:Coleco Gemini

• Processor: 8-bit 6507
• CPU speed: 1.19 MHz
• RAM: 128 bytes
• Resolution: 160x200, 128 colors

In 1982, Coleco released Expansion Module #1 for its ColecoVision video game system. With a custom-made clone of the Atari 2600 TIA chip and off-the-shelf components, the module enabled the ColecoVision to be compatible with Atari 2600 software. Later that year, Atari, Inc. sued Coleco for patent infringement,{{cite news |author= |title=Coleco Industries Is Sued by Atari |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/09/business/coleco-industries-is-sued-by-atari.html |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |date=December 9, 1982 |access-date=April 17, 2016}} and the companies wound up settling out of court, with Coleco becoming a licensee of Atari's patents.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XbkwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s_sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2495%2C5116985|title=Coleco, Atari settle up|date=March 13, 1983|work=The Associated Press|access-date=November 11, 2019|publisher=The Ledger|page=51|quote=Under their settlement, the companies said Coleco could continue making and selling its Expansion Module No. 1 and its free-standing Gemini Video Game System. However, Coleco will do so as a licensee of Atari's patents.}}{{cite news |author= |title=Company News: Atari-Coleco Pact |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/12/business/company-news-atari-coleco-pact.html |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |date=March 12, 1983 |access-date=April 17, 2016}}

File:Coleco-Gemini-Console-Breakdown-05.jpg

The main difference between the Coleco Gemini and the Atari 2600 is the controller design. The Coleco Gemini controllers (dubbed the 'Dual Command') featured an 8-way joystick and a 270-degree paddle on the same controller (the joystick was at the top of the controller, and the paddle was at the bottom of the controller). To play paddle games on the 2600, a Y-connector could be used to connect a joystick and paddles to the controller jack at the same time, rather than physically swapping controllers.{{cite magazine | author=Sittnick, Mike | title=Coleco's Gemini: The Dual Purpose Game System | magazine=Video Games | publisher= Pumpkin Press | date= December 1983 | volume=2 | issue=3 | editor1-last=Sharpe | editor1-first=Roger C. | editor2-last=Canole | editor2-first=Patricia | editor3-last=Greenberg | editor3-first=Perry}}

The Gemini was more compact than the large faux-woodgrain or gloss black-trimmed consoles sold by Atari at the time. The Gemini also had a different game included with the system. Atari was including its 1982 version of Pac-Man{{cite web|url=http://www.mr-atari.com/afbeeldingen/systems/2600pacmanblue.jpg|title=Image of box with Pac-Man sticker}} along with Combat (1977). The Gemini initially came bundled with Coleco's 1982 port of Donkey Kong,{{cite book |title=1982 Annual Report |date=April 8, 1983 |publisher=Coleco |page=17}} but at some point also included Carnival, Mouse Trap and Front Line. Sears also offered a version of the Gemini with both Donkey Kong and Mouse Trap included as separate cartridges.{{cite book |title=1983 Wish Book |date=1983 |publisher=Sears |page=597 |url=http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1983_Sears_Wishbook/files/assets/basic-html/page-597.html |access-date=26 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710035221/http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1983_Sears_Wishbook/files/assets/basic-html/page-597.html |archive-date=10 July 2017 |url-status=live}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Coleco Gemini}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080123142939/http://www.vidgame.net/COLECO/GEMINI.html vidgame.net] (archived version of page)
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZr_se2nmVw Video review and tour of the console]

{{Atari 2600}}

Category:1980s toys

Category:Atari 2600 hardware clones

Gemini