Intellivision® TV Commercial: Introducing Intellivision

[snakes3425]

Yeah the Intellivsion Keyboard componant was the Duke Nukem Forever of it's day, but while Forever may see the light of day the Keyboard componant is still MIA

[franklinpriante]

OH MY GOD INTELLIVISION PC?? TELEPHONE?? FAX?? XEROX??? SIMULATOR???YES VERY GOOD LOVE INTELLIVISION, INTELLIVISION FOREVER.

[JaMMeRHiLL]

0:47 i bet sold a shitload of units!

[TheNgamerz]

I got this voucher for the keyboard...is it out yet?

[WebVMan]

R.I.P. Jack Lalaine.

[DE4life]

still waiting for my keybaord component :(

[doubleot]

"You can quarterback an NFL team"? There were no NFL references in the game except the label on the cartridge and the title screen. You needed to use your imagination and make believe you were Terry Bradshaw.

[brucealan1280]

Oh, brother.

[saiyanwill]

OMG, when is it going to come, out?

If it's going to change my life, I want it.

Available at Macy's

[cageboyes]

I never knew there was a Keyboard component.. I had a Keyboard but it was black and much slimmer than this was.. Connected with a cord. Must be a later thing. Weird.. I used to program sounds and stuff on it..

[benngarcia]

Does she say "SLAVE DRIVER" ? WTF

[AgaMbadi]

Before Wii fit, there was Jack LaLanne for Intellivision.

[rivest266]

This never reached the market.

[Thematt7890]

"the Intellivision Video Home Video System" WTF is up with the name?

[5150gamer]

amazing



[memphiselle]

0:12, when is coming to the line of scrimmage that exciting?

[CI5AgentSweeps]

Sort of reminds me of the Wii adverts i.e the whole family involved and the workout at the end. I reckon things go in cycles :)

[Maus5000]

that computer keyboard is one of the rarest video game relecs out there today, only 1000 made, and then it was recalled. only a handful still exist, even fewer in full working order.

[kurisux]

Actually, the one they show and discuss in the video was NEVER made. An alternate device was produced, however, to get the FTC off of mattell's butt, but as you said, it was recalled when they decided to can it.

[KingTiger1010]

@kurisux

I'm not a huge Intellivision fan. How did the keyboard shown differ from the one actualy sold? They look the same to me, other than I think the ones sold were slightly smaller, and had some blue buttons. If you asked me a Vectrex Question, THEN I would know what I'm talking about. With INTV I'm pretty much clueless on every thing other than the accesories.

[kurisux]

Well, the one they show is the original Keyboard component, which was supposed to turn the thing into a cheap home computer: it was never released, and the FTC got onto Mattel about it: they would however release an alternate keyboard device, but it was not a "case" for the INTV, it was just a keyboard sitting in front of it, and it was not at all the same as the device advertised here: it's the one they eventually discontinued, and is now rare.

Wikipedia has the best info, so read up!

[BillLoguidice]

The Keyboard Component was released and is highly collectible. The ~4000 that were released were recalled by Mattel. There are maybe a dozen in the collector's market these days. They sell for thousands of dollars and most have bad tape drives. What eventually saw wide release was the very different Enhanced Computer System (ECS), which is fairly common and can be had for less than $100 these days.

[legofans452]

Ya know what? I have a Vectrex question. How did that pen thing work? Looking at the Vectrex I have, there dosn't really seem to be any way for it to know where it's at (I don't have the pen myself).

Thanks!

[Maus5000]

The first good question in a month, Thanks for asking! The pen can detect slight changes in the amout of light on the screen, As soon as you start up a lightpen game, you can see the tiny doy you use to control the game. The light pen sences this dot, and as the pen moves, and it can see the light fading in the corner of its "eye", and moves the dot accordingly. If you didnt know, the way you draw is by pressin the 3 button on the controller, which is in port one. Simple when you think about it.

[MNZeba]

It was avalible at macy's?! wow

[ad7db]

I worked for the Computique store chain in the early 80's when this was out. Mattel never did release the computer. Our store had a totally fake mockup of the computer keyboard unit that the game console went into. We ended up giving it away to somebody who asked for it, as I recall. A classic case of vaporware product.

[cybersalad]

Hah. They kept talking about this for years. It eventually did arrive in some form with the Aquarius module for the INTV II...but it wasn't the same.

HOWEVER--I do believe they produced a few of them...I think I have seen prototypes of this machine on the net.

Just imagine how large the box would have been--this thing must be MASSIVE. You put the entire Intellivision inside it!

[KingTiger1010]

@cybersalad

As Mr. Leno once said: "You know what the three big lies are, don't you? 'The check is in the mail,' 'I'll still respect you in the morning,' and 'the Keyboard will be out in the spring.'"

[TechForThought]

What did she say when she was jumping up and down during the workout

?!?!?!??!

[ourvinylcollection]

she said slave driver.......... :-)

[Deokishisu]

Jack Lalanne workout? Why the hell would anyone want to buy a pixelated version of him jumping around?

[securitasmith]

After this commercial was done filming, I bet the parents of this commercial were like, " Oh God I need a drink!"

[dashwarts]

If only one company would actually release a system that uses a keyboard component to become a full-blown computer...

Mattel tried, but... "You know what the three big lies are, don't you? 'The check is in the mail,' 'I'll still respect you in the morning,' and 'The Keyboard will be out in the spring.'"

[johnbourbon]

go for it dad

[hfisher]

i wish i still had my intellivision, At least i would be playing games right now on a console that works.

[Fenncer24]

I know what you mean. I just sold mine with out really thinking hard about it. NOw I wish I had it and the 20+ games. I htin kin th enest few weeks I will go back to the place I sold it too and buy it back. And next time I will think really hard before seeling it. Miss it now that I have seen these commercials and will buy it again soon.

[jdigitalseven]

It helped the Griswald's plan a trip to Wally World.

[johnbourbon]

lol

[joecassara]

"And when you add the keyboard component available this summer... or maybe next summer... or, er, three springs from now..." ;) You had to be there.

[memphiselle]

Lol!!!! Or, uh, never!! :)

[pjperez]

omg when is this coming out THE FUTURE IS NOW BALANCE MY BUDGET DO MY TAXES IT IS MAGIC!!

Man, I miss the world where a few blocky pixels on a TV screen were high-tech.

[spoonspoiler]

I got an Intellivision for Christmas in 1981. The only problem was that only NASL Soccer (that came with it) was availbble in the UK where I lived!

[xiheartzacefron94x]

omg that exercise programme looks sooo much better than the wii fit ! :)

[gambler6]

LOL!

[supermonkey16]

Wiifit is rubbish. Try intellifit 0:45.

[poopskinTheLiar]

the keyboard is intellivision's equivalent of Duke Nukem forever.

[Infinitrium]

LOL

[tacacho2007]

Thew keyboard was a big fraud, and it was a very big scandal in the US, actually, after that Intellivision broke.

[snakes3425]

The Keyboard was eventually released, in limited quantities, only after the FTC got involved and hit Matelle with a 10,000 dollar a day fine until they released it. in the end Matelle cancelled the Keyboard

[YanKoZ2]

I don't know about you guys, but I have a Stupidvision. Very boring.

[MildApplause]

They really thought they could make good on that promise for the computer component, but the numbers just would not crunch, as hard as they tried. I think I read that each one would have cost, like, $600 just to build.

It was still an amazing machine even without it.

[huskerfan4life]

I remember seeing the adds for intellivision around Thanksgiving back in the day, and I'd sit there wide eyed and I'd turn around and my Dad would have this big grin on his face. Christmas Morning, we got an intellivision. I can't begin to count the number of hours I must have spent on the system.

[dwimmerlaik]

Mine grew with my family. I'm typing on it right now! I'm a hacker.

[rad3xl]

It certainly changed my family's life: my father shot my mom with a shotgun after he found her masturbating with the Intellicontroller, from then on I've been on a mental hospital.

[Silentt29]

My dad has an Intellivision.

[darkshiney]

ahhh yes my first ever console/computer.....anyone remember mission x !!

[bigdog49094]

Yep mission x was pretty boring tho even back then but B-17 Bomber with the intellivoice and I think it was sub hunt were great.

[slimer145]

yep it will grow with your family; until about three years later when it bcomes 1983

[racerx135]

Intellivision was like an expensive Wii. It was only fun if you had friends over due to the stellar sports titles but you needed two people to play them but they were allot of fun. I loved my intellivision and still own one. later they made versions of the sports titles that could use one player but it was way too late. Atari was still best due to overall library but intellivsion has it's place in classic gamers hearts.

[sinistermoon]

Just because Atari had more games dose not make it better.

[racerx135]

I agree it was games like Pitfall, Space Invaders, Adventure and the Way better Controller that made it better. Intellivision got all those games but later and after I already played them on Atari. Intellivision was way more advanced then Atari and Atari could not touch intellivision Sports titles.

[pooyan6969]

The keyboard PC component was delayed and Mattel was sued. The system had better games then the Atari 2600 but it was so expensive for the time and most people just wanted basic arcade games.

[stickysubject]

These things were so expensive that no one could afford them then. I never even saw one in person!!!

[TheLastBrainLeft]

I only knew one kid who had one, his parents were involved in a custody battle, so he had ALL the cool shit. Intellivison's graphics were way ahead of Atari when introduced in 1980. By 1982 the gap was closed, to the point that the high price for Intellivision couldn't be justified, By 1982 the Colecovision offered up 2600 speed, INTV graphics at an affordable price, rendering this battle moot.

[DiabloDave363]

think bout it, wii, 360, ps3 dont got a computer built into it.

[djhives]

heheheheh he he what about the overlay!

[mooghammondb3]

Before Jack Lalaine was selling juicers...he was making exercise games for Intellivision!

[pontxomtz]

Oh, Man... this is amazing (so would Huell Howser say) Took me down memory lane, intellivision addicted lane...

I'm so amazed how far technology has come and how ground breaking that still looks to me, because it was... the days when a james Bond flick was still jaw dropping.

[charleskusiak12]

I really love how, like the Japanese with the Nintendo Family Computer, or Famicom, a few years later, they're making this thing out to be more than just a video game console.

[goody2shoes11]

Ahhh the 80's! Me and my friends would play all day on this. NBA basketball was the best. Then I got intella-voice. B-17 Bomber was cool. FLAK FLAK! Loved football. You had to enter like 9 buttons to call a play. This game system kicked ATARI's ARSS at the time.

[ezenikki]

i want the excersize program

[Xervosh23]

Intellivision really tried to emphasize their superiority in sports games (early Atari sportsgames were very weak, especially Football), but I never really gave a crap about sports games. I wanted to slay dragons and blast space mutants, damnit!

[manb4war]

Intellivision was not user friendly. Football alone had a learning curve that almost made it not fun to play. For those of us who grew up in the arcade days we wanted to play arcade style games at home. The Atari 2600 delivered that with a good selection of games. Pitfall, Berzerk, Combat, Missile Command, Asteroids, Night Driver, Defender, Donkey Kong and the classic Space Invaders to name a few. Intellivision was overpriced and overrated I'm glad I asked for an Atari for Christmas.

[WizardEyes]

wow to go back in time....lol flash back..i miss those old days

[Earych]

We won one of the first consoles (with the faux wooden finish)at my grade schools raffle. My dad wanted it so much he spent like a hundred bucks on tickets. My brother also got clobbered by an falling barricade...so two dreams came true in one day.

[Earych]

We had the computer console...although I think it was an later version. Instead of putting your core unit inside, it plugged into the cartridge slot.

The Intellivoice was pretty neat, especially like their Bomb Squad and Tron Solar Sailor games.

[sugarbear522]

OMG. I remember havin the Intellivision back in late 81....or was it 82. Anyhoo, this takes me back to the days as a kid growin up in Hazel Crest (south of Chicago). We had football, baseball, poker & blackjack, etc.

[acool76]

the computer was garbage, intellivoice a joke, and yet we all loved the main component, despite the disc controllers. ha ha ha long live intel.

[dunskie]

They released a much slimmer keyboard in the final days of Intllivision. Along with Intellivoice! They were very disappointing to the buyer. Trust me. When it first came out it had the best sports games by far. Does anybody remember those portable hand-held electronic digital sports games by Matell?

[gguru1]

I remember them. I actually grew up in the very late 80s and early 90s, but I inherited the old green Football II game from my older cousin, with the 9 volt battery and the little red LED blips for players.

[dunskie]

That's the one. Those were HOT SHIT back in 79. I took mine everywhere, until a big kid stole it from me at the roller rink. Pathetic!

[kickinthatass]

I remember those also. I think my grandparents still have the football game out in their garage. I should get it from them and see if it still works. My son would get a kick out of it.

[driverblue1]

lets find him and beat his ass

[manb4war]

You can get those at Wal-Mart in the toy section they re-released them. The green football and the white basketball unit.

[FlamingoKicker]

You can buy a working Intellivision and games on ebay for about $25-$30. LOL

What a bargain

[MINESWEEP2k]

The keyboard component...now that sure didn't work out well, did it? Still, at least the football cartridge sold. I find it funny that there was a math cartridge from The Electric Company, when that show taught reading, not math.

-MINESWEEP

[Earych]

Their reading game was pretty cool though. It actually had an scrabble game. Of course the thing didnt have much in the way of memory so your opponent had to agree with your word choice.

[Soyerz]

LOL that fitness Programe is the old school Wii fit, Cheesy adds!

[BOX5]

damn i don't even remember the keyboard yell

[kscarpetta]

I loved my Intellivision...and isn't that keyboard something else. It was the iphone of it's day! :-)

I don't know what happened but the keyboard never made it to Idaho. Did Mattel lose money? Hmmm They needed to sell more Barbies I guess.

[FlamingoKicker]

I think I'll take the iphone.

[robotecha5]

lol they never even fully released the keyboard

[burningcow422]

i miss my intellivision II. it stopped working and my dad threw it out even though i said not to.

[nostyleja]

Yeah, um, the revolution did happen. Hey wait.. no.

[norfolkterrierlvr]

My Intellivision is in working condition too!

[bigboi2929]

I want an Intellivision. :(

[FlamingoKicker]

look on ebay for one.

[tacluvstoons]

If anyone remembers the dracula game, i wanna buy it!

[robdun]

snafu, bombsquad, b 17 bomber were some great games.

[astellus]

Oh my god, we have one of those somewhere in our basement! Oooh I loved astrosmash and lock and chase. Loved shark shark too! hehehe, memories.

[davidinla36]

I remember first seeing Intellivision in the summer of 1980 and then saw this commercial a few months later. They never came out with that keyboard component although I say a few prototypes in stores.

[doubleot]

that's a great commercial. does the intellivision cook dinner for you too? after all, it can "change your life". that's the best commerical ever.

[b799]

they made only 4000 computer modules and never national released it.

[gtimandan]

Hehe, I've still got a working Intellivision and an Intellivision II. Cool for nostalgia once in a while. Never seen that monstrous "computer" peripheral, tho [Coleco Adam, anyone?].

[TheKid965]

The keyboard component was delayed for years because Mattel was making a killing on just the game console, and because test marketing proved it to be too expensive to mass-produce. They got sued for false advertising, and the FTC ordered Mattel to pay something like $10,000/day until a computer component for Inty hit store shelves. Their response was to release the less-impressive Entertainment Computer System in 1983.

[rudedog4]

I still have my Intellivision II in working condition as well as Colecovision.

[Milliding]

I had one of those. Played alot of Tron on it.