Mattel Electronics Mattel Intellivision

About

The Mattel Intellivision was the first serious challenger to Atari’s dominance. Launched in December 1979, it boasted a 16-bit processor (the first in a home console), superior graphics to the Atari 2600, and an aggressive marketing campaign that directly compared the two systems side by side. The Intellivision sold 3 million units and proved that the console market could support competition — a lesson the industry would learn and relearn across every generation since. Mattel Electronics, a division of the toy company, entered the video game market seeking to capitalize on the Atari 2600’s explosive success. The Intellivision (a portmanteau of “intelligent television”) was developed internally and test-marketed in Fresno, California in 1979 before a national rollout in 1980. It launched at $299 — significantly more expensive than the 2600’s $199 (which was already dropping toward $150). Mattel’s marketing was confrontational. Television ads featuring spokesman George Plimpton placed Intellivision and Atari 2600 versions of the same games side by side, allowing viewers to see the Intellivision’s clearly superior graphics. “Intellivision is to Atari what Atari is to this,” Plimpton would say, pointing to a rubber ball — devastating comparison advertising that anticipated Sega’s “Genesis does what Nintendon’t” by a decade. Mattel also made ambitious promises about an upcoming keyboard component that would transform the Intellivision into a full home computer. The keyboard was repeatedly delayed and eventually released in limited quantities as the Entertainment Computer System (ECS) in 1983. The Federal Trade Commission investigated Mattel for the delays, resulting in a $10,000 fine. The Intellivision survived the early 1980s but could not weather the crash of 1983. Mattel Electronics reported losses of $394 million and shut down in 1984. The brand was sold to a former Mattel executive who continued selling the console as INTV Corporation until 1990, producing new games

References

• Video Game Console Library↗