I know, I'm probably about 32 years late to the party, but I thought it might be a good idea to collect Intellivision games. I have watched a couple of videos and reviews of the console and it appealed to me a fair bit more than the Atari 2600 and Colecovision. Especially the IntelliVoice looks like a fun addon and it's not even expensive (like $25 CIB). With 125 games in total, it seems like a fairly reasonable system to start obtaining a complete collection. So please, freaks & knowledgable people, clear me up. What are the catches? Are there some games that are impossible to get, some that break the $1000 barrier, what makes collecting the Intellivision a pain in the ass? I'd like to know in advance before I start in case I really decide to get the first pre-NES-console in my life. There's no Intellivision logo so I'll go for the Super Cassette Vision one instead. A shared vision is better than no vision at all.
Intellivision is quite available in many markets. I got mine, plus the voice module, plus 12 boxed complete carts, plus a shoebox of unboxed carts - all for 80 pesos - which was like 7 dollars at the time, and would be like 5.50 dollars right now. Mind you, that's a very, VERY lucky trade. Still, I have bought loose cards for 10, 20 pesos. That might not be so easy today, though. When the "collectors" (scamming bitches who sell any old games on the Internet for a small fortune just because it's old) started flooding the flea markets, though, prices did go up a bit, and it was harder to find stuff. It made collecting less fun. The guides here could help, and even more so in your case because you are in Europe. (that is a link)
The Intellivision's a great system to collect for, since the extras that come with CIB (the overlays) are relevant to gameplay, and the library is generally very good and obtainable. I'm about 3/4 of the way to a complete collection, though I'm not collecting variants, educational games, or titles for the ECS. Loose is cheap and easy, but assuming you're aiming for a CIB collection, there are 10-12 games that break $100, and two that can break $1000 CIB: Congo Bongo, and Spiker! Super Pro Volleyball. The former sometimes goes for less, but the latter will seldom dip much below the $1k mark. Repro boxes for both have been made, if you just want to buy loose + manual (neither game had overlays) and save a thousand bucks or more. Otherwise, the most expensive games are the late INTV releases (mostly Super Pro sports titles), and the final or final-ish releases from companies that got nailed by the crash: Fathom by Imagic, Turbo by Coleco, Worm Whomper and River Raid by Activision, and Defender by Atari, plus the two non-US releases by Parker Bros. All of those range from $50-150 CIB, and only the Activision games are at the lower end of that spectrum. As for a console, any of them are good, but the Intellivision II is arguably the least desirable. It breaks a few games -- half of the Coleco library, and some versions of Slap Shot Super Pro Hockey, won't even start up on it. It has detachable controllers, but the buttons are unusual and many people don't like them. It also has a big wall wart, vs. the other systems' hardwired power cords, and the keypads are flat and don't offer tactile feedback. There's a really great guy on Atariage, cmart604, who's based in western Canada and has lots of extras that he's been selling/trading off. You might get in touch with him -- I'd gladly sell/trade you some Intellivision stuff as I have loads of extra commons, but if cmart has items for you, the postage from him would be far, far cheaper. BTW he's also made a thread of the top 25 rarest games, with pictures at the bottom of page 1. EDIT: Heck, he's in Vancouver -- you've got one of the world's biggest (and friendliest) Intellivision collectors right in your own back yard! Best of luck, and enjoy the system! It's not really geared for arcade-style action, but if you like quirky, strategic games that are often way ahead of their time, it's fantastic. EDIT #2: Might as well offer my own take on the prices for his top 25 rarity list, leaving out the ECS games which I don't really know. All of these assume near-mint CIB condition. Spiker - $1000+ Stadium Mud Buggies - $500 Congo Bongo - $750 Learning Fun I - $500 Learning Fun II - $500 Tutankham - $180 Super Cobra - $120 Fathom - $100 (it's been trending a bit lower recently, though) Body Slam - $100? Mountain Madness - $150 (this is quite hard to find CIB) Triple Challenge - $100 Turbo - $80 (this has also taken a small dive lately) Super Pro Decathlon - $40 (this has taken a HUGE dive lately since a warehouse find; might be temporary) Worm Whomper - $70 Dig Dug - $90 Diner - $90 Defender - $80 Tower of Doom - $50 River Raid - $60 (the overlays tend to be a wreck, I've heard) Thunder Castle - $40 Pole Position - $30 Dracula - $25 (I think Tropical Trouble sometimes tends to pass this)
It is a fun system where you can get pretty close to complete for a decent price. If you want to get to the finish line though it will cost you big money. It was my first system and I had a ton of great memories playing it. Hope it gives you some good ones too.
Go for it... Nice system to collect for...not a crazy amount of variations compared to some other systems (unless you count the Sears brand) and the games are generally cheap. many online sites sell them for next to nothing WITH box...enjoy.
In the states loose systems and games are easy to come by. Our original one died in the basement around the time of NES. It was my first console and still one of my favorites.
Sorry for asking, but the "visions" are they compatible with each other ? cause I have not found any info (maybe I have not looked hard enough for it. But are they compatible or not ? since I have read the rumour about the other vision from Coleco thinking about with the mythical and fabled expansion module 4, would make it compatible. But that module was never released. Some person, please be polite and inform me
No compatibility whatsoever between Intellivision and ColecoVision. Totally different CPU, graphics hardware, sound hardware, and so on. The only way they can run the same software is...if it's an Atari 2600 cartridge being run via their respective expansion modules.
goldenband, I did not ask if the "vision" from Coleco was compatible with the other two. I asked, if the Intellivision was compatible with the Super Cassette Vision, I just ventured further in my comment.
With all due respect, how on earth was I supposed to figure that out from your comment -- especially given that you mentioned Coleco, and didn't mention the Super Cassette Vision? Anyway, no, the Intellivision's not compatible in any way with the Super Cassette Vision either.
Intellivision is a great system to collect for. The last 10 can be expensive if you go for complete in box stuff. It will be satisfying to collect for Intellivision early on because you can get the first 75 games CIB for under $6 apiece by buying lots. If you go for a loose collection, you will be able to get even the 20 most difficult to find carts very reasonably. I think River Raid is one of the most underrated rarities for the system, but it does not command massively. I love collecting for the system, but I am happy that I got most of the tough boxes before the prices on the tough boxed games skyrocketed (due to European interest). Now all I need is the Learning Fun I box and Mountain Madness Pro Skiing instructions to have a complete collection. Aside from some Keyboard Component stuff and a few democart boxes. The Intellivision version of Burgertime is indispensable. I like it better than the arcade version.
I ended up buying recently one intellivision, just because of the voice module. I've been able to find pretty much all the games I wanted on ebay, for around 20 eur (someone got rid of his collection and I was the only bidder ^^). The only problem with this system, especially in my country (stupid secam) is that it's hard to make it work on modern tv (the atari2600 works perfectly fine) I still don't know which precise channel the secam intv works on, using autoscan on my tv was the only way to find it, sound is perfect, but not the picture... anyway it works.
Intellivision is a great system to collect for. It has alot of great games to play and it has some nice homebrews coming up as well. Have fun trying to get the last 10 or so rare ones!!
