Why didn't Mattel mine their own properties for Intellivision games?

[bikeguychicago]

Aside from He-Man, why didn't Mattel mine thier own IPs as sources for Intellivision games? Some obvious properties would have been Hot Wheels and Barbie.

 

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[bikeguychicago]

Doing so certainly would have been alot cheaper than licensing properties like Hanna-Barbara, Kool-Aid Man, etc.

[jaybird3rd]

I'm sure they would have done more, if the crash and the turbulence leading up to it had not derailed their future plans. There was to have been another Masters of the Universe game, for example; it later (in the post-crash INTV years) became Diner.

[+intellivotion]

I'm sure a Barbie game would have been Rev's favourite

[+save2600]

If I were to guess, probably a case of Mattel wanting to differentiate the Intellivision from toys in general? The system was marketed as something to take more seriously than the VCS, so having kiddie games such as a "micro machines" styled Hot Wheels or Barbie game would have gone against the grain that way.

 

Not sure how many girls were ever into Intellivision either and again, I'd guess very, very few compared to more "friendly" pick up and play systems like the VCS. Though perhaps some kind of Barbie game might have helped to attract more girls at the time. A game where using the keypad, they could change outfits, hairstyles, customize and drive around in the Barbie car and do whatever else Barbie does. And then the second player could have been Ken. Or maybe Barbie could have been running around or searching for Ken in her pink car. haha Lots of different ideas for a Barbie game which does beg the question... why not?

 

A Hot Wheels game could have been similar, where your goal was to collect various cars, change the paint, tires, etc. And then race around different tracks ala Auto Racing. Or imagine a little side view racer like Excite Bike, but with loop-de-loops, customizable track, etc. Now that would have been fun!

[+Lathe26]

Don't quote me, but I recall hearing / reading somewhere that the Mattel toy department was a bigger pain for the Mattel Electronics department to work with versus working with outside companies. This slowed down developing games based off of Mattel toys.

[CMR]

There was that He-Man game that was pretty fun.

[carlsson]

Yes, I've also read that Mattel Electronics was a somewhat distant subsidiary to the rest of Mattel when it comes to intellectual properties and so on, and most probably "ME" would have paid as much license fees to use Barbie, Hot Wheels etc as they had to pay to use other external IP.

 

The Barbie game save2600 describes kind of exists, but for the C64. In this game by Epyx, Ken calls Barbie to ask her out to various places and she has to rush around to get the proper clothes, hair and accessories appropriate for the occasion. If she fails, Ken gets upset, the screen goes black and you have to restart. IIRC, Ken prefers Barbie in a bikini all the time no matter if they're going to the beach, to a restaurant or a concert. The "going black" by some people is thought to reference that Ken gives her a good beating for not obeying to his commands, though I don't know if it fits well into the Barbieverse having a demanding, somewhat aggressive boyfriend.

[mr_me]

In it's first few years Mattel Electronics was just a brand within Mattel Toys. In those early days I doubt anyone working on intellivision cartridges could have conceived a video game for Barbie. Those early games were based on real world concepts, and Barbie wouldn't have looked good in Intellivision graphics. The Auto Racing cartridge wouldn't have fit the "closer to the real thing" approach with Hot Wheels branding. There's some evidence that Mattel was working on USAC licensing. The MOTU and hanna barbara licenses came very late in the life of Mattel Electronics, and I'm not sure if they were even a good idea. Motu was very popular and the license might have done well with younger children but also put off older kids. By that time Mattel Electronics was nearing the end anyway.

[Rev]

I'm sure a Barbie game would have been Rev's favourite

How did you arrive at this conclusion.

[+BBWW]

Doing so certainly would have been alot cheaper than licensing properties like Hanna-Barbara, Kool-Aid Man, etc.

 

 

Kool-Aid Man - another Intellivision first "A Product Placement in a video game." Kool-Aid Man was a cross marketing tool. They didn't pay for that, they were sort of paid to do it.

[+cmart604]

How did you arrive at this conclusion.

Because you like My Little Ponies and Hello

Kitty! so it's not much of a stretch

[+intellivotion]

How did you arrive at this conclusion.

because of your enthusiasm for My Little Pony

[+save2600]

[Rev]

Because you like My Little Ponies and Hello

Kitty! so it's not much of a stretch

But Unlucky Pony Adventures is being released just for you.

[+cmart604]

But Unlucky Pony Adventures is being released just for you.

This form of internet bullying is unacceptable

[carlsson]

The other way around, didn't someone spot a Barbie setup where they were playing a miniature Intellivision? Perhaps it was fan made, not part of Mattel's advertising.

[+intellivotion]

Because you like My Little Ponies and Hello

Kitty! so it's not much of a stretch

because of your enthusiasm for My Little Pony

I swear I hadn't seen cmart's comment when I posted mine. Actually everybody knows that Rev loves My Little Pony. I'm expecting we will get an adult only game inspired by that infamous franchise one day (My Little Porny?)

[carlsson]

For those who rarely leave the safe harbour of Intellivision, it could be noted that Adventure Ponies was ported to the Atari XL/XE computers just recently.

[+BBWW]

It always ends up at fun bags and ponies. You guys are just sick. I may hang out in the PRGE garage doing unsavory things for my collection, however you guys are just twisted!

[+cmart604]

I swear I hadn't seen cmart's comment when I posted mine. Actually everybody knows that Rev loves My Little Pony. I'm expecting we will get an adult only game inspired by that infamous franchise one day (My Little Porny?)

Great minds think alike

[Rev]

I swear I hadn't seen cmart's comment when I posted mine. Actually everybody knows that Rev loves My Little Pony. I'm expecting we will get an adult only game inspired by that infamous franchise one day (My Little Porny?)

Pervert

[dpisacane]

It was mentioned on the Intellivisionaries a few times that the main reason was that working with Mattel was a nightmare, so Mattel Electronics opted to pursue outside licensing deals instead.

 

This was brought up by a few former Mattel Electronics employees including, I believe, Keith Robinson.

 

I also seem that remember that Auto Racing was actually initially conceived as a Hot Wheels game, but they abandoned the idea when they found how difficult it would be to work with the IP holders, amusingly.

 

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[Pixelboy]

The "going black" by some people is thought to reference that Ken gives her a good beating for not obeying to his commands, though I don't know if it fits well into the Barbieverse having a demanding, somewhat aggressive boyfriend.

Ah, so that's where Fifty Shades of Grey came from...

[mr_me]

I haven't seen any evidence that mattel wanted hot wheels branding for the auto racing cartridge. There was one magazine that insisted on calling the cartridge "usac auto racing" even after it was released. Mattel electronics' experience with motu was in 1983, auto racing was released in 1980.