I have an INTV!

[psquare75]

Spent an hour or so playing Tron Deadly Discs and AD&D, not the first person one, the other one that's all green. Pretty hard. Daddy like.

 

 

WHAT THE CRAP. WHY ARE THE CORDS SO SHORT FOR THE CONTROLLERS? I dont think I've ever sat this close to my TV. My easy solution might be a small household extension cord on the unit, and a longer RF cord.. oh. and put the thing on the coffee table while in play?

[accousticguitar]

Yeah, those short cords are a nuisance all right.

[jaybird3rd]

If you ever look at old advertisements for the classic consoles, they always show the console set up on the floor or on a table near where the players are seated, far away from the television. That's probably how the Intellivision was intended to be used. The habit of setting the console close to the television and running very long cords to the players' controllers seems to be more recent, and I suppose one reason it came about is that modern A/V cables are more complex (and thus more difficult to stretch across the room) than the single RF cable that classic consoles used.

[BassGuitari]

Well, the controller cords had to be kind of short so they could fit all neatly into the system with the controllers. They're coiled though, so at least they can stretch a bit. But yeah, you'll have to keep your system pretty close by when you play. Colecovision's like that, too. Come to think of it, most classic game systems were like that. Not counting third-party controllers, it wasn't really until the NES, with its 112-foot controller cords, that players had the option to sit a comfortable distance from the machine without using some bulky, ridiculous-looking, questionably-reliable wireless remote joystick*.

 

What I don't understand is the reasoning behind the length (read: shortness) of the power cord; it's only, like, three freaking feet long. Not a big deal I guess, thanks to extension cords, but still, was Mattel banking on people playing Intellivision in a closet or something? Or people plugging their Intellivision into the outlet next to/behind the couch (the one the lamp is plugged into) rather than the one by the television?

 

Short cords and quirkiness aside, glad you like the games. There are plenty more!

 

(*Kind of off-topic, but this made me think of something: I have a theory that the way players interacted with game consoles themselves changed over time. Many early consoles had game-affecting controls and functions built right onto the system; the console was a sort of command center around which the game, gameplay, and players (who, naturally/necessarily located themselves near the machine) revolved. It made sense that in order to easily alter gameplay, the console would need to be nearby, convenient and accessible. When games became longer and more involved, and game options became software-driven instead of hardware-driven, the placement of the console in relation to the player became irrelevant, since the only interaction it now required was to have software inserted, be powered on, and be forgotten about. Systems like Intellivision and Colecovision fall somewhere in between, and represent the transition from console-centric interaction to software-centric interaction; all game options and parameters are software-driven and controlled by the controller, yet the console is still the heart of the game.)

[psquare75]

I think I can make this work, just.. wow. Oh. After playing Tron DD last night for awhile.. my hand feels funny today.

[Rev]

I think I can make this work, just.. wow. Oh. After playing Tron DD last night for awhile.. my hand feels funny today.

 

 

Glad to see you are playing your intv.it will take a while to get used to playing with this controller though.

 

 

Ive been thing how to re-wire the intv controllers with straight cord.i took one apart and it doesnt look to hard,we shall see.....

[psquare75]

Actually, BassGuitari, I know when I was younger and played Atari with my dad, it was always in the closet in one of those Tele-Games organizers. It'd come out and be set on the carpet, front and center of the TV. We'd sit on the floor and look up to the screen, never on the couch. So your theory is correct. After NES, we always sat on the couch.

 

And yes Rev, it's being used. I love the chocolate brown.

[SoulBlazer]

Actually, BassGuitari, I know when I was younger and played Atari with my dad, it was always in the closet in one of those Tele-Games organizers. It'd come out and be set on the carpet, front and center of the TV. We'd sit on the floor and look up to the screen, never on the couch. So your theory is correct. After NES, we always sat on the couch.

 

And yes Rev, it's being used. I love the chocolate brown.

 

Yeah, as a kid, I sat on the floor looking up at the TV to play my Atari 2600.

 

I think another two reasons could be:

1) Kids were the main users in mind with the early gaming system, and since kids are smaller, they probaly thought they would sit closer to the TV set, hence no need for long controller cords. That started changing around the NES so that adults could play also.

2) TV's were smaller in the late 70's/early 80's then they are now, hence the need to sit closer to them. How many folks had a 42 inch TV to play their Atari or INTV on back in the day?

[cparsley]

Wierd... we'd always play the INTV in the chairs, extension cords rocked and we used a long RF cable which had no problem bringing the system next to us, sitting on the table. We then each grab a controller and away we go.

 

And yes, in some games, we had to have the "PUT THE DANG controller down so you dont mess with the other player rule!" hehe

[Tr3vor]

If you ever look at old advertisements for the classic consoles, they always show the console set up on the floor or on a table near where the players are seated, far away from the television. That's probably how the Intellivision was intended to be used. The habit of setting the console close to the television and running very long cords to the players' controllers seems to be more recent, and I suppose one reason it came about is that modern A/V cables are more complex (and thus more difficult to stretch across the room) than the single RF cable that classic consoles used.

 

more reasons for longer controller cords and wireless

 

or maybe is for less mess. having one cord instead of two.

imagine if the xbox360 had no wireless, but 3 foot cords for controllers, imagine trying to pick up that half ton piece of junk and bringing it to the couch every time you want to play it. the intellivision and 2600 put together would not whiegh as much.