MaximumRD Indicted!: MaximumRD, aka Rob Daviau, is in big trouble (arrest photo).Some sad news for those of us who know and love MaximumRD, host of the popular YouTube program dedicated to classic gaming hardware. A Canadian investigation into his activities has led to his arrest and indictment. While the details of the case are still vague (repeated calls to the Toronto officials revealed little info), it appears that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have accused him of tricking local residents into thinking that the ColecoVision and games such as Lady Bug and Donkey Kong are just as fun as modern games. Indeed, apparently a few people who bought ColecoVisions from him enjoyed them intensely for months before realizing they weren't awesome. I was able to get in touch with a few of these poor kids, who still think that playing Mr. Do is just as satisfying (if not more so) than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Rob's ColecoVisions were confiscated along with several other contraband consoles that clearly weren't nearly as good as anything out today because they suck.

I will continue to reveal information as it comes to me, but by all means do *NOT* insinuate to anyone that classic games and consoles are "just as fun" as the latest offerings from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Doing so isn't just libelous; it's immoral.

Exciting news for ColecoVision fans, as Opcode Games' in-development expansion module for the classic platform, which, among several other things, will provide much needed RAM to the 1K console, has been officially blessed by Coleco Holdings, and will leverage the name of Coleco's original advertised - but never released - Super Game Module, a device with which it shares some similarities. Read about it here for the announcement and here for the details on the module. For those interested, one of the first games out of the gate that will make use of the low cost module is Donkey Kong Arcade...

Check it out, I'm very happy with these, especially the two part look at the ColecoVision USB 128-in-1 multicart! Let me know what you think guys, thanks!

Zippy RaceFrom the guys who brought you the Mr. Chin MSX conversion, comes Pyramid Warp/Battleship Clapton II, which ships next week and Zippy Race, which is accepting orders now. Each game is $60 and comes boxed with a manual. I'm looking forward to mine.

Check out their Website for more information on the games, with more details on the announcement below: http://www.colecovision.dk/collectorvision.htm

Pyramid Warp/Battleship Clapton II: http://www.colecovision.dk/coll-warp.htm

Zippy Race: http://www.colecovision.dk/coll-zippy.htm

Check it out! Daniel Bienvenu contacted me to narrate a video for his latest COLECOVISION project. He is a homebrew programmer deeply involved in programming new titles for the classic Colecovision system. This title will be worked on throughout 2009 and hopefully debut sometime in 2010! Here is the resulting video, it is just one of a series of sneak peek teaser videos to get the word out on this exciting new project for Colecovision enthusiasts!

"Lord of the Dungeon" was released in limited quantities as a homebrew back in 2000 from the 1984 unreleased original prototype for the ColecoVision from Probe 2000, which would have been the first ever battery backed cartridge. These are rare, rare images since so few people have it and it's unsupported by any emulator. You can see it would have been a phenomenal Wizardry-like RPG for a console well before anything like it on the NES!

Building on the platforms already impressive homebrew efforts to date, Dale Wick wrote in to tell me that the new ColecoVision mini-games cartridge compilation is now in stock. I already got my order in previously, but now it's available to everyone more easily. When you're there, be sure to check out the info on a second mini-games cartridge and get a sneak peak at early development on a game inspired by Coleco's never developed (but advertised) Dracula game. All the info here.

Mr. Chin for ColecoVision (2008)Another upgraded MSX conversion for the ColecoVision is now available for pre-order, this time, Mr. Chin, originally created in 1984 by HAL Labs. Check out all the details over at the AtariAge forums, here. I put my name of the list! Also, be sure to check out some of the other games mentioned in that thread and the author's profile--you'll see lots of screenshots for some downright amazing already released or forthcoming ColecoVision developments that really take the system to new places!

Among other updates, Intellivision Lives has announced that they've just once again made available the highly sought after Steamroller for the ColecoVision, an unreleased game created for Activision from 1984. It was released in limited quantities of ~100 at CGE back in 2000, and is once again available in a limited release of 100. I know I got mine and also ordered a nifty running man poster made up of the 125 original mainstream releases for the Intellivision for my basement den area. Fun stuff and with all the recent buzz about the Intellivision lately, I'm glad there's also a boost for the ColecoVision while we're at it! When you're at the Blue Sky Rangers/Intellivision Productions/Intellivision Lives Website, be sure to check out their news section for other interesting updates!