Why I love Mattel and the Intellivision

[IntvGene]

I could list off the reasons why Mattel made the Intellivision so great. But, you've probably heard them all before... from the hyper-advanced controllers to the Intellivoice... yes, the Intellivoice. But, the main reason why the name Intellivision is so great is that it embodies a concept that unites people who play (and design) great games. Mattel, APh, The BlueSky Rangers, INTV Corporation, and the BlueSky Rangers again later.. all of them have been key to building the Intellivision name, and to keep it alive after all these years. Yet there are also some great smaller homebrew people who have kept it alive also, designing everything from new games, to an entire Intellivision Operating System.

Time marches on, and Intellivision just refuses to die.

[digitalpress]

CHALLENGE POINT: INTVGENE.

For posting first for this tribe, INTVGENE has scored a point with this post.

[Ze_ro]

"Hyper-advanced controllers"? Whoa... y'know, I really liked the Intellivision, but the controllers were the one thing that break the deal for me. If it wasn't for them, the machine might be one of my favorite ever. The machine was definitely excellent for it's time, and had a great chunk of fun games.

Perhaps there's just something about the absolute simplicity of the Atari 2600 controllers that has spoiled me or something.

--Zero

[tholly]

"Hyper-advanced controllers"? Whoa... y'know, I really liked the Intellivision, but the controllers were the one thing that break the deal for me. If it wasn't for them, the machine might be one of my favorite ever. The machine was definitely excellent for it's time, and had a great chunk of fun games.

Perhaps there's just something about the absolute simplicity of the Atari 2600 controllers that has spoiled me or something.

--Zero


the controllers were pretty "hyper-advanced" ... i just wish the cord was longer than it is ... you need to sit so close to the system

[Pop Culture Portal]

I loved (and still do) Intellivision....you guys had alot of Nice Ideas...too bad they never panned out...

[IntvGene]

I loved (and still do) Intellivision....you guys had alot of Nice Ideas...too bad they never panned out...

Now that's a reference that few will get. ;)

[Ze_ro]

the controllers were pretty "hyper-advanced" ... i just wish the cord was longer than it is ... you need to sit so close to the system
Good point... I never understood why companies would coil the cord... it's not a phone for crying out loud! Coleco did this too!

--Zero

[digitalpress]

I loved (and still do) Intellivision....you guys had alot of Nice Ideas...too bad they never panned out...

HIDDEN CHALLENGE POINT: POP CULTURE PORTAL.

For reasons that will be disclosed later, PCP has scored 1 point with this post.

[vespertillio]

Two words "Sea Battle" God I love that game.
One word "Intellicart"
All kneel to Chad Schell :rocker:

[DStriemer]

I think one of the best testaments to the dominance of the intellivision is the inability of almost any two people to agree on their favourite 20, 25, or even 30 games. There were just too many good games.

Also of note, is that the worst games for this system were in many cases remakes of games for other systems. You can't force me to look at Donkey Kong on the intellivision.

However, these reasons were both recently topped. I realized while playing frog bog with my 6 year old cousin, that the dozens of games we had already played had appeal on both adult and child levels....this was made even more so because the, "state of the art" controllers ,that you either love or hate have one inarguable quality. They are a size that allows both child and adult to play comfortably, or uncomfortably(however you see it). This is the same cousin that has trouble operating the controllers, or is at least handicapped when playing a game against any adult or person with bigger hands on pretty much any modern system, PSX, XBOX, GC, Sega Genesis, etc....

In sum, intellivision rocks! And that is supported by three generations of people in my family......My dad(We still hookup for a game of baseball or Utopia), myself(I play Astrosmash, DigDug, and Burgertime daily), and my little cousin(Still trying to get better at catching fireflies in Frog Bog).

[gamergary]

According to George Plimpton the Major League Baseball was and still is better than Realsports Baseball so Intellivision is a-ok in my book. Too bad things didn't work out with Mattel and it's Intellivision because many more great games would have been bestowed upon the gaming masses.

[Dahne]

Coming up with slogans for the Intellivision must have been so much fun.

"Like a TV, but more smarter."

[AB Positive]

"Hyper-advanced controllers"? Whoa... y'know, I really liked the Intellivision, but the controllers were the one thing that break the deal for me. If it wasn't for them, the machine might be one of my favorite ever. The machine was definitely excellent for it's time, and had a great chunk of fun games.

Perhaps there's just something about the absolute simplicity of the Atari 2600 controllers that has spoiled me or something.

--Zero


the controllers were pretty "hyper-advanced" ... i just wish the cord was longer than it is ... you need to sit so close to the system

HIDDEN CHALLENGE POINT: tholly

For reasons that will be disclosed later, tholly has scored 2 points with this post.

-AG

[fargus]

To this day it's still my favorite system for playing Burgertime and Ladybug. It was also in my opinion the best system for Imagic games - Microsurgeon and Swords & Serpents were incredible for the time and are still fun today.