I remember this whole ordeal. It was quite the interesting footnote in the history of the retro gaming community.

lady decade really REALLY sounds like a narrator from a late 90's ~ early 2000's pc console gaming show (gamespot, extended play, electric playground, gaming in the clinton years etc.)

Never stop making these videos. In the American army we are old we always wait for you new videos currently in Korea you're awesome!

I applied to be a developer for the Retro VGS Chameleon by sending an e-mail basically saying "Hi I've never written a single program in my life but I'd like to give it a go can I be a developer please? " and they said yes.

wow. this is a textbook example why >i never crowdfund projects >i never buy early access games on steam >i never buy ANYTHING until it has been released and i can analyse peoples reception to the product.

How anyone could see that reperposed Atari Jag shell and not see a scam is astounding.

Never heard of this... interesting.

You always manage to talk about obscure gaming history facts that none of the other channels are talking about. I had thought there was nothing more to discover until I stumbled on your channel. Great work and great research!

I'm here to further my education in video-game history from professor Decade. Man that ATARI Jaguar body has gotten around. ATARI sold the molds to a medical equipment company and it was turned into a defibrillator or something like that and then it's back here. Also I love hearing Slopes reading for you. I love that the Retro games community does that so much. Watching nostalgia nerd, LGR, Kim Justice, slopes, Octavia, you and others and hearing each of you guys throughout everyone's work is great!

It's people like that who ruin the creditability of any crowd funding site and the trust of the retro gaming community from backing projects on them.

Thanks for clarifying the 'US home console crash' for modern audiences. As someone who lived through it, my friends and I simply had moved on from the limitations of the cartridge based systems of the time toward computers- you'll note that sales of home computers at this time were very healthy and growing while the home consoles of the time fell off a cliff. (My best friend had a ColecoVision- and I loved it, but my hard earned cash went to a new computer- not a new console).

Forget Lara croft , you have dug up some great gaming relics of past. I'm seriously wowed by your research , knowledge and presentations. 👌🏾👌🏾

Im glad I invested in the Ouya and the Evercade VS and not the Coleco Chameleon. I always knew something was off about that kick starter.

I'd forgotten all about this. I followed the news about it on eurogamer at the time, and when I clicked on the vid I was thinking "wasn't that the one with the capture card in the prototype?" LOL. Nice video.

you should do a video on the vega+ scam

And now they're heading off for an entirely new kind of scam with the Amico!

From a business standpoint I can't understand how people do this stuff. They have to know they'd be found out and it's just not sustainable to keep operating in a scammy manner.

Just yikes. This is a mess. Cannot fathom, how many people must have put their own money into this. Hopefully they were refunded every dollar / pound/ etc More console coverage, yes please

Yes! "North American console crash" .... Really nice to hear that stated as opposed to "video game crash of 1983" Thanks!!

The production quality is phenomenal as always

LADY DECADE PLEASE READ!!! I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS!!! As a proud owner of an Atari VCS. I can definitely say that the condole is very slept on. It's a console first and a PC 2nd. Further more, as a college student, I can do my college assignments on the chrome side of it, and then switch over for modern or retro games when I want to unwind. I am choosing to run the Window Operating system via external hardrive. And it shows amazing promise! However, no upgrade is needed to do what I mentioned above. ~ Sincerely, a long time Follower, Kazdan.

I did three videos on the Atari VCS as I was one of the backers. They are on my channel. If you want to talk to someone about VCS experience let me know. I also have an Evercade of my own. It is a good system. I am invested in the Amico as well and look to do an Amico vs VCS video when time permits….once the Amico arrives.

Shame it was a scam - the Coleco Chameleon name was really cool.

What another cracking retro gaming fact video, love how its content that not alot off people know about, it's different but in a good way 😃, love this channel for retro gaming nostalgia and learning something new

I disagree with your point that the term 'video game crash' is a misnomer. Describing a large dip in sales for a couple game consoles as a massive worldwide market crash is probably the most American thing I've ever heard.

Initially the idea of the Retro VGS was pitched as an FPGA console that you would buy modules for to play different console cartridges. But FPGA was way too expensive at that point and the concept kept going downhill from there.

Classic case of "fool me once."

With the gaming market in such a bad state at the time, I REALLY wanted this system to be real! Nintendo were giving no details on their NX console, the PS4 and Xbox One rely heavily on updates and patches and handheld gaming had gone down the toilet with Sony neglecting the Vita, 3rd parties neglecting the 3DS and freemium gaming taking up about 90% of the market! Fortunately, the Evercade was announced in 2019 and released in 2020, it's the kind of system we've needed for EONS!

I don't know which was worse the chameleon or the Ouya. At least stadia actually exists, whilst it is not very good it does in someway work after a fashion

Original content !👍👍👍👏👏 very very good job!

Yes please do an episode on the Colecovision. Those late-second generation consoles are really interesting and little talked about.

20:16 - I was going to bring up the Evercade as an effectively successful version of what the Coleco Chameleon was setting out to do so it's wonderful to see it got a good mention here. Thanks for the indepth exploration of the Coleco Chamelon; I was only familiar with the SNES Junior fake-out event so it was fascinating to learn it's other controversies.

I just acquired a ColecoVision, and I'm not terribly familiar with it's history. So I would love a Coleco video.

I'd love to see your take on the Amico as that is ongoing! Your videos are inspiring, thanks for the amazing content!

The Coleco chameleon was inspired by the Atari Jaguar the most misunderstood console in all days.

0:30 I will never get over that feeling and I will never adopt (paid) digital formats.

'certified snake oil' is what Review Tech USA called and to me that's what it is.

I don’t believe Mike intentionally ran a scam for profit. Im convinced he just underestimated the cost to manufacture the system. First off, I believe mike owned the hardware to make Atari Jaguar shells long before the retro VGS was announced. He had been selling them to modders long before the VGS came into play, so it only makes sense that the existing tools that he already owned would be used to make the console shell. The system was announced as a new system with a jaguar body. It was never planned to look like anything other than a jaguar. Him already having the jaguar shell machines is what got the entire project started. With respect to the hardware, The retro VGS was initially planned to have an FPGA chip in it. It was meant to be Able to emulate hardware from 8-bit all the way to 32-bit. The problem is that FPGA chips were significantly more expensive than software emulation. I believe he grossly underestimated the cost of putting an FPGA chip in a startup console, and THATS why the price skyrocketed. I remember somewhere in the middle of the scramble to figure out price, he posted on FB that he was willing to scrap the idea of an FPGA system that can emulate PlayStation hardware in place of something that was strictly 16 bit, purely because people were so mad about the new price. After that, I lost the plot myself. I heard him discuss the console on a few podcasts and I think he became increasingly frustrated with the venture. I remember the indigogo needed to raise about 2million to work and I think it barely raised something like $100k. So yeah, I get what it looks like. I’m just saying that I Was personally pretty stoked for the console and researched it pretty closely. I didn’t see a liar in mike at the time, and I’m still convinced that a few miscalculations and mistakes ended up LOOKING a lot like a huge web of lies.

I was really looking forward to this system. The Jaguar design of the console was sick.

Completely ridiculous! Having gone to college for computer engineering, I could have made one myself. This was completely inexcusable but not surprising.

Love the rectified meaning of the 'video game crash' as every time people from the US mention this it is hard to relate to it. It never happened in Europe...

Loved this video. While the ZX Vega Plus scandal had us distracted, the Chameleon merrily swindled everyone. To my knowledge the Jaguar mould was used in the Chameleons design and... A dental camera. What a shame, since I think it was a really good looking form factor.

I remember being super hyped about this console only to be heartbroken by the bad news, even if it was pretty vague/blunt at the time...

Looking forward to you covering what a scam the Amico Intellivision is

Never heard of this console. She explains why perfectly.

Sounds like the Fyre Festival, but you didn’t even get cheese sandwiches…

I'm so glad you called the crash of '83 a home console crash because I've always been confused about how it was supposed to be a crash when all the quality games and such kept right on being developed for arcades and pc. Basically the thing that crashed was shovelware and junk console so more like a cleaning of house.

I'd say make a Amico video but the plot thickens daily..

Great video! I remember this very story very well! I have been reading an excellent book called " Smoke And Mirrors: The Rise And Fall of a Serial Antipreneur" by Mike James. It tells the story of Mike Kennedy and the Coleco Chameleon debacle! Very good book!

Great to see a video on this machine/scam. The whole thing was just insane haha. Thank you!

As a Jaguar fan I so badly wanted this to succeed but wow was it a hilarious dumpster fire. Thanks for covering this!

Got a lot of the love for the channel. Mainly the depth and investigation connected to the content. You keep making them, I'll keep watching them. I'd quite like that Evercade console BTW... Hopefully you get a review unit...

Thankfuly the Evercade is going quite well for us game cartridge loving folk.

Lady Decade, Canada was hit by the crash in '83. So, it wouldn't really be accurate to say it was the United States console crash.

I had a feeling it was going to be troubled when I saw it looked like a freakin' Atari Jaguar.

Ah, The Mysterious Mr Lee, ninja engineer and crackerjack programmer. Funny thing is they had a real crackerjack programmer - Kevtris. But he wasnt as stupid and asked questions and that was a No-No in Retroland. Great video. Anyone who wants more info check out, of course Pat & Ian but dont forget about Stop, Drop & Retro as his stuff was great, too. Dangerous Analyst has great coverage, too.

I don't feel like there's enough Colecovision/intelevision console coverage on KZfaq

As a UK gamer i never touched any console until the 1990 era with import PC Engine, Megadrive, Neo Geo and Super Famicom. It was all arcades and home computers in the 80's. I would have no nostalgia for this type of kickstarter console unlike an american who i guess played these late 70's and 80's consoles.

I knew I had heard of this scam before! Then at 6:25 I recognized the voice and remembered it was Slopes Gameroom kickscammer video where I heard about it.

Phantom, Chameleon. It's all about one thing - ship's name can tell you how well will it sail.

"Because this entire world will disappear alongside you!" - Rei Ryghts to the Coleco Chameleon.

Great video, as they usually are. Just wanted to say: While it is correct that home computer gaming didn't suffer, arcades totally did suffer alongside home consoles during the gaming crash in the U.S.

First off: Thank you for the correction about the american console crash vs world wide affairs. Second: I remember this shit I remember me and a few friends looking at this and 'grab popcorn and watch everything burn.'

The KZfaq algorithm has been good to you. im not a big gamer but this is the second day I see you on my feed. I enjoy your videos, liked and subscribed.

I love your videos, you always get straight to the part of the story without going on rumbling abt nonsence talking. I hope that you never stop making these videos thanks.

No way I would play with 3 million like that. How you plan on selling a product but never met the person who designed it? come on now.

Nice video, I like industry documentaries. I’ve never even heard of this console.

Also don't forget about the Collectorvision Phoenix console! It is the ONLY true recent Colecovision console that rose from the ashes after that chameleon debacle. I own one and it's amazing!!

We had played the Donkey Kong in the past. 40 years like one day now have passed. I'm a fan (a fan) of retrogaming. I had played (had played) on Nintendo. But I want to try another. Like Coleco! Like Coleco! Cole-, Cole-, Cole-, Coleco Chameleon! You try and go! You try and go! Gaming would be easy if copyright laws were repealed! And we could play (legally) on our PC!

Now you need to cover the Dreamcast 2 drama.

this was the thing that made people very very weary of things like this and is why the polymega was extremely scrutinized in the first place

Someone that highlighted that the video game crash of 83 was a North American issue only. I think I'm in love.

Very nice video. Thank you for your effort in making this. Please keep up the good work.

Mike Kennedy should consider himself lucky that the stakes were relatively low - otherwise he'd get branded "the Elizabeth Holmes of the retrogaming world" , in that he apparently thought stagecraft would cover a critical lack of know-how.

Wait a minute, the guy behind the kickstarter said he never met the person that made the console or knew where he lived? Didn't he say previously that the same person dropped the console prototype round at his own house and told him not to let anyone photograph the back of it?

Thanks Lady Decade for the coverage on this crazy console controversy! Never knew this thing existed!

This has scam written all over it. I remember watching the drama unfold. So this guy received millions, had absolutely zero clue about hardware, and completely outsourced all of the work to someone he's never met before. Sounds legit. He always had an excuse. "Oh, someone else plugged it in" "I never met the guy", "I was told this card IS the system...." Do you always hand hundreds of thousands of dollars to someone you've never worked with? That's not the sign of a guy managing a solid project. Then the fact that they "split amicably", lol. This guy either screwed you or you screwed everyone else.

That's wack. Mini SNES running pretty much a mod.

Oh so they made a console based on that Gary Numan song 'Music For Chameleons' 😂

I totally forgot about this, but the moment I saw the rebranded jaguar it all came back to me. Talking about scammers if you think only internet people are gullible enough to fund this kind of schemes, just remember that even bit shot wall st brokers invested in the failed Nikola hidrogen fueled truck company.

Great video! I've had little dealings with Mike here and there. He proposed if I make a Game Gavel intro on my KZfaq show, he could arrange some kind of payment or monetization. That never happened. Another proposal came right after his Toyfare incident. I was invited to join him at a restaurant with his wife and his "team". At the time, he was still doing his Retro magazine, and asked me if I wanted to contribute. This time I refused but only because I was too busy with my own show to do any sort of contribution.

Also, you are spot on with your description of " US home console crash". Don't let these yanks dissuade you!

Just subscribed to your channel, amazed that you have all the systems that you reference! Any chance of a video on your collection?

Swear that's Slopes voice doing some of the narrating. Hahaha it was. Great video.

I had no idea of this whole fiasco! I definitely be interested in seeing more of these independent new console projects, failed or not

Plenty of retro-inspired games on the Nintendo Switch. Please don't fall for these scams people! Anyone involved in these scams should be ridiculed without restraint.

Holy hell, I've never heard of this but what a mess. Thanks KZfaq algorithm for recommending this. Definitely subbing! Keep up these videos 🤘🏽🤘🏽

Video on Atari box and the other two "retro" consoles sounds like fun.

The sad part was that the Coleco Chameleon was actually good on paper. I mean, making a console for retro gamers made by retro gamers was pretty cool. Taking us back to the 16 bit era of gaming wasn't a bad idea. But they really did us dirty.

I originally wanted the Coleco Chameleon until things started running amok. When things started to look off of when they decided to use the Atari Jaguar console shell. And it followed this huge circuit board which supposedly was the game system they were going to have to work down to fit inside the game console shell. That board was twice the size of it and had too many of the wrong components on it for a gaming console. Thank you for the hustle and scam Mr. Mike Kennedy. Apparently Tommy Tellirico learned from him well. But not well enough not to get caught. These two guys have been in cahoots for years.

I'm okay with all digial gaming. I just hope companies can't just take them away our media at a moment's notice like some demented magic trick.

Kudos on the "American game console crash" distinction.

I wasn't expecting DJ Slope to lend a voice in this video.

Of course we want video on that coleco!!!

I'm surprised netflix hasn't done a doc on this

I was never an investor, but I remember when it was announced, it was pretty exciting as that was around the time when retro was really starting to take off, but the cottage industry hadn’t really sprung up around it yet so (at the time) it was seen as a pioneer in the arena of kickstarter retro gear.

love this channel!

Born in 82, I hear it alot in your videos 😅 What a year♥️

I've never heard about this!!! Your presentations are always very well scripted, directed, edited, and produced. Always and forever a flawless video. I genuinely love hearing about the retro gaming scene. Even more so, when it comes to things that I've never heard about. When someone says you're not a gamer girl, they are technically right though... You are a Gamer Woman! But, that is only one aspect, out of many, about yourself. I don't understand why a very small amount of people have to be so negative towards you. I get if someone doesn't like your video as a whole or [a] certain aspect(s),

Any plans on doing a video on the Collectorvision Phoenix?