Nintendo had found great success as a toy manufacturer, however the toy market was heavily regulated. Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi believed this was throttling Nintendo's profits, and sought to branch out into the emerging electronic gaming market.
Nintendo received a license from Magnavox to design and manufacture their own Nintendo-branded systems based on the Odyssey's light tennis game. Teaming up with Mitsubishi, and with assistance from employees of Sharp Electronics, Nintendo created their first home videogame systems, the Color TV-Game 6 and Color TV-Game 15.
A total of five Color TV-Game systems were released in Japan between 1977 and 1980. Each standalone unit played a single type of game, with gameplay variations controlled using switches on the base unit.
Nintendo's first home videogame system features three variations of 'Light Tennis' (a.k.a. Pong):
Each game can be played in Singles or Doubles mode, for a total of six games. In Doubles, each player controls two paddles at the same time.
Released as the more expensive 'deluxe' model of the Color TV-Game series, with detachable controllers and 15 built-in games.
In addition to the Tennis, Volleyball and Hockey games from the Color TV-Game 6, the Color TV-Game 15 includes variations on all three with different nets down the centre line. All are available to play in singles or doubles mode.
The all-new games are:
A simple driving game that can be controlled in single player with the large steering wheel on the base unit, or two small wired controllers for multiplayer games.
Steer a car around opponent cars and road obstacles. Using the switches on the system, it's possible to play 112 variants of the game:
The fourth Color TV-Game system is based on one of Nintendo's first arcade games Block Fever, itself a clone of the Atari arcade hit BreakOut.
Use the dial on the system to control the paddle and bounce the ball so it breaks all the blocks. There are six variations to play:
The final game in the Color TV-Game series was based Nintendo's first arcade videogame, Computer Othello. Place your pieces on a board to capture your opponent's pieces. The winner is the player with the most pieces on the board when no more pieces can be placed.
The system boasted an advanced CPU, allowing the player to challenge the computer. The system came with a significantly higher price than the other Color TV-Game systems, aimed for specialist markets and older players. The Computer TV-Game is now a collector's item in Japan.
One of 9-Volt's microgames is based on Racing 112. Steer the car and don't crash into the enemy cars. On the higher difficulty levels, the cars zigzag around.
One of 9-Volt's microgames is based on Color TV-Game 6. Twist the Wii Remote to simulate turning the dial. Stop the ball from going into your goal.
Color TV-Game 15 appears as a possible Assist Trophy. Paddles appear on either side of the stage, hitting a ball back and forth between them. Any player hit by the paddles or ball takes damage.