Intellivision: Gone But Not Forgotten

[Takasugi77]

It's cute how kids back then were quick to suggest "oh Intellivision is nothing more than a cheap knockoff of Atari" before having played or even seen any of the games. I was probably the same way initially, but the system certainly got me through my early years of childhood with my brother and we never looked back (much less ask our parents for a new Atari system).

 

[NikkiKitty]

Fun to read a fairly current article about the console that introduced me to the world of video games. Our family had one or should I say my dad had one. So many hours watching him play, playing together, playing on my own. I probably spent the most time playing AD&D: Treasure of Tarmin and Beauty & the Beast (akin to Donkey Kong). I was too little to know anything about games or ask for any so I just played whatever he bought. I'm not sure I remember all of them, but I know I played the Blackjack game it came with, Sharp Shot, Night Stalker, Sub Hunt, Astrosmash, and The Dreadnaught Factor.

By the time I was old enough to start having my own interest in games, he had upgraded to a NES. I feel lucky that my dad had such an interest in computer technology. I grew up in a small town, and while we did occasionally get to use a computer at school, I was the only one of my friends that had a PC at home. We got our home PC probably around the time that the SNES released so money went into computer games/upgrades and not new console generations past the NES. We did eventually get an N64 after renting one many times. Ahhh, if only I still had time to sit and play video games all day. (>ᴗ<)

And you have articles about 3dfx & Nokia... <3 </3 <3 </3 RIP x_x Q_Q

 

[gamerk2]

What's surprising is that 16-bit machines wouldn't become widespread until two more console generations had passed

Not really; earlier consoles didn't exactly need the wider memory bus, and the graphical hardware was often more important then pure number crunching power. Case in point: The far superior NES used a derivative of the MOS 6502 (Ricoh 2A03 @ 1.79Mhz). Heck, even the "16-bit" PC Engine used a standard 6502 as its main processor, despite having a 16-bit memory bus.

With the somewhat notable exception of the Sega Genesis, whos Motorola 68000 @ 7.6Mhz could run circles around the SNES, and was a major factor why the Genesis did better head to head in fast paced games. But historically, the superior total hardware package has mattered FAR more then pure CPU power; the Sega Saturn and PS3 are prime examples of the total package mattering more then pure power.

 

[Beerfloat]

Never owned an Intellivision but I loved this article. Good writing, in-depth. Bang-up job!