25 Facts About Mattel Electronics

Mattel Electronics identified a new but expensive chipset from National Semiconductor and negotiated better pricing for a simpler design.

Mattel Electronics formed its own software development group and began hiring programmers.

Early in 1982 Mattel Electronics relocated from Mattel headquarters to an unused industrial building.

Every cartridge produced by Mattel Electronics includes two plastic controller overlays to help navigate the 12-button keypad, although not every game uses it.

Mattel Electronics had a competitive advantage in its team of experienced and talented programmers.

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Don Daglow was a key early programmer at Mattel Electronics and became director of Intellivision game development.

In December 1979, Mattel Electronics had production design working units but decided on a significant internal design change to consolidate circuit boards.

In mid-1982, the FTC ordered Mattel Electronics to pay a monthly fine until the promised computer upgrade was in full retail distribution.

Mattel Electronics provided a full refund, but customers without a receipt received for the Keyboard Component, for the BASIC cartridge, and for each cassette software.

In 1982 Mattel Electronics introduced the Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module, a speech synthesizer for compatible cartridges.

Mattel Electronics planned to use that connector for wireless hand controllers.

Mattel Electronics built a state of the art voice processing lab to produce the phrases used in Intellivoice games.

However, at $79 the Intellivoice did not sell as well as Mattel Electronics expected, and Intellivoices were later offered free with the purchase of a Master Component.

One functional difference was the addition of a video input to the cartridge port, added specifically to support the System Changer, an accessory released in 1983 by Mattel Electronics that played Atari 2600 cartridges through the Intellivision.

Mattel Electronics secretly changed the Exec internal ROM program in an attempt to lock out third party games.

Programmers at Mattel Electronics discovered the audio differences and avoided the problem in future games.

In 1982, with new machines introduced by competitors, Mattel Electronics marketing wanted to bring an upgraded system to market sooner.

In February 1983, Mattel Electronics opened an office in the south of France to provide European input to Intellivision games and develop games for the ColecoVision.

At the June 1983 Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, Mattel Electronics had the opportunity to show off all their new products.

However, by October 1983, Mattel Electronics' losses were over for the year and one third of the programming staff were laid off.

In France, the Mattel Electronics office found investors and became Nice Ideas in April 1984.

INTV Corp continued a relationship that Mattel Electronics had with Data East and produced all new cartridges such as Commando in 1987 and Body Slam Wrestling in 1988.

Intellivision games became readily available again when Keith Robinson and Stephen Roney, both former Intellivision programmers at Mattel Electronics, obtained exclusive rights to the Intellivision and games in 1997.

At the 2011 Consumer Mattel Electronics Show, Microsoft announced a version of Game Room for Windows Phone, promising a catalog of 44 Intellivision games.

Mattel Electronics described Intellivision as "the most mechanically reliable of the systems… The controller worked with perfect consistency.

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