History of Colecovision

Lets take a look at one of the late comers to the early generation of consoles. The history of the company how they got into gaming and ultimately what lead to their demise!

[retrogamerdad]

I remember coming home from school one day and my mom told me I'm sorry but we won't be able to buy you the coleco vision for Christmas because we just don't have enough money. So I told my mom it's no problem. It's okay, I understand. I then went into my room to put away my shoes under my bunk bed when I realized I couldn't. So I checked under the bunk bed and lo and behold. There was a black bag in there and when I pulled it out it was none Other than the Coleco vision, I jumped for joy obviously as an 9-year-old kid and I immediately ran to my mother's room and gave her a hug. My mother's no longer with us. I lost her to cancer 10 years ago. May she rest in peace. The coleco vision remains my favorite system of all time because of her. Thank you so much for making this video. It really brought back some very beautiful memories.

[superangrybrit]

One day, I came home from school. And my father bought us a CV. It was a happy childhood memory. I asked him why CV instead of 2600, he said "have you seen the graphics difference." He was a pro at Lady Bug. I loved Turbo and Zaxxon. Cheers! 👍

[bluesnags]

I worked hard at my paper route to buy my ColecoVision & all these years later I have a big collection on display in my home. So many memories, thanks for this.

[OriginalGrasshopper]

I was born in 1968 and my first home “console” was some Pong knockoff bought at our local farmer’s market in 1976 or ‘77. And by 1980 I bought my own Atari VCS with lawn mowing and snow shoveling money. But in 1983 when ColecoVision was released: oh my! 🤯

I sold my VCS to the local stereo shop and used the cash towards a ColecoVision and Expansion Module 1 (what my friends and I simply called “The Atari Adaptor” back then). 40+ years later the CV still ranks as my *NUMBER ONE* favorite console of all-time.

Venture, Space Fury, Cosmic Avenger, Frenzy, Lady Bug, and Mouse Trap are all absolute classics that were just as good as their arcade counterparts.

Thanks for this video: well done! 👍

[robintst]

It might have been a hand-me-down for me from my brothers 5 years after it came out but the ColecoVision was still my first console and will always have a special place in my heart.

[khingofswordz]

I remember back Christmas of 82....it was about 3am me and my little sister heard video game music...we rushed down to the living room & there it was....my first console gaming system 😊 the "Collecovision" My mom & dad allow me to get in there game "Donkey Kong", "Pac Man", "Defender", "Star Raiders" & "Centipede"....I must of played that system all Christmas. So much right after the holiday & it was time to return to school I was the envy among my friends. I was the first out my friends to have that system. Thank you Collecovision for fine memories & a great
😀😉😀😀😀😀😀😀

[Hydroculator]

I had the film adaptation game of the movie "2010". I was 8 when I played it, but I loved it. All the circuit repairs you make got me interested in electronics and shaped my career.

[zerobyte]

The Colecovision was the Neo Geo of that generation. It had by far the most faithful arcade ports, and back then, arcade quality was the gold standard.

[davidc]

Thanks for the video. I loved Coleco as a game company. The Colecovision was such a good console, with all kinds of very good games and a lot of high quality peripherals. Never owned one as a child but I bought one about 12 years ago and a bunch of games. I also have the handheld Coleco Electronic Quarterback. It still works and every so often I put a 9V battery in and play a game I originally started playing when I was ten. Retro-nostalgia is a helluva drug.

[BrainSlushTV]

Talk about humble beginnings, sheesh. Lol its actually really impressive all the different markets they got into.
I never had a Coleco and have zero history with it so its cool to see its rise and fall story.

[tony--james]

it's also too bad Coleco got severely distracted by the Home Computer market, they really should have dumped all their efforts into a more advanced ColecoVision 2 console...

[ihaveallthecoins]

Great video. My dad would trade our Atari with a work pal for his Coleco Vision all the time as a kid. Loved Venture and The Smurfs. Love your channel!

[doctorbollox]

Nice to see your new(ish) channel is doing well, Nick. Onwards and upwards old boy!

[will_it_work]

Gemini was a stand alone system Coleco made that played Atari 2600 cartridges. Coleco's add-on to play Atari cartridges on the ColecoVision was not called Gemini, but Expansion Module #1.

[commonsensei]

Colecovision was our family's first system too. we got it from an uncle who worked for Toshiba in Japan. He got it with a whole bunch of (probably) illigal copies of games. We had to actually put the diodes (3:15) of the games on the fitting socketboard and he gave along a whole load of games just existing of loose diodes and socketboards wrapped in styrofoam. I remember my parents only being allowed to change the diodes as the teeth of them were very fragile. (10:00) We had the steering wheel too and the spot where you put the gas pedal is actually meant for the controller to sit in and u can use the control stick as a shifter. The gas pedal is meant for under your foot but we used to put in under a pillow as kids and sat on it for constant throttle. (true story lol)

[jamesanthony]

This was the fourth console we got after the Sears Telegames Super Pong, Atari Video Pinball and Atari 2600 A. Picked it up used at a local pawn shop along with several games in 1985. I was able to add to the collection by finding new, unopened copies of games at toy stores which hadn't been able to sell out of them, such as Toys R Us where we acquired the roller controller and steering controller units (man, I miss Toys R Us) or at various pawn shops within a 50 mile radius of our home. I've seen a couple of games at local GameXChange stores over the years, but they never had any that I didn't already have in the collection.

The main downside for me with the system was the design of the controllers: they weren't ergonomic and after an hour or so of playing, my left hand would hurt like hell.

Managed to get 27 games for the system:
B.C.'s Quest For Tires
BurgerTime
Campaign '84
Congo Bongo
Cosmic Avenger
Destructor
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Junior
Frenzy
Gorf
Jumpman Junior
Ken Uston BlackJack/Poker
Lady Bug
Looping
Miner 2049er
Mouse Trap
Slither
Space Fury
Spy Hunter (favorite game and one of the best ports of it on any system)
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
Star Wars: The Arcade Game
Tarzan
The Heist
Turbo
Venture
WarGames
Zaxxon

[Scorpean]

I owned 2 Coleco Visions and had almost a full library of games and controller accessories. I currently emulate my CV games on my Valve Steam Deck.

[killerpurplecow]

I just found your channel great channel love the content. keep up the good work. You gained a subscriber. Was born in 1976 had most of what you went over.

[jamesbullock]

I never owned a Colecovision, but I certainly heard about the graphics and games it offered. I'll never forget while living in an apartment complex, I was passing by a door that was open when I heard some familiar-ish sounds. It was someone playing Donkey Kong....at home!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing because it was the closest to the arcade game I ever saw. I just stood there watching, wishing so bad that I could get one. Sadly, I was only 13 years old and my family couldn't afford any video game system, but it certainly blew my mind to see a home console capable of producing rather impressive arcade translations for its time. GREAT video, by the way!

[byronrasmussen]

if I had a nickel for every leather company that eventually became a computer / electronics company... well I'd have 2 nickels, it's just weird that it happened twice (the other one is Tandy)