Editing ColecoVision (section)

== Hardware ==
[[File:ColecoVision-Controller-FR.jpg|thumb|The ColecoVision Hand Controller has a number pad that can be fitted with overlays.]]

ColecoVision is based around the [[Zilog Z80]] CPU and a variant of the Texas Instruments [[TMS9918]] video chip that was introduced in 1979.

On [[NTSC]] ColecoVision consoles, all first-party cartridges and most third-party software titles feature a 12.7 second pause before presenting the game select screen.<ref name="eg198306">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Games_Volume_01_Number_16_1983-06_Reese_Communications_US/page/n111/mode/2up | title=Q&A | work=Electronic Games | date=June 1983 | access-date=7 January 2015 | author=The Game Doctor | author-link=The Game Doctor | page=112}}</ref> CBS Electronics reduced this pause in the [[BIOS]] to 3.3 seconds for their [[PAL]] and [[SECAM]] ColecoVision consoles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Game Title Display Duration Analysis |url=https://atariage.com/forums/topic/290923-game-title-display-duration-analysis/ |website=AtariAge |date=5 May 2019 |access-date=6 November 2019}}</ref>

=== Expansion Modules and accessories ===
From its introduction, Coleco touted the ColecoVision's hardware expandability by highlighting the ''Expansion Module Interface'' on the front of the unit. These hardware expansion modules and accessories were sold separately.

[[File:ColecoVision-ExpMod1-Attached.jpg|thumb|Expansion Module #1 allows the ColecoVision to play any Atari 2600 game.]]
[[File:ColecoVision-Expansion2.jpg|thumb|Expansion Module #2 is a steering wheel for racing games.]]

==== Atari 2600 expansion ====
''Expansion Module #1'' made the ColecoVision compatible with [[Atari 2600]] cartridges and controllers.<ref name="eg198306"/> It leveraged the fact that the 2600 used largely off-the-shelf components and was effectively a complete set of 2600 electronics, including a [[reverse-engineered]] equivalent of the 2600's sole custom chip, the [[Television Interface Adaptor|TIA]]. The ColecoVision console did not do any translation or processing of the game code on the 2600 cartridges; it only provided power and clock input to and audio/video output from the expansion module, which was otherwise entirely self-contained and could be thought of as the first Atari 2600 clone console. Functionally, this gave the ColecoVision the largest software library of any console of its day. The expansion module prompted legal action from Atari. Coleco and Atari settled out of court, with Coleco becoming licensed under Atari's patents. The royalty-based license also applied to Coleco's [[Coleco Gemini|Gemini game system]], a stand-alone clone of the 2600.<ref name="nyt-pact">{{cite news|title=Atari-Coleco Pact|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/12/business/company-news-atari-coleco-pact.html|work=the New York Times|date=12 March 1983}}</ref>

==== Driving controller ====
''Expansion Module #2'' is a driving controller ([[steering wheel]] / gas pedal) that comes packaged with the cartridge ''[[Turbo (video game)|Turbo]]''. The gas pedal is merely a simple on/off switch.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-liberator.net/site-files/retro-games/hardware/ColecoVision/colecovision-expansion-moduel-no-2-driving-controller.htm |title=Coleco ColecoVision Expansion Module No. 2 Driving Controller Disassembled |publisher=The-liberator.net |access-date=2014-05-27}}</ref> Although Coleco called the driving controller an expansion module, it actually plugs into the controller port, not the ''Expansion Module Interface''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colecovisionzone.com/photos/accessory/module2%20manual.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527220410/http://www.colecovisionzone.com/photos/accessory/module2%20manual.pdf |archive-date=2014-05-27 |url-status=live |title=Expansion Module #2 Operation Manual |access-date=2019-07-23}}</ref> The driving controller is also compatible with the cartridges ''Destructor'', ''[[Bump 'n' Jump]]'', ''[[Pitstop (video game)|Pitstop]]'', and ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard (video game)|The Dukes of Hazzard]]''.

==== Adam computer expansion ====
''Expansion Module #3'' converts the ColecoVision into the [[Coleco Adam|Adam]] computer, complete with keyboard, digital data pack (DDP) cassette drive, 64 KB RAM, and printer.

==== Roller Controller ====
The ''Roller Controller'' is a [[trackball]] that comes packaged with the cartridge ''Slither'', a conversion of the arcade game.<ref name="eg198306-2">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Games_Volume_01_Number_16_1983-06_Reese_Communications_US/page/n23/mode/2up | title=Controller Update: Probing the World of the Exotic | work=Electronic Games | date=June 1983 | access-date=6 January 2015 | pages=24–28}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media | year=2008 | title=Classic Game Room reviews COLECOVISION ROLLER CONTROLLER | medium=YouTube | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLnkQlMaQ1U | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/MLnkQlMaQ1U| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live | access-date=April 2, 2014 | format=YouTube | time=4:45 | publisher=Lord Karnage}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The roller controller uses a special power connector that is not compatible with Expansion Module #3 (the Adam computer). Coleco mailed an adapter to owners of both units who complained.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colecovisionzone.com/photos/accessory/roller%20manual.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407091837/http://www.colecovisionzone.com/photos/accessory/roller%20manual.pdf |archive-date=2014-04-07 |url-status=live |title=Roller Controller Operation Manual |access-date=2019-07-23}}</ref> The other cartridge programmed to use the roller controller is ''Victory''. A joystick mode switch on the roller controller allows it to be used with all cartridges including ''[[WarGames (video game)|WarGames]]'', ''[[Omega Race]]'', and Atarisoft's ''[[Centipede (video game)|Centipede]]''.

==== Super Action Controller ====
[[File:Super Action Controller Coleco DSCF0353.JPG|thumb|Super Action Controller]]
The ''Super Action Controller Set'', available in September 1983, is a set of two handheld joystick controllers that comes packaged with the cartridge ''Super Action Baseball''. Each controller has a ball-top joystick, four finger triggered action buttons, a 12-button numeric keypad, and a "speed roller".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colecovisionzone.com/photos/accessory/superaction%20manual.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120030337/http://www.colecovisionzone.com/photos/accessory/superaction%20manual.pdf |archive-date=2013-01-20 |url-status=live |title=Super Action Controller Set Operation Manual |access-date=2019-07-23}}</ref><ref name="dot">{{cite web |title=ColecoVision - The Arcade In Your Home! |url=https://thedoteaters.com/?bitstory=console%2Fcolecovision&page=2 |website=the Dot Eaters |date=8 September 2019}}</ref> The cartridges ''Super Action Football'', ''[[Rocky]]'' ''Super Action Boxing'', and a conversion of the arcade game ''[[Front Line (video game)|Front Line]]'' are also designed to be used with the ''Super Action Controller''.

==== Unreleased ====
Expansion Module #3 was originally the Super Game Module. It was advertised for an August 1983 release but was ultimately cancelled and replaced with the [[Coleco Adam|Adam]] computer expansion. The Super Game Module added a tape drive known as the [[Exatron Stringy Floppy]] with 128 KB capacity, and the additional [[RAM]], said to be 30 KB,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colecovision.dk/sgm.htm|title=The First ColecoVision SGM. Super Game Module 1983. (never released).|website=www.colecovision.dk}}</ref> to load and execute programs from tape. Games could be distributed on tiny tapes, called ''wafers'', and be much larger than the 16 KB or 32 KB [[ROM cartridge|ROM]] cartridges of the day. ''Super Donkey Kong'', with all screens and animations, ''Super Donkey Kong Jr'', and ''Super Smurf Rescue'' were demonstrated with the Super Game Module. The Adam computer expansion with its 256 KB tape drive and 64 KB RAM fulfilled the specifications promised by the Super Game Module.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=William|title=Super Game Module: Million bit baby|journal=Electronic Fun with Computer & Games|date=June 1983|volume=1|issue=8|pages=16, 17, 39–43, 94|url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Fun_with_Computer_Games_Vol_01_No_08_1983-06_Fun_Games_Publishing_US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lifewire.com/history-of-colecovision-729731|title=The ColecoVision/Nintendo Partnership and the Atari Clone|first1=D. S. Cohen A. gaming|last1=writer|last2=developer|last3=teacher|first4=Video Game|last4=Historian|first5=Gaming Industry|last5=Professional|website=Lifewire}}</ref>