"Good luck finding a Intellivision in perfect condition in 2012" Fast foward to late 2020 and I just scored an Intellivision in perfect condition with 5 games for $80
I found about 1 in 7 Intellivision consoles still work (from a sample of about 20), however you can improve that to about 1/2 working if you composite mod the video; the others have dead components. Worth doing the mod!
A couple of years back I ordered an Intellivision 1 from Ebay for $25...of course it didn't work. But a few weeks later I lucked out and found a nicer-looking one at the local thrift for $6.96, and some boxed games for 90 cents...and unbelievably, this one worked! Still works today!
Nice my father bought a intellivision a long time ago for 10$ at a garage sale he also bought a dozen games for a few bucks that worked perfectly, still playing it to this day.
I had atari 2600 back in 1982, but I remember all my rich friends had the intellivision and I considered it a treat to go over to their houses to play it.
I had Intellivision and Intellivision II in the 80's and I'm sure I plugged the voice module into the Intellivision II and it worked. Are you sure you know that it doesn't work because I remember using it. Also the Intellivision II could use joystick extension cords that were made for Atari. I bought a set and could lie comfortably on the sofa while playing, with the Intellivision II sitting about 6 feet away.
I owned an original Intellivision and purchased the Intellivoice for it, and it worked fine. No mods needed, they both were perfectly compatible. I miss my damn Intellivision!
The Intellivision II worked with all of the add on accessories, Intellivoice, piano keyboard and the computer. There were only on a couple of 3rd party games that didn't work on it, otherwise everything made by Mattel worked fine on it. I still have mine, it's still hooked up to an Intellivoice and it still works.
As others have said long ago - the Intellivoice module _does_ work on the Intellivision II, it just doesn't *look* right. Unlike the later expansions - the "System Changer" (Atari 2600 clone that plugs in to the side of the I2,) and "Entertainment Computer System" (a pretty crap "home computer" add-on that adds a tiny amount more RAM, and two more controller ports so you could plug in the computer keyboard or music keyboard accessories.) The Intellivoice never received an update to have that 80s light gray plastic with red accents look. (Apparently one product catalog showed an updated version - but it was never actually built. The photographed version was just a painted wood mockup!)
they were like keyboards for pc games. The games might need the extra button for random things, since they didn't usually use a menu where you scrolled down. Some of them had overlays where the numbers would be the main controllers. Basically things were wild and the format wasn't codified. Atari helped shaped controls that didn't rely on it which makes the jaguar design even stranger.
intellivision 2 is the best to me. its small and have detachable controllers. it also has a power light. the only thing is that it dont support coleco games. the intellivision 1 had overheating issues and the controllers were not as durable from my experience on intellivision 1 and the pro version too. if you like retro gaming , intellivision is a must. it has some cool games and it has those unique controllers which are very different from any other systems. my favorite games are dungeons and dragons treasure of tarmin , astrosmash , world series major league baseball , lock n chase , b-17 bomber , bump n jump. one thing you need to know is that some games require special accessory like the ecs computer module and also the intellivoice.
Hey, you said the voice synthisizer dosent work on the intellivision II. But thats what i had growing up and we played B-17 bomber till the cows came home. In short it worked for us. Great reviews you got there!
Hey don't get smart!! I still collect for my 4 port Atari 5200. Tho I still have yet to get working controllers. I knew no one who owned an intellivision, 2, coleco or commodore 64 either back in the day. Weird now that I think about it. Burger time was a good game tho but I still miss Sinistar and Berserk. :) oh and Mousetrap. Buy will say that Defender, Joust, Dig-Dug and Centipede are my all time faves. :) great review. Thanx again as always.
Awesome quick review! There's some really great game not covered here, of course. He must have had a bum Intellivoice module, though, as it is compatible with all Intellivision models. That's pretty common--Intellivoices are known to sometimes fail after a while.
My first console was an original Intellivision... And I'm 17 years old. I remember seeing the burgertime game case. And I remember playing pitfall and a game with tanks in it :p then again I don't remember it that well because I was 3-4 years old :p
Somehow, when I bought my Atari at a yard sale, there was an INtellivision game in the box of games it came with. It doesn't have a label on it, and one of these days I need to find a working intellevision just so I can see what game I have.
Yes. Wico produced a replacement controller for the Intellivision which included a joystick. You'll pay a small fortune for one though. There are no electronics in the controller itself, just flex circuits with contacts, so theoretically it would be possible to create an adapter to use Atari controllers. Of course you'd only have 8 directions, not 16, and one fire button. Plus, you'd need the Intv. controller for entering anything on the keypad.
The incompatibility between the intellivision 1 and 2 consists of a modified "EXEC" chip. It affects Donkey Kong, Carnival, and Venture as well as Mattel's Math Fun (and another one I can't remember). Intellivision 3 is just a rebadged intellivison I with a power LED (and other minor cosmetic effects). Also...the Intellivision II _IS_ compativble with Intellivoice (and its games) :)
Just got a Model 1 Intellivision in the mail today, real dirty and covered in dust and scratches but works absolutely fine Update: due to a screwup with the USPS, now I have two working Intellivision 1s
I spent my childhood in India and I didn't knew difference between Atari, Nintendo, Sega....etc. until I came up to Canada. We used to buy one video game (which didn't had any brand) and its cartridge used to contain game from almost all different kind of console. I remember super mario, sonic and burger king (shown in this video) all in one cartridge. That time I didn't even knew these were console exclusive games. Now I understand somebody might have been illegally producing them then.
@InecomCompany You should look for a "Sears Super Video Arcade" it's like an Intelevision 1 clone with detachable joystick, and not those circle pads, yes it works with the voice module, and mine still works too this day, in fact I played it last nite, playing some Awesome Burger Time :D
My first game system although I had the Sears model. I think it actually may have been to advance for me at the time. I didnt really like it at the time because I wanted a atari 2600 because of all those arcade games. I played alot of frogger and night stalker on it.
waitaminutewhat. I have an Intellivision II and the Intellivoice definitely DOES work with it. Otherwise, nice review. I really like seeing less talked about consoles like this getting... well... talked about.
Many Intellivision games were 2-player only. As a result, the games were little more than eye candy. It's no surprise that the system ultimately failed.
Id like to watch one review of the Intellivision or Colecovision where it's superiority over the 2600 isnt mentioned. Seems redundant. "Hey, it's Mark, and believe it or not, this system from 1982 is graphically superior to this other console that came out 5 years earlier".
OH MY GAWD! Lock & Chase and Burger Time on the Intellivison in the same video. (It's been so long I forgot that the game was called Lock & Chase) MARK, YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD! I'M CRYING MY EYES OUT RIGHT NOW!
Although there is the Intellivision Lives compilation disc for the ps2. Sure it's not free like emulators, but it's a small fraction of the price for an original console and cartridges.
Actually, the Intellivoice didn't work with the ORIGINAL Intellivision without a hardware mod. The Intellivision II was designed to be compatible with it right out of the box. The reason why some games don't work on the II is that Mattel intentionally changed the firmware to try and lock out third-party titles. The companies adapted and it was mostly only a few early Coleco games that don't work. The changes caused some glitches though, even in some Mattel games.
i used to own two Intellivision 1, and i think that the controller was the best, from that time, that standard Atari2600 that was a pieces of junk, and the European controller for the Atari 7800 was not much fun either, and i did not like the controller on the Nintendo. only problem with the Intellivision controller was if you use it for a very long period you would get hard skin on some of your fingers.
I bought the Intellivision yesterday for $30.00 with Intellivoice and 16 games. The controllers barlet work and now it stopped working. Now I'm going to get my cash back. I should have known it wasn't going to work for that price. The guy even said it works.
I Prefer the Atari 5200 to the colecovision, intellivision and the 2600. I never had an issue with the controllers. I will never understand why anyone would. They are easy to use. For me at least. 8}
Looks like the ideal system to buy if I was growing up in the early 80's. Could u hook the 2600 as a peripheral & play the cartridges like w/ the first Intellivision? Can u play it with the Atari joystick? The fact it's more compact an affordable than other consoles of the time is awesome!
+Mr.Err Good news: The "system changer" lets you play Atari 2600 on Intellivision 2. Bad news: the system changer is expensive. The normal asking price: $100. NOT sure if Atari controller works, but you can use Intellivision controller to play 2600 games with the system changer on Intellivision 2.
im 21 and im into video games so much, i have a nes remake console og snes, og n64 psx and ps2 and i have twisted metal 1 2 3 and black, im gamming snes super mario alstars right now, i need to get money to buy more of this shit I NEED INTELLIVISION LMAO
Intellivision controller was "fine". I swear anyone born after NES seems to think anything not involving a D-pad and BA buttons is "terrible". All the extra buttons on the INTV controller allowed more complex games like the PC's keyboard. Learn to evolve.
I had a wooden intellivision that worked. Well most of the time. The number 2 controller was pretty flaky which sucks because most of the fun intellivision games are 2 player.
