ColecoVision

Coleco · 1982 – 1985

Coleco's 1982 console briefly held the most impressive home versions of arcade games, with Donkey Kong as a launch title that exceeded the Atari 2600 version so dramatically that Coleco used the comparison as a marketing cornerstone. The 1983 crash ended its commercial run.

The ColecoVision launched in August 1982 with a Donkey Kong port that retained three of the arcade original's four stages — the Atari 2600 version had included only two. This difference, immediately apparent to players who had played the arcade game, gave Coleco a compelling marketing position: the console with arcade-quality games. The hardware supported it: the Z80 CPU at 3.58 MHz, TMS9918A video processor displaying 256×192 at 16 colours, and SN76489 sound generator produced specifications that exceeded the Atari 2600 significantly and competed with the Intellivision on favourable terms. The ColecoVision sold more than 2 million units in its commercial window — strong performance for 1982-1983. The 1983 video game crash, triggered by the Atari 2600 market collapse and a flood of poor-quality software, affected all console manufacturers; Coleco discontinued the ColecoVision in 1985. The Expansion Module #1 allowed ColecoVision owners to play Atari 2600 cartridges, providing access to a much larger software library — Atari sued Coleco over it. The ColecoVision's legacy is primarily as the first console to demonstrate convincingly that the arcade experience could be approximated at home.