Editing Coleco (section)

=== Late 1970s: handheld electronic games ===
Coleco continued to perform well in electronics. The company transitioned into [[handheld electronic game]]s, a market popularized by [[Mattel]]. An early success was ''[[Electronic Quarterback]]''. Coleco produced two popular lines of games, the "head to head" series of two player sports games (''Football'', ''Baseball'', ''Basketball'', ''Soccer'', ''Hockey'', ''Boxing'') and the Mini-Arcade series of licensed [[Arcade game|video arcade]] titles such as ''[[Donkey Kong (1981 video game)|Donkey Kong]]'' and ''[[Ms. Pac-Man]]''. A third line of educational handhelds was also produced and included the Electronic Learning Machine, ''Lil Genius'', ''Digits'', and a trivia game called ''Quiz Wiz''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.handheldmuseum.com/Coleco |title=Coleco Handheld Games |publisher=Handheld Museum |access-date=2023-11-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016014901/https://www.handheldmuseum.com/Coleco/ |archive-date=2023-10-16}}</ref> Launched in 1982, their first four [[handheld electronic game|tabletop]] Mini-Arcades, for ''[[Pac-Man]]'', ''[[Galaxian]]'', ''Donkey Kong'', and ''[[Frogger]]'', sold approximately three million units within a year.<ref name="eg_16_10">{{cite journal |title=More Mini-Arcades A Comin' |journal=[[Electronic Games]] |date=June 1983 |volume=4 |issue=16 |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Games_Volume_01_Number_16_1983-06_Reese_Communications_US/page/n9 |access-date=2023-11-14 |page=10}}</ref> Among these, 1.5 million units were sold for ''Pac-Man'' alone.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Mini-Arcades 'Go Gold' |journal=[[Electronic Games]] |date=November 1982 |volume=1 |issue=9 |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Games_Volume_01_Number_09_1982-11_Reese_Communications_US/page/n11/mode/2up |access-date=2023-11-14 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Coleco Mini-Arcades Go Gold |journal=Arcade Express |date=August 15, 1982 |volume=1 |issue=1 |url=https://www.digitpress.com/library/newsletters/arcadeexpress/arcade_express_v1n1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120914135153/https://www.digitpress.com/library/newsletters/arcadeexpress/arcade_express_v1n1.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-14 |url-status=live |access-date=2023-11-14 |page=4}}</ref> In 1983, it released three more Mini-Arcades: ''Ms. Pac-Man'', ''[[Donkey Kong Jr.|Donkey Kong Junior]]'', and ''[[Zaxxon]]''.<ref name="eg_16_10"/>

[[Image:ColecoVision-wController-L.jpg|thumb|right|The [[ColecoVision]] video game console]]

Coleco returned to the video game console market in 1982 with the launch of the [[ColecoVision]].<ref name="NGen15">{{cite magazine |title=The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z: Coleco |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |issue=15  |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=March 1996 |page=31 |url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-015/page/n31/mode/2up |access-date=2023-11-14}}</ref> The system was quite popular and more powerful than the [[Atari 2600]],<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z: ColecoVision |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |issue=15 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=March 1996 |page=31 |url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-015/page/n31/mode/2up |access-date=2023-11-14}}</ref> and came bundled with a copy of ''Donkey Kong''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McFerran |first1=Damien |title=Feature: How ColecoVision Became the King of Kong |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2010/09/feature_how_colecovision_became_the_king_of_kong |url-status=live |work=[[Nintendo Life]] |date=18 September 2010 |access-date=2023-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004145625/https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2010/09/feature_how_colecovision_became_the_king_of_kong |archive-date=2023-10-04}}</ref> The console sold 560,000 units in 1982. Coleco also hedged its bet on video games by introducing a line of [[ROM cartridge]]s for the Atari 2600 and [[Intellivision]], selling six million cartridges for both systems, along with two million sold for the ColecoVision for a total of eight million cartridges sold in 1982. It also introduced the [[Coleco Gemini]], a clone of the popular Atari 2600, which came bundled with a copy of ''Donkey Kong''.<ref>{{cite book |title=1982 Annual Report |date=April 8, 1983 |publisher=Coleco |pages=3–4, 17}}</ref>

When the [[Video game crash of 1983|video game business began to implode in 1983]], it seemed clear that video game consoles were being supplanted by [[home computer]]s. Bob Greenberg, son of Leonard Greenberg and nephew of Arnold Greenberg, left Microsoft where he had been working as a program developer at the time to assist in Coleco's entry into this market. Coleco's strategy was to introduce the [[Coleco Adam]] home computer, both as a stand-alone system and as an expansion module to the ColecoVision. The effort failed, in part because Adams were often unreliable due to being released with critical bugs,<ref>{{cite web |last=Modine |first=Austin |title=Remembering the Coleco Adam |url=https://www.theregister.com/2008/02/04/tob_coleco_adam/ |website=www.theregister.com |language=en |url-status=live |access-date=2023-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016031601/https://www.theregister.com/2008/02/04/tob_coleco_adam/ |archive-date=2023-10-16}}</ref> and in part because the computer's release coincided with the home computer industry crashing.<ref name="NGen15"/> Coleco withdrew from electronics early in 1985.<ref name="Woutat"/>