The module was bundled Buck Rodgers: Plant of Zoom as their was a legal problem with including Donkey Kong (Atari owned the license for home computers).
It came with a full keyboard, a Digital Data Pack (a double cassette storage system) and a printer known as the SmartWriter Electronic Typewriter. The ADAM expansion module turned the ColecoVision into a home computer. It also came bundled with the game Turbo.Įxpansion Module #3 : Coleco Adam Computer The second expansion module was a driving pack which included a steering wheel and pedals. Though it allowed users to play Atari 2600 games, something which the Atari 5200 couldn’t even do. By using this module the total size of the ColecoVision was pretty huge. The expansion module was quite large though it was smaller than the Atari 2600 itself. A 4th expansion module to allow games from the Mattel Intellivision to be played on the console was planned but never released.Įxpansion Module #1 was a large module which allowed users to play Atari 2600 games through ColecoVision, giving them a total library of over 1,000 games. In total 3 expansion modules were released. The front expansion port made the ColecoVision a versatile console. Most cartridges had between 8kb and 32kb of ROM. The console had 1kb of RAM and 16kb of VRAM. Audio was powered by the Texas Instruments SN76489A, this was also used in the Sega SG-1000 (making the two systems almost identical from a hardware point of view). The Texas Instruments TMS9928A Video Processor allowed 16 colours to be shown on a resolution of 256×192 pixels. This chip was also used in the Sega SG-1000 console and the MSX home computer. The ColecoVision uses the 8-bit Zilog Z80A CPU, clocked at 3.58 MHz. Though sales dropped considerably during 1984, resulting in the system being discontinued the following year.ĭue to the ability to expand the system to play Atari 2600 games and to use controllers from other systems, it’s a great system for retro gamers to purchase to play games from the early 80s. The ColecoVision was fairly successful, managing to sell over 2 million units within the first two years. The most popular games were arcade posts including Donkey Kong, Mouse Trap, Zaxxon and Mr Do! It had a joystick at the top and a numeric keypad on the front.Īround 125 games were released for the system. The controller had a hand grip with 4 fire buttons in the finger area. The other controller which was released was the Super Action Controller. This controller was about the same size as the ColecoVision itself! The first one was the Roller Controller, which came bundled with the arcade port Slither. Though it was possible to use a controller from other systems like the Atari or the Sega Mega Drive.Ģ additional controllers were released. They had a 12 digit numeric keypad on the front, a basic joystick and side action buttons. The controllers were similar to those from other systems at the time. The cartridge slot was on top too with the label facing towards you, so you could easily see what game you were playing (on the Atari the label faced away from you).Īt the front there was an expansion slot, which allowed you to connect one of three expansion modules. The controllers were stored on the top of the machine, just like the Mattel Intellivision, however the controllers were detachable. The ColecoVision had an interesting design. 12 games were available at launch though another 10 were released just a few months later. The console came bundled with Donkey Kong, the hugely successful Nintendo arcade game. It’s main competitor would become Ataris latest console, the Atari 5200. It was sold in Europe as the CBS ColecoVision. Having released over a dozen PONG systems in the 70s through their Telstar range, Coleco was back in the gaming industry in 1982 with the ColecoVision, a second generation cartridge console which originally retailed for $175 in the USA.