Exp. Mod. #01: Atari Adapter (UK)

The United Kingdom issue of the ColecoVision's Atari 2600 adapter, from CBS Electronics.

What the module does

• Lets a ColecoVision play Atari 2600 cartridges - it is effectively a 2600 in a box that plugs into the console's front port.
• Atari sued Coleco over it in 1982; the two settled, with Coleco licensing Atari's patents.

Why separate issues

• CBS Electronics distributed outside North America and packaged for each market. Box art, language and model numbering differ, and those are what identify a unit's origin once it is out of its carton.
• This catalogue holds UK, EU, French, German and Australian issues alongside the American ones - five European variants of a single accessory, which almost nothing else records.