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yann64andClaude Opus 5.5 b274874139 All machines linked to their forum thread (full comment import) 
1,289 discussions, 9,527 archived comments; pages no longer carry the comments themselves.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
2026-10-13 17:26:43 +02:00

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---
title: Colecovision
categories:
- Consoles
params:
name: Colecovision
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_3s.jpg
company: /companies/coleco
company_name: Coleco
tabs:
- photos
- adverts
- hardware
- software
- emulators
- links
- videos
forum_thread: 738
photos:
- title: COLECOVISION
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_3.jpg
- title: COLECOVISION
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_1.jpg
- title: FRONT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_front.jpg
- title: REAR
subtitle: ''
text: Left is the video/audio output connector, and right is the power in connector.
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_rear.jpg
- title: LEFT SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: The controllers are stored in their housing...
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_side.jpg
- title: RIGHT SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: The button at the fore ground is the reset button.
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_side_2.jpg
- title: EXPANSION CONNECTOR
subtitle: ''
text: This expansion connector was used by different expansions like the ADAM computer or the VCS 2600 adapter.
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_front_2.jpg
- title: TOP
subtitle: ''
text: We can clearly see the controllers housing on the left. Bottom rigth are the on/off switch, cartridge slot and reset button.
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_top.jpg
- title: CONTROLLER
subtitle: ''
text: The Colecovision controller is composed of a "mushroom" joystick, 12-button keypad and fire buttons on each side (they both have the same function).
image: /media/museum/photos/coleco_colecovision_controller.jpg
adverts:
- title: FRENCH ADVERT (1984)
subtitle: ''
text: '"I clicked"...'
image: /media/museum/pubs/cbs_colecovision_pub_click_2.jpg
- title: FRENCH ADVERT (1984)
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/pubs/coleco_colecovision_pub_forthefirsttime.jpg
- title: FRENCH ADVERT (1984)
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/pubs/coleco_colecovision_pub_steeringwheel.jpg
- title: FRENCH ADVERT (1984)
subtitle: ''
text: This is an advert from the ILLEL store
image: /media/museum/pubs/coleco_colecovision_pub_illel.jpg
hardware:
- title: AMIGA POWER-STICK
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_amiga_joystick.jpg
- title: SPECTRAVIDEO JOYSTICK
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_spectravideo_joystick.jpg
- title: WICO JOYSTICK
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_wico_joystick.jpg
- title: UNKNOWN BRAND
subtitle: ''
text: This is not a new controller. You just attach a small red joystick on top of the original coleco one... and there you go!
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_topaddon_joystick.jpg
- title: ATARI VCS 2600 ADAPTER
subtitle: ''
text: This in fact more than a simple adapter. This module incorporates all the hardware of the Atari 2600 systems, thus enabling the Colecovision to play Atari VCS cartridges! You can even use Atari joysticks.
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_2600_1.jpg
- title: FRONT
subtitle: ''
text: We can spot here the two Atari-standard controller connectors.
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_2600_front.jpg
- title: REAR
subtitle: ''
text: This is the connector used to connect the module to the Colecovision system.
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_2600_rear.jpg
- title: CLOSE-UP
subtitle: ''
text: 'There are exactly the same buttons found on the original Atari VCS system: Display color/black&white, Left & Right player difficulty, Reset, Select.'
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_2600_closeup.jpg
- title: CONNECTED
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_2600_complete.jpg
- title: DRIVING CONTROLLER
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_racing-module_1.jpg
- title: TRACK-BALL
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_roller-controller_1.jpg
- title: THE ULTIMATE CONTROLLER ?
subtitle: ''
text: 'For some people this is the ultimate controller: a nice joystick, a 12-button keypad, a knob and 4 buttons. The whole thing designed perfectly. If you haven''t tried them already, you have to!'
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_superaction_1.jpg
- title: TOP
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_superaction_up.jpg
- title: SIDE VIEW
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_superaction_side.jpg
- title: REAR
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/coleco_colecovision_superaction_rear.jpg
screenshots:
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_antartic_1.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_antartic_2.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_antartic_3.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_antartic_4.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_antartic_5.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_aquattack.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_artiller.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_bcquest2grogsrevenge.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_buckrogers_3.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_buckrogers_2.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_buckrogers_1.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_burgertime_1.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_cabbage-patch-kids_1.gif
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_cabbage-patch-kids_2.gif
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_cosmic-avenger_1.gif
- title: SCEENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_cosmic-avenger_2.gif
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_donkeykong_1.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_donkeykong_2.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_donkeykong_3.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_dkkong-jr.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_dragonfire_1.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_dukesofhazzrd_1.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_galaxians.jpg
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_box_gorf_1.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_gorf_3.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_gorf_2.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_gorf_1.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_hero_1.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_jamesbond_1.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_box_ladybug_1.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_ladybug_1.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_miner2049.png
- title: FRENCH ADVERT (1984)
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_asvert_miner2049.jpg
- title: TITLE
subtitle: Screenshot
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_rocky_1.png
- title: FIGHTING
subtitle: Screenshot
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_rocky_2.png
- title: FRENCH ADVERT (1984)
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_pub_rocky.jpg
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_box_rocknrope_1.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_rocnrope_1.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_rocnrope_2.jpg
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_box_smurfs_1.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_smurf_1.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_smurf_2.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_smurf_3.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_subric_ss.png
- title: BOX ART
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_box_subroc_1.jpg
- title: FRENCH ADVERT (1984)
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_pub_subroc.jpg
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_tarzan_1.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_tarzan_2.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_tarzan_3.png
- title: SCREENSHOT
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/software/coleco_colecovision_ss_tarzan_4.png
emulators:
- title: ADAMEm
url: http://www.komkon.org/~dekogel/adamem.html
platform: MS DOS
text: A great Colecovision emulator for DOS. Also comes with a Coleco ADAM emulator.
- title: blueMSX
url: HTTP://WWW.BLUEMSX.COM
platform: Windows
text: Excellent free MSX emulator that can reproduce MSX, MSX2, MSX2+, and Turbo-R. The emulator also supports the SVI318/328, and ColecoVision systems !
- title: Virtual Colecovision
url: http://www.classicgaming.com/vcoleco/
platform: Windows
text: Nice emulator. There is even a Java emulator on the website!
- title: COLEM
url: http://fms.komkon.org/ColEm/
platform: Multiplatform
text: Multi-plateform emulator (Unix, Windows, MacOS, MSDOS, OS/2)
- title: MESS
url: http://www.mess.org
platform: Multiplatform
text: The famous MESS emulator emulates the Colecovision
links:
- title: COLECO.COM
url: http://www.colecovision.com/
text: Seems to be the official Coleco website... woth something related to the Colecovision soon to happen
- title: coleco.free.fr
url: http://coleco.free.fr/
text: French website dedicated to the Colecovision
- title: Colecovision FAQ
url: http://www.classicgaming.com/colecofaq/
text: All you need to know is in here
- title: eColeco
url: http://coleco.freeservers.com/
text: Ecommerce Site For Classic Coleco and Other Products and Services
- title: Norman G. Sippel's Colecovision homepage
url: http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~ngsippel/cv.html
text: A lof of info here!
- title: Rogue's Website
url: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rogue/colecovision.htm
text: Excellent french site dedicated to the Colecovision and Adam products
- title: Wikipedia - Colecovision entry
url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colecovision
text: Nice information
videos:
- title: Colecovision 1983 TV commercial
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unpuywHanBc
text: 'Length: 30s'
oc_id: 755
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230328052322/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=755
date: '2023-03-28'
---
After the success of their Telstar pong systems in the late 70's, Coleco decided to re-enter the videogame market, inspired by the success of cartridge based systems like the [Atari VCS](/museum/atari-vcs-2600/) and [Mattel Intellivision](/museum/mattel-electronics-intellivision/).
As the Colecovision was released later than these competitors, it was possible for the Coleco engineers to put more hardware in the box while keeping the cost acceptable. The Colecovision is thus powered by a Z80A cpu running at 3.58 MHz. It has 8 KB RAM, 16 KB VRAM, three-channel sound and a powerful video display unit (Texas Instruments TMS9928A) offering 16 colors, 32 sprites and a 256x192 resolution. The result is that when the system was finaly released in summer 1982, it was immediately considered the most technologicaly advanced home console. The games simply had arcade-quality graphics!
But even with this technological superiority, Coleco had to face the competition of Atari big arcade hits licenses and Intellivision realistic sports simulations. Coleco did not have enough money to compete with Atari for big licenses, so they secured licenses for small games with strong followings like Mr DO, Lady Bug, Cosmic Avenger and Venture. And Coleco's good relations with Sega resulted in a Zaxxon cartridge that sported excellent 3D effects.
But the best was to come: one february 1, 1982 Coleco and Nintendo signed an agreement which gave six-months exclusive license for Donkey-Kong! Their excellent version was thus exlusively sold as a pack-in with Colecovision as an incentive to purchase the system, and it worked! The Colecovision was an instant success.
Coleco marketed different add-ons for their console. The Expansion Module #1 is an Atari VCS adapter wich enables the Colecovision to play Atari cartridges! Coleco sold 150,000 Atari adapters in just two months... Atari sued Coleco for $850 million, but lost the case.
The Expansion Module #2 is a complete driving controller with steering wheel, acceleration pedal and gear shift. It was shipped with Sega's classic racing game Turbo. The Expansion Module #3 is the [ADAM computer](/museum/coleco-adam/).
A rollet controller was also sold to play games like Slither. The Super Action joysticks, a massive and complete controller, was used to play sports games like Super Action Baseball and Rocky Super Action Boxing.
Colecovision was a great success, selling over six millions units in just three years. Unfortunately, the ColecoVision suffered the same fate as the rest in the great video game shake-out of 1984. Coleco's unsuccessful bug-ridden [ADAM](/museum/coleco-adam/) computer only complicated the problem, and Coleco stopped production of the ColecoVision in 1984.
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