The Video Game Critic

So I had my friend Eric over today and we were playing a bunch of Intellivision classics: Lock N Chase, Beauty and the Beast (he got high score of 7800), Dragonfire, Popeye...

The disc controllers are very unique but man do they lack precision. In the past I've seen this as part of their charm - they add to the challenge. While playing Popeye even Eric wished he had a joystick, he's the #1 Intellivision fan.

If there's going to be a new Intellivision they really need to focus on the controller design. I'm pretty sure they could make a disc controller nearly as good as a joystick, but it would require some serious effort.

Thoughts?

It must have been a common complaint back in the day too, because several companies made attachments to turn the Intellivision controller into a joystick. I bought one on ebay once, but I don't remember if I even used it. They're a little pricey too - probably like $20 or $30 - and don't pop up for sale often enough. Anyway, it looks something like this:

VideoGameCritic wrote:So I had my friend Eric over today and we were playing a bunch of Intellivision classics: Lock N Chase, Beauty and the Beast (he got high score of 7800), Dragonfire, Popeye...

The disc controllers are very unique but man do they lack precision. In the past I've seen this as part of their charm - they add to the challenge. While playing Popeye even Eric wished he had a joystick, he's the #1 Intellivision fan.

If there's going to be a new Intellivision they really need to focus on the controller design. I'm pretty sure they could make a disc controller nearly as good as a joystick, but it would require some serious effort.

Thoughts?

They are one of my favs because I grew up with them..Burger Time controls amazing with the disc
that being said the Intellivision 2 controllers were awful

The Intellivision Amico controllers look pretty good so far
https://youtu.be/OQJ1PX1vTYE

Retro STrife wrote:It must have been a common complaint back in the day too, because several companies made attachments to turn the Intellivision controller into a joystick.

This is true, a lot of game players hated INTV controllers, but I kinda liked them even with their faults. Even in games like Snafu, where you'll swear at your controller for not going left or right, it just adds to the charm. I think a lot of people back in the day didn't know how to quite use the INTV controller.

If you look at 1:50 of this demo vid, you can see the person using his finger to 'spin' the disc, which would basically have you go in circles. Some of my friends could never get the hang of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppYK29cHygQ (INTV demo vid, released probably in late 1979.)