rowing up in the 80s, there were always fun things to do around my house. Playing around on the Intellivision gaming console was one of them. Playing games such as Donkey Kong, He-Man, Battle Ship, Burger Time, and Lock & Chase were  just a few of my favorites, although what really hooked me was the game art and design. It was always so perfect, and due to the low graphics quality (which at the time was pretty advanced), you really had to use your imagination when playing, so the game art and design helped out a lot in that regard. Later on, I remember being given a Nintendo, and as a result, I pretty much buried the Intellivision in a closet, never to be see again.

If you’ve ever been to Portland, Oregon, you’ve probably noticed that our city is really into toys, cafes, and retro arcades. A nerds paradise, if you ask me.  Anyway, I recently ventured into a cafe not too far from our office, and lo and behold, I saw an Intellivision gaming console on display. I was completely thrown off, but then immediately sent back 2 decades, reminded of how wonderfully designed the Intellivision was. I mean, just look at it! I’m not really a big drinker, but it certainly does remind me of a fine whiskey. The key pad, the dial, and the faux wood grain; the way each controller locks into the unit with little to no effort, making them completely storable. This was a brilliantly designed gaming system, not to mention how the industrial designers at Mattel (the Intellivision’s parent company) considered the environmental layout of a person’s home when they released this system. Even George Plimpton had a hand in buttering up apprehensive shoppers, by appearing in certain ads that made direct comparisons to the Intellivision outperforming it’s competitor, and long time rival, Atari. In my humble opinion, Intellivision blows Atari out of the water. Anyway, I just thought I would share a nostalgic moment of mine.