pixelatedharmony Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Howdy! Longtime lurker, first time poster. I hope this isn’t too “Reddit” of a discussion topic but I genuinely feel I needed a higher echelon of dedication to/knowledge of the console. I am a lifelong retro gamer, (thanks Uncle Fred!) and I like to share my hobby with my girlfriend in the hopes that a game will stick and get her deeper into the hobby with me. She’s stated that she would like to go halfsies with me on retro consoles with me but doesn’t want to just throw money at whichever retro bee is burning my bonnet that week. Which brings me to the ColecoVision. It’s been for sale at my adored local game store all year, for 90$ in a semi-crappy box with a controller. I’m enthralled by it but I know GF would be less than impressed by the external look. I have played a lot of Intellivision and Atari 2600/7800, but I’ve never played or collected ColecoVision. What are some good points to bring when I suggest it to her? I’ve got a few lined up but I don’t feel like they tip the scales. Pros: Not very expensive Novel experience They also have an assortment of games we could try (I can go back and check them out but there were quite a few today) Cons: Box is kinda crappy Weird controller ”but, why this one tho” Final notes about gf: she likes cute games, funky weird unique things, and simulation games. Doesn’t have a lot of patience to figure games out, likes them to just work or at least be immediately engaging. picture is the unit in question, Intellivision seen next to it has sadly been sold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Ever see trouble on the horizon? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelatedharmony Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 7 minutes ago, Omega-TI said: Ever see trouble on the horizon? No, things are pretty good! Stable enough that we can at least invest in a ColecoVision together ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolRetroGamer Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Buy games you like for you, and let her buy the games she likes for herself. If the games happen to intersect, great - but don't expect that to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelatedharmony Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 9 minutes ago, ls650 said: Buy games you like for you, and let her buy the games she likes for herself. If the games happen to intersect, great - but don't expect that to happen. Well, yeah, I just wanted some advice from people who love this system on why it’s worth investing some love into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Well the wife was an avid arcade goer in the 90's. But totally dislikes the clutter'n'sprawl associated with home consoles. The wires, the dust, the multitude of accessories and piles of cartridges. It wasn't until many years later when I set-up a tiny STB full of emulators that she took a liking to vintage consoles and arcade games. We don't play games together too much because interests are very diverse and separate. Sounds boring? No. It makes for cross-discovery of new games on platforms one of us may have never thought to try. I mean sure there's two-player games like Combat and Slot Racers and the early VCS library, those remain favorites. Gaming is a highly personal experience, that's why there's hundreds of thousands to pick from. Everyone likes something different. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, pixelatedharmony said: Well, yeah, I just wanted some advice from people who love this system on why it’s worth investing some love into. To answer this directly.. I had a CV early on, it was (IIRC) my third or fourth cartridge-based system. It was from a time when graphics were hinting that they could be as good as the arcade. A big stink for me. A time when memory in cartridges was become more dense. Rom chips 24K and 32K in size were YUGE! That was like half the memory of a 48K/64K Apple II at the time. And I was experiencing all kinds of greatness in that ecosphere. It was also from a time when it was still possible to have a rather complete collection of a system without breaking the bank. And it still had a rather distinct personality. Very different from the Atari VCS, which was different from the Intellivision. So adding a CV to one's home arcade was worthwhile. I don't ever recall chasing after specifications (beyond cartridge rom size) or knowing if it had any technological advantages above and beyond what my other consoles offered. But the flavor of games were still action oriented, slower than the VCS, faster than Intellivision, but most importantly a different flavor. A different ambiance. Very little was copycat. Sure there cross-system ports but that wasn't a main theme. Coleco's "arcade" oriented marketing and licensing really had an impact on us kids back then. And we felt special playing their games. A contrasting example would've been something like going from an Atari 400/800 to a 600XL/800XL or 65XE/130XE. All the same flavor. Anyways it all adds up to being a memorable system from a time when consoles had distinct personalities. Edited December 30, 2020 by Keatah 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rietveld Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 6 hours ago, pixelatedharmony said: Howdy! Longtime lurker, first time poster. I hope this isn’t too “Reddit” of a discussion topic but I genuinely feel I needed a higher echelon of dedication to/knowledge of the console. I am a lifelong retro gamer, (thanks Uncle Fred!) and I like to share my hobby with my girlfriend in the hopes that a game will stick and get her deeper into the hobby with me. She’s stated that she would like to go halfsies with me on retro consoles with me but doesn’t want to just throw money at whichever retro bee is burning my bonnet that week. Which brings me to the ColecoVision. It’s been for sale at my adored local game store all year, for 90$ in a semi-crappy box with a controller. I’m enthralled by it but I know GF would be less than impressed by the external look. I have played a lot of Intellivision and Atari 2600/7800, but I’ve never played or collected ColecoVision. What are some good points to bring when I suggest it to her? I’ve got a few lined up but I don’t feel like they tip the scales. Pros: Not very expensive Novel experience They also have an assortment of games we could try (I can go back and check them out but there were quite a few today) Cons: Box is kinda crappy Weird controller ”but, why this one tho” Final notes about gf: she likes cute games, funky weird unique things, and simulation games. Doesn’t have a lot of patience to figure games out, likes them to just work or at least be immediately engaging. picture is the unit in question, Intellivision seen next to it has sadly been sold 'ladybug' is a cute game and could become her nick name 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelatedharmony Posted December 30, 2020 Author Share Posted December 30, 2020 49 minutes ago, rietveld said: 'ladybug' is a cute game and could become her nick name Galaxy brain move, I love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 My advice would be two-fold: 1) Have her try a few ColecoVision games under emulation, just to see if she likes them. I'd recommend Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Pepper II and Venture. Then show her a "Top 10" YouTube video to let her see at a glance what other good games the console offers. 2) Invest into an AtariMax Ultimate SD Cartridge, so that you can play pretty much all the games on real hardware without the clutter of a large cartridge collection. Then to seal the deal, let her know that there are actually more homebrew games than legacy commercial games on the system. And many homebrews are available as ROM files, so again, the AtariMax cart comes in handy. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIAD Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 I second what Pixelboy said. Buy a CV system and preferrably one that has been completely refurbished, modded with at least Composite Video and therefore tested. Check out Ruggers Customs... I think that’s the name. Buy the AtariMax Ultimate SD MultiCart from www.atarimax.com and download HUNDREDS of available rom image files for free from www.cvaddict.com. This route WILL be more expensive but you are guaranteed to get a good working system and have 98-99% of the games and demos made for the CV... there has to be boardering on 1,000 unique CV rom image files that you can use with the AtariMax. Using an emulator to test the waters will be the best thing you can do before investing your hard earned $$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 8 hours ago, pixelatedharmony said: Well, yeah, I just wanted some advice from people who love this system on why it’s worth investing some love into. Colecovision kicks total ass. These are the games off the top of my head: Donkey Kong Dk Jr Its only Rock n Roll Oil's Well Pepper 2 LadyBug MouseTrap Tarzan WarGames WarRoom Fortune Builder Antarctic Adventure Buck Rogers Campaign 84 Choplifter Frenzy GORF Gyruss Smurf Rescue BC'S Quest for Tires BC'S Quest for Tires 2 Tapper WingWar The Dam Busters Gulkave Girls Garden Rocky Thats for back in the day, last 2 are new games that work on standard Colecovision. Today's games are f@#$%in awesome but you need a Super Game Module.... or the Collectorvision Phoenix console that has it built in to play em Prisoner of War R-Type Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death Sydney Hunter and the sacred tribe people Tank Mission Zombie Near Operation Wolf Dragon's Lair Galaga PacMan Literally so many more........ I recommend AtariMax colecovision SD cart. Put all games on 1 cart. It can take SGM games but you still need the module. You can find most new SGM games free on the Team PixelBoys News Bulletin every Christmas from 2013-2020.....there are also non SGM games to download. The AtariMax cart for Colecovision is expensive, but a must have. Colecovision is an excellent console, but you gotta spend a little money to make the experience truly awesome. Joysticks kind of suck, not the best so you would want to get the RetroGameBoyz Colecovision gamepad and adaptor to still be able to use Keypad at same time. Games for the most part are cheap but you can download alot of the new games free plus all of the old ones free so the AtariMax cart makes sense. You can buy the console cheap, put up with the shit controller and get cheap games....but there is an entire new world you're missing out on. What ever you buy isnt the final representation of what it is today. Sydney Hunter alone to me is worth upgrading. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledown Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 Like most have said, the ColecoVision is a great system, and has a bunch of great games...all of which look/play better than their 2600/Intellivision counterparts, when applicable. Like any piece of electronics that is pushing 38 years old, there can be issues with the original hardware, including the controllers. There are persons that can refurbish/upgrade your hardware if needed (I used to, years ago, others do currently), and then there are also those who can straight up sell you a complete refurbished/upgraded unit. As said by most, the AtariMax cart is pretty much the way to go for games, which can/will save you both money and clutter in the long run...assuming you're not into the "collecting" aspect of it...and are only interested in playing the games. But note, that some modern homebrews will require the Super Game Module (SGM) from OpcodeGames. Many people have issues with the original Hand Controllers and the Super Action Controllers. Most issues stem from them being old, and simply not working 100% properly...which are of course normally repairable. Others flat out find them non-ergonomic and/or uncomfortable. Several options are available with regards to controllers, from Atari 2600 controllers that will work with most games (that only require 1 button, and then the keypad is used from a controller plugged into Port 2, or plugged into Port 1 via a wye cable), to inexpensive gamepads made for the ColecoVision (but still lack a keypad, thus are not fully functional) that can be had on ebay, to full-function and true arcade controllers. Assume it's like any other hobby, you can get into it for a few dollars, or you can cash in your birthday bonds and go hog wild. The choice is yours. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 1 hour ago, sn8k said: Today's games are f@#$%in awesome but you need a Super Game Module.... or the Collectorvision Phoenix console that has it built in to play em Prisoner of War R-Type Sydney Hunter and the Caverns of Death Sydney Hunter and the sacred tribe people Tank Mission Zombie Near Operation Wolf Dragon's Lair Galaga PacMan In this list there are game that do no require SGM nor a Phoenix In addition you have lot of Today's game that do not require the SGM nor a Phoenix. You should show you girl friend Cabbage Patch Kid , it is very cute game. Vidéo-in Game ~ Cabbage Patch Kids : Adventures in the Park (ColecoVision) - YouTube 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 1 hour ago, youki said: In this list there are game that do no require SGM nor a Phoenix In addition you have lot of Today's game that do not require the SGM nor a Phoenix. You should show you girl friend Cabbage Patch Kid , it is very cute game. Vidéo-in Game ~ Cabbage Patch Kids : Adventures in the Park (ColecoVision) - YouTube Well do you want to spend $300 on an SGM because of scalpers or get a phoenix console for the same price that has an SGM? And yeah obviously not everything i said needs an SGM or a phoenix but most of the new games I mentioned do need it aswell as upcoming Dracula's Castle. So yeah, FOR MAXIMUM ENJOYMENT, LIKE I SAID, YOU WANT AN SGM OR A PHOENIX THAT HAS ONE BUILT IN. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 1 hour ago, youki said: In this list there are game that do no require SGM nor a Phoenix In addition you have lot of Today's game that do not require the SGM nor a Phoenix. You should show you girl friend Cabbage Patch Kid , it is very cute game. Vidéo-in Game ~ Cabbage Patch Kids : Adventures in the Park (ColecoVision) - YouTube And yeah, you can play Tank Mission without an SGM, but it looks like shit. Anything else you want to correct me on? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 1 hour ago, youki said: In this list there are game that do no require SGM nor a Phoenix In addition you have lot of Today's game that do not require the SGM nor a Phoenix. You should show you girl friend Cabbage Patch Kid , it is very cute game. Vidéo-in Game ~ Cabbage Patch Kids : Adventures in the Park (ColecoVision) - YouTube Mecha 8 and 9 need it too. I dont know what other games can be played on regular CV but are upgraded for SGM. Tank Mission is night and day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 5 minutes ago, sn8k said: Mecha 8 and 9 need it too. I dont know what other games can be played on regular CV but are upgraded for SGM. Tank Mission is night and day. I think enhanced, not required. But i always want enhanced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dutch Colecovision Fan Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 16 minutes ago, sn8k said: Well do you want to spend $300 on an SGM because of scalpers or get a phoenix console for the same price that has an SGM? And yeah obviously not everything i said needs an SGM or a phoenix but most of the new games I mentioned do need it aswell as upcoming Dracula's Castle. So yeah, FOR MAXIMUM ENJOYMENT, LIKE I SAID, YOU WANT AN SGM OR A PHOENIX THAT HAS ONE BUILT IN. You don't have to pay $ 300 for a SGM (Super Game Module from Opcode games), there is a sixth run coming. The fifth run was $ 90. You can subscibe for the sixth run if you want to. https://opcodegames.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ef7be83c593bc1d831a827842&id=8ed2c58e0f The Phoenix is a complete replacement for the original Colecovision plus it has the features of a SGM. Also a great choice. Question is: do you want to have the original console specifically? If you do then follow the advice that Pixelboy has given you (and Youki was quicker with Cabbage Patch Kids than I am?). Does your GF like for instance shooter games or RPG's? Believe me, when you get to know more about what has been developed for the Colecovision for the past 20 years you will be sold for the rest of your life! Join the club(s)! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 54 minutes ago, sn8k said: And yeah, you can play Tank Mission without an SGM, but it looks like shit. Anything else you want to correct me on? In your list there are at least Zombie Near and Pacman collection that does not require SGM And i think also the 2 Sydney Hunter also. For Mecha 8 and 9 as far i know the only difference with the SGM is just the music which sound a little better. But there is a long list of Today's games that do not require SGM. the SGM add nothing to the colecovision except more RAM and new sound ship. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 1 hour ago, youki said: .... i think also the 2 Sydney Hunter also. All Sydney Hunter games works on a plain vanilla ColecoVision No special hardware required 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 1 hour ago, retroillucid said: All Sydney Hunter games works on a plain vanilla ColecoVision No special hardware required Seriously?!?!? I thought it looked as good as it did because of SGM. Thats nuts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8k Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 3 hours ago, youki said: In your list there are at least Zombie Near and Pacman collection that does not require SGM And i think also the 2 Sydney Hunter also. For Mecha 8 and 9 as far i know the only difference with the SGM is just the music which sound a little better. But there is a long list of Today's games that do not require SGM. the SGM add nothing to the colecovision except more RAM and new sound ship. You learn something new everyday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted December 30, 2020 Share Posted December 30, 2020 1 minute ago, sn8k said: Seriously?!?!? I thought it looked as good as it did because of SGM. Thats nuts. SGM only provides more RAM and more channel for music It doesn't enhanced graphics 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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