Óscar Toledo Gutiérrez's Breadboard Games Console Brings Back the Classic ColecoVision
Taking a few liberties to simplify the build, this breadboard ColecoVision clone happily plays original cartridge games.
Software developer and retro gaming enthusiast Óscar Toledo Gutiérrez has put wire to breadboard to build a fully-functional clone of a computer gaming classic: Coleco's ColecoVision cartridge-based games console.
"This is a Colecovision console built on a breadboard," Gutiérrez explains of the project. "It can accept original cartridges and one joystick. Soldering was only required for the cartridge and joystick connectors, and other than that every wire is unsoldered."
Released in 1982 by what was originally the Connecticut Leather Company, but which is perhaps best known as the creator of the Cabbage Patch Kids, the ColecoVision aimed to offer a more arcade-like experience than rivals like the Atari 2600. Before its discontinuation in 1985, the console saw over a hundred games released — and in the years since vintage gaming fans have continued its legacy with new games targeting its eight-bit Zilog Z80 CPU and Texas Instruments TMS9918 video display controller.
Using detailed schematics provided by vintage gaming specialist Console5, Gutiérrez worked to replicate most — though not all — of the ColecoVision's electronics in breadboard form, making a few tweaks along the way. "The system is greatly simplified by using a TMS9118 video processor [which] only requires two memories instead of eight and can generate the clock signal for the Z80," Gutiérrez explains of his modifications, "and a 6116 RAM memory (only 1k is used instead of 2 2114 memories). Some further adaptations like using a 74LS245 for the joystick port (it was the only chip I had, instead of the somewhat rare 74LS541), and no second player, and of course no expansion slot."
Despite the tweaks, the resulting device is entirely functional — and capable of playing original ColecoVision cartridges just as well as the genuine machine, providing you don't need any expansion hardware or a second player. "It was incredibly hard to make the video processor oscillate correctly," Gutiérrez says of the biggest challenge.
More information is available on Gutiérrez' YouTube video of the build.