Coleco/Atari arcade-type controller

[MachineGex]

I found this controller several years back and was wondering if someone could tell me what it is??? It has two cords coming out of the back, one says coleco and the other says wico. Did Wico make this or did someone make it? I got it at least 15 years ago and it does not look homemade to me, but I have never seen one like it.

[InsaneDavid]

I'd say the sucker is homemade from a Wico Command Control Atari joystick and a stock Colecovision controller. You can plug an Atari joystick into the Colecovision and it will work but obviously you lose the keypad functionality. Perhaps if you plug the "Wico" side into the Player 1 port and the "Coleco" side into the Player 2 port on a Colecovision then you can play with the stick and buttons yet still use the keypad?

That's what I would assume anyway.

[Cornelius]

I'd say the sucker is homemade from a Wico Command Control Atari joystick and a stock Colecovision controller. You can plug an Atari joystick into the Colecovision and it will work but obviously you lose the keypad functionality. Perhaps if you plug the "Wico" side into the Player 1 port and the "Coleco" side into the Player 2 port on a Colecovision then you can play with the stick and buttons yet still use the keypad?

That's what I would assume anyway.

If someone wired it up right, why would they need to plug into both ports? A regular Coleco controller gets you joystick, 2 buttons, and the keypad all with one plug. Maybe I don't get what you are saying, David.

Could it be set up for 2-player kind of like the NES Advantage where you pass it back and forth?

It does look homemade from the parts David suggests.

Edit: I think David meant to say "Perhaps if you plug the "Wico" side into the Player 1 port and the "Coleco" side into the Player 2 port on an Atari 2600 then you can play with the stick and buttons yet still use the keypad?" Am I right?

[MachineGex]

Well I opened it up and it is a really well built. It does look somewhat homemade, but they had some nice skills. The two read buttons are wired for the coleco. They took the coleco controller apart and the joystick part isnt wired to anything. The rest of the coleco is wired. I am not sure, but I think there probably was some type of adapter so both plugs would work at the same time for the coleco(or like david said, plug the atari cord to player one and the coleco to player two). Anyways, the had some skill cuz the top is bent metal(aluminum?) and the wood part looks really well built. I tested it with the atari and it works great. I need to figure out if the coleco will work with both plugs. Wasnt there an adapter that let you use the coleco number pad but use another joystick at the same time???

[InsaneDavid]

Edit: I think David meant to say "Perhaps if you plug the "Wico" side into the Player 1 port and the "Coleco" side into the Player 2 port on an Atari 2600 then you can play with the stick and buttons yet still use the keypad?" Am I right?

No, you can unplug a Colecovision controller and plug in an Atari joystick and it will work fine. Hell, I think you can use a Genesis controller in there. Possibly there are some games that read both control pads at the same time where you could use the P2 keypad with the P1 joystick?

Even if not, it would allow you to use the P1 joystick and fire buttons with games that don't need the keypad, yet would allow you to select starting level, etc. with the keypad connected to P2.

It doesn't sound like too big a stretch for someone to combine the two controllers into one box to make a lap top control solution so they wouldn't have to juggle the two controllers (P1 stick and P2 control pad). You have to remember the Colecovision was near arcade quality at the time, playing popular arcade games. That and people actually used to go into their garages and build things. LOL

[MachineGex]

That is why the coleco doesnt have the joystick hooked up. They must have used the atari controller to move and plugged in the keypad part to the second player port. Makes sense. The two red buttons on the top are connected to the coleco number pad side buttons. You move with the atari joystick(player one plug) and fire with the red buttons(player two plug).

Thanks guys, still have to fire up the coleco and see it that is correct, but it makes sense.

[Cornelius]

I guess my colecovision knowledge is lacking. I always used the P1 controller keypad for all my number selecting and joystick play. I very rarely have needed anything plugged into P2 on a CV at all.

Now on an Atari, the keypad for Starmaster and the like does plug into the P2 port, which is what I thought you were talking about, and may be what is going on here.

And yeah, a genesis controller does often work.

[Carey85]

That looks to be a damn fine unit, even if homemade. If you can't get keypad functionality via control port 2, I would recommend maybe trying to find a 9 pin y-splitter to combine the two controller cables into one as that could be the missing link in the equation.

[megasdkirby]

Oh, that is very nicely made!

If you get to test it, let us know how it works! The original controller is a pain at times. Though I've yet to test out the Genesis controller...but will both buttons work?