Ah, the once mighty Connecticut Leather Company! So, how a leather company got into Cabbage Patch Kids and video games is beyond me. In any case, the ColecoVision really was a pretty cool system.

Ostensibly, there were two things that really put the ColecoVision on the map:

• Expansion Module #1 : Atari 2600 Adapter
• Donkey Kong

Without a doubt, Coleco had a solid strategy when they entered the market. Despite lawsuits, coming out of the gate with the Atari 2600 adapter was a master stroke. Combine that with landing the hottest arcade game at the time, the system was built for expansion, and that most of their titles would be arcade licenses released on the Atari 2600 and Intellivision as well and you've got a powerful marketing message and presence.

The graphics on this console were truly a step up from the Intellivision - actual arcade-quality graphics! Having not dug into the system specs, I think that the ColecoVision actually used a Z80-based processor, which, if memory serves, was basically what many arcade machines of the day used. The main problem I had with the Colecovision was that it seemed prone to flicker, the controllers were oversized and painful to use for a long period of time, and despite the extra processing and graphics power, it still only had sixteen colors. For an interesting comparison of the ColecoVision and Atari 5200, go here.

I played tons of ColecoVision at my cousin Mike's house and really did enjoy the system. They had lots of cool add-ons, like the steering wheel and roller controllers, and actually delivered a decent computer module add-on - the ADAM. But ultimately, the system was killed in The Crash. Too bad.

Still, IIRC, more games were released for the Coleocovision than the Intellivision, and possibly even more units were sold, though perhaps the longer lifespan w/ INTV Corp. changed that - I don't know. In any case, because the ColecoVision used much more standard hardware (processor, ROMs), it's got a more active homebrew community than the Intellivision does. In fact, the Intellivision Productions folks have released more new ColecoVision cartridges (1) than Intellivision cartridges (0)!! Go figure.

Title		Item No.	Manual	Vendor	Rarity	Notes
	Pitfall!	VS-001	Yes	Activision	U3	Game review / info
	River Raid	VS-002	Yes	Activision	U3	Game review / info
	Centipede	70004	Yes	Atarisoft	C3	Cracked the shinkwrap on this puppy in July 2003!; game review / info
	Defender	70002	Yes	Atarisoft	C3	Cracked the shinkwrap on this puppy in April 2003!; game review / info
	Carnival	2445	No	Coleco	C3	Loose; game review / info
	Donkey Kong	2411	No	Coleco	C3	Loose; game review / info
	Slither	2492	Yes	Coleco	C3	Pack-in with Expansion Module #3 - if that's what the Roller Controller can be called; have manual for roller controller and Slither cart; pretty good shape
	Turbo	2413	Yes	Coleco	C3	Pack-in with Expansion Module #2; have manual for steering wheel and Turbo cart; box tattered but foams still there!
	Zaxxon	2435	No	Coleco	C3	Loose; game review / info