Is Intellivision II more durable than the original Intellivision?

[rhindlethereddragon]

I've had several original model Intellivision systems overheat, the screen turns black, and just stays black forever. This happened with a new Intellivision back in the 1980's and has happened since with other systems. I've never had a problem with the Intellivision II though.

 

Would it be fair to say that the Intellivision II is more DURABLE than the original Intellivision?

[BassGuitari]

I've had several original model Intellivision systems overheat, the screen turns black, and just stays black forever. This happened with a new Intellivision back in the 1980's and has happened since with other systems. I've never had a problem with the Intellivision II though.

 

Would it be fair to say that the Intellivision II is more DURABLE than the original Intellivision?

 

It's interesting you mention this: of all my Intellivision systems (Mattel Electronics, Sylvania, Tandyvision, Intellivision II, and two INTV System IIIs), only my Tandyvision and my II work 100%, ~100% of the time. It's mainly controllers that give me grief, though, and not power supply/overheating/cooked motherboards.

 

It's just as well, I guess: Intellivision II is my favorite Intellivision anyway. The ultra-woodgraininess of the Tandyvision can't be denied, either.

 

(Although, a fully-working System III would be nice...I might have to get around to Frankensteining one together from my wonky-but-has-good-controllers I and my extra, won't-boot-anything III.)

[rhindlethereddragon]

I've had several original model Intellivision systems overheat, the screen turns black, and just stays black forever. This happened with a new Intellivision back in the 1980's and has happened since with other systems. I've never had a problem with the Intellivision II though.

 

Would it be fair to say that the Intellivision II is more DURABLE than the original Intellivision?

 

It's interesting you mention this: of all my Intellivision systems (Mattel Electronics, Sylvania, Tandyvision, Intellivision II, and two INTV System IIIs), only my Tandyvision and my II work 100%, ~100% of the time. It's mainly controllers that give me grief, though, and not power supply/overheating/cooked motherboards.

 

It's just as well, I guess: Intellivision II is my favorite Intellivision anyway. The ultra-woodgraininess of the Tandyvision can't be denied, either.

 

(Although, a fully-working System III would be nice...I might have to get around to Frankensteining one together from my wonky-but-has-good-controllers I and my extra, won't-boot-anything III.)

 

I love the Intellivision II most except for some games being locked out. Yes, I know most will say it's no big loss, but believe it or not, I actually enjoy Donkey Kong on the Intellivision. I agree that the controllers, while I mostly like them, "can" give you grief - overlay games that make heavy use of the keypad come to mind: while the keys seem to work fine, in-game I recall having problems with them being responsive with the overlay for some reason.

 

Could you "Frankenstein" some regular controllers on to the INTV II? And is there a way to get the locked out games to work with the INTV II?

[BassGuitari]

 

 

Could you "Frankenstein" some regular controllers on to the INTV II? And is there a way to get the locked out games to work with the INTV II?

 

Re the controllers: maybe. It seems like someone would have done this by now if it were feasible, given that most peoples' No. 1 complaint about Intellivision II is the controllers. But I don't see how it should be impossible (granted, though, I've never compared the internals of Intellivision I and II controllers). Maybe just swap the cord from a [preferably dead] Intellivision II controller into the case/guts of an Intellivision I controller?

 

I believe Super Video Arcade controllers are compatible with the Intellivision II. They're identical to Intellivision I controllers but are off-white colored and detachable. Might be an ideal solution for you.

 

Re locked-out games: probably not. Again, if it were possible/feasible, someone probably would have done it by now. I think it would require replacing or altering the system EXEC.

[+5-11under]

And is there a way to get the locked out games to work with the INTV II?

Re locked-out games: probably not. Again, if it were possible/feasible, someone probably would have done it by now. I think it would require replacing or altering the system EXEC.

I'm sure I've seen a solution somewhere... .

5-11under

[jaybird3rd]

According to the Intellivision Productions website:

 

The EXEC contains a subroutine to display the Mattel copyright notice; the programmer merely needs to provide the year in a certain memory location. Since a competitor's game would not use this routine, that location could have anything in it. The Intellivision II EXEC checks on a particular bit in that location; if the bit isn't set, the EXEC doesn't allow the game to play. With a valid date in that location, the bit will be set; anything else and there is only a 50-50 chance the bit will be set.

From reading this, it sounds as if getting these games to work on the Intellivision II would involve adding a single instruction to initialize this memory location on startup. I'm sure the original programmers would have done this also, if they knew what was going on. It doesn't sound too difficult, so if it hasn't been done already, I assume that it's either because most people prefer to play these games on the Intellivision I (or through emulation), or because nobody with an Intellivision II and the know-how to patch the game has wanted to do it badly enough.

 

As for adapting the Intellivision I controllers for the Intellivision II ... sure, why not? It would look pretty ugly, but I don't see why it can't be done. They both connect to the same chip, and the two controllers aren't any different electrically, so it would simply be a matter of building an adapter. But again, if it hasn't been done, it's probably because nobody with the know-how to do it has wanted it badly enough to try it. I could probably figure it out, but I've gotten used to the Intellivision II controllers, so I don't have any particular problem with them.

 

I don't have enough experience servicing Intellivisions to give a definite answer to the original question, but I had to replace several chips in an INTV System III recently, and I've never had to do that with the Intellivision II consoles that I own. Interestingly, the III that I worked on had a handwritten repair sticker on the mainboard (dated 1983), so it seems as if INTV was using extra Intellivision I hardware from Mattel's spare parts department.

[+cmart604]

I've had several original model Intellivision systems overheat, the screen turns black, and just stays black forever. This happened with a new Intellivision back in the 1980's and has happened since with other systems. I've never had a problem with the Intellivision II though.

 

Would it be fair to say that the Intellivision II is more DURABLE than the original Intellivision?

 

It's interesting you mention this: of all my Intellivision systems (Mattel Electronics, Sylvania, Tandyvision, Intellivision II, and two INTV System IIIs), only my Tandyvision and my II work 100%, ~100% of the time. It's mainly controllers that give me grief, though, and not power supply/overheating/cooked motherboards.

 

It's just as well, I guess: Intellivision II is my favorite Intellivision anyway. The ultra-woodgraininess of the Tandyvision can't be denied, either.

 

(Although, a fully-working System III would be nice...I might have to get around to Frankensteining one together from my wonky-but-has-good-controllers I and my extra, won't-boot-anything III.)

 

I couldn't agree more with the stylin' Tandyvision!! Of my dozen or so INTV's the Tandy I find is the most durable and I must admit

my 2 INTV II's are my least favourite of all as I just don't really like the feel of the controllers although I should mention I owned the original back in the day and that's probably coloured my view...

[Rik]

I'd say the INTV 2 is more durable.The external power supply helps.

[DickNixonArisen]

I have only owned two, a 1 and a 2, and the 2 works better. 1 will overheat after a while, but 2 is going strong.