ColecoVision I just found my first ColecoVision

Joined Jan 2005
18K Posts | 0+
Waco, TX
Last weekend I was at flea market and I came across something I would LEAST expect to see here in the middle of Waco, Texas. Since I have yet to see one place or yard sale...or flea market to have one of these little guys floating around. So, here it is....

a Coleco ColecoVision (2400 Model)

ColecoVision.jpg


For only....$3....(three dolla! make ya holla!)

The lady had NO idea what it was, she said and I quote "I dunno, my son gives me these things, so I guess $3?"

Me: SURE!! :)

Still even included the Donkey Kong cart.

So when I got home, I cleaned it up (poor thing). Since it looked like an NES RF Output, I used that, the signal was bad, but then it hit me, I remember reading that anything before the NES used the Atari like setup (with an RCA Video/Audio single cable, the switch box, and two other parts for the back of the TV)

Yet I could make out the picture on my screen (Blurred picture and buzzing noise), but it still WORKS!

I had a sudden feeling that this poor Coleco was thanking me for saving it back there!

Now I was with my dad when I found this, he didn't reconize it since my family grew up in a home of Atari and Commodore 64 during the early 80's. Plus, this is the first time in my life I have ever seen and held one in my hands in person. So it's a real treat for me. Since, I've heard so much about it.
 
HOLY crap!

What is that system like?  I have never used one.
I didn't know Donkey Kong was out for that.  I figured that was Atari only.... but then I see Nintendo on the cart. Nintendo actually made games for another system?

I Am not talking like the Zelda games for the CD-i... but NIntendo actually made games for other systems.

when did Nintendo buy Donkey Kong?

Bv :hat
 
The Colecovision has a good game library. I paid $10 or $15 for mine (Damn you! :lol).

This will probably start your game system collecting.
 
cdoty said:
The Colecovision has a good game library. I paid $10 or $15 for mine (darn you! :lol).

This will probably start your game system collecting.
heck.. I would say a good working one would be worth that :lol

$10-15 isn't bad at all

Bv :hat
 
Bluevoodu said:
HOLY crap!

What is that system like?  I have never used one.
I didn't know Donkey Kong was out for that.  I figured that was Atari only.... but then I see Nintendo on the cart.  Nintendo actually made games for another system?

I Am not talking like the Zelda games for the CD-i... but NIntendo actually made games for other systems.

when did Nintendo buy Donkey Kong?

Bv :hat

Well here's the story taken from www.vidgame.net

In 1982 Coleco decided to jump into the home video game market with their own programmable system, the Colecovision. They did not have the funding to program their own games so they approached big arcade names like Sega, Nintendo, Konami, and Universal to start converting their popular arcade games to the home market. One of the first companies to jump on board was Nintendo and with this they licensed Donkey Kong to be the pack in cartridge for the Colecovision at it's debut. At it's debut the Colecovision retailed for $199.99 USD. Coleco also got the rights to produce the Donkey Kong game for their soon to be popular Table Top Arcades. Coleco would have to take full responsiblity if any problems should occur. In exchange, Coleco payed Nintendo an undetermined amount of money and royalties: $1.40 for each cartridge made and $1.00 per Tabletop Arcade unit. Six months after the Colecovision had released, Coleco started to make the Donkey Kong game for competitors such as the Atari 2600 and the Mattel Intellivision. Universal had threatened Coleco for likeness of character since they owned the rights to King Kong, unless Coleco payed royalties to Universal for every Donkey Kong product sold. Later, it was found that Universal did not have the rights and the royalties were refunded.

Pretty much, Coleco was the first system to port Donkey Kong and have exclusive rights at the time. Thanks to them, this is why Nintendo became a household name
 
To hook up a ColecoVision to a modern TV (without the two antenna screws in the back) you need an RF to cable converter if your TV has a coaxial input (round screw type). If your TV has RCA/AV inputs (the yellow/white/red plugs) or something newer, you'll probably have to hook the RF converter to a VCR or cable box first to get the signal to the TV.

Or, you could just emu.

Still have my ColecoVision and it still works. :D
 
Most of us used Atari 2600 joysticks with ours cuz the Coleco controllers sucked so bad. You don't even need an adapter to use them.
 
I had to throw mine out about 4 months ago cause it finally went kaput. I wish I could've given it a better service than the dumpster, but alas, I could not. I still kept the games though cause I figure I could sell them on Ebay. I had about 14. Burger Time, Zaxxon, Mouse Trap, Donkey Kong Jr, Popeye etc.
 
The ColecoVision is a great system. It has some really nice arcade ports of some fairly obscure (but fun) games, such as Pepper II, Lady Bug, Mouse Trap, and Space Fury.