Mattel Intellivision
 |
|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Mattel Electronics |
|---|---|
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Second generation |
| Retail availability | 1979 US test market 1980 NA (US$299 CA$399) 1981 UK (£199) 1982 Germany (DM499) 1982 France (F255) 1982 Japan (¥49800) 1983 Brazil |
| Discontinued | 1990 |
| Units sold | over 3 million (1980-83) |
| Media | ROM cartridge |
| CPU | GI CP1610 |
| Memory | 524B RAM, 932B graphics RAM, 7168B ROM |
| Sound | GI AY-3-8914 |
| Controller input | 16 direction pad, 15 button |
| Online services | PlayCable |
| Best-selling game |
Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack 1.939 million Major League Baseball 1.085 million (as of June 1983) |
| Website | www |
The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name Intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development of the console began in 1977, the same year as the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. In 1984 Mattel sold the Intellivision business to a former Mattel Electronics executive and investors that would become INTV Corporation. Games development started in 1978 and continued until 1990 when the Intellivision was discontinued. From 1980 to 1983 over 3 million Intellivision units were sold.
In 2009, video game website IGN named the Intellivision the No. 14 greatest video game console of all time. It remained Mattel's only video game console until the release of the HyperScan in 2006.
The Intellivision was developed at Mattel in Hawthorne, California along with their Mattel Electronics line of handheld electronic games. Mattel Electronics becoming a subsidiary in 1981. The Intellivision was test marketed in Fresno, California in 1979 with a total of four games available. It was released nationwide in 1980 with a price tag of US$299, a pack-in game: Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack and a library of ten cartridges.
Mattel's Design and Development group began investigating a home video game system in 1977. It was to have rich graphics and long lasting gameplay to distinguish itself from its competitors. Mattel identified a new but expensive chipset from National Semiconductor and negotiated better pricing for a simpler design. Their consultant, APh Technological Consulting, suggested a General Instrument chipset, listed as the Gimini programmable set in the GI 1977 catalog. The GI chipset lacked reprogrammable graphics and Mattel worked with GI to implement changes. GI published an updated chipset in their 1978 catalog. After initially choosing National in August 1977, Mattel waited for two months before ultimately going with the proposed GI chipset in the fall of 1977. A team at Mattel, headed by David Chandler began engineering the hardware, including the famous hand controllers. In 1978, David Rolfe of APh developed the executive control software (Exec) and with a group of Caltech summer student hires, programmed the first games. Graphics were designed by artists at Mattel led by Dave James.
...
Wikipedia