NOT Compatible with Intellivision 2 Systems?!

[mtshark7]

How come there were a few games that WERE NOT compatible with Intellivision 2 console?

 

Also, why weren't they compatible?

 

Thanks!

[vanderveen88]

Mattel specifically designed the Intellivision II so that certain Coleco games (Donkey Kong, Carnival, Mouse Trap and Venture) wouldn't work on it. However, this also had the unfortunate effect of making the system incompatible with one of their own titles: Electric Company Word Fun.

 

More information from the Blue Sky Rangers themselves: http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/hardware/intelli2_tech.html

[mtshark7]

Mattel specifically designed the Intellivision II so that certain Coleco games (Donkey Kong, Carnival, Mouse Trap and Venture) wouldn't work on it. However, this also had the unfortunate effect of making the system incompatible with one of their own titles: Electric Company Word Fun. More information from the Blue Sky Rangers themselves: http://www.intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/hardware/intelli2_tech.html

 

Awesome! Thanks for the info!

[mtshark7]

So I was testing my new Intellivision games I picked up and one was Carnival and that is one of the games that won't work on Intellivision 2 system. However, I own a INTV System III which is actually a Intellivision 2 from what I read online. So I popped in Carnival and the game worked?

 

How was it able to work in my version of Intellivision 2 when they can't?

 

Thanks!

[vanderveen88]

According to the Blue Sky Rangers site again, the INTV System III was actually based off the original model, so that explains why the Coleco games work on it.

 

http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/games/credits/intv.html

 

I recommend you look around that site further... lots of helpful information and fun trivia, and you'll probably find more of your questions answered there.

[mtshark7]

Ah Nice...thanks again vanderveen88

[IntellivisionGuy97]

Actually, I thought that the Coleco games didn't work because they changed this one thingy so that people couldn't make their own cartriges or something like that and it just resulted in coleco and some other games not working. I believe that a few of the games from Coleco work on the Intellivision 2. I have an INTV System 3 and Donkey Kong from Coleco, and it doesn't work on the INTV System 3, but it works on my Master Component. Maybe I was wrong about the thingy...

Edited September 30, 2011 by IntellivisionGuy97

[+DZ-Jay]

Actually, I thought that the Coleco games didn't work because they changed this one thingy so that people couldn't make their own cartriges or something like that and it just resulted in coleco and some other games not working. I believe that a few of the games from Coleco work on the Intellivision 2. I have an INTV System 3 and Donkey Kong from Coleco, and it doesn't work on the INTV System 3, but it works on my Master Component. Maybe I was wrong about the thingy...

 

You are actually quite correct. They changed some internal code to make games from third parties fail.

 

Do you remember the classic "Mattel Electronics Presents" screen on Intellivision games? That screen is built almost automatically by the Intellivision Executive program (the "operating system") and it was used by most of Mattel games. You give the Executive the name of your game and the last two digits of the year and it would display them as the title and copyright year, respectively.

 

Since the screen says "Copyright Mattel Electronics," third party developers tended to avoid it and create their own custom screens.

 

Well, what Mattel did with the Intellivision II was add code to the Executive when booting up the machine to explicitly look for the memory location where games put the two copyright digits, and crash if not found. Since games from Coleco and such did not use the traditional title screen, they had no reason to set up the copyright digits for it. Consequently they failed.

 

However, this did not affect only Coleco, but *all* games with a custom screen that bypassed the standard copyright routine, including some from Mattel itself!

 

As I understand it, Mattel was aware of this, but still thought that the "competitive advantage" was more important than full compatibility with earlier titles.

 

-dZ.

Edited September 30, 2011 by DZ-Jay

[Pbrook67]

So I was testing my new Intellivision games I picked up and one was Carnival and that is one of the games that won't work on Intellivision 2 system. However, I own a INTV System III which is actually a Intellivision 2 from what I read online. So I popped in Carnival and the game worked?

 

How was it able to work in my version of Intellivision 2 when they can't?

 

Thanks!

Howe do you own an Intellivision III?? I assumed from what I read they never came out for sale

[mr_me]

The INTV System III is a standard Intellivision introduced by INTV Corporation in 1985 and discontinued around 1990. It's similar to the original 2609 model but in black and silver and was also branded as the Intellivision Super Pro System. It is not the technically updated Mattel Intellivision III announced and cancelled in 1983.

Edited November 16, 2017 by mr_me

[mtshark7]

Yep what Mr Me said.

 

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