The Intellivision console has been revived by veteran video game developer and musician Tommy Tallarico, setting up a modern-age rivalry with Atari.
With the new Intellivision console and the upcoming Atari VCS to soon join the Nintendo NES Classic Edition, it feels like the 1980s all over again. It is definitely a good time to be alive for fans of retro video games.
Intellivision Lives Again: New Intellivision Console In The Works
Tommy Tallarico purchased the rights to Intellivision and its original games, with a plan to relaunch the console under Intellivision Entertainment.
Tallarico, who serves as president of Intellivision Entertainment and works with some of the members of the original company, added that a new Intellivision console is in development. The device currently has no official name yet, but according to Tallarico, it will continue the brand's tradition of "firsts" with a new concept, design, and approach to video games.
"I see a huge gaping hole in the market now with families in the home," said Tallarico in an interview with VentureBeat. "We will be focused. We will not try to compete with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. That would be insane, and we would need $1 billion."
The full details regarding the new Intellivision console will be revealed on Oct. 1, and gamers who are looking forward to the device may sign up for updates at the revived company's website.
The console will not be a re-issue of the original, similar to what Nintendo did with the NES Classic Edition. Instead, it will focus on "simplicity," according to Tallarico, with a new controller, 10 games available at launch and an emulator to play the old Intellivision games.
The new Intellivision console will have Wi-Fi capabilities and an online store to purchase games that can be downloaded to an SD card. It will not have certain modern console functions though, such as Netflix and 3D graphics.
Intellivision vs Atari, Round 2
Intellivision gave Atari a run for its money in the 1980s, when the Intellivision video game console went head to head with the Atari 2600. The device was the first 16-bit video game machine, the first gaming console offering digital distribution, and the first to bring voices to games, among several others. About 30 years later, Intellivision and Atari will once again challenge each other, but in a new retro video game market that surged in popularity with the Nintendo NES Classic Edition.
If there is any indication that the revived Intellivision has set its sights on a renewed rivalry against Atari, it is the fact that the plans for a new Intellivision console were announced just as Atari is opening Atari VCS preorders for $199 each.
