History Platform / Intellivision

Mattel had trouble securing the rights to produce home ports of UsefulNotes/{{Arcade Game}}s: many popular titles had been acquired by Atari and Coleco (who ended up porting many of them to the Intellivision anyway), and Mattel had to make a deal with then-obscure company Creator/DataEast, with surprisingly good results. To compensate for its deficiency in arcade ports, Mattel invested heavily in rights to make {{Licensed Game}}s, such as three for the film ''Film/{{Tron}}'', but many of these were never developed or never released.

The Intellivision II, released in 1983, was not a new system but rather a minor technical upgrade whose most remarkable "feature" was [[UsefulNotes/DigitalRightsManagement incompatibility with Mattel's previously-released cartridges]]. Mattel Electronics also released the Aquarius home computer that year, promoting it with video games and other software; the Aquarius, being based on a technologically primitive design, handled both poorly and was quickly discontinued.

* [[UsefulNotes/GraphicsProcessingUnit GPU]] General Instrument AY-3-8900

* ''VideoGame/{{Commando}}''

In a famous advertising campaign of the time, writer Creator/GeorgePlimpton proclaimed (and showed) that the Intellivision's graphics were superior to those of the Atari 2600. While the Intellivision could produce superior graphics to the 2600 (though the UsefulNotes/{{Colecovision}}'s graphics were still better), sports games were the only genre where Mattel really challenged Atari (who produced the ''Realsports'' series in response), though many of the earlier "Sports Network" titles had the defect of being multiplayer-only.

Mattel Electronics was one of the first casualties of UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983, shutting down operations in early 1984. Interestingly, a former Mattel exec ended up buying the rights to it, and the new company (INTV Corp.) was able to sell the console and a few new games via mail order, until it too succumbed and went out of business entirely in 1991. Ultimately, the rights were sold to a former game developer who formed [[http://www.intellivisionlives.com Intellivision Productions]], which continues to license Intellivision properties to this day.

The Platform/Atari2600 inspired other companies to enter the market for video games. One of these companies was Creator/{{Mattel}} Toys, which established the Mattel Electronics division to develop a video game console. The '''Intellivision''' was released to the public in late 1980 (although some sources, including a vintage informational video on Website/YouTube, say 1979); while it never defeated Creator/{{Atari}} for the hearts and minds of the public, it was the 2600's strongest initial rival, and hung around for some time.

The Intellivoice add-on is of historical note in that it made the Intellivision the first console capable of voice synthesis, though only five Intellivision games supported it. Other proposed add-ons for the console entered DevelopmentHell; Creator/JayLeno drew laughs at a Mattel function making fun of how long the keyboard add-on project was taking [[labelnote:his joke]](“You know what the three big lies are, don’t you? ‘The check is in the mail,’ ‘I’ll still respect you in the morning,’ and ‘The keyboard will be out in Spring.’”)[[/labelnote]]. The Keyboard Component, as it was formally named, was heavily marketed at the system's launch, as it was intended to turn the Intellivision into a full-fledged home computer as a low-cost alternative to the fledgling [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers Atari 400/800]] and [[Platform/VIC20 Commodore VIC-20]]. Unfortunately, the development team couldn't find a cost-effective means to create a mass-production model, and after the Federal Trade Commission came down on Mattel for failing to live up to their advertised promise, a scaled-down Entertainment Computer System module (developed by a separate in-house team) was released. It also has the dubious honor of being the first console to run on 16-bit hardware, though it obviously couldn't hold a candle to what people associate with 16-bit consoles such as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis and [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]]. Ironically enough, the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 ran off a modified 6502 and yet it boasted visuals similar to its 16-bit contemporaries.

The Intellivoice add-on is of historical note in that it made the Intellivision the first console capable of voice synthesis, though only five Intellivision games supported it. Other proposed add-ons for the console entered DevelopmentHell; Creator/JayLeno drew laughs at a Mattel function making fun of how long the keyboard add-on project was taking [[labelnote:his joke]](“You know what the three big lies are, don’t you? ‘The check is in the mail,’ ‘I’ll still respect you in the morning,’ and ‘The keyboard will be out in Spring.’”)[[/labelnote]]. The Keyboard Component, as it was formally named, was heavily marketed at the system's launch, as it was intended to turn the Intellivision into a full-fledged home computer as a low-cost alternative to the fledgling [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers Atari 400/800]] and [[UsefulNotes/VIC20 Commodore VIC-20]]. Unfortunately, the development team couldn't find a cost-effective means to create a mass-production model, and after the Federal Trade Commission came down on Mattel for failing to live up to their advertised promise, a scaled-down Entertainment Computer System module (developed by a separate in-house team) was released. It also has the dubious honor of being the first console to run on 16-bit hardware, though it obviously couldn't hold a candle to what people associate with 16-bit consoles such as the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis and [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]]. Ironically enough, the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 ran off a modified 6502 and yet it boasted visuals similar to its 16-bit contemporaries.

The UsefulNotes/Atari2600 inspired other companies to enter the market for video games. One of these companies was Creator/{{Mattel}} Toys, which established the Mattel Electronics division to develop a video game console. The '''Intellivision''' was released to the public in late 1980 (although some sources, including a vintage informational video on Website/YouTube, say 1979); while it never defeated Creator/{{Atari}} for the hearts and minds of the public, it was the 2600's strongest initial rival, and hung around for some time.

In 2018, a brand-new console in the Intellivision line was announced along with the news that industry veteran Music/TommyTallarico was named CEO/President of the company. The UsefulNotes/IntellivisionAmico was set for launch in October 2021, but now it is currently unknown, especially after an SEC filing in early 2022 which showed that the company would be unable to operate beyond July 2022.

The Intellivision didn't use a joystick - it had a round, touch-sensitive pad and a 12-button keypad above it (games frequently included inserts that went above the pad to show how the buttons were used). On the downside, the controllers were permanently attached to the console, and games couldn't use the keypad and the control disc at the same time.

** ''Donkey Kong Jr.''

* ''Major League Baseball'' (AKA ''Big League Baseball'')

* ''World Championship Baseball'' (used the Voice Synthesis Module)

* ''World Championship Baseball''

In 2018, a brand-new console in the Intellivision line was announced along with the news that industry veteran Music/TommyTallarico was named CEO/President of the company. The UsefulNotes/IntellivisionAmico was set for launch in October 2021, but not it is currently unknown, especially after an SEC filing in early 2022 which showed that the company would be unable to operate beyond July 2022.

In a famous advertising campaign of the time, actor George Plimpton proclaimed (and showed) that the Intellivision's graphics were superior to those of the Atari 2600. While the Intellivision could produce superior graphics to the 2600 (though the UsefulNotes/{{Colecovision}}'s graphics were still better), sports games were the only genre where Mattel really challenged Atari (who produced the ''Realsports'' series in response), though many of the earlier "Sports Network" titles had the defect of being multiplayer-only.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/intellivision_8934.jpg]]

* ''VideoGame/MouseTrap''