The Color TV Game 6 was the first colour TV Console ever released. It retailed only in Japan in 1977, and featured six variations of one game; Light Tennis, which looked and played much like Pong. All six games play much the same, with the paddles travelling up and down the screen, and a ball hit between them, the different modes add football and obstacles.

It was Nintendo's first home console designed in-house. It was built in collaboration with the Mitsubishi Company after the car maker's deal with Systek fell through after their company dissolved. The machine struggled to make money, and cemented Nintendo’s policy of not ever selling hardware at a loss.

It is part of a series of home dedicated consoles created by Nintendo. There were five different machines in the series, all developed and released in Japan. The first two models, Color TV Game 6 and 15, sold one million units each, while the next two models, Block Breaker and Racing 112, sold half a million units, adding up to a total of three million Color TV Game units sold. The final model was the TV Game which played Othello, and is very rare today.

The players controlled their paddles with dials attached directly to the machine. Additionally, as an alternative to the standard version, which was orange, a white model of the Color TV Game 6 was introduced. Only a few hundred of these white consoles were made, and we are lucky enough to have this version in our collection. Due to its rarity, this version is highly prized by collectors. They were originally for employees of Mitsubishi, who were Nintendo's electronics partner at the time.

Our console is the TV Game 6 from 1977 and marked on the original packaging "9800 by Nintendo". The reference number is CTG-6S and has a serial number of 1060944.

Manufacturer: Nintendo
Date: 1977

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH20732. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

Click on the Image(s) For Detail

	User Submitted Articles
	Add Your Article >>>