The fallout of the shakeup of the video game industry in 1983 was relatively mild, even considering how badly the industry stumbled during this period. Yes, many game development firms suddenly found themselves bleeding both buyers and revenue, and newcomer Coleco soon found themselves at the mercy of the fickle consumer base. But most of those game developers deserved to fail, with their lack of key details like quality control, planning, and even originality. As for Coleco, while the ColecoVision was an impressive machine, the company itself was not ready for primetime and good hardware found itself buried under bad management and a lack of a built up library as compared to the competing Advanced Video Computer System and IntelliVision.
But the two stalwarts of the home game console market - Atari and Mattel - managed to escape most of the devastation, thanks to solid reputations for quality that left their sales mostly untouched by the consumer revolt in the rest of the industry. For both, 1983 saw the unveiling of their new systems - for Atari, the Pro Video Computer System; for Mattel, the IntelliVision II - and preparation for the upcoming battle for the American dollar in 1984.
Which, as it turned out, was good - as the field was about to get significantly more crowded...