The Coleco Gemini was a Atari 2600 clone manufactured by Coleco. Atari 2600 (four-switch version). ... Coleco is an amusement company that, among other things, has produced the following video game consoles: Coleco Telstar Arcade Cartridges Colecovision It was founded in 1932 as the Connecticut Leather Company by a Russian immigrant Maurice Greenberg to sell leather supplies to shoemakers. ...

History

In 1982, Coleco released Expansion Module #1 for its Colecovision video game system using off-the-shelf components. Atari sued Coleco for patent infringement, however a court ruled that since Coleco used off-the-shelf components and not the same components found inside an Atari 2600, the Expansion Module #1 did not infringe on Atari's patents for the 2600. With this ruling, Coleco decided to make a stand-alone Atari 2600 clone and named it the Gemini. The Colecovision was Colecos third generation video game console, released in August 1982. ... For the concept Atari (当たり) in the board game of Go, see Atari (go term). ...

Gemini Vs 2600

The main difference between the Coleco Gemini and the Atari 2600 is the controller design. The Coleco Gemini controllers 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). Unfortunately, if one wanted to play the Atari 2600 of Warlords (in 4 player mode), 2 sets of Atari-made paddles were required, and one set of Atari-made paddles was required for 2 player paddle games.

Coleco struck a deal with Columbia House to start a video game club similar to its record club. Columbia sold the Coleco Gemini as the Columbia Home Arcade through the Columbia House Video Game Club. In Canada, CBS Electronics sold the Gemini under the Columbia Home Arcade name. Columbia House is a direct seller of compact discs and DVD movies, offering its selections mainly through clubs. ...

External Link

• vidgame.net (http://www.vidgame.net/COLECO/GEMINI.html)