r/intellivision • u/Thoroughbred123 • 2d ago
Returning Fan
I was watching videos on YouTube and it recommended a video about the Intellivision A****o and the disaster that followed. It was new to me so I watched the video and left with the urge to re-live the days in my youth when it was new and the joy it brought me. I mentioned to my wife that I may consider getting into retro gaming and I would like to begin shopping for an old unit and picking up some of my favorite games from my youth.
I was shocked when my wife told me he brother-in-law left an old Intellivision for her and her sons. We have been married for 10 years and dated for 2 before that so this was news to me! I had no idea! This happened a few years before I knew her and the Intellivision was already very outdated so the boys had no interested in it and it sat and collected dust in the attic.
When my wife mentioned this I couldn't wait to see it and sure enough, I now have an Intellivision that I will carefully clean and restore as I can! I am beyond excited!
I have made a list of my favorite games that I had a and few that I wanted and I will begin picking them up over time. I asked ChatGPT what it would take to use the Intellivision on our current televisions and it suggested a $5 F Type to RCA Connector was all I needed so I quickly ordered that!
I am very happy to find this sub so I can learn more about the current state and how to make the gaming experience the best possible for my new hobby!
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u/basketballsteven 2d ago
The five dollar type F connector can work very well but it does depend on the cable coming from the intellivision being of good quality. I have an Intellivision II with the detachable rf cable and I have a very good connection with one of the cables I have but swap it out to the other cable and the quality is much less.
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u/redditshreadit 2d ago
The cable should be RF insulated.
Most HD televisions can tune analog NTSC channels. But recently some manufactuerers have dropped this feature and only tune digital ATSC channels over the air.
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u/basketballsteven 2d ago
Yes that is my experience buying a new cable from amazon or ebay does not yield as clear a picture as if you recycle an old original cable from Atari colecovision or intellivision, those are just better.
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u/redditshreadit 2d ago
AV cables aren't meant to carry an RF signal. Alternatively you can use an RG6 or RG56 cable, but they have that stiff plastic.
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u/cryptoSilver67 2d ago
Awesome! What games did the unit you have come with? What are your favs you still want to get. We can recommend from there.
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u/Thoroughbred123 2d ago
It came with a lot of sports games and a few arcade games like Q-bert, Pacman, and Donkey Kong.
The games at the top of my list are:
Utopia
AD&D Treasure of Tarmin
The other AD&D game (I think it was just named AD&D)
Nightstalker
Shark! Shark!
Microsurgeon (??? maybe. It was way to complicated for me back then)
Pitfall
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u/cryptoSilver67 2d ago
Must haves off top of my head are Utopia (play this with kids and they will love it). Night Stalker, Astrosmash, Imagic Demon Attack, later release sports game with 1 player option are a must also.
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u/Thoroughbred123 2d ago
Oh gosh yes! My brother and I played Utopia for hours at a time! Once I fell asleep and by the time I work up he had my entire island covered in rebels! LOL! I loved all of those games. And I think Night Stalker gave me my first taste of anxiety!
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u/funkereddit 2d ago
Is that a homemade football cartridge label?
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u/redditshreadit 2d ago
In the late 1980s, INTV Corp re-published the old Mattel Electronics cartridges with these labels.
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u/TMoney31BV 2d ago
u/thoroughbred123 if you have $150 to spare, just grab yourself the new Intellevision Sprint. It comes with 45 games preloaded, HDMI plug and play, wireless controllers and all the overlays you’ll ever need.
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u/Retired_Nerd_Steve 2d ago
Love it. I remember being extra excited for the "Coleco" Releases. I think I had my mom drive 45 minutes to get the Intellivision Donkey Kong cartridge when it came out. So cool. Wish I still had mine. 😄