The first system to truly give Atari a run for their
money, the Colecovision boasted arcade quality graphics
and sound.

Of all the classic systems out there, this system
is probably the best for home developers. While the
initial shock of programming the graphics chip is a
bit overwhelming, once you get the 3 graphics modes
down pat, it becomes a breeze. You simply feed the system
the coordinates for your sprites and other data, and the
video chip handles the rest ! This frees up the CPU for
more important functions like game calculations.

Of course, there are still limitations, as the graphics
data must be fed through an I/O port only 1 byte wide !
Now, we're slowing down if you transfer large amounts of
data. This is why so many games had such choppy scrolling
(Zaxxon, Time Pilot, Cosmic Avenger).

Still, it is as I said, an easy system for a beginner.
Most of the Coleco emulators for PC's will be compatible
with the system, so you can write 98% of a game on the
emulator and do final testing on the real system.

A major problem with the Colecovision was who manufactured
it: COLECO. And anyone who remembers Coleco remembers that
they made the cheapest, junkiest toys on the planet.

Popular Colecovision problems include the power switch going
bad, the power supply going bad, the controller chips going bad
(controllers stop working) and video RAM chips going bad (garbage
displayed on screen).

Telegames USA sold a Colecovision clone which is smaller
and much more durable. The only incompatibilty is that it won't
work with Super Action Controllers. Sadly Telegames stopped selling
this system and other classic games in 2004.

Here are some pictures, so if you come across a system on Ebay,
snatch it up if you can !



The system box

The system itself

The Nintendo style controllers