The Intellivision, a combination of the words "intelligent" and "television," is a home video game console that Mattel Electronics released in 1979. It was different from other consoles because it offered more realistic sports and strategy games. By 1981, Mattel Electronics had nearly 20% of the U.S. video game market, selling over 3.75 million consoles and 20 million game cartridges by 1983. At its highest point, Mattel employed about 1,800 people in multiple countries, including 110 video game developers. In 1984, Mattel sold its video game business to a former Mattel executive and investors, and the company became INTV Corporation. Game development for the Intellivision continued from 1978 until 1990, when the console was no longer produced. In 2009, IGN ranked the Intellivision as number 14 on their list of the greatest video game consoles of all time.
History
The Intellivision was developed by Mattel in Hawthorne, California. In 1969, several research and development teams merged to form the Preliminary Design department on the third floor of Mattel’s headquarters. Mattel had a long history of technology research and development. Jack Ryan, a design engineer who joined Mattel in 1955 from Raytheon, led a team of engineers, chemists, and sculptors. With a large budget, this group was expected to create innovative ideas, and they were called the blue-sky group.
In 1975, Richard Chang, a mechanical engineer working under Ryan, contacted MOS Technology to see a demonstration of their new 6502 microprocessor in a video game. MOS arranged for Glenn Hightower, a consultant and teacher at CalTech University, to show how the microprocessor could be used.
Soon after, Dave James, an industrial engineer working with Chang, wrote a memo on January 26, 1976, describing two product ideas. The first was a video system using a microprocessor with removable ROM modules or cassettes, which could be used for war games, gambling games, strategy games, a video Etch-a-Sketch, a driving simulator, pinball, and football with 10 players on each side. The second idea was calculator-based games. Mattel executives were unsure about these ideas, so Chang’s group moved forward with developing handheld electronic games and worked with Hightower to create a prototype.
In 1975, Mattel hired Michael Katz as Marketing Manager for New Product Categories. Katz asked Chang to design a calculator-sized electronic game for 1976. In the fall of 1976, Mattel hired Ed Krakauer as Vice President of New Business Development, who then hired Jeff Rochlis as Director of New Business Development. In an October 1977 newspaper article, Rochlis said, “These devices are early versions of home computers. There is a clear path to moving into the home-computer market by selling games.”
In April 1977, David Chandler, who had a doctorate in Electrical Engineering and experience in aerospace and video game development, joined the Preliminary Design department under Chang. Chandler shared Chang’s vision of creating a video game system with advanced graphics and long-lasting gameplay. Before Chandler joined, Chang’s group had already met with National Semiconductor about a new video display controller that would pair with an Intel 8080 CPU. Chandler negotiated better pricing for a simpler design. At the Consumer Electronics Show in June 1977, Chandler saw two other video driver chipsets. One from MOS Technology lacked moving objects, making it hard to program sports games. The other from General Instrument (GI) had a chipset called the Gimini programmable set, but it lacked programmable graphics. Mattel worked with GI to improve the chipset. GI updated its catalog in 1978. Mattel initially chose National Semiconductor, but when they delayed the project, Mattel switched to GI. Mattel’s management paused video game development for several months. On November 9, 1977, Mattel, GI, and Magnavox (the original manufacturer) met to plan contracts and production.
At the same time, sales of Mattel’s handheld electronic games, which were previously slow, began to increase. Management separated the designs into a new division called Mattel Electronics, with its own marketing, finance, and engineering teams. In September, Krakauer made Rochlis its president. Chang became director of the new Design and Development department, responsible for Intellivision software. Chandler became director of Product Engineering and led the team designing the hardware, including the hand controllers. In 1978, David Rolfe of APh developed the onboard executive control software named Exec, and with Caltech summer students, programmed the first Intellivision games. Hal Finney of APh added sound and music processing to the Exec. Graphics were created by artists at Mattel, led by Dave James, who also wrote detailed game proposal documents.
During the June 1978 Consumer Electronics Show, Mattel showed a prototype to retailers, leading to a Christmas 1978 release. Delays at GI pushed the release to 1979. Magnavox left the project, and Sylvania became the new manufacturer. Chandler considered switching to Texas Instruments and their new TMS9918 video processor. The TI chip had more moving objects but fewer on a horizontal line compared to the GI STIC. It also lacked hardware scrolling and required more RAM, which would have forced changes to existing software.
The Intellivision was introduced at the 1979 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in January as a modular home computer. The Master Component cost $165, and a Keyboard Component was planned for $165 (equivalent to $730 in 2025). Prices were later raised to $250 for each component at the Chicago show in June. A shortage of key chips from General Instrument limited production that year. In the fall of 1979, Sylvania sold its own version of the Intellivision for $280 in GTE stores in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. On December 3, Mattel delivered consoles to Gottschalks department stores in Fresno, California, with a suggested price of $275. The Intellivision also appeared in the JCPenney Christmas 1979 catalog with seven cartridges. By April 1980, the console was available in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, and nationwide by mid-1980 with the pack-in game Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack and a library of ten cartridges.
By September 1980, Mattel debated whether to market the Intellivision as a home computer. Krakauer and Rochlis resigned, and Josh Denham became the new president of Mattel Electronics. The Keyboard Component was no longer promoted in advertising. Advertisements featuring George Plimpton compared the Intellivision’s graphics and sound to the Atari 2600, highlighting the Intellivision’s realism. One ad slogan called it “the closest thing to the real thing.” For example, a golf game on the 2600 had simple graphics and a blip sound, while the Intellivision showed a realistic swing and a more 3D look. In 1980, Mattel sold 190,000 Master Components and one million cartridges. In 1981, over one million Intellivision consoles were sold, five times the previous year’s total. Mattel Electronics became a subsidiary and moved to a new building to support its growth. In 1982, 1.8 million Intellivisions were sold.
The Intellivision Master Component was sold by various companies. Before manufacturing moved to Hong Kong, GTE Sylvania produced the consoles alongside Mattel, with only the brand name differing. The Sears Super Video Arcade, made in Hong Kong, had a redesigned cover and detachable controllers. Its title screen did not include the “Mattel Electronics” caption. In 1982, Radio Shack sold the Tandyvision One, similar to the original but with wood trim instead of gold plates. In Japan, Band
Hardware specifications
The following are names of video game systems: Intellivision, Super Video Arcade, Tandyvision One, Intellivision II, INTV System III, Super Pro System.
The Intellivision controller has the following features:
The direction pad on the controller was called a "control disc" and was described as having the ability to perform the tasks of both a joystick and a paddle. The controller was ranked as the fourth worst video game controller by IGN editor Craig Harris.
Reception
A July 1980 article in Video magazine stated, "Now, arcade fans can enjoy the most advanced games this side of the complex simulations designed for high-level computers right in their own living rooms." It also said, "It may not be perfect, but it's certainly the best unit offered so far to players of electronic video games." The article noted that players used to joysticks would need time to adjust, but even picky players would agree that the company created a truly elegant solution to the controller problem.
Ken Uston published Ken Uston's Guide to Buying and Beating the Home Video Games in 1982 as a resource for people buying console systems and cartridges, as well as a brief strategy guide for many cartridge games available at the time. He described the Intellivision as "the most mechanically reliable of the systems… The controller (used during 'many hours of experimentation') worked with perfect consistency. The unit never had overheating problems, nor were loose wires or other connections encountered." However, Uston rated the controls and control system as "below average" and considered it the worst of the consoles he tested, which included the Atari 2600, Magnavox Odyssey², Astrovision, and Fairchild Channel F.
Jeff Rovin listed Intellivision as one of the seven major suppliers of video games in 1982 and called it "the unchallenged king of graphics." He also noted that the controllers could be "difficult to operate" and explained that if a controller broke, the entire unit had to be sent for repairs because the controllers did not detach at first. He added that the overlays "are sometimes so stubborn as to tempt one's patience."
A 1996 article in Next Generation said the Intellivision "had greater graphics power than the dominant Atari 2600. It was slower than the 2600 and had less software available, but it was known for its superior sports titles." A year later, Electronic Gaming Monthly assessed the Intellivision in a review of older gaming consoles, stating that the controllers "were as comfortable as they were practical. The unique disk-shaped directional pad provided unusual control for the time, and the numeric keypad opened up new options previously unavailable in console gaming." They praised the variety of software available but noted that there were few games that truly stood out.
Legacy
In 1997, Keith Robinson and Stephen Roney, who used to work as programmers for Mattel Electronics, got special permission to use the Intellivision and its games. That year, they started a new company called Intellivision Productions and made a free download called Intellivision for PC Volume 1. This allowed people to play Intellivision games on modern computers for the first time. The download included three games and a program that lets users play original Intellivision games on computers. Later, Volume 2 was released with three more games, including Deep Pockets Super Pro Pool & Billiards, which was completed in 1990 but not released until 1997. In 2000, a download called Intellipack 3 was available with four more games and programs that let users play them on Windows or Macintosh computers.
In 1998 and 2001, Intellivision Productions released two CDs called Intellivision Lives! and Intellivision Rocks!. These CDs include over 100 Intellivision games, some of which had never been released before. The CDs use programs that let users play the original game code on computers. Some games could not be included because of licensing issues, and others used different names to avoid trademark problems. The CDs also include information about the development history, box art, hidden features, programmer stories, and original commercials.
Also in 1997, Intellivision Productions said they would sell tools that let customers create their own Intellivision games. They planned to provide instructions, software to help write code, and a device called the Magus II that connects to a computer. However, the project was canceled. They did give out copies of a guide called "Your Friend the EXEC", which explains how to use the Intellivision Executive control software. By 2000, fans of Intellivision created their own tools, including memory cartridges for the system.
In 2005, Intellivision Productions announced new cartridges for the Intellivision. The first two games in this series were Deep Pockets and Illusions. Illusions was completed in 1983 but never released, while Deep Pockets Super Pro Pool & Billiards was made in 1990 but only released as a file in 1998. No cartridges were made for Deep Pockets before 2005. Earlier, in 2000, Intellivision Productions released new cartridges for the Atari 2600 and Colecovision. These included games like Sea Battle and Swordfight for the Atari 2600, and Steamroller for the Colecovision.
In 1999, Activision released a collection of 30 Intellivision games for the PlayStation, called Intellivision Classics. This collection included video interviews with original programmers. No games made by Activision or Imagic were included. In 2003, Crave Entertainment released a version of Intellivision Lives! for the PlayStation 2, followed by versions for the Xbox and GameCube in 2004. In 2010, Virtual Play Games released Intellivision Lives! for the Nintendo DS, including one new game called Blow Out. In 2008, Microsoft made Intellivision Lives! available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace, where it could be played on the Xbox 360.
In 2003, Techno Source Ltd. released two direct-to-TV systems called Intellivision 25 and Intellivision 10. These systems included 25 and 10 games, respectively. The games were not copies of original Intellivision games but were rewritten for modern hardware and adapted to new controllers. In 2005, they were updated to support two-player games as the Intellivision X2, which had 15 games. These systems sold about 4 million units by the end of 2006.
In 2005, the GameTap service let Windows users play several Intellivision games, including Astrosmash, Buzz Bombers, and Skiing. A program called the GameTap Player was needed to access the games. In 2007, the VH1 Online Arcade made nine Intellivision games available through a web browser using Shockwave Player. In 2010, VH1 Classic and MTV Networks released six Intellivision games for iOS devices. In 2001, THQ Wireless released Intellivision games for mobile phones. In 2010, Microsoft launched the Game Room service for Xbox Live, which included support for Intellivision games and online leaderboards. At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft announced a version of Game Room for Windows Phone with 44 Intellivision games. AtGames and its Direct2Drive store also sold downloadable Intellivision compilations for Windows.
Few Intellivision games can be played effectively with modern controllers. In 2014, AtGames released the Intellivision Flashback console, which includes two original-style controllers and 60 emulated games. It also includes plastic overlays for 10 games, such as Crown of Kings and Minotaur. No games requiring third-party licenses were included.
In 2018, Tommy Tallarico bought the rights to the Intellivision brand and games. He formed a new company called Intellivision Entertainment and renamed Intellivision Productions to Blue Sky Rangers Inc. In 2021, Blaze Entertainment released 12 emulated Intellivision games for the Evercade system. In 2022, they released a second collection of 12 games.
In 2024, Atari SA bought the Intellivision brand and library from Intellivision Entertainment. The deal did not include the unreleased Intellivision Amico console or the company itself, which would be renamed. However, the company would get a license from Atari to continue making new versions of Intellivision games for the Amico.
In 2025, Atari announced the Intellivision Sprint console, which will be sold for $150. This retro console, based on the original Intellivision design, will include 45 original games and two controllers that match the original design.