Editing ColecoVision (section)

== Release==
[[File:Spelcartridges.jpg|thumb|ColecoVision [[ROM cartridge|cartridges]]]]
The ColecoVision was released in August 1982.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 25, 1982 |title=JCPenney Advertisement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3CFAAAAAIBAJ&dq=ColecoVision&pg=PA23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612224011/https://books.google.com/books?id=3CFAAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA23&dq=ColecoVision&article_id=1332,3309688&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilx9PJjteGAxWpOUQIHcm5ACgQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=June 12, 2024 |access-date=June 12, 2024 |work=[[Youngstown Vindicator]] |page=23}}</ref> By Christmas 1982, Coleco had sold more than 500,000 units,<ref>{{Citation | journal=Business Week | title=Coleco hits with home video games | page=31 | date=1983-01-24 | quote=Most of 1982's action was in the second half, when Coleco shipped 550,000 ColecoVision game machines--which sell for $169 to $189--booking orders for nearly that many more.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | publisher=Associated Press | title=Video Game Maker Says 1st-Quarter Profit More Than Tripled | date=1983-04-20 | quote=Arnold C. Greenberg, Coleco's president and chief executive, said more than 500,000 ColecoVision players were shipped during the first quarter, nearly equaling the number shipped in all of 1982.}}</ref> in part on the strength of ''Donkey Kong'' as the bundled game.<ref>{{Citation | journal=New York Times | title=Coleco's New Video Challenge | page=1 (Section D) | date=1982-11-11 | quote=Potential Colecovision buyers have also apparently been attracted by Coleco's licensing agreement with Nintendo Inc., the Japanese creator of ''Donkey Kong'', a current arcade hit, and Universal City Studios Inc. One ''Donkey Kong'' cartridge comes with each Colecovision unit.}}</ref> ColecoVision's main competitor was the less commercially successful [[Atari 5200]].<ref>{{Citation | journal=Christian Science Monitor | title=Zap! Pow! Video games sparkle in holiday market | last=Aeppel | first=Timothy | page=7 | date=1982-12-10 | quote=In recent weeks, two particularly hot-selling systems have emerged - the Atari 5200 and ColecoVision. Both are described as powerful 'third wave' machines, the Cadillacs of game systems, and priced accordingly at close to $200...[T]hey are sure to snatch most of the Christmas market.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | journal=New York Times | title=Sigh of Relief on Video Games | last=Harmetz | first=Aljean | page=1 (Section D) | date=1984-01-10 | quote=As for game hardware, many experts said that Atari's...5200 or Coleco's Colecovision would corner the high end.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | journal=New York Times | title=Coleco Strong In Marketing | date=1983-08-01 | quote=Since its introduction last fall, Colecovision has sold about 1.4 million units...Of that total, about 900,000 were sold this year, compared with 800,000 units by Atari and 300,000 by Mattel.}}</ref> Sales quickly passed 1 million in early 1983.<ref>Video Game Maker Says 1st-Quarter Profit More Than Tripled, 1983-04-20</ref>

The ColecoVision was distributed by [[CBS Electronics]] outside of [[North America]] and was branded the CBS ColecoVision. In Europe, the console was released in July 1983, nearly one year after the North American release.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?coll=ddd&identifier=ddd:010593028:mpeg21:a0696 |title=Delpher Kranten - Limburgsch dagblad 31-12-1983 |newspaper=Limburgsch Dagblad |publisher=Delpher.nl |date=1983-12-31 |access-date=2019-07-23}}</ref> [[Sega|Sega Enterprises]] attempted a Japanese version of the console, but it was retooled into the [[SG-1000]] before release.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 3, 1982 |title=Sega, Coleco Announce Distribution Pact |pages=62 |work=[[Cash Box]]}}</ref>

By the beginning of 1984, quarterly sales of the ColecoVision had dramatically decreased.<ref name="coleco_report">{{Citation | publisher=PR Newswire | title=Coleco Industries sales report | date=1984-04-17 | quote='First quarter sales of ColecoVision were substantial, although much less {{sic|that}} those for the year ago quarter', Greenberg said in a prepared statement. He said the company has sold 2 million ColecoVision games since its introduction in 1982.}}</ref> In January 1985, Coleco discontinued the [[Coleco Adam|Adam]], which was a home computer expansion for ColecoVision. By mid-1985, Coleco planned to withdraw from the video game market,<ref>{{Citation | journal=New York Times | title=Coleco Reassesses Its Video Games | page=4 (Section D) | date=1985-06-13 | quote=Coleco Industries is assessing its continuing commitment to the video game business...Arnold C. Greenberg, the chief executive, said no timetable had been set for a decision on continuing or dropping the Colecovision products or on whether the software for the games would continue to be produced if hardware production was discontinued.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | journal=The Globe and Mail | title=Video games Coleco may drop out | date=1985-06-21 | quote=Coleco Industries Inc. of West Hartford, Conn., is considering withdrawal from the video game business in both hardware and software.}}</ref> and the ColecoVision was officially discontinued by October.<ref>{{Citation | journal=New York Times | title=Coleco's Net In Sharp Rise | date=1985-10-19 | quote=Thursday, Coleco said the entire inventory of its troubled Adam personal computer has been sold, along with much of its Colecovision inventory. The company's chairman, Arnold Greenberg, said Coleco expects no more charges against earnings from the two discontinued products.}}</ref> Total sales are uncertain, but were ultimately in excess of 2 million consoles,<ref name="coleco_annual_1984_1">{{cite journal |title=Coleco Industries, Inc. 1984 Annual Report |date=1984 |page=2 |url=http://atariage.com/forums/topic/283473-coleco-industries-inc-annual-quarterly-reports-1981-to-1986/ |publisher=Coleco Industries, Inc. |quote=Sales in the Consumer Electronics segment were $98.6 million in 1984}}</ref><ref name="coleco_annual_1984_2">{{cite journal |title=Coleco Industries, Inc. 1984 Annual Report |date=1984 |page=22 |url=http://atariage.com/forums/topic/283473-coleco-industries-inc-annual-quarterly-reports-1981-to-1986/ |publisher=Coleco Industries, Inc. |quote=The decline in sales of Consumer Electronics was primarily due to reduced sales of ColecoVision products. The increase in shipments of the ADAM Family Computer System in 1984 was largely offset by provisions for price reductions and returns recorded in the last half of the year.}}</ref><ref name="coleco_annual_1984_3">{{cite journal |title=Coleco Industries, Inc. 1984 Annual Report |date=1984 |page=3 |url=http://atariage.com/forums/topic/283473-coleco-industries-inc-annual-quarterly-reports-1981-to-1986/ |publisher=Coleco Industries, Inc. |quote=the total of ColecoVision inventory and accounts receivable was $40.5 million at December 31, 1984. During 1985 it is expected that accounts receivable will be converted to cash and the balance of ColecoVision inventory sold.}}</ref><ref name="coleco_annual_1985">{{cite journal |title=Coleco Industries, Inc. 1985 Annual Report |date=1985 |page=25 |url=http://atariage.com/forums/topic/283473-coleco-industries-inc-annual-quarterly-reports-1981-to-1986/ |publisher=Coleco Industries, Inc. |quote=Consumer Electronics net sales of $56.2 million consisted principally of the ADAM Family Computer and ColecoVision video game systems, accessories and software.}}</ref> with the console continuing to sell modestly up until its discontinuation.<ref>{{Citation | journal=New York Times | last=Kleinfield | first=N. R. | title=Coleco Moves Out Of The Cabbage Patch | page=4 (Section 3) | date=1985-07-21 | quote=Coleco is now debating whether to withdraw from electronics altogether. Colecovision still sells, but it is a shadow of its former self.}}</ref>

In 1983, [[Spectravideo]] announced the SV-603 ColecoVision Video Game Adapter for its [[SV-318]] computer. The company stated that the $70 product allowed users to "enjoy the entire library of exciting ColecoVision video-game cartridges".<ref name="softline198303">{{cite news | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1983&pub=6&id=10 | title=Heavy Hardware | work=Softline | date=March 1983 | access-date=28 July 2014 | page=46}}</ref>