ColecoVision at 44: Why It Still Matters

2026-05-04

The ColecoVision launched in August 1982 and was officially discontinued by Coleco in October 1985. On paper, that's a three-year commercial life — a footnote next to the Atari 2600's decade-plus run or the NES juggernaut that followed. So why are we still talking about it in 2026?

Part of the answer is the games. The ColecoVision shipped with arcade-quality conversions at a moment when home ports were notorious compromises. Donkey Kong as the pack-in title set a standard the competition simply could not match, and titles like Lady Bug, Cosmic Avenger, and Venture defined the platform.

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The Pack-In That Sold a Console: Donkey Kong on ColecoVision

2026-05-04

Eric Bromley, the engineer who led ColecoVision development, has told the story many times: a 1981 trip to Kyoto to meet Nintendo's Hiroshi Yamauchi, a quick detour to a restroom, and a glimpse of an early Donkey Kong cabinet that hadn't yet shipped to the West.

Bromley knew immediately. He arranged a meeting the next day, requested exclusive home rights, and walked away with a verbal agreement — $200,000 up front, $2 per unit sold — but no formal contract, in keeping with Japanese custom. By the time of that year's Consumer Electronics Show, Bromley discovered Yamauchi had apparently also offered the rights to Atari. With the help of Yamauchi's daughter and translator, the deal was put in writing before the show ended.

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ColecoVision at 44: Why It Still Matters

The Pack-In That Sold a Console: Donkey Kong on ColecoVision