Coleco Game Console - Dismantled for reference and curiosity
Wading into the game market in August 1982 came the Coleco ColecoVision boasting near arcade quality graphics and in some instances superior versions. It also featured a similar general layout and game pad style to the already popular Intellivision.
Atari had the game market in their grip with the graphically inferior Atari 2600 supported largely by its massive back catalogue of software. While Atari had deals stitched up with Namco (makers of Pac-Man), Coleco targeted companies interested in making arcade game home versions; SEGA, Universal and Konami. In fact this was so much the case that very few titles native to the ColecoVision were produced with most software being arcade clones.
Controversially though the ColecoVision is best known for a landmark court ruling on one of its peripherals, the 'ColecoVision Expansion Module No. 1' (Atari 2600 Adapter). Wanting to take a bite out of Atari's market share Coleco (a naming contraction of the greatly reformed Conneticut Leather Company) created an adapter that let the ColecoVision run Atari's 2600 cartridge based software range; see separate page on this site for details.
Atari challenged this in court however as Coleco had made their adapter with off the shelf components and none of the same core parts used by Atari, Coleco was awarded victory. This made the ColecoVision a very attractive system and spawned a flood of Atari 2600 clones.
Other peripherals for the ColecoVision include the 'ColecoVision Expansion Module No. 2' (steering wheel controller), the 'Super Action Controller', the 'Roller Controller' and the 'ColecoVision Expansion Module No. 3' or ADAM* computer/printer upgrade.
*The ADAM computer was also sold as a complete unit as opposed to the ColecoVision Expansion Module. Regardless of version, both units functioned almost identically.
