h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Colecovision boasted the best graphics yet in a home video game system, and it delivered. The machine's software consisted mostly of arcade ports, and they were phenomenal by the standards of the day. Donkey Kong especially was an amazingly faithful recreation of the original. Here again, though, the games available for the Coleco system failed to ignite my imagination, so I never manipulated my parents into buying me one.

The Atari 2600 ruled the home gaming scene for a long time, even with the stiff competition offered by Mattel and Coleco. Atari even released a new system called the 5200, but it didn't catch on. Then something bad happened. There was some sort of financial catastrophe involving Atari, and the bottom fell out of the game industry. It seemed like the end, especially since home computer systems were becoming more and more popular, but a new player was about to enter the console scene. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)was on the horizon, and its release and subsequent popularity would revitalize the industry.