| Michael Danehy |
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Reply with quote | #16 |
Alienblue is dead on about the 2600's versatility. Nobody would have dreamed based on the crude early software that even polished titles such as "River Raid" would have been possible, let alone the likes of "Solaris". Compare Intellivision's "Space Spartans" to "Solaris" and which is more impressive... voice capabilities aside.
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| | | The Video Game Critic |
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Reply with quote | #17 |
Intellivision has always impressed me with its graphics and sophistication, but the 2600 has always seemed more fun for some reason. Maybe because the controllers don't hurt your hands after 15 minutes.
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| | | NixonTech2071 |
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Reply with quote | #18 |
I prefer having both if you ask me (I dont want this to bcome a "fanboy" potential battle) |
| | | soporj |
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Reply with quote | #19 |
Quote: Originally Posted by zenzerotron
The INTV doesn't have homebrews, that I know of. If that's the case, then the INTV is truely dead.
As I stated above, the INTV does have homebrew games.
4-Tris (Tetris clone), Stonix (Arkanoid clone), Minehunter, Same Game & Robots, and Space Patrol (Moon Patrol clone...just released)!
I wish the Critic would review these...especially Stonix!
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| | | N64Dude |
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Reply with quote | #20 |
Atari 2600,but i understand Guy,as I am an N64 person who is on a forum where most people prefer the PlayStation over the N64 even though the system only has maybe 10 real games
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| | | Bruce |
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Reply with quote | #21 |
The Intellivision had some innovative games for its day (Utopia is a good example) but the 2600 is the winner for me.
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| | | missingno |
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Reply with quote | #22 |
I wouldn't rule out either. They both have wonderful games. Despite Intellivision does have lacking controllers, it still has an incredible library much like the 2600. They're both great, IMO.
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| | | PoohBah |
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Reply with quote | #23 |
I collect both now, but I grew up with Intellivision so I am completely biased in its favor.
I brought out my original INTV tonight, my 4 year old daughter beat my 7 year old son in Frog Bog twice. She was thrilled, she's never won at anything before! Then we played Las Vegas Poker and Blackjack. My son schooled me in Blackjack big time.
I love old school games!
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| | | Harmik |
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Reply with quote | #24 |
I remember when I first sore the Intellivision it was at a MYER store kind of like your SEARS, after many months of nagging my Dad for a 2600 I finally got one for my birthday or christmas can't remember which.
Any way about 2 months later Intellivision came out and I sore it at the Myer's store. It had one of the demo carts in it the one with Armour Battle, Football & Poker & Blackjack . I thought the thing was alive the way it was demoing each game. The guy at the store knew I had just got the 2600 and made fun of me saying how much better it was. I tell you my jaw dropped and my heart sank and I think I even cried a bit and felt depressed. Everyone I knew back then thought it was so much better.
Today I have both and many more, and love them all but the Intellivision would have to be my favorite. 
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| | | macDLSA |
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Reply with quote | #25 |
Hi , I'm Marco from Italy , "atarian-sided" since YEARS ...
This is a little (!) article I wrote for an italian forum , so SORRY for the translation 
>
As already announced I am going to rekindle an old debate that may seem very similar to others already addressed several times here, but it has, in effect, its own "soul".
Something transcendental, especially for someone like me who lived it firsthand. I almost see myself on the side that, of course, I considered "fair" and that it was really "fair" also right now, in effect.
You could feel a sort of pride and satisfaction in my post, but I promise that I will try with all my strength to maintain control and assume a neutral position as much as possible. And if you see "little satire comments" ... I'm sure you'll understand!
In 1977 Atari started the U.S. market, enough already "full" of video games consoles such as the Magnavox Odyssey, the Fairchild Channel F l , RCA Studio II and all their various "clones", with its "REAL" interchangeable cartridges game console .
The Video Computer System, later renamed "2600".
Before long this new console "eclipsed" completely ALL of his opponents, strong in the mix of securities, game variety and an ad campaign certainly much of the most "get" in the history!
Clearly, given the 'huge success of Atari, other giants electronics and games companies "sniffed" the deal ... so here is that in 1979 Mattel marketed its "Intelligent Television", more commonly called "Intellivision".
Mattel, which immediately began to well-sell its console, had confidence in his product and started a real battle of marketing, trying to counter in any way his most formidable rival ... even with spot untouched by the content of "low blows "...
... and that was WAR !!!
We begin to discuss a bit on HARDWARE of the two machines, remembering that the VCS mounted a CPU MOS Technology 6507 8-bit, with a clock of 1.19 MHz, video + audio processor TIA capable of a resolution of 160x192 pixel screen and 128 colors (128 on screen, up to 4 per line without the use of software tricks), 2 mono channels of audio, 1 generator, square wave, 1 white noise generator, memory (RAM Technology provided by MOS RIOT) of 128 bytes ( cartridges could provide a good / great deal of extra memory), ROM (game cartridges) with a maximum capacity of 4 kb (32 kb and that soon become even more through the exchange of benches ROM).
Intellivision was undoubtedly a more powerful machine, with its stronger 16-bit processor CP1610 (YEAH! ... You read right!) Of General Instruments, but working at a clock frequency equal to 894,886 kHz, 1352 bytes of RAM, 240 × 8-bit memory "Scratchpad", 352 × 16-bit (704 bytes) of system memory, 512 × 8-bit RAM for graphics, 7168 bytes of ROM memory, 4096 × 10 -bits (5120 bytes) of the system ROM, 2048 × 8-bit ROM memory dedicated to graphics, resolution of 192 pixels by 160 (Intellivision a pixel is 5 × 4 pixels of the TV, palette of 16 colors, all usable simultaneously and 8 on-screen sprite of size 8 × 8 or 8 × 16 bits that could be scaled down to 2 times horizontally and vertically by 2.4 or 8 times and be mirrored horizontally or vertically, 3-channel audio through GI AY-chip 3-8914 with a random noise generator.
CONTROLLER
The Atari 8-way joystick (ok, let's leave in the junkyard the various HORRIBLE "successors" that Atari "attach" in the packaging of the models of "redesigned" 2600 ...) and one button was fine for almost all games! Some others were designed to be played with other types of controllers, such as the "paddle" (Breakout), or by combining the joystick with a numeric keypad (Star Raiders) sold separately or included in certain game packs + controller (also Star Raiders).
[I recall that the outlet and plug of the Atari joystick were maintained and used for a very long time by several other companies such as Commodore for both of his absolute masterpieces which were the C-64 and Amiga.]
Mattel decided to give the Intellivision two "combined" controllers, each consisting of a numeric pad, 4 buttons and a 16-way (?? ?!!!!!!!!) directional disc (rather than a joystick, but a sort of precursor to the joypad) .
Several games Were developed that could exploit nearly the full potential of the controller (Space Spartans ... shameless clone of the atarian Star Raiders ...), but that controller ... ... ... ... compromise (it is also known by good percentage of Intellivision users !) blatantly the goodness of the Mattel project! Even with some kind of TERRIBLE adhesive sticks ... while the CBS used for its ColecoVision controller a real (MINI) joystick instead of the aforementioned uncomfortable disc!
ADD-ON DEVICES
Intellivision could also count on a number of add-ons (sold at dear price!) Such as the Voice sythesizer (used, for example, in the game "B17 Bomber"), the "Lucky" Computer Module, which transformed the inty in a home computer (MAH???!!!!!!!) and an Atari Adapter that allows, as the name implies, to play almost every title VCS directly based Mattel (toh?! ... Mattel that gives the "bribe" to Atari ?! Have you ever seen ...).
[ Brief aside: imagine that even a "sacred monster" such as CBS had to resort to the realization of such an adapter for its ColecoVision groped for increasing sales of the console, despite the undisputed major hardware capabilities, it is hard to "take off " as did VCS and Intellivision! (... Hehe ... other "bribe" for the Atari) ]
For the VCS was made available in 1982 by Starpath a module called Supercharger, consisting of a cartridge + a player / recorder audio cassettes. The system allows you to load into memory a few games, specially etched precisely on magnetic tape, with the look and feel, sound and playability / complexity considerably greater than any other construction cartridge game!
SOFTWARE
Paraphrasing as read on several sites "Atari-sided", I would say a fateful phrase that was used in an old Atari commercials:
"It's NOT enough having a superior hardware to do a good console"
[ this sentence will be repeated years later during other console wars ... anyone of you knows something ? ]
The Intellivision has available a catalog of games that has just under 130 titles, of which 25 are conversions of arcade games .
The VCS has a catalog of nearly a thousand titles, which may include almost one hundred arcade transpositions (included in this hundred, there are also the same 25 arcade titles that you can play even on Inty)
At first, Mattel surprised people with his console sports games like basketball and soccer, which had a much more detailed graphics than the games of the VCS, but soon Atari, with the "Supersports" line , somehow managed to counteract this shortcoming of its VCS and managed to bring back "at par" with Mattel regarding the sales of sports games.
Inty could also rely on different (beautiful, of course) strategy games, simulation and role (!!!), which made good use of the combinated controller . But for most of the Intellivision period of life strong market demand was strictly oriented towards the arcade division, leaving "in the corner" those games a bit 'more complex than "normal" shoot-jump-escape-blablabla ...
For all other securities "there really was history," ... apart from some sporadic cases (see the FANTASTIC and Bump'n Jump Burgertime Mattel, Dracula, White Water and Safecraker of Imagic) Mattel had inexorably succumb, overwhelmed by Atari "weight".
Even using those "low blows" in Marketing campaigns Mattel wasn't able to counter the VCS, which was then called the only console who survived the "collapse of video games" . Posts like "This is better than this," complete with pictures unashamedly confrontational classical writing (not too between the lines) "The pictures speak for themselves" lost the confrontation with all the commercials Atari, of which I mention one in particular:
"The competition does not stack the games"
Atari won also because the advertising campaign Matttel was unable to sell the advertised products.
... returning to what I had already more or less anticipated at the beginning of this very long post, the Atari VCS outperforming not only the Intellivision, but all the rival consoles, also acquiring the record of longest running console in history (the last model of 2600 dates back to 1991 ... 14 years in production !!!!!!!), overcoming, as mentioned, also the black period of video games, started in the USA with the crisis of 1983 (in Italy ... that has not felt right ... here we consider buying the console and cartridges and ... PLAY!) and finished only in 1985 with the introduction on the market by Nintendo that other gaming masterpiece that was the NintendoEntertainmentSystem.
This is what
<
I only wanted to do an exhaustive examination of a war between machines too obscured by younger 16-32-64-128 (...) bit buddies .
... hope I scored , 'cause I only wrote the TRUTH !
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