Intellivision hatred!

[Mind Master]

I remember "back in the day" that I was fiercely brand-loyal to Atari and hated Intellivision with a passion. I've actually never seen Intellivision then or now, but back then I hated it as it was the natural enemy of my beloved VCS/2600.

 

Anybody else have similar experiences with console rivalries with friends?

[Brad2600]

I remember "back in the day" that I was fiercely brand-loyal to Atari and hated Intellivision with a passion.  I've actually never seen Intellivision then or now, but back then I hated it as it was the natural enemy of my beloved VCS/2600.

 

Anybody else have similar experiences with console rivalries with friends?

 

Nope. Most of my friends had NES and I don't remember having any console rivalries. I think they're pointless as each console has it's own appeal, strengths, weaknesses and capabilities. What is for one person, may not be for another person.

 

It's silly to hate a single system.

[Nukey Shay]

Agreed...I never owned an Intelly though, but I did have a Fairchild, 2600, Vic20, Atari800, C64, and an AppleII, (in that order)...and then a ColecoVision at it's launch. After owning the 2600 for a year, I was heavily into the 8-bit computers...but the Coleco system looked too good to pass up. And once it did, the Intellivision was pretty dead (as well as rapidly becoming hard to find around my area).

[AtariLeaf]

I remember only one kid in our entire grade school that had an Intellivision. We beat him up, took his lunch money and ran his family out of town.

 

I was the Tony Soprano of the playground set.

[+DamonicFury]

I didn't hate the Intellivision, but I never really understood it's supposed "superiority" to the 2600. The graphics were just about as blocky and ugly, but there were far fewer games available and those controllers were the pits. (In fact, between the Atari and the NES, EVERY system had terrible controllers!) The one big selling point the Intellivsion had for a short while was it's sports games... it had one that looked and played ok, while all Atari had was Home Run and Football (uggg!) But it wasn't too much longer before the decent RealSports games came out, and finally even Mattel seemed to admit defeat and translate just about all of it's carts for the 2600.

 

I know as kids most of us had to make do with what our parents chose to buy us, but I always kinda felt sorry for the Intellivision (and Odyssey!) kids... all us Atari owners had all the best games! :-)

[raindog]

I had an Odyssey2, so except for the few months K.C. Munchkin was hot stuff, I pretty much envied 2600 and INTV owners equally

 

of course I envied Apple II and Atari 800 owners more, and even Coco owners I guess, but then I got my CV and C64....

[RCorcoran]

My first multi-cartirdge console was a VCS. While I also owned an Inty and ColecoVision back in the day, I always found myself coming back to the VCS. Most of my friends had a VCS too so we would share/swap carts (as we did for the Inty and CV). By the time I got my first 5200, most of my friends had moved to either the Inty or Coleco and had lost interest in the VCS.

 

Once I bought a VIC-20 (and later a C64), I put my VCS away in a closet for several years. Sometime in late '92 (after I got off active duty), I pulled the VCS back out of the closet (yes, the original one from 1977) and haven't put it away since. I never hated Inty or Coleco. They were great systems and had awesome arcade ports (most better than the VCS).

[King Atari]

I wasn't around for the original console war, but even now I don't hate the INTV. It doesn't have nearly as many good games, but the ones that are good keep you entertained for awhile. The biggest complaint about the INTV I have is that the official site (run by the actual programmers) is way to self serving, and actually lists the system as the longest running console, when we all know the 2600 is (unless you count the Game Boy, which is actually a handheld).

[Big Player]

I didn't like the Intellivision back then because the George Plimpton ads would always rip on the 2600. This generally carried down to INTV owners, who always felt superior. I think the fact that the INTV was not popular (at least compared to the 2600) added fuel to their snobery.

 

Not all were like that. I soon learned how it felt to have the third most popular system when I got my 800XL.

 

And it's funny how the blue sky rangers still hold a grudge against the 2600. Here's a quote from the in-house instructions for M-Network Frogs and Flies from designer David Rolfe:

 

Basically, VCS Frogs and Flies is a stupid game directed at stupid kids who come from stupid families which are headed by slothful parents who were too ignorant and cheap to buy the Intellivision Master Component, so they bought the indescribably bad Atari VCS unit instead. Most Atari games are so moronic that, as the Atari commercials delight in pointing out, they can be mastered in a number of minutes by the family pooch. The VCS unit itself is so worthless that it has been personally denounced by Richard Nixon and hailed by Carl Sagan as "the greatest boon to mankind since the scratch 'n' sniff bicycle seat."

 

I've been over my dislike for INTV for a while now. The INTV and the Odyssey 2 are the only non-Atari systems that I collect for--basically the first generation of consoles.

[+Saturn]

I remember only one kid in our entire grade school that had an Intellivision. We beat him up, took his lunch money and ran his family out of town.

 

I was the Tony Soprano of the playground set.

 

LOL!

[Atari Joe]

Okay here is my question.... firs there was the Intellivision the one with the wood that everyone knows. then came the aquarious and then the Intellivision II which was smaller and white and looked really good. then they were done with mattell and INTV started and they sold the INTV system III which was nothing but the first Intellivision with metal on it. Wasnt it? what was the point of the system III and what was the INTV system 4? -Joe

[maibock]

lol Atarileaf

 

Yeah one of my best buddies back then had an Intellivision. I remember his dad trying to talk the Atari down. I also recall, us playing more Atari than the intel. Sure the intel baseball game was awesome at the time, but that was it. We had so many addictive and fun games to play with the Atari.

[Vic George 2K3]

I pretty much envied anybody who had a ColecoVision until my family got a ColecoVision, and then later I got myself an Adam Family Computer System which spent an entire year being the object of envy at the residential school I was in. I'm not sure I really envied anybody with an Intellivision, except probably for the counselor who introduced me to the system through the afternoon game club that was being held at yet another residential school. I mean, Horse Racing and Armor Battle looked pretty impressive back then.

[chrisbid]

i had an intelllivision in the day, but i was a tad young to have a big head about it. Interestingly, there were two other kids that also had them, so we traded games quite often. It was pretty cool.

 

I think that quote from above was made during the 80's when the decision was made by Mattel to start making VCS games.

 

I dont find the BSR that snobish. I think its great they own all the rights to their games and have a detailed history of their development. All of us wish that Atari or Activision would have such a website.

 

oh, if you have Intellivision lives, there is a quick tech demo of a cartoon George Plimpton standing between a box that says atari and another one that says mattel, and his head explodes.

 

 

 

about the INTV 3, it was released by the INTV corp. INTV corp was notorious for cutting as many costs as possible (white labels, cheap boxes, poster style instruction books), and when they started selling consoles, once INTV 2s were gone, they went back to the cheaper original design

[+cvga]

what was the point of the system III ...?   -Joe

 

The Intellivision III was vastly superior because you could tell if it was on or not by looking at the LED that was located beside the power switch.

[chrisbid]

i think that it can be stated as a matter of fact that whenever a console reaches a third redesign, the third version sucks ass

 

2600Jr

Intv 3

Genesis 3

[RCorcoran]

The Intellivision III was vastly superior because you could tell if it was on or not by looking at the LED that was located beside the power switch.  

 

Same for the Inty II...

 

I think the point behind the Inty 3 was

 

a) make more money

b) remove the block for Coleco/Mattel games (See note below)

c) make more money

 

Notes on the Inty II - it contained a revised ROM which was necessary for the System Changer, but also caused incompatibilities with certain Colecogames and some Mattel games (Donkey Kong, Mouse Trap, Carnival, etc.)

[Witchfynde]

I can't recall ever being against a computer or console, since I'd miss out on playing games for them if I were stupidly biased!

[Atari Joe]

what was the point of the system III ...?   -Joe

 

The Intellivision III was vastly superior because you could tell if it was on or not by looking at the LED that was located beside the power switch.

 

Now damnit, THATS innovation!

[King Atari]

I didn't like the Intellivision back then because the George Plimpton ads would always rip on the 2600.  This generally carried down to INTV owners, who always felt superior.  I think the fact that the INTV was not popular (at least compared to the 2600) added fuel to their snobery.  

 

Not all were like that. I soon learned how it felt to have the third most popular system when I got my 800XL.

 

And it's funny how the blue sky rangers still hold a grudge against the 2600.  Here's a quote from the in-house instructions for M-Network Frogs and Flies from designer David Rolfe:

 

Basically, VCS Frogs and Flies is a stupid game directed at stupid kids who come from stupid families which are headed by slothful parents who were too ignorant and cheap to buy the Intellivision Master Component, so they bought the indescribably bad Atari VCS unit instead. Most Atari games are so moronic that, as the Atari commercials delight in pointing out, they can be mastered in a number of minutes by the family pooch. The VCS unit itself is so worthless that it has been personally denounced by Richard Nixon and hailed by Carl Sagan as "the greatest boon to mankind since the scratch 'n' sniff bicycle seat."

 

I've been over my dislike for INTV for a while now. The INTV and the Odyssey 2 are the only non-Atari systems that I collect for--basically the first generation of consoles.

 

Alright, now that quote REALLY p*sses me off.

[chrisbid]

heres the actual link

 

put the quote into context, it was written in 1982, when Mattel first made the decision to port games to the VCS. go to the top of the page and notice that magazines stated that many of the m-network games were better than their intellivision counterparts. but dont get pissed off a mean spirted quote made 21 years ago in the heat of a console war.

[Atariman]

i think that it can be stated as a matter of fact that whenever a console reaches a third redesign, the third version sucks ass

 

2600Jr

Intv 3

Genesis 3

 

I don't think the 2600Jr sucks at all. It's small, sleek in design, has the LED on it (not that LEDs make or break a system... )

 

The Genesis 3 wasn't so bad, either. The SegaCD and 32X systems were no longer in production and had, for the most part, failed. I don't know many people with either one of the add-ons (although I own them) and the 32X's are just piling up in my local video game store. It was redesigned to be cheap to make, but also to take up much less space. I wouldn't say that it was a "great" idea, but I wouldn't call it bad by any means...

[chrisbid]

but if you were have your choice of a four switch or jr, im sure most people would take the older version. The same holds true for the genny.

[gulag picture radio]

I also like the Atari Jr. a lot, even though I mostly play a 4 switch. It's unfortunate that in many of the cost-reduced versions of NES era consoles, they remove things like stereo sound and composite outputs. The toploader NES that people pay _so_ much money for only has RF out.

 

Genesis 3 only features mono audio. I think that Genesis 2 is also mono ouput (if it's not, then I can't find the right cable anywhere), but supports stereo through the Sega CD add-on. Does anyone know if the PSone throw out any of these kinds of features?

[AtariLeaf]

I didn't like the Intellivision back then because the George Plimpton ads would always rip on the 2600.  This generally carried down to INTV owners, who always felt superior.  I think the fact that the INTV was not popular (at least compared to the 2600) added fuel to their snobery.  

 

Not all were like that. I soon learned how it felt to have the third most popular system when I got my 800XL.

 

And it's funny how the blue sky rangers still hold a grudge against the 2600.  Here's a quote from the in-house instructions for M-Network Frogs and Flies from designer David Rolfe:

 

Basically, VCS Frogs and Flies is a stupid game directed at stupid kids who come from stupid families which are headed by slothful parents who were too ignorant and cheap to buy the Intellivision Master Component, so they bought the indescribably bad Atari VCS unit instead. Most Atari games are so moronic that, as the Atari commercials delight in pointing out, they can be mastered in a number of minutes by the family pooch. The VCS unit itself is so worthless that it has been personally denounced by Richard Nixon and hailed by Carl Sagan as "the greatest boon to mankind since the scratch 'n' sniff bicycle seat."

 

I've been over my dislike for INTV for a while now. The INTV and the Odyssey 2 are the only non-Atari systems that I collect for--basically the first generation of consoles.

 

 

 

Alright, now that quote REALLY p*sses me off.

 

 

Yes, a stupid comment. He comes across like a jilted lover. The ironic thing about this is that you have to wonder if there would have even BEEN an Intellivision unless Atari broke the market with the VCS. Intellivision, and its employees, owed their existence to Atari.