Hand Controllers / Coleco 2490
ColecoVision Hand Controller
The Coleco #2490 Hand Controller. Back in 1982, this was your weapon of choice...as it was initially, your only choice. A stubby 8-way mushroom-topped joystick, 2 independent fire buttons, a 12 button keypad, and a cb radio's coiled mic cord that was only about 12" long when relaxed. This was Coleco's vision for a controller worthy of their "Arcade Quality Video Game System." While it's really not the worst controller in the world, its not the best either (specifically the joystick), and after 30+ years of abuse, mishandling, and improper storage, a worn out or damaged controller can really suck the fun out of any ColecoVision gaming experience.
For all of the versions & themes shown below, I attempted to improve upon the hand controller's original design by re-engineering the joystick portion to be slightly taller, and topped it off with a ball knob reminiscent of an actual arcade joystick. Additionally these were all refurbished, rebuilt, and re-wired with a 6' straight wire cable, which allows for a little less frustration and a little more distance between you and your TV. Since the ColecoVision had a large number of arcade ports, over the years I have created several custom game themed editions to celebrate these arcade classics, and I attempted to re-create aspects of their arcade counterparts on the controllers themselves.