Intellivision: Intelligent Television. M-Network: Mattel Network. 2 Names (one company) associated with early console gaming. Introduced in 1979, one neat feature of the console were the very awkward controllers/keypads (which in some models were hard-wired into the console but in later models were separate; i have both types in my own personal collection). This controller/keypad was mimicked (though not copied, exactly) in other consoles of the time: Colecovision, Atari 5200, etc. I think the Colecovision did it best (and were of better quality than most).
Problem # 1: Instead of using keys or buttons labled "Option", "Select", "Reset", or "Start" you had odd combinations to select and or start games "press {1-x} for number of players", "Press # for options or start", "Press * for start or options" - There was hardly any consistency.
Problem #2: Most games required only a single fire button. Again consistency was a problem: which of the 4 buttons on the side was your main firing button? Which button used the secondary fire button and why weren't they always in the same place?
Problem #3: Didn't matter if you were left handed or right handed, holding the controller for action packed or action intense (which most games were) proved to be awkward, difficult, and sometimes painful.
Problem #4: While programmers found intelligent and creative ways to surpass the limits of it's nearest competitor: the Atari 2600 (the Colecovision wasn't introduced until 1982), the Intellivsion still lacked in this area. Don't get me wrong: I thought then as I still think today that the Intellivision was an amazing piece of machine. I just find it un-fortunate that at the time there wasn't development for it like there were for other machines. By the time the crash happened in late 1983, there were games for the Atari 2600 (and even late-comer Colecovision) which were mind blowing while games for the Intellivision were still using 1970's style block-graphics. Don't believe me? Look at the few games that were ported from the Intellivision to the Atari 2600: same block style graphics while other game developers at the time were pushing the limits of the 2600 and going beyond what the machine was designed to do.
Other than these few issues, I don't have much to gripe about the Intellivision. Although I would liked to have seen if more non-action, solitaire-style games were developed for this console (or even built into); namely because for these types of games is where the controllers fit like a glove. Action games, not so much.
Do you think gaming history has been un-fair to the Intellivision or was the machine's demise a product of its design?
