Intellivision - Mattel's Intellivision game console (INTV)

163 games Intellivision
 
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Intellivision (intv) - games, descriptions

Intellivision is a video game console launched by Mattel in 1979. The development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the release of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The name "Intellivision" is made up of the words "intelligent television" - "intelligent television".

Story

The creation of Intellivision began, as with many other game consoles of the 80s, under the influence of high sales of the Atari VCS. Mattel intended to throw the king off the throne with the help of graphics that were quite advanced for those times, good games (mostly sports) and the main "option" - an additional keyboard that turned a children's toy into a full-fledged home computer.

It cannot be said that the idea was a complete failure. The first batch of 200 thousand copies was sold out in a very short time, and the keyboard mentioned above, which Mattel promised to release a little later, played a significant role in this. However, those who expected to "calculate taxes on Intellivision" (quote from the commercial) were disappointed, since the expected 90-key keyboard did not see the light of day. The production of keyboards was discontinued after a short period of trial sales due to frequent breakdowns and inconvenience in use. Instead, in 1982, a device called Intellivoice was released. Being connected to the console, this module gave some games voice guidance, which was quite a unique thing at that time. At the same time, the second revision of the console itself hit the store shelves, not too imaginatively named Intellivision II. It differed from the original version in a modified case design and a lower price (the purpose of the alteration was actually to reduce the cost of production). Another curious feature was the presence of special instructions in the ROM of the system that did not allow the use of cartridges from Coleco.

A year later, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the Intellivision III prototype was presented to the general public. The new console had a built-in voice module, unlimited color palette, 6-channel sound, large memory capacity and compatibility with all games of the original Intellivision. Later, the announced system was renamed the Entertainment Computer System, and a printer, a keyboard, and an adapter were added to the list of promised features, which allowed running Atari 2600 games.

But this ambitious plan, just a few months after the presentation, fell victim to the 1983 gaming crash, as a result of which such giants as Atari and Coleco left the market. Mattel followed suit, selling all rights to its set-top box to INTV, organized by former Mattel employees. The latter released another modification of the console, calling it the Super Pro System, which it sold successfully until 1990, having managed during this time, among other things, to release 35 new games for it.