The system came out at nearly the same time as the Atari 5200 and the ColecoVision were released.

The ColecoVision contains the same CPU and graphics chip as the MSX and Sega SG-1000 / SC-3000 but the MSX contains a different sound chip, the AY-3-8910.

Home console systems also had a comparable upgrade in sound ability beginning with the ColecoVision in 1982 capable of four channels.

Coleco ported Mouse Trap to its own ColecoVision console, with fewer prizes, an option to leave the hawk out, and different sound effects.

The 5200 was created to compete with the Intellivision, but wound up more directly competing with the ColecoVision shortly after its release.

Each ColecoVision console shipped with two controllers.

From its introduction, Coleco had touted a hardware add-on called the Expansion Module # 1 which made the ColecoVision compatible with the industry-leading Atari 2600.

Module # 3 converts the ColecoVision into a full-fledged computer known as the Coleco Adam, complete with keyboard and digital data pack ( DDP ) cassette drives.

At the time of the U. S crash, there were numerous consoles on the market, including the Atari 2600, the Atari 5200, the Bally Astrocade, the ColecoVision, the Coleco Gemini ( a 2600 clone ), the Emerson Arcadia 2001, the Fairchild Channel F System II, the Magnavox Odyssey < sup > 2 </ sup >, the Mattel Intellivision ( and its just-released update with several peripherals, the Intellivision II ), the Sears Tele-Games systems ( which included both 2600 and Intellivision clones ), the Tandyvision ( an Intellivision clone for Radio Shack ), and the Vectrex.

Coleco did not offer the game cartridge stand-alone ; instead, they bundled it with their ColecoVision.

The team created a prototype which used a modified ColecoVision console to combine interactive images with a video stream transmitted through a cable.

Nintendo was one such development studio, and, by 1982 had found success with a number of arcade games, such as Donkey Kong, which was in turn ported to, and packaged with the ColecoVision console in North America.

" Though the two companies reached a tentative agreement, with final contract papers to be signed at the 1983 Summer Consumer Electronics Show ( CES ), Atari refused to sign at the last minute, after seeing Coleco, one of its main competitors in the market at that time, demonstrating a prototype of Donkey Kong for its forthcoming Coleco Adam home computer system Although the game had been originally produced for the ColecoVision and could thus automatically be played on the backwards compatible Adam computer, Atari took the demonstration as a sign that Nintendo was also dealing with Coleco.

Based upon comments made by the promoters, rumor continues to circulate among the puzzle-solving community about a second silver horse that was buried in conjunction with an unproduced ColecoVision game.

Since virtually all video game consoles and arcade cabinets designed and built after 1980 were true digital machines ( unlike the analog Pong clones and derivatives ), some of them carried a minimal form of BIOS or built-in game, such as the ColecoVision, the Sega Master System and the SNK Neo Geo.

Among them were DOS ( as a booter ), Amiga 1000, Apple II, Atari 400 / 800, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari XL, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Sega SG-1000 and TRS-80 Color Computer.

** Texas Instruments SN76489A " DCSG ", used in ColecoVision, Sega Master System, Sega Pico, Sega Game Gear, and Sega Mega Drive / Genesis.

The TMS9918 was used in systems like ColecoVision, Memotech MTX, MSX, Sega SG-1000 / SC-3000, Spectravideo, Sord M5, Tatung Einstein, Texas Instruments TI-99 / 4 and Tomy Tutor / Pyuuta.

Despite being a commercial failure when it was initially released Congo Bongo has been ported to nearly every major gaming platform of the day, including SG-1000, MSX, Intellivision, ColecoVision, Commodore 64 ( twice-by Sega in 1983 and by U. S. Gold in 1985 ), IBM PC, Atari 2600, Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computers.

Montezuma's Revenge is a video game for Atari home computers, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Apple II, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Sega Master System, and ZX Spectrum ( as Panama Joe ).

Versions were developed for DOS, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit family, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Apple II, ColecoVision, and the BBC Micro.

Like most arcade games of this era, this game was ported to many home systems, including the video game consoles NES, Family Computer Disk System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari XE Game System, ColecoVision, Coleco Adam, Intellivision and BBC Micro.

Ports of the game have also been released on Atari 2600 and Intellivision in 1983, the ColecoVision and Commodore 64 in 1984, and the for the Nintendo Entertainment System ( published by Vic Tokai ) in 1988.

Plimpton is also the protagonist of the semi-fictional George Plimpton's Video Falconry, a 1983 ColecoVision game postulated by humorist John Hodgman and recreated by video game auteur Tom Fulp.

Imagic also released games for the Mattel Intellivision, ColecoVision, IBM PCjr, and Magnavox Odyssey².

He also licensed his name to Coleco for the ColecoVision game, Ken Uston's Blackjack / Poker.

The game was originally created for the Atari 2600 and released in 1984, but it was also faithfully ported to the Atari 5200, ColecoVision, PCjr, CoCo, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, MSX and Commodore 64 systems.

ColecoVision designers worked in similar obscurity, feeding more departures to upstart competitors.

First, Atari had been facing mounting pressure from the ColecoVision, which boasted graphics that more closely mirrored arcade games of the time than Atari ’ s reigning 2600 VCS system.

The ColecoVision offered near-arcade-quality graphics and gaming style, and the means to expand the system's basic hardware.

The ColecoVision version, designed by Coleco staffer Lawrence Schick, was the first home version to use the isometric graphics.

Its pack-in game, Super Breakout, was particularly criticized for not doing enough to demonstrate the system's capabilities, and this gave the ColecoVision a significant advantage when its pack-in, Donkey Kong, delivered a more authentic arcade experience than any previous game cartridge.

The ColecoVision is Coleco Industries ' second generation home video game console which was released in August 1982.

River West Brands currently owns the ColecoVision brand name.

In 2009, IGN named the ColecoVision their 12th best video game console out of their list of 25, citing " its incredible accuracy in bringing current-generation arcade hits home.

Coleco licensed Nintendo's Donkey Kong as the official pack-in cartridge for all ColecoVision consoles, and this version of the game was well received as a near-perfect arcade port, helping to boost the console's popularity.

The ColecoVision was distributed by CBS Electronics outside of the United States, and was branded the CBS ColecoVision.

By the beginning of 1984, quarterly sales of the ColecoVision had dramatically decreased.

The ColecoVision was officially discontinued by October 1985.

Total sales of the ColecoVision are uncertain but were ultimately in excess of 2 million units, as sales had reached that number by the spring of 1984, while the console continued to sell modestly up until its discontinuation the following year.

In 1986, Bit Corporation produced a ColecoVision clone called the Dina, which was sold in the United States by Telegames as the Telegames Personal Arcade.

This delay results from an intentional loop in the console's BIOS to enable on-screen display of the ColecoVision brand.

Functionally, this gave the ColecoVision the largest software library of any console of its day.

Module # 3 was originally conceived to be the ColecoVision Super Game Module using game wafers as the storage medium.

Given that the ColecoVision could produce near arcade-quality ports, industry magazines like Electronic Games were unanimous in their enthusiasm over the console.

Compared to arcade ports, the ColecoVision did not offer many games original to the console, though a few notable releases are Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle, War Room, Illusions, and Fortune Builder, an early milestone in the style of SimCity.