Editing ColecoVision (section)

== Development ==
Coleco entered the video game market in 1976 during the dedicated-game home console period with their line of [[Coleco Telstar series|Telstar consoles]]. When that market became oversaturated over the next few years, the company nearly went bankrupt, but found a successful product through [[handheld electronic game]]s, with products that beat out those of the current market leader, [[Mattel]]. The company also developed a line of miniaturized tabletop arcade video games with licensed rights from arcade game makers including [[Sega]], [[Bally Manufacturing|Bally]], [[Midway Games|Midway]], and [[Nintendo]]. Coleco was able to survive on sales of their electronic games through to 1982, but that market itself began to wane, and Coleco president [[Arnold Greenberg (Coleco)|Arnold Greenberg]] was still interested in producing a home video game console.<ref>{{cite book | first = Steven | last = Kent | authorlink = Steven L. Kent | chapter = Chapter 13 - A Case of Two Gorillas | title = [[The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World]] | isbn = 0761536434 | publisher = Three Rivers Press}}</ref>

According to Eric Bromley, who led the engineering for the ColecoVision, Greenberg had wanted to get into the programmable home console market with arcade-quality games, but the cost of components had been a limiting factor. As early as 1979, Bromley had drawn out specifications for a system using a [[Texas Instruments]] video and a [[General Instrument]] audio chip, but could not get the go-ahead due to the cost of [[Random-access memory|RAM]]. Around 1981, Bromley saw an article in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' that asserted the price of RAM had fallen and, after working the cost numbers, Bromley found the system cost fell within their cost margins. Within ten minutes of reporting this to Greenberg, they had established the working name "ColecoVision" for the console as they began a more thorough design, which the marketing department never was able to surpass.<ref name="nl bromley">{{cite web | url = https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2010/09/feature_how_colecovision_became_the_king_of_kong | title = Feature: How ColecoVision Became the King of Kong | first = Damien | last = McFerran | date = September 18, 2010 | accessdate = April 13, 2021 | work = [[Nintendo Life]]}}</ref>

Coleco recognized that licensed conversion of arcade games had worked for [[Atari, Inc.|Atari]] in selling the [[Atari 2600|Atari VCS]], so they had approached Nintendo around 1981 for potential access to their arcade titles. Bromley described a tense set of meetings with Nintendo's president [[Hiroshi Yamauchi]] under typical Japanese customs where he sought to negotiate for game rights, though Yamauchi only offered seemingly obscure titles. After a meal with Yamauchi during one day, Bromley excused himself to the restroom and happened upon one of the first ''[[Donkey Kong (1981 video game)|Donkey Kong]]'' cabinets, which had yet to be released to Western countries. Knowing this game would likely be a hit, Bromley arranged a meeting the following day with Yamauchi and requested the exclusive rights to ''Donkey Kong''; Yamauchi offered them if only they could provide {{USD|200,000|long=no}} upfront by that day and gave them {{USD|2|long=no}} per unit sold. Greenberg agreed, though as in Japanese custom, Bromley did not have a formal contract from Nintendo on his return. By the time of that year's [[Consumer Electronics Show]], which Yamauchi was attending, Bromley found out from Yamauchi's daughter and translator that he had apparently given the rights to Atari. With Yamauchi's daughter's help, Bromley was able to commit Yamauchi to sign a formal contract to affirm the rights to Coleco.<ref name="nl bromley"/> Coleco's announcement that they would bundle ''Donkey Kong'' with the console was initially met with surprise and skepticism, with journalists and retailers questioning why they would give away their most anticipated home video game with the console.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Player's Guide to Climbing Games|journal=Electronic Games|date=January 1983|volume=1|issue=11|page=49|url=https://archive.org/stream/Electronic_Games_Volume_01_Number_11_1983-01_Reese_Communications_US#page/n47/mode/2up|access-date=2015-03-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319134356/https://archive.org/stream/Electronic_Games_Volume_01_Number_11_1983-01_Reese_Communications_US#page/n47/mode/2up|archive-date=2016-03-19|url-status=live}}</ref>