Alright. I think I am going to have to call an official moratorium on rebooted vintage video game consoles when Intellivision, which last put out a console in 1982 (Intellivision III — yes, there were three iterations of it), announces they too are making a comeback.
It’s bad enough that today I had to read about Atari beginning to take pre-orders of their “new” VCS or Ataribox, which they are calling “retro-inspired, but not a ‘retro-box’.” Whatever.
Now, in addition to that, the NES “Classic,” the SNES “Classic,” and the new Sega Mega Drive Mini, a miniature Sega Genesis, we’re getting another Intellivision? No. Just. No. Sorry, we have to draw the line somewhere, people.
Oh well. It’s happening, like it or not.
Intellivision® Entertainment is proud to announce that it will bring the concept of SIMPLE, AFFORDABLE, FAMILY & FUN back into homes across the world with the introduction of a brand new home video game console. The original Intellivision system generated many “firsts” in the video game industry including the first 16-bit gaming machine, the first gaming console to offer digital distribution, the first to bring speech/voice to games, the first to license professional sports leagues and organizations and the first to be a dedicated game console and home computer.
This time they are not “first.”
Details of the new console will be released on October 1, 2018 and followers can subscribe to updates at www.IntellivisionEntertainment.com. The first 100,000 people to sign up on the website will get the exclusive opportunity to purchase a special and unique Limited Edition version of the console which will not be made available in stores.
Other important “reasons” for the return of Intellivision include…
• The Intellivision was the first video game console that had a built in PAUSE feature.
• The very first video game to have speech/voice was the 1979 Intellivision release of Major League Baseball.
• Intellivision was the first console which incorporated professional sports licensing for its sports games, the boxes were emblazoned with official logos from Major League Baseball (MLB), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA), North American Soccer League (NASL), Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), American Backgammon Players Association (ABPA), the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and the U.S. Ski Team.
• 30 years ahead of its time, the Intellivision was the very first game console to offer digital distribution of video games through the PlayCable service. The PlayCable adapter connected to the Intellivision cartridge port and allowed the downloading of games through a cable TV subscription. New York Yankee legend and Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle was the TV and print ad spokesmen for the product which was released in 1981.
• With the release of the Keyboard Component, Intellivision became the first video game system that was able to be used and turned into a home computer.
• The Intellivision game Utopia© was the very first “real time strategy” and city building/god game.
• Intellivision was responsible for the first “Console War” when it launched a national ad campaign against then rival Atari®, by using side-by-side comparisons with journalist George Plimpton as its spokesman.
Ah, yes. Good ole George.