page_title: Color TV-Game
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Color TV-Game / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Screenshot for the video game.
context_page_description: The Color TV-Game series of five dedicated home video game consoles was created by Nintendo and released in Japan only. Nintendo sold three million units of the first four models: one million units of each of the first two models, Color TV-Game 6 and 15; and half a million units of each of the next two models, Block Breaker and Racing 112. The Color TV-Game series has the highest sales figures of all the first generation of video game consoles. The systems can run on C batteries or an AC adapter. It is also the first console to be released by Nintendo.
context_section_description: By the late 1970s, Nintendo began moving away from toys and playing cards and into the rapidly-growing video game market. Their decision was based on the release of the hugely-successful arcade game Space Invaders by Taito and the 1973 oil crisis making toys expensive to produce. Nintendo's first foray into the industry was Computer Othello in 1975. They followed it with games such as Sheriff, Space Fever, and EVR-Race. Most of these were unsuccessful but made Nintendo view video games as the next market to jump into. The home console market also saw a rise in popularity, particularly in North America with the release of Atari's Pong system in 1975. This caused the market to become flooded with similar "video tennis" games as companies scrambled to cash in on its success. Nintendo was no exception, and decided to make their own dedicated Pong system as a way to bring its popularity over to Japan.
  The Color TV-Game consoles were produced jointly by Nintendo Research & Development 2 (R&D2) and Mitsubishi Electronics. Nintendo had no prior knowledge of manufacturing electronics, so they enlisted the help of Mitsubishi to mass-produce them. Mitsubishi previously assisted Nintendo in production of EVR Race, which provided a good relationship between the two companies. For the first two consoles, Color TV-Game 6 and Color TV-Game 15, Nintendo acquired a license from Magnavox that allowed them to produce their own Pong-esque game consoles. Magnavox created the original concept for Pong for their Magnavox Odyssey console, which inspired Atari to create a similar game for arcades. This angered Magnavox founder Ralph H. Baer, who sued Atari for infringing on their rights. Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi specified that the consoles had to be produced quickly and with cheaper parts to lower production costs. He wanted the systems to be cheap for the consumer to purchase to give them an edge over their rivals. The TV-Game 6 and 15 required little production time due to their simplicity. Mitsubishi made minor changes and corrections to the systems before they were released.
  The Color TV-Game 6 launched on June 1, 1977. It retailed at a price of ¥9,800, which was significantly lower than competing systems. Nintendo used this as a marketing tool. As its title implies, it contains six variations of Pong, such as adding additional paddles, decreasing the size of the paddles, and adding deflective shields in the center of the screen. It could be powered by batteries or by a power adapter that was sold separately. Shortly after its release, Nintendo released an improved version of the TV-Game 6, featuring a cream-white outer casing and removing the power adapter. A second variation was produced as part of a promotion with food company House Foods to promote their House Shanmen instant noodles. It is identical to the original TV-Game 6 but has the House Shanmen logo on the casing. This version was produced in very limited quantities, making it extremely rare. Sharp Electronics produced dark orange-colored versions of the TV-Game 6 to bundle with their television sets.
  A week later on June 8, Nintendo released the Color TV-Game 15. It retailed for ¥15,000, roughly 50% more than the TV-Game 6. In a sense, the TV-Game 15 was a re-release of the TV Game 6; the latter had fifteen games, but only six were playable out of the box. The TV-Game 15 has detachable controllers which are stored in a small compartment on the system. Nintendo produced a second model of the TV-Game 15 with a reddish-orange casing, which had a longer production run and as such are more common than the orange version. Sharp made a white-colored version that was renamed Color TV-Game XG-115.
  The third unit, the Color TV Game Racing 112, was published on June 8, 1978. It is significantly larger than the previous two units, with a larger shipping box to accompany it. Racing 112 was set to be released at ¥18,000, but was lowered to ¥12,000 to ensure competitiveness. It was later reduced to ¥5,000. To prevent the machine from requiring a larger box, the wheel is detachable fro
caption: Screenshot of one of the games in Color TV-Game 15 and Color TV-Game 6.
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