are we really sure the Intellivision only sold 3 million

[thetick1]

On 4/25/2020 at 9:05 PM, ASalvaro said:

i had every system on this list in 1984 except the C64 which i got in 1988 

I guess you were one of rich privileged kids.  Outside of school I was not allowed to play or even socialize with the rich kids.  Times were much different growing up in the lste 70's and early 80's.

Edited May 8, 2020 by thetick1

[ASalvaro]

14 hours ago, thetick1 said:

I guess you were one of rich privileged kids.  Outside of school I was not allowed to play or even socialize with the rich kids.  Times were much different growing up in the lste 70's and early 80's.

naw not rich more like spoiled only child lol 

[BSRSteve]

On 5/4/2020 at 1:07 PM, ASalvaro said:

crash or no crash i think that would have been too much product..i mean Intellivision 2 in 1983,Intellivision 3 in 1983 and Intellivision 4 in 1985 wow..i mean i would have loved it but i think that would have been way too much for the consumers 

Intellivision II was just an update to Intellivision I.  If 3 had come out in 83, 4 would have come out later than 85, probably. It was code-named "Decade", so maybe that implies the intent.

[MarioMan88]

On 4/24/2020 at 3:39 PM, Tommy Tallarico said:

 

Agreed!   Intellivision owned 20% of the home video game market in the early 80's (some even go as high as 25%, but I always take the more conservative number).

 

But as we all know (who were around and playing back then)... everyone KNEW about Intellivision and more than likely were playing one over a friends or cousins/uncle/aunt's house at some point.  It was super expensive as we all know and I didn't know a single person who had BOTH Atari & Intellivision.  Very different from what the industry and economy is like today.

 

 

Yea my parents bought us an APF at first and my brother and I played it till we probably bugged them so much they bought us an Atari. We always wondered where the APF ended up. 
 

Later my brother, with his own grass cutting money, bought an Intellivision. Families surely didn’t have 2 consoles back then, but my brother always bought other systems like the INTV and C64. I always was happy to have an older brother who gamed. Just didn’t like the beat downs I would get!

[5200Fanatic]

It was fairly rare to see in someone's home unless they were well off, and fairly expensive. The 2600 wasn't cheap either but less than the Intellivision. 

[MrPix]

They only made four Intellivisions. Everything after that was the result of a highly successful selective breeding program.

[thetick1]

On 5/30/2020 at 10:49 PM, MrPix said:

They only made four Intellivisions. Everything after that was the result of a highly successful selective breeding program.

Otherwise known as merchandising!!!  Re-branded Intellivisions are not as cool as Spaceballs The Flame Thrower.  The kids love it!

 

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by thetick1

[Walter Ives]

On 4/26/2020 at 11:03 PM, BSRSteve said:

Upon further review, the Intellivision III (upgraded STIC but otherwise pretty compatible) was aimed at 1983, but it wasn't the crash that killed it. We made lots of money in 1982, and an early 1983 release could have happened if it had been ready (maybe it would have stopped us from sinking so much money in the Aquarius). The Intellivison IV (which might have ended up as Intellivision III) was probably aimed more at 1985, or maybe late 1984, but the crash did affect that by mid-1983.

Nope. There was no way the Intellivision III could have been completed by early 1983 and that was never the plan. The project wasn't green-lit until August 1982 after which the STIC 1b chip had to be specified, designed, emulated, laid out, tested and fabricated. For comparison, the STIC 1a chip was green-lit in February 1982 and operational by June 1983. Going into 1982 the products Mattel was pinning its hopes on for 1983 were Intellivision II and the ECS. The Intellivision II was to use the CP1610A and STIC1a chips, the same ones Valeski eventually used on his INTV88 boards, but it was decided to speed up product introduction by using the old chipset and making the transition to the new chips as a transparent running change. It was only because of that shortcut that the first Intellivision II's were able hit store shelves in early 1983. The ECS, development of which started in mid-1981, didn't actually hit store shelves until December 1983, two-and-a-half years after development started, and made no impression whatsoever when it did. Mattel spent 1982 and 1983 in an all-out effort to produce software for the Intellivoice, the ECS, the Aquarius and other manufacturer's systems. In order to do so it neglected the making of new games for its installed base, strategically leaving that market segment to Imagic and Activision.

 

On 4/26/2020 at 11:03 PM, BSRSteve said:

... maybe it would have stopped us from sinking so much money in the Aquarius.

Nope. Radofin was pitching the Aquarius to Mattel before Intellivision III was green-lit. Compared to the Keyboard Component, the Aquarius was going to be a joy to manufacture. Prodromou was absolutely googly-eyed over it and showered resources on it commensurate with his enthusiasm. Marketing was given over to Bill Gillis, who was going to use his strong outgoing personality to power it to success. Even though Mattel private-labeled Radofin's existing design, it took until May 1983 for the first Aquarii to appear in the Chicago test market. Chicago was chosen so that Summer CES attendees could be wowed by the product's reception. They were.

 

On 4/26/2020 at 11:03 PM, BSRSteve said:

he Intellivison IV (which might have ended up as Intellivision III) was probably aimed more at 1985, or maybe late 1984, but the crash did affect that by mid-1983.

Decade could not possibly have been ready before the 1985 Christmas season. With its 68000, huge custom graphics chip, 64K DRAM, full keyboard, modem and peripherals it was more home computer *cough Keyboard Component cough* than game console and would have had to have been sold at a commensurately higher price-point. Mattel management was beginning to get the idea that game consoles and home computers were two separate market segments and expected the two to co-exist, with Intellivision III being the higher volume product. The two products wouldn't compete for the same buyers. Well, except that an ECS-like add-on with DRAM was being prepared for the Intellivision III. Sure, why not.

 

On 5/4/2020 at 1:07 PM, ASalvaro said:

crash or no crash i think that would have been too much product..i mean Intellivision 2 in 1983,Intellivision 3 in 1983 and Intellivision 4 in 1985 wow..i mean i would have loved it but i think that would have been way too much for the consumers 

To the contrary: it was becoming apparent that Mattel had to have something major new every year to keep the upstarts like Coleco from sneaking in and stealing its thunder.

 

On 5/8/2020 at 1:11 PM, BSRSteve said:

Intellivision II was just an update to Intellivision I.  If 3 had come out in 83, 4 would have come out later than 85, probably. It was code-named "Decade", so maybe that implies the intent.

Chandler code named the project "Decade" because he was designing a system he expected would have a ten-year life.