Exp. Mod. #01: Atari Adapter

The expansion module that let a ColecoVision play Atari 2600 cartridges - in practice an Atari 2600 in a box that plugged into the front of the console. With it, a ColecoVision owner had both the better hardware and the larger library.

What it started

• Atari sued Coleco for patent infringement in 1982 over exactly this.
• Coleco counterclaimed for $500 million on antitrust grounds.
• The two settled out of court, with Coleco taking a licence to Atari's patents.

The module was a commercial argument as much as a product: it let Coleco sell a new console without asking anyone to give up the games they already owned. Coleco later took the same idea further with the Gemini, a 2600 clone of its own.

This catalogue holds more than one entry under this title, which is worth reconciling.