TrickyMoon Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 ...at least according to Yahoo! http://games.yahoo.com/photos/the-best-and-worst-console-launches-1383931838-slideshow/ "WORST – INTELLIVISION (1980) -- The launch of this Atari 2600 competitor came with just four games, which would have been fine had they been any more exciting. But when you kick off with The Electric Company Math Fun and ABPA Backgammon, it's a pretty clear sign that you're not sure who your audience is. The system would get much better over time, however." Had to fact check this... while author is technically correct it doesnt tell full story. The "launch" w/ only 4 cartridges was actually in a single test market, rather than the global launch/hoopla you see with Xbox One and PS4. Truth is when it was launched nationwide there were a total of 19 cartridges... (this all taken from http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/home.shtml) 1979 Intellivision console and four game cartridges are successfully test marketed through Gottschalks department stores in and around Fresno, California. 1980 Intellivision introduced nationwide. Mattel claims Intellivision is heart of a home system that will soon include a computer keyboard component. Fifteen more Intellivision titles released, bringing total to 19. Console sales reach 175,000. Mattel hires programmers to start developing software in-house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voltron Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Calling the Intellivision the worst is to be expected. Intellivision was created for people with an intellect, and I hate to say it, but there are a lot more stupid people, than smart people. The smart are out numbered 9:1. Thats why atari did well they catered to a larger pool. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 I was there, and it was awesome. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfy62 Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 (edited) The Intellivision was what it says it is: Intelligent tellivision. The Atari 2600 sucked, had bad graphics and only lousy versions of great arcade games. I f anyone was smart enough to figure out how to use the 16 directional Intellivision disc, they would find how great the sports games were and the action games as well Edited November 9, 2013 by wolfy62 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voltron Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 The Intellivision was what it says it is: Intelligent tellivision. The Atari 2600 sucked, had bad graphics and only lousy versions of great arcade games. I f anyone was smart enough to figure out how to use the 16 directional Intellivision disc, they would find how great the sports games were and the action games as well Excellent point. Most Atarians don't have enough mental ram for 16 directions. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Some of us actually like both Atari 2600 and Intellivision. 10 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldjd Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 At the time they came out,Atari and Intellivision there was nothing to compare them to.Unless you want to count the million different versions of pong. I remember standing in front of the counter at the store,and looking at both units.You couldn't get an honest opinion from the store,because they knew even less then the first time buyers. What I recall was that the Intellivison was the one to get for sports and "thinking"games,while the Atari was the one for action and more variety. Plus the games cost about 35-40 bucks each,for either system.Which was big bucks in the late 70s and early 80s. Ultimately,I got the Atari,which came with Combat,and I bought Breakout and Space Invaders.Over 300 large ones.I was happy overall,especially with Space Invaders. My neighbor got the Intellivison,and I played a few games on it,but I did not like the feel of the joysticks and the games to me were in my humble opinion boring. Now after they had been on the market about a year or so,the play ground was more level,because the game makers started to make more and attractive titles,and I think with just that alone(games)you could say that for awhile both systems stood out equally . Of course once the Coleco came out,I had a totally different opinion.But that's another story 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 The Intellivision was what it says it is: Intelligent tellivision. The Atari 2600 sucked, had bad graphics and only lousy versions of great arcade games. If anyone was smart enough to figure out how to use the 16 directional Intellivision disc, they would find how great the sports games were and the action games as well The 2600 has versatile graphics. In the hands of some programmers the graphics will suck. Yes. The controls on the INTV are just strange enough to be considered off putting by some - both stupid or smart. I personally love both systems. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Calling the Intellivision the worst is to be expected. Intellivision was created for people with an intellect, and I hate to say it, but there are a lot more stupid people, than smart people. The smart are out numbered 9:1. Thats why atari did well they catered to a larger pool. The same is true today, twitch smartphone games vs complex PC simulations. But the ratio is like 100:1 and getting dumber and dumber. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdoerty Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The NES was available only at Sears in the Sporting Goods department and sold moderately at best the first Christmas season it was available. I think someone just looked at game lineups and not at what really occurred. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voltron Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The NES was available only at Sears in the Sporting Goods department and sold moderately at best the first Christmas season it was available. I think someone just looked at game lineups and not at what really occurred. Non Entertaining System belongs in the trash department. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignorama Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 (edited) At the time they came out,Atari and Intellivision there was nothing to compare them to. Well, I think the Philips G7000 (you may know as Odyssey 2) is actually a very underrated system for that time. Awesome possibilities and some really nice games. So I would say there were some systems you could compare, but most of them got forgotten. Edited November 12, 2013 by Ignorama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 I've rather thought of each unit complimentary. When I got tired of action games I pulled out the Intellivision. When I got tired of strategy and thinking games I pulled out the VCS. My gaming activities revolved around both units almost equally. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApolloBoy Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Non Entertaining System belongs in the trash department. Guess who's earned a spot on my ignore list? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdoerty Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 (edited) Non Entertaining System belongs in the trash department. I know you said that tongue-in-cheek. But it is interesting how when the NES started showing up in stores, I felt it was taking away from real game systems like the Intellivision and the Atari 2600 (the 5200 and Colecovision had ceased being active by this time). After all, it had a gun and a robot. It looked like a toy. Now I wish I had that robot -- I could sell it and almost pay my homebrew bill. Edited November 15, 2013 by mdoerty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 I've rather thought of each unit complimentary. When I got tired of action games I pulled out the Intellivision. When I got tired of strategy and thinking games I pulled out the VCS. My gaming activities revolved around both units almost equally. Yeah, but back in the day, it wasn't really practical for most families to own more than one of these consoles. This is the reason why a lot of us nowadays have a very passionate affinity to a single console, because it is a direct connection to the memories of youth. -dZ. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Calling the Intellivision the worst is to be expected. Intellivision was created for people with an intellect, and I hate to say it, but there are a lot more stupid people, than smart people. The smart are out numbered 9:1. Thats why atari did well they catered to a larger pool. I'd tread lightly on a site like this when inferring that intellivision owners = smart and atari owners = dumb 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeM_Intellivision Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Agree dZ, I wanted the Atari 2600 as an almost 8-year old for Xmas as I never even heard of the intellivision, but was very happy my dad saw the difference in overall quality and got me the Inty for roughly $300 big ones - crazy and we were not rich. My first 2-games that Christmas were NASL Soccer and Space Battle - anyone remember them using the Space Battle game on channel 11 for prizes - think you had to open say pix or something when you wanted to fire. Bottom line though, I think that whichever system you owned is where the memories are and will always be your favorite. It's not like I didn't have access to an Atari 2600, but some of their games were really bad and probably helped crash the market. Games at $30-$35 back then - wow! I remember seeing Chess for $40-$45 somewhere. Damn. Anyways, nothing wrong with liking games for both but I'll always have a special place for the inty and stick up for it if anyone talks trash about it. Hope all is well with everyone and Happy Turkey Day coming up soon. Joe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Worst or not, the Intellivision is in fairly good company on that list with both PS3 and Wii U among the five "worst" console launches. I think the four titles in the test launch were typical for the era and make sense if it was meant to be a video game for thinking people, perhaps more oriented to grown-ups than little kids. Besides, perhaps the people in the Fresno area are known to like backgammon, black jack, poker, math games and the occasional shooting with tanks? In that case, the selection of pre-release titles would be perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wood_jl Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Ha! In the spirit of all "X vs. Y" threads, Atari vs. Intellivision passion still burns in some! I like both, had both when I was a kid. (I like most consoles) 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot2600 Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Don't hate on the atari! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 NO, consoles sucked. Every console had their pros and cons. Games with better graphics did not always mean better playing games. Some early 2600 games may have had simpler graphics, but the game play was fantastic and addictive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JasonlikesINTV Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 I love Intellivision, but I'm really looking forward to really giving my Atari 2600 and Colecovision games a try. I think I just love all consoles. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 (edited) When I was a kid, I have a 2600 and loved it. I had a friend that had an Intellivision, and it was cool. Now that I'm middle aged....well maybe a bit beyond middle....I have most of the consoles from that era, and love them all. Edited November 22, 2013 by RickR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 I love Intellivision, but I'm really looking forward to really giving my Atari 2600 and Colecovision games a try. I think I just love all consoles. I dunno, man. You didn't seem so excited about my 2014 goal of porting my Atari 2600 Drunken Pooper to the Intellivision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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