History

Most PG Satori know that Nintendo began as a playing card manufacturer. But before the word Nintendo became synonymous with videogames, Nintendo, in collaboration with Mitsubishi, released a series plug-and-play consoles in Japan called Color TV Games. The early Color TV Game systems were versions of Pong with a very limited color palette. The series also included a racing game, a Breakout clone and Othello.

Selling over 2.5 million units, the TV Color Game consoles were a success laying the foundation for Nintendo's ascent to the top of the gaming universe with the release of the Famicom in 1983.

The Color TV Game consoles are compatible with American television sets. As the technology is now 30 years old, however, your best bet is to purchase a vintage 1980's television and then follow this link to a handy step-by-step guide to to gaming like it's 1979.

The Color TV Game consoles are both fun to play and excellent collectors items. There's no better way to impress your Nintendo fanboy friends than by busting out a Nintendo Color TV Game 15 for a high stakes Pong battle. While tough to find in the United States, the Color TV Game 6, Color TV Game 15 and the Block Kuzushi systems aren't too difficult to track down in Japan. Color TV Racing 112 is a little harder to find and the Othello system is pretty rare. The rarest of all the Color TV consoles, however, is the white Color TV Game 6, which was produced in very limited quantities.

Color TV Game 6

Released in 1977, the Color TV Game 6 was the first of Nintendo's Color TV Game systems, and is considered Nintendo's first home console. The Color TV Game 6, as the name implies, packed in six variations of the classic Pong game. The system sported two control knobs that were built into the base, which made for some cozy quarters when playing head-to-head. The Color TV Game 6 was very popular in Japan selling through over one million units. The TV Color Game 6 was originally released in a yellow box with a yellow casing. Later, however, Nintendo released a very limited run of Color TV Game 6 consoles with a white casing. The white Color TV Game 6 consoles are very rare, hence the most desirable amongst collectors.

Color TV Game 15

Hot on the heals of its successful debut in the home console market, Nintendo released the Color TV Game 15 in 1978. The Color TV Game 15 console featured a more powerful processor, which allowed Nintendo to cram 15 variations of Pong into the console. Well, sort of. There were really just five different Pong games, three of which had an A version and a B version. Four of these games also had a singles version and a doubles version. So with lots of double counting, Nintendo stretched five "unique" games into fifteen. Like its predecessor, the Color TV Game 15 was wildly popular in Japan topping the million-seller threshold.

Shigeru Miyamoto, the father of the Mario and Zelda franchises, was hired by Nintendo in 1977. Legend has it that Miyamoto's first project at Nintendo was to design the casing for the Color TV 15. Not only did Miyamoto change the color from yellow to tangerine orange, but he added detachable controllers providing the players with some much needed elbow room when playing head-to-head.

Color TV Racing 112

In 1978, Nintendo released a second Color TV Game console called Color TV Racing 112. As the name implies, the Color TV Racing 112 console featured 112 slightly different racing games. The most innovative aspect of the console was its steering wheel shaped controller located in the center of the console. For head-to-head action, Color TV Racing 112 was played using the two small detachable controllers.

The racing genre apparently wasn't as popular as Pong in Japan as the Color TV Racing 112 only sold through 160,000 units.

Block Kuzushi

Based on the popular arcade game Breakout, Block Kusushi is a single player game in which you bounce a ball into rows of colored blocks. Destroy all the blocks without missing the bouncing ball and you progress to the next level, each more challanging than the last. Of all the Color TV Game consoles, the gameplay of Block Kuzushi has probably withstood the test of time the best.

Block Kuzushi performed relatively well selling through approximately 400,000 units.

Othello

Released in 1980, Othello was the last of the Color TV Game systems. The Color TV Game version of Othello is played with shapes rather than the traditional black and white pieces. The goal is to turn your opponent's tiles into your own by sandwiching them between two of your tiles. Victory is achieved by filling the board with more of your pieces than your opponent's. Othello featured some relatively advanced AI enabling the player to go it alone. Excluding the white variation of the Color TV Game 6 console, the Othello system is the rarest of the Color TV Game series.

Sales figures for Othello are not available but are assumed to be relatively low as this system retailed for close to $450 back in 1980.

Having the wealthy Othello fanatic market cornered, Nintendo ended the Color TV Game product line and diverted its resources to the development of the Famicom.