Atari’s resurrecting the Intellivision, one of its biggest competitors in the ‘80s

Atari has announced yet another retro console revival, but this time it’s launching hardware from an old competitor. Atari and Plaion, a company that develops, publishes, and distributes games, have collaborated on the new Intellivision Sprint that blends ‘80s console aesthetics with modern gaming conveniences. It’s a new take on Mattel’s Intellivision, which initially went head-to-head with the Atari 2600 when it was released in 1979. The Sprint looks a lot like the original Intellivision with a gold and black case and a wood-grain panel on the front, but there are a lot fewer cables. It connects to a TV using a single HDMI cable, and while it still includes two controllers featuring dials and number pads instead of joysticks, they’re both wireless and charge when docked to the console. [Image: The Sprint carries forward the original Intellivision’s controller overlays that are customized for each bundled game. https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/atari_intellivision2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] The Sprint has the original Intellivision’s number pad overlays, but with new designs and updated artwork to make it easier to know what buttons you need to press to play different games. It comes with 45 built-in titles, including classics like Boulder Dash and Astrosmash, plus a collection of sports games that helped popularize the original version of the console. It lacks support for cartridges, but there’s USB-A ports that can be used to play additional titles or to connect original Intellivision controllers with an adapter. It’s available for preorder starting today for $149.99 and is expected to ship on December 5th, 2025.