One promise of the early-1980s systems was the tantalizing prospect of "expansion". Most home computers had a mysterious opening in the back, allowing for additional memory. The Intellivision had a voice module that plugged right into the cartridge slot. There was even talk of a keyboard attachment for the Atari 2600. Coleco went all-in with the concept, designing their Colecovision with an expansion slot right up front under a sliding panel.

It wasn't just for show either. Coleco ended up releasing three "expansion" modules. Expansion module #1 was the Atari converter, allowing you to play Atari 2600 games on your Colecovision. Expansion module #2 was the steering wheel controller which didn't even use the expansion slot. Expansion module #3 expanded the capabilities of the Colecovision, essentially turbo-charging the system!

You might expect Coleco's Roller Controller to qualify, but that's not the case. I guess it falls into the same category as the Super Action Controllers. Anyway, this page is dedicated to all the extra attachments available for the Colecovision.

During the 1980s video game systems were so expensive that families could only afford one. I certainly didn't know any friends who owned two game systems. Frankly it would have been hard to even fathom at the time. Of course, this inevitably led to a severe, often debilitating psychological condition known as console envy.

The console you owned dictated your tribe. I was in the Atari camp but I knew Intellivision kids (nerdy) and Colecovision kids (smelled funny). No matter how adamantly you defended "your" console, there were always certain games that were always out of your reach. And wouldn't you know, those were the ones you wanted most! I drooled over commercials showing off the superior sports titles of the Intellivision and the arcade-quality graphics of the Colecovision.

In retrospect, this Atari Converter was an ingenious, albeit risky, gambit on Coleco's part. It provided Colecovision owners instant access to the huge library of existing games. Naturally Atari sued, but after some legal wrangling the case was settled out of court.

The module feels very solid and plugs flush into the front of the Colecovision. Besides a cartridge slot it has three switches (color, left and right difficulty), and two buttons (select and reset). There are two controller ports on the front, which are notably far more convenient than the normal Colecovision controller ports, tucked deep into the controller bays.

While useful in 1983, in 2025 this module doesn't bring a heck of a lot to the table. Atari 2600 systems are far more ubiquitous than Colecovisions, and are far more durable. There is still one practical use for this device however. The Atari version of Omega Race requires an obscure attachment in order to provide a second button. Since this module lets you play Atari games with the Colecovision controller, you can play the game with two buttons without the attachment. It's a neat trick.

I was so lucky to get into retro gaming during the late 1990s. At the time the internet was chock-full of online clearing houses trying to unload old game stock. I always wished I would have taken better advantage of these deals, but in retrospect I didn't do so bad!

One great catch was buying a brand new Driving Module in the box. I'm glad I purchased it new, because this cheaply-constructed item would probably not stand up to much wear-and-tear. It's surprisingly lightweight with the plastic wheel being hollow on the back. Those speedometer stickers look cheesy, but I guess the controller would look sparse without them.

Whenever I pull this wheel out of storage I always wonder why it's not working. Then I remember that the compartment on the back holds four C batteries. Ugh. Back in 1982 C batteries were a lot more common. Looking on the bright side, loading these in does give the controller some much-needed heft.

What makes the wheel fun to use is how easy it is to turn. You can even "twirl" the spokes with your finger. In most games the steering is not overly-sensitive so you can spin that bad boy to your heart's content.

I find most modern steering wheels to be tight, making them hard to secure in your lap. That's not the case here. There are suction cups on the bottom of the Coleco wheel but I've never felt the need to use them.

A normal controller inserts snugly into the bay on the right-hand side of the driving controller, providing a joystick "gear" and keypad. A pedal plugs into the front, which was a lousy design choice because that thin wire gets in the way. The pedal itself has just the right "give", allowing you to make fine adjustments without having it slide all around the carpet.

Pound for pound this is one of the best steering wheel controllers I've ever used. It adds an arcade flair to games like Turbo, Bump N Jump, and Dukes of Hazzard. It also works very well with the CollectorVision Phoenix system.

This is one I know very little about because I don't own an Adam computer. The Adam was Coleco's attempt to bring home computers to the masses at a reasonable price. There were two versions of the Adam. One was standalone and the other plugged into the Colecovision console. This version was known as the Expansion Module #3.

The Adam was widely considered a bust. Its games were cassette tapes you loaded into a data drive. These were slow to load and the drive mechanism was not reliable.

Image of box courtesy of My Retro Game Hub.

Find Colecovision Expansion Module #3 on eBay, Amazon, YouTube

The standard Colecovision controller was a bit of an enigma. Its directional mechanism tried to straddle the line between the Atari-style joystick and the Intellivision-style flat disc. The result was unsatisfying at best, hand-cramping at worst. So when Coleco announced its Super Action Controllers it felt like they were intent on righting this wrong.

Not only do the oversized Super Action controllers have an arcade-style joystick (complete with red ball), but they also have a laundry list of other gadgets. It has an improved keypad with raised buttons. It has a grip with four colored buttons you can squeeze - one for each finger! There's also a mysterious "spinner" mechanism on the front. You could tell the controller was designed by committee, with every suggestion being gladly accepted, no questions asked.

What games could possibly utilize all of these gadgets and knick-knacks? Well, as it turns out Coleco was about to release a series of high-profile sports titles including Super Action Baseball, Super Action Football, and Rocky. With oversized players and sophisticated controls, these would put the current sports video games to shame.

Or so it would seem! As it turns out, these games looked substantially better than they played. Sure they boasted some truly impressive visuals such as a television-style pitcher/batter screen. But when it came to gameplay, the Colecovision was way over its head. The action proved to be slow, choppy, and confusing. The unbridled enthusiasm for the Super Action Controller soon dissipated.

If there's a silver lining to this story, it's that these joystick controllers work fine with normal arcade titles like Donkey Kong, Frogger, and Defender. They aren't perfect though. They feel a little stiff, and for games where you need to incessantly fire, your index finger tends to rub against the plastic. That said, I'd take these over the standard controllers any day.

If you could time travel back to the early 1980s and stroll through an arcade, you may be surprised how many games employed trak-balls. Centipede, Crystal Castles, Marble Madness, Missile Command, and Millipede were some big names. And let's not forget the deluge of Golden Tee Golf games in the 1990s. These rolling ball mechanisms combined a visceral sense of speed with the precision of a computer mouse.

Atari released trak-balls for both their Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 consoles, so naturally Coleco released the Roller Controller. As usual, they went a little overboard. The roller ball itself feels very good. It spins easily and has a nice bit of heft. Below it is a switch with two settings: joystick and roller. I assume the joystick just emulates a normal controller and can be used with any game, while the "roller" setting is meant for games specifically programmed to support its precision analog control.

There's a heck of a lot of buttons on this thing, including two pairs of red "action" buttons. Two bays hold a regular controller on each side. What was the thought process here? Did Coleco expect two people to use this thing at the same time? Were they going out of their way to accommodate lefties and righties? Or were they contemplating an actual game that employed 26 buttons?

Whatever the case, the single-player experience is pretty solid. The Slither pack-in game is rapid-fire bliss, kind of like Centipede in the desert. Speaking of which, Atari released a superb version of Centipede for the Colecovision that works great with this roller. Sophisticated games like War Games and War Room also prove to be a good fit, although I find myself having to look down a lot to make sure I'm hitting the right buttons.

There's a thick bevy of wires protruding from the back of this thing, including connectors for both controller ports and a power cord that "piggybacks" onto the Colecovision. If you're wondering if this controller works with the Collectorvision Phoenix system, the answer is yes. You just have to plug the cord into a Colecovision power adapter; no system required.

The Roller Controller has two suction cups but it feels fine sitting on my lap or on the carpet. Several readers recommended I try it with Turbo, and I must say, this was a revelation. Playing Turbo with the rollerball offers a completely unique experience, with a degree of control I never thought possible. From what I understand you can use the Roller Controller with just about any cartridge, so give it a whirl with your favorite game and see what happens.

To be honest I was not familiar with this device until a reader named SpiceWare brought it to my attention and provided these great pictures! Originally released in 2012, it augments the Colecovision to 32K RAM and added a AY-3-8910 sound chip. These allowed for larger games and a more arcade-like experience. For all the lurid details check out Colecovision.DK.

Apparently there are about 70 games currently available for the device.

Find Colecovision Super Game Module on eBay, Amazon, YouTube