Time Extension recently had an exclusive interview with Bert Reiner, a former Coleco executive, about the fascinating history of the prominent American toy and console manufacturer. According to Reiner, there was once a potential deal for Nintendo to acquire and market Coleco’s 1982 video game system, ‘ColecoVision,’ in Japan. However, negotiations ultimately fell apart.
Reiner, who served as Coleco’s vice president of product development, revealed that Nintendo expressed interest in making its own deal. Eventually, Nintendo’s company president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, decided that Nintendo would develop its own console. This pivotal moment marked the birth of the Famicom in 1983.
Reiner suggests that Coleco’s failed negotiations played a significant role in Nintendo’s decision. Here is an excerpt from the interview where Reiner explains the situation:
Bert Reiner: “What happened was we went to Japan and we were willing to sell the game [console] to them at 10% below our wholesale price. So Toys ‘R Us, for example, could buy it for $10, but Nintendo wanted to do their own deal. They aimed to handle manufacturing and marketing independently, essentially taking control of everything, and offer us 10% of their selling price, which would inevitably be lower than our price. Personally, I thought it was a good deal because we wouldn’t have to do anything, yet we would receive 10% of every unit sold in Japan. Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach an agreement. After spending several hours negotiating with Leonard Greenberg and Yamauchi through a translator, we eventually decided to walk away without a deal. That’s when Yamauchi made the statement – I can speak a little bit of Japanese – he said that they would develop their own game [console]. Leonard Greenberg laughed, and the rest is history. They, of course, entered the market, and we missed out.”
Prior to this incident, Coleco, best known for its popular Cabbage Patch Kids, had already established a connection with Nintendo. They had previously struck a deal to include a copy of the arcade hit Donkey Kong with every ColecoVision console, resulting in a significant boost in sales for the American video game system.
If you’re intrigued by Coleco’s history with Nintendo, we highly recommend checking out the full interview on Time Extension.
