You might have missed it, but just before E3 2018 a new challenger entered the console war: The Intellivision is returning nearly four decades after it initially launched

The original Intellivision, released as a competitor to the Atari VCS in 1979, had a much better controller than the Atari and a great library of often oddball games. According to current Intellivision Entertainment president, Tommy Tallarico, the controller and games remain the focus of the next-generation Intellivision. Speaking to IGN at E3 2018, Tallarico shared a few new details about the console, its controller, its planned library, and his vision for what could make it a success alongside modern PCs, phones, consoles, and even its resurrected rival, the upcoming re-launched Atari VCS.

The original Intellivision console. Image: Wikipedia

Who Is the New Intellivision For?

The New Intellivision Games

Tallarico says targeting basically everyone but "the gamer" is the goal."So at Intellivision, we have a big white board in the office... I write on there 'hardcore gamer, casual gamer, 10-year-old girl, 40-year-old single mom, 70-year-old grandpa.' I put ages and creeds and colors and races and age groups and genders. We have this all on a big wall. What I tell my team is this: Not a single one of these [types] of people are more important than the other. So we're not trying to create a system for hardcore gamers,” Tallerico said.Tallarico and the newly formed Intellivion Entertainment used the Nintendo Wii as a starting place for designing a new console."The Wii proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that non-gamers are willing to buy a home video game console,” he said. “My mom, for example, has bought two video game consoles in her entire life. Christmas 1980, she bought Intellivision for the family. She also bought a Nintendo Wii for herself because she could see bowling all she had to do was move her arm."In November of 2006, Wii Sports made the rounds on morning talk shows, the Wii was in short supply worldwide, and families came together to play. But, as Tallarico explains, he believes Nintendo failed to capitalize on those new players."They got all these great non-gamers to buy this system, but then they never followed up really with those people. What they did was they went back into the wheelhouse as to what they know, which is great. OK, here's another Pikmin, here's another Mario Kart, here's another...let's cater now to the Nintendo audience. They never really focused and catered on my mom," he said.So how can Intellivision build a library of hits? Tallarico believes dipping into the classic Intellivision library is a good start. Shark! Shark! is one example of a classic game that he plans to bring back to the forthcoming Intellivision.

Shark! Shark! Might see a return on the new Intellivision Console. Image: Wikipedia

Violent Games: "[If it's] violent, if it's not E for Everyone, then no it's not going on the console." Tallarico wants the console itself to be rated E for Everyone.

Complicated Games: "If you can't explain the game in 10 seconds, or if it needs a manual, it's not on our system."

3D Games: "There's not going to be any 3D. We're not trying to compete with Nintendo. We're not trying to build the next Zelda.... We're not going to be creating 3D worlds."

"Shark! Shark! is a really simple, fun game that people get into … You're a small fish. You can eat smaller fish to grow bigger and a shark comes out and you want to grow bigger so you can keep eating more fish. That's a concept that's simple, but we need to update the graphics, you need to update the sounds."Tallarico also pointed to Astro Smash, Tron: Deadly Discs, Biplanes, Snafu, Major League Baseball, Pitfall!, and Night Stalker as examples of old Intellivision games that could see a remake.Perhaps more importantly, however, is what you won't see on the Intellivision:

The original controller serves as inspiration for the 'next gen' Intellivision, with the circular pad returning. Image: Wikipedia

The New Intellivision Controller

Making games for everyone is an interesting idea, but why not make games and publish them on existing systems? According to Tallarico, the reason is simple: "Because of the controller. 100 percent."The next Intellivision controller will have to set the system apart from others -- and the original Intellivision controller looked like nothing else out there. It had a disc that functioned like the later NES D-pad and a number pad you could slide graphical overlays over to create unique button layouts. Take a look at the image below to get an idea of what this looks like. When held on its side, it functions a bit like an NES controller.

The plastic overlays that came with each game slipped over the keypad of the original Intellivision controller. The new controller will have a touch screen.

The New Intellivision Games

The disc is back: "Intellivision was 16-position disc. So that is something that you can hand somebody a disc and they don't need to know anything… So we're going to bring the disc forward, but without the ridge. It's going to be more of a floating type of disc." Instead of the plastic overlays there will be a color touch screen. "Imagine the kind of gameplay, different capabilities -- because that's very simple... A disc and a phone-type thing, but a phone that [is] a little bit more rounded, buttons that [are] a little more tactile… It's flat and it's beautiful, and it's pretty to look at... It's not aggressive and black."The family-friendly vibe definitely extends to Tallarico's plans for the controller. "So when you put a PlayStation controller into a non-gamer's hands, it's instant panic, it's aggressive-looking, there's so many buttons... [The Intellivision controller] is something that's friendly, that somebody can understand immediately. It's what's going to differentiate us from everything out there.”

The original Intellivision with controller overlay installed.

Intellivision Reveal Date and Future Plans

Development on the Intellivision and at least 10 launch games is happening now, and the big reveal is planned for October 1, 2018. On that date Tallarico says we'll see the system and "Get a list of all the amazing things that we're bringing back."But unlike other systems out there, there won't be any crowdfunding or preorders."I'm not going to ask anyone to invest any money into this until they play it, and that's the big difference between us and Atari and Ouya," Tallarico said.You can, however, sign up for an opportunity to purchase the Limited Edition now

Samuel Claiborn is IGN's Managing Editor and both fixes and breaks pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.