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Color TV-Game 6 is the first Color TV-Game and the first home console released by Nintendo. It was released only in Japan in 1977, and featured only one game; Light Tennis, which looked and played much like Pong.
The game featured 6 different modes, such as the original, as well as others with different ways to play pong such as ones with obstacles. In Japan, it sold over a million copies and was successful enough to warrant a sequel titled Color TV-Game 15 .
Gameplay[ ]
Up to two players could play this game, though there were no detachable controllers, something Nintendo would fix in future titles. Instead, there were two knobs on the console that the players could turn to move their paddle up and down.
Similar to Pong, players would hit the ball back and fourth, making sure it doesn't go past their paddle. The game had bright colors as opposed to the black and white coloring of Pong. As the game's name implies, there were six game modes, each one with a minor alteration.
Development[ ]
The Color TV-Game 6 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. Mitsubishi went to Nintendo's president Hiroshi Yamauchi in hopes of striking a deal and managed to do so successfully.
Yamauchi knew that his system had to be cheap since he (accurately) assumed that the other systems on the market failed due to their steep prices. This paid off, as over 350,000 people in the country purchased a Color TV-Game 6. Perhaps even more surprising is that the Color TV-Game 15, which contained over twice the number of games as the Color TV-Game 6 (but at more of a cost) sold over 700,000 units in Japan.
Every CTVG6 unit sold actually lost Nintendo money. Apparently, in order to accumulate a profit, Nintendo would have had to sell the system for 12,000 yen. In order to find away around this, the Color TV-Game 15 which, as previously indicated, sold around twice the amount as the Color TV-Game 6, was released alongside it. The Color TV-Game 15 featured nine more games, detachable controllers and a slicker design.
Eventually, it appears as if Nintendo succeeded in lowering the cost of development since they reduced the price of the Color TV-Game 6 to 5,000 yen and included an AC adapter.