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

Compared to other consoles like the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, the ColecoVision provided a gaming experience closer to powerful arcade machines. When it was first released, it included twelve games on ROM cartridges, with the first home version of Nintendo’s Donkey Kong as the included game. Between 1982 and 1984, about 136 games were released for the ColecoVision. These included Sega’s Zaxxon and versions of lesser-known arcade games that became more popular on the console, such as Lady Bug, Cosmic Avenger, and Venture.

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

The ColecoVision was stopped in 1985 when Coleco left the video game market. Coleco had planned to focus on their successful Cabbage Patch Kids toy line after the Adam computer failed financially.

Development

Coleco entered the video game market in 1976 during a time when companies made home consoles for specific games. They introduced their Telstar consoles, but as more companies entered the market, it became too crowded, and Coleco nearly went out of business. However, the company found success with handheld electronic games that competed well against those made by Mattel, the market leader. Coleco also created small tabletop arcade games with rights 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 the engineering team for ColecoVision, explained that Greenberg wanted to create a home console that could play high-quality arcade games. However, the cost of parts, especially memory chips called RAM, made this difficult. In 1979, Bromley designed a system using chips from Texas Instruments and General Instrument, but the project was delayed because RAM was too expensive. By 1981, Bromley saw a newspaper article stating that RAM prices had dropped. After calculating the costs, he 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."

Coleco knew that Atari had successfully sold its home console by using licensed arcade games. In 1981, they tried to negotiate with Nintendo to use their arcade titles. During meetings with Nintendo’s president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, Bromley faced challenges due to Japanese business customs. Yamauchi initially offered only obscure games. After a meal with Yamauchi, Bromley discovered a 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. Yamauchi agreed if Coleco paid $200,000 upfront and $2 per unit sold. Greenberg approved, though no formal contract was signed. At the Consumer Electronics Show, Bromley learned from Yamauchi’s daughter and translator that Yamauchi had given the rights to Atari. With her help, Bromley convinced Yamauchi to sign a contract confirming Coleco’s rights. When Coleco announced they would include Donkey Kong with the console, many people were surprised and skeptical, as they questioned 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, partly because Donkey Kong was included as the bundled game. The ColecoVision’s main competitor was the Atari 5200, which was not as successful in sales. Sales of the ColecoVision reached over 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.

By early 1984, sales of the ColecoVision had dropped sharply. In January 1985, Coleco stopped selling the Adam, a home computer that worked with the ColecoVision. By mid-1985, Coleco planned to leave the video game market. The ColecoVision was officially discontinued in October 1985. Total sales are unknown, 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 allowed users to play all 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 games include 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.

Coleco emphasized the ColecoVision's ability to expand its hardware by including the Expansion Module Interface on the front of the console. These 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 2600 relied on common components and included a copy of the 2600's custom chip, the TIA. The ColecoVision did not change or process the game code on the 2600 cartridges. Instead, it provided power and clock signals to the expansion module and handled audio and video output from it. The expansion module was fully self-contained and functioned as a clone of the Atari 2600. This feature gave the ColecoVision the largest collection of games at the time. Atari took legal action, and Coleco and Atari reached a settlement where Coleco gained permission to use Atari's patents. This license also applied to Coleco's Gemini game system, which was another clone of the 2600.

Expansion Module #2 is a driving controller (steering wheel and gas pedal) that comes with the Turbo cartridge. 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. This controller works with other cartridges, including Destructor, Bump 'n' Jump, Pitstop, and The Dukes of Hazzard.

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

The Roller Controller is a trackball that comes with the Slither cartridge, 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 both units. Another cartridge that uses the Roller Controller is Victory. A joystick switch on the Roller Controller allows it to work with other games, including WarGames, Omega Race, and Atarisoft's Centipede.

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

Expansion Module #3 was originally planned as the Super Game Module. It was advertised for release in August 1983 but was later canceled and replaced by 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 shared on small tapes called wafers, which could hold more data than the 16 KB or 32 KB ROM cartridges of the time. Games like Super Donkey Kong, Super Donkey Kong Jr., and Super Smurf Rescue were demonstrated using the Super Game Module. The Adam computer expansion, with its 256 KB tape drive and 64 KB of RAM, met the specifications promised by the Super Game Module.

Legacy

Masayuki Uemura, who led the development of the Famicom, said that the ColecoVision set a standard that inspired how he designed the Famicom. When creating the Nintendo Entertainment System, Takao Sawano, the project's chief manager, took a ColecoVision home for his family to test. They were impressed by the system's ability to create smooth images, which was different from the flickering seen in games on 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 out of 25, praising "its incredible accuracy in bringing current-generation arcade games to home systems."

In 1996, the first homemade ColecoVision game was released. It was a copy of Tetris 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 a Super Game Module expansion for the ColecoVision. This upgrade increased the system's memory from 1 KB to 32 KB and added four more sound channels. These changes made the ColecoVision closer to the MSX architecture standard, making it easier to adapt MSX software for use 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.