If you were a fully formed human in the 80s and you were into gaming, you lived through the fun rivalry between Mattel’s Intellivision and Atari’s…well, Atari. While eventually they were trumped by the Nintendo vs Sega wars later on, OG gamers knew the joy of playing games like Pong and Starship if you had an Atari and Tron and Utopia if you had Intellivision. The latter is now getting a revival through a surprising channel.
There’s something deliciously ironic about Atari resurrecting its old nemesis from the 1980s console wars. The Intellivision Sprint, launching December 5th for $150, represents one of the most interesting plot twists in gaming history: the rival who won gets to write the other’s comeback story.
Designer:
For those who weren’t around during the First Console War (yes, that’s the actual name), Intellivision was Mattel’s answer to the Atari 2600 back in 1980. It wasn’t just another “me too” competitor. Intellivision genuinely brought something different to the table with superior graphics, more realistic sports games, and those wonderfully weird controllers with their numeric keypads and removable overlays. It was the console equivalent of the Pepsi Challenge, and plenty of gamers picked the other guy.
Fast forward to 2024, and Atari now owns the Intellivision brand. Rather than letting it collect dust in their IP vault, they’ve partnered with Plaion to give this classic system a proper 45th-anniversary celebration. And honestly, the design choices here show they’re doing more than just cashing in on nostalgia. The new Sprint keeps the iconic gold and black color scheme with that distinctive wood grain front panel. It’s unapologetically retro without looking like a cheap knockoff or an overwrought “reimagining.” This is important because retro console revivals can go either way. You either nail the authenticity or you end up with something that feels like a toy from a hotel gift shop.
What makes this release genuinely interesting isn’t just the hardware aesthetics. It’s what they’ve included. The Sprint comes loaded with 45 built-in games spanning sports, strategy, and arcade titles. You get classics like Astrosmash, Shark! Shark!, Star Strike, and Boulder Dash. The sports lineup includes Baseball, Soccer, Tennis, and Super Pro Football, showcasing what made Intellivision a legitimate competitor back in the day.
Here’s where Atari shows they understand what made the original special: they’re including those controller overlays. If you never used an Intellivision, those overlays were genius. They slipped over the numeric keypad to show you which buttons did what for each specific game. It was low-tech augmented reality, making complex games playable on a simple controller. The modern upgrades are thoughtful rather than excessive. Two wireless controllers replace the wired originals (thank goodness). There’s HDMI output for modern TVs and a USB-A port for library expansion, suggesting more games might be coming down the line. They’ve modernized the experience without losing the plot.
From a design perspective, this hits that sweet spot between preservation and progress. The team hasn’t tried to make the Intellivision “cool” or “edgy.” They’re letting the original design language speak for itself while adding just enough contemporary functionality to make it actually usable in 2025.
What’s particularly fascinating is the cultural moment this represents. We’re in an era where gaming history is being actively preserved and repackaged by the very companies who created it. Atari could have let Intellivision fade away. Instead, they’re positioning themselves as “caretakers” of gaming heritage, as VP Matt Burnett put it. That’s a much more interesting role than just being a retro gaming company churning out nostalgia products.
Is this for everyone? Probably not. But for design enthusiasts who appreciate thoughtful product revival, tech heads interested in gaming history, or anyone curious about what the console wars looked like before PlayStation and Xbox, the Intellivision Sprint is genuinely intriguing. It’s a tangible piece of pop culture archaeology that you can actually play. Sometimes the best design isn’t about reinvention. Sometimes it’s about knowing exactly what to keep and what to carefully update. Atari seems to have figured that out with this one.
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