handheld joystick controllers that come with the cartridge Super Action Baseball. Each controller has a ball-top joystick, four action buttons, a 12-button numeric keypad, and a "speed roller." The cartridges Super Action Football, Rocky, Super Action Boxing, and a version of the arcade game Front Line are designed to work with this controller.

Expansion Module #3 was originally planned to be the Super Game Module. It was advertised for release in August 1983 but was canceled and replaced with the Adam computer expansion. The Super Game Module would have included a tape drive called the Exatron Stringy Floppy with 128 KB of storage and additional RAM (30 KB) to run programs from tape. Games could be stored on small tapes called wafers, which could be much larger than the 16 KB or 32 KB ROM cartridges of the time. Super Donkey Kong (with all screens and animations), Super Donkey Kong Jr., and Super Smurf Rescue were shown using the Super Game Module. The Adam computer expansion, with its 256 KB tape drive and 64 KB RAM, met the goals of the Super Game Module.

Legacy

Masayuki Uemura, who led the development of the Famicom, said that the ColecoVision set a standard that influenced how he designed the Famicom. When creating the Nintendo Entertainment System, Takao Sawano, the project manager, took a ColecoVision home for his family to try. They were impressed by the system's ability to show smooth graphics, which was different from the shaky images often seen in games for the Atari 2600.

In 1986, Bit Corporation made a copy of the ColecoVision called the Dina. This version was sold in the United States by Telegames as the Telegames Personal Arcade.

IGN listed the ColecoVision as their 12th-best video-game console in a list of 25. They said this because of "its incredible accuracy in bringing current-generation arcade hits home."

In 1996, the first homebrew ColecoVision game was released. It was a Tetris copy called Kevtris.

In 1997, Telegames released Personal Arcade Vol. 1, a collection of ColecoVision games for Microsoft Windows. A second version, Colecovision Hits Volume One, was released in 1998.

In 2012, Opcode Games created their own Super Game Module expansion. This added more memory, increasing RAM from 1 KB to 32 KB, and added four more sound channels. This upgrade made the ColecoVision similar to the MSX architecture standard, making it easier to use MSX software on the system.

In 2014, AtGames started making the ColecoVision Flashback console. This version included 60 games, but it did not include the original pack-in game, Donkey Kong.