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

The console provided a gaming experience closer to arcade machines than systems like the Atari 2600 and Intellivision. Its first set of twelve games on ROM cartridges included the first home version of Nintendo’s Donkey Kong, which was included with the console. Between 1982 and 1984, about 136 games were released for the ColecoVision, including Sega’s Zaxxon and versions of lesser-known arcade games that became popular on the console, such as Lady Bug, Cosmic Avenger, and Venture.

Coleco introduced additional hardware and special controllers to improve the console’s features. The "Expansion Module #1" allowed the system to play Atari 2600 cartridges. Later, "Expansion Module #3" transformed the ColecoVision into the Adam home computer, using the console’s hardware mainly for displaying games and handling joysticks. This system could run all ColecoVision games and new software for the Adam.

The ColecoVision was stopped in 1985 when Coleco left the video game market. At the time, Coleco was planning to focus on its successful Cabbage Patch Kids toy line after the Adam computer’s failure.

Development

Coleco entered the video game market in 1976 during a time when home consoles played only one type of game. They released the Telstar consoles, but as more companies entered the market, competition grew too strong, and Coleco nearly went out of business. However, the company found success with handheld electronic games that outperformed those made by Mattel, the leading company at the time. Coleco also created small tabletop arcade games using licenses from companies like Sega, Bally, Midway, and Nintendo. Sales of these electronic games helped Coleco stay in business until 1982, but the market for such games began to decline. Despite this, Coleco’s president, Arnold Greenberg, remained interested in making a home video game console.

Eric Bromley, who led engineering for Coleco, explained that Greenberg wanted to create a home console that could play high-quality games similar to those in arcades. However, the cost of parts, especially memory chips, made this idea difficult to achieve. In 1979, Bromley designed plans for a system using chips from Texas Instruments and General Instrument, but the project was delayed because the cost of memory was too high. In 1981, Bromley read an article in The Wall Street Journal stating that memory prices had dropped. After calculating the new costs, Bromley found the system could now be made within Coleco’s budget. Within ten minutes of sharing this with Greenberg, they decided to name the console "ColecoVision." The marketing team never found a better name for the product.

Coleco knew that Atari had successfully sold its home console, the Atari VCS, by licensing popular arcade games. In 1981, Coleco approached Nintendo to gain access to their arcade titles. During meetings with Nintendo’s president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, Bromley negotiated for game rights, but Yamauchi only offered less-known titles. After a meal with Yamauchi, Bromley discovered a new arcade game called Donkey Kong that had not yet been released in the West. He believed the game would be popular and asked Yamauchi for exclusive rights to it. Yamauchi agreed if Coleco paid $200,000 upfront and gave them $2 for each game sold. Greenberg approved the deal, though no formal contract was signed. Later, at a trade show, Bromley learned from Yamauchi’s daughter and translator that Yamauchi had given Donkey Kong rights to Atari. With her help, Bromley convinced Yamauchi to sign a contract confirming Coleco’s rights. When Coleco announced it would include Donkey Kong with the console, many people were surprised and unsure why the company would give away such a popular game.

Release

The ColecoVision was released in August 1982. By Christmas 1982, Coleco had sold more than 500,000 units. This success was partly due to Donkey Kong, which came with the console. The main competitor of the ColecoVision was the Atari 5200, which did not sell as well. Sales reached over 1 million units by early 1983.

Outside of North America, CBS Electronics distributed the ColecoVision, and it was called the CBS ColecoVision. In Europe, the console was released in July 1983, about one year after its North American release.

By early 1984, sales of the ColecoVision dropped sharply. In January 1985, Coleco stopped selling the Adam, which was a computer that worked with the ColecoVision. By mid-1985, Coleco planned to leave the video game market. The ColecoVision was officially stopped 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 introduced the SV-603 ColecoVision Video Game Adapter for its SV-318 computer. The company said the $70 product let users play all the ColecoVision video game cartridges.

Hardware

ColecoVision uses the Zilog Z80 CPU and a version of the Texas Instruments TMS9918 video chip, which 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 console's front. These expansion modules and accessories were sold separately.

Expansion Module #1 made the ColecoVision compatible with Atari 2600 cartridges and controllers. It used common parts that the 2600 also used, including a copy of the 2600's special chip, the TIA. The ColecoVision did not process or translate the game code on the 2600 cartridges; it only provided power, clock input, and audio/video output to the expansion module. The module was self-contained and could be considered the first Atari 2600 clone console. This feature gave the ColecoVision the largest software library of any console at the time. The expansion module led to legal action from Atari. Coleco and Atari reached a settlement, with Coleco gaining a license to use Atari's patents. This license also applied to Coleco's Gemini game system, a standalone clone of the 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. Although Coleco called it an expansion module, it actually connects to the controller port, not the Expansion Module Interface. The driving controller works with cartridges such as Destructor, Bump 'n' Jump, Pitstop, and The Dukes of Hazzard.

Expansion Module #3 turns the ColecoVision into the Adam computer, complete with a keyboard, digital data pack (DDP) cassette drive, 64 KB RAM, and printer.

The Roller Controller is a trackball included with the cartridge Slither, a version of an arcade game. It 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 both devices. Another cartridge designed for the roller controller is Victory. A joystick mode switch on the roller controller allows it to 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 packaged 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." Other cartridges, such as Super Action Football, Rocky, Super Action Boxing, and a version of the arcade game Front Line, are also designed for use with the Super Action Controller.

Expansion Module #3 was originally planned to be the Super Game Module. It was advertised for an August 1983 release but was canceled and replaced with the Adam computer expansion. The Super Game Module would have added 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 have been distributed on small tapes called wafers, which could hold larger data than the 16 KB or 32 KB ROM cartridges of the time. Demonstrations of Super Donkey Kong, 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 specifications promised by the Super Game Module.

Legacy

Masayuki Uemura, leader of Famicom development, said the ColecoVision set a standard that influenced how he designed the Famicom. During the creation of the Nintendo Entertainment System, Takao Sawano, project manager, brought a ColecoVision home for his family to use. They were impressed by the system’s ability to display smooth graphics, which were different from the flickering often seen in Atari 2600 games.

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

IGN ranked the ColecoVision as their 12th-best video-game console out of 25, noting "its high accuracy in bringing modern arcade games to home systems."

In 1996, the first homemade ColecoVision game was released. It was a Tetris copy named 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 a Super Game Module expansion for the ColecoVision. This expansion increased RAM from 1 KB to 32 KB and added four more sound channels. These changes made the ColecoVision more similar to the MSX architecture standard, helping MSX software be adapted more easily.

In 2014, AtGames started making the ColecoVision Flashback console. It includes 60 games, but not the original game that came with the system, Donkey Kong.