I asked for an Atari 2600 for Christmas, and I got this instead! I was bummed at the time, but then I notice the joystick was waaaay better than the 2600 joystick.
Most of the consoles you clean I either don't own or never plan to clean, but I still enjoy watching you clean them just to see what you'll discover while doing it and also to see how much better you can make them look. Also, you forgot to mention the Magic Eraser.
My first console! I'd been thinking about it after playing the 2600 again with it's clunky controllers and had to get another Gemini to compare...I thought those controllers were much better when I was a kid, we'll see if I still do! Thanks for the info man, I'm guessing I'll have some cleaning up to do myself.
I had this exact system. If the controller isn't working you can take it apart and you will probably find that the metal contact feet have come off. You can screw and glue them back on to get the joystick working. Pretty self explanatory..
Adam thank you for sending me the link to this video. I loved it! My console says "Coleco Gemini" right on it. So does that mean it's the Canadian version of it? Now I figured I'd tell you my story of how I came to aquire my Coleco Gemini. During this pandemic, me and my parents went to Lancaster, PA for the day. (We go there every now and then for day trips) We went there on a Saturday. We found out ther was a local flea market being held, and a town wide yard sale. Of course we stopped to walk around and check out both. The yard sales weren't very good. At the flea market however, I found these 2 guys who were selling nothing but video games, and consoles in there spot. By the time we got there, they had started packing up for the day. Luckily I caught them as they were, and we're nice enough to let me look through what they had. I see a small odd looking console, and pull it out. I read on it "Coleco Gemini". I then think to myself, "what the hell is this???" My next thought was "I have to have it since I've never heard of it." The guys selling it didn't have the AC cable, or an RF cable for it. They included "Gemini" brand Gem Stick Atari 2600 joysticks with it. They assumed it went with it. I asked them how much they wanted for it, and if they knew if it worked. The guy said that the guy he got it from said it worked when he tried it. I forget exactly how much he originally wanted for it, but I ended up buying it for $25. Now bear with me here because this is where it gets good. When we get back home, I remember years ago buying an Atari 2600 console with a box full of games. In that lot I found a power supply in it that said "Gemini" on the label. Well back then I must've looked it up online, and decided I should hang on to this. I kept the power supply in a ziploc bag in my closet. Guess what. I looked in my closet, and found the power supply. So I hooked it up using the power supply and an NES RF cable, and it worked perfectly. Now all I need is controllers for it. They're apparently very hard to find. If you've read this far, thanks for reading my Coleco Gemini Ted Talk. Lol.
@@AdamKoralik Cool. Thanks for sending me the link to your video again! It was very informative, and helpful! I learned something about this console that I didn't know before.
I would just like to thank you I love what you do and you have inspired me to try to get a old Nintendo cartridge console and fix it just having trouble find a nes snes or n64 on a budget with the stuff to test it
I enjoyed seeing that! I got one of these for Xmas when it was new. Yep, I'm that old. It has great controllers, and works great, but has one great weakness. The controller ports are really weak, and break easily if you unplug the controller too often..
I got one new too! I remember after a while having to jam toothpicks in the port to keep the controllers working...but I still thought they were way better than Atari's!
The coleco vision and intellivison consoles are very underrated consoles from what I've seen. We never had them here retail wise. Here in Asia Atari was king during the early to mid 80. Nintendo/famicom took over then it's been Sony playstation 1,2,3,4 ever since. Sega, Microsoft and also Nintendo never recovered since. People had other consoles (I was only kid on the block with a Master system) like the MSX in one version or another. Anyway great video Adam as always and welcome back !
Adam, they sold this in a limited run at Sears in the US. My parents bought me one at the Sears in Lubbock in 1983... It was not exclusive to Columbia house.
TV - 14 Lubbock You could very well be right, what little information I could find on it wasn't particularly detailed. All I knew before I got it was that it was uncommon here, only slightly more common in Canada.
yes i bout one at a flea market for 20$ i could not get it working the video helped the motherboard was really dusty and the cartridge slot was super dusty thanks to you i got it working let me tell you the case has spider webs everywhere i have no reason to lie your video's are helping me out!!
Mine came with donkey kong and mouse trap and it looked like urs only problem i had is the control button died my step dad when he worked for a Texas Instruments contractor rebuilt the controller but it look funny oh yeah if he patented his idea we'd be billionaires it was the 1st auto firing or whats called turbo controller it was a sheet metal box with switches snd the controller mounted in the center chopper command was awesome for this
I love theses videos just to see what's inside the consoles. That's strange to see stuff from a time where a microprocessor would be a chip in a dip-40 package. You can wire a whole 8bit computer by hand. Should do that someday. I've seen some company is making clone of the MOS6502; should be a good start...
I love the way this console looks, the controller looks really nice too. Cool video dood! PS:Pretty funny the carts have the label facing away from the player though lol.
Thanks for the vid. As a side note, I discovered when I was a kid that the Sega Master System controller works just fine on this unit (albeit, only one button functioning).
Wow, great memories here. I got one of these for my birthday when I turned 8, loved it. We already had a ColecoVision and the 2600 expansion for that...and a Coleco Adam as well. Good times.
I've always been curious about one thing when washing the casings; when there are labels on it are you still able so wash over them to the same extent as the rest of the plastic without damaging the labels? I see that whenever you're done washing them the labels seem to be fine.
Must be a different version. The one I am working on has a big metal bottom shield and top shield on it and the variable resistor is located just above the center of the 4 switches. It was purchased as "not working" but think it's seen water infiltration from a possible basement flood or it spent it's life in very humid conditions. I can't seem to get it to work. I get a 3-4" bar on the right side of the screen on turn on, then it goes full screen and screeches a single note sound until I unplug. Then it repeats the process. I was given a cartridge called "Yar's Revenge" to work with. It's an Atari game. Any help would be appreciated. I did touch up the board, power port, controllers, slot pins, etc. The slot was cleaned with a fine sand paper and because of it's life in humidity, I did apply a thin coating of dielectric grease to help stop corrosion. (This was done by drilling out the small rivets and extracting the screws) It did cause one trace to become damaged and it took a while to track and jump it so I would not drill the rivets unless absolutely required. They can only be drilled from the bottom and the one that is closer to the center of the board sits right over one trace and is dangerously close to the second one. proceed with caution. I used a single strand from an IDE ribbon cable to run a jumper from one side of the board to the other. Tracing it was insane but I'm positive I jumped the right 2 pins and left nothing excluded from the circuit. One note, I got it with the output shield bent, unsoldered and has been removed. I don't see anything missing within the box or evidence of any tampering.
I noticed something: the corner of "Consumer Note" on the console got loose and I remembered that I have the problem with the label of my 32X and on a few of my NES games. You never explained as far as I know how to "re-glue" a label properly. That's something I would love to see ;)
I found an old gemini at my moms place. Apparently it was my brothers and we wouldn't let her throw it out. Not sure if it's working or if I even have any of the cords but I might try to see if I can get it going, even though there doesnt seem to be much value in them.
I had this same model when I was a kid. I got it in 1982 or 83 at a Zayre's store in Kalamazoo MI, so it was made available at stores not just mail order. At the time it was the same price as a Atari, I believe 89 or 99 dollars and came with Donkey Kong.
My parents bought me one from Toys R Us. Why? Because it was cheaper than the Atari. That was the only reasoning my dad needed since he thought the Atari I wanted was too expensive. The sales guy offered him the Gemini as the alternative. It played all the Atari games and never had a problem. The controller was excellent too.
Another awesome video, Adam! BTW, I have a couple of retro consoles that have white paint splatter on them. Any recommendation as to how to get them off w/o ruining the plastic? These are Colecovision & SEGA Master System consoles from my childhood, btw.
Hey Adam would your buddy over in the UK be able to fix a PS2 controller? It works but it takes a lot of pressure to get the X button to function, as well as the analog sticks lost their cover things. The Analog sticks are also a bit loose and I don't trust myself opening the the thing and possibly breaking something.
He could definitely do that. But it's very simple. You get the appropriate amount of felt cloth and a credit card. Wrap it around the credit card. Then wet it with Windex and shove it in the cartridge slot. Then it transfers the dirt to the felt cloth. (The credit card just acts as a hard surface to give the availability to shove it in the slot). You wipe off the felt cloth and repeat until satisfied.
The Atari 2600 could be reproduced with standard parts witch is why this was legal. And I do have one request , can you make a video discussing SEGA's profits going down 40%?
that's been in there since the Early 80's that's before I was even born, if that tells you something. IDK why but I actually ROFL'd thanks for another cleaning video Adam.
hey Adam I been thinking konami and Nintendo will be getting together on Nintendo nx seeing how nx is Android based and konami is going mobile games not console games maybe the best to come I like your pick ups shows a lot and your hardware genarations reviews I still play my wii-u more the my ps4.
Oh yes, I like how they were trying to do Console in the early 80's as far as choice for a vendor. It was like Sony made a DVD Player and now Philips is making one. I know 3DO tried this and failed, but they didn't fail because it was a stupid idea, it was just poorly executed because it was too expensive and the technology was rapidly evolving. Right now, we're real close to a processing technology freeze. Unless we have chips made out of carbon, there isn't going to be another upgrade in CPUs. (GPUs still have about 5 years worth of upgrades until we get carbon chips)
3do didn't fail it was moderately successful especially in japan with super street fighter 2 they had a follow up system with the 3do M2 but was canceled last minute. But you are right was too expensive! Had 3do been more affordable it would been much more successful the system had good games
I was a Canadian kid in 83 and I had a Gemini.....and now watching this I want one again. Thanks for the rad video.
Very cool. I got this for Christmas 1983 and it came with Mouse Trap. My parent bought it a small retail store in North Carolina called Nichols.
Omg thanks this actually helped me and now my Colico Gemeni works
+Onel Vazquez Happy to help!
:D
I asked for an Atari 2600 for Christmas, and I got this instead! I was bummed at the time, but then I notice the joystick was waaaay better than the 2600 joystick.
Most of the consoles you clean I either don't own or never plan to clean, but I still enjoy watching you clean them just to see what you'll discover while doing it and also to see how much better you can make them look. Also, you forgot to mention the Magic Eraser.
MrVacuum97 Thanks!
Did I? My bad.
awesome adam
paul doake Thanks.
My first console! I'd been thinking about it after playing the 2600 again with it's clunky controllers and had to get another Gemini to compare...I thought those controllers were much better when I was a kid, we'll see if I still do! Thanks for the info man, I'm guessing I'll have some cleaning up to do myself.
I had this exact system. If the controller isn't working you can take it apart and you will probably find that the metal contact feet have come off. You can screw and glue them back on to get the joystick working. Pretty self explanatory..
I'm Canadian and that was my first console oh the sweet sweet memories.
unknown stuntman Really? That's kind of rare, congratulations!
Very cool vídeo game!!! GEMINI os very bealtful vídeo game!!!
Fantastic videos, Adam. Keep up the great work!
Kimomaru. com Thanks!
Adam thank you for sending me the link to this video. I loved it! My console says "Coleco Gemini" right on it. So does that mean it's the Canadian version of it? Now I figured I'd tell you my story of how I came to aquire my Coleco Gemini. During this pandemic, me and my parents went to Lancaster, PA for the day. (We go there every now and then for day trips) We went there on a Saturday. We found out ther was a local flea market being held, and a town wide yard sale. Of course we stopped to walk around and check out both. The yard sales weren't very good. At the flea market however, I found these 2 guys who were selling nothing but video games, and consoles in there spot. By the time we got there, they had started packing up for the day. Luckily I caught them as they were, and we're nice enough to let me look through what they had. I see a small odd looking console, and pull it out. I read on it "Coleco Gemini". I then think to myself, "what the hell is this???" My next thought was "I have to have it since I've never heard of it." The guys selling it didn't have the AC cable, or an RF cable for it. They included "Gemini" brand Gem Stick Atari 2600 joysticks with it. They assumed it went with it. I asked them how much they wanted for it, and if they knew if it worked. The guy said that the guy he got it from said it worked when he tried it. I forget exactly how much he originally wanted for it, but I ended up buying it for $25. Now bear with me here because this is where it gets good. When we get back home, I remember years ago buying an Atari 2600 console with a box full of games. In that lot I found a power supply in it that said "Gemini" on the label. Well back then I must've looked it up online, and decided I should hang on to this. I kept the power supply in a ziploc bag in my closet. Guess what. I looked in my closet, and found the power supply. So I hooked it up using the power supply and an NES RF cable, and it worked perfectly. Now all I need is controllers for it. They're apparently very hard to find. If you've read this far, thanks for reading my Coleco Gemini Ted Talk. Lol.
It may be, yes.
@@AdamKoralik Cool. Thanks for sending me the link to your video again! It was very informative, and helpful! I learned something about this console that I didn't know before.
I would just like to thank you I love what you do and you have inspired me to try to get a old Nintendo cartridge console and fix it just having trouble find a nes snes or n64 on a budget with the stuff to test it
Greyson Deane Happy to, thanks for watching. Good luck!
Always get excited when a new cleaning video is uploaded.
NintendoFan69 Thanks for watching!
I enjoyed seeing that! I got one of these for Xmas when it was new. Yep, I'm that old. It has great controllers, and works great, but has one great weakness. The controller ports are really weak, and break easily if you unplug the controller too often..
thewickedbill Good to know, thanks for the tip.
I got one new too! I remember after a while having to jam toothpicks in the port to keep the controllers working...but I still thought they were way better than Atari's!
Yeah the Columbia house version is rare as the North American version was sold in most stores. Zayre and Venture stores in particular for 50 bucks
Top class video as always.
Toufeeq Mohd Thanks!
The coleco vision and intellivison consoles are very underrated consoles from what I've seen. We never had them here retail wise.
Here in Asia Atari was king during the early to mid 80. Nintendo/famicom took over then it's been Sony playstation 1,2,3,4 ever since. Sega, Microsoft and also Nintendo never recovered since.
People had other consoles (I was only kid on the block with a Master system) like the MSX in one version or another.
Anyway great video Adam as always and welcome back !
Adam, they sold this in a limited run at Sears in the US. My parents bought me one at the Sears in Lubbock in 1983... It was not exclusive to Columbia house.
TV - 14 Lubbock You could very well be right, what little information I could find on it wasn't particularly detailed. All I knew before I got it was that it was uncommon here, only slightly more common in Canada.
Great video Adam!
Likea Spoon Thanks.
Coleco did a great job, clean design, way better than ATARI ever did...
The Wii-S4
^^^^^
thanks i needed this
Franklin Clinton Really?
yes i bout one at a flea market for 20$ i could not get it working the video helped the motherboard was really dusty and the cartridge slot was super dusty thanks to you i got it working let me tell you the case has spider webs everywhere i have no reason to lie your video's are helping me out!!
Franklin Clinton Oh, awesome. Glad I could help.
Had one as a kid
Mine came with donkey kong and mouse trap and it looked like urs only problem i had is the control button died my step dad when he worked for a Texas Instruments contractor rebuilt the controller but it look funny oh yeah if he patented his idea we'd be billionaires it was the 1st auto firing or whats called turbo controller it was a sheet metal box with switches snd the controller mounted in the center chopper command was awesome for this
I love theses videos just to see what's inside the consoles.
That's strange to see stuff from a time where a microprocessor would be a chip in a dip-40 package.
You can wire a whole 8bit computer by hand. Should do that someday. I've seen some company is making clone of the MOS6502; should be a good start...
Ybalrid Thanks for watching!
I had one of those as a kid, it died in about two years and we replaced it with one of the small 2600's.
I love the way this console looks, the controller looks really nice too. Cool video dood!
PS:Pretty funny the carts have the label facing away from the player though lol.
The Shadowgate Keeper Thanks.
Wow so it was an atari 2600 made by Coleco.
Enjoyed your video Adam!
Brian Maglinger Thanks for watching!
I just pick one of these up at the CCAG show. Love it so far!
Wow brings back memories i was 10 years old got this from Sears for a Christmas gift came with mouse trap and donkey kong.
your close to 100k subs i really want you to get the silver play button
gaming with taylor That'd be neat, I'm a while away on that though. I have one for my other channel though, GameSocietyPimps.
Thanks for the vid. As a side note, I discovered when I was a kid that the Sega Master System controller works just fine on this unit (albeit, only one button functioning).
Wow, great memories here. I got one of these for my birthday when I turned 8, loved it. We already had a ColecoVision and the 2600 expansion for that...and a Coleco Adam as well. Good times.
I've always been curious about one thing when washing the casings; when there are labels on it are you still able so wash over them to the same extent as the rest of the plastic without damaging the labels? I see that whenever you're done washing them the labels seem to be fine.
Must be a different version. The one I am working on has a big metal bottom shield and top shield on it and the variable resistor is located just above the center of the 4 switches. It was purchased as "not working" but think it's seen water infiltration from a possible basement flood or it spent it's life in very humid conditions. I can't seem to get it to work. I get a 3-4" bar on the right side of the screen on turn on, then it goes full screen and screeches a single note sound until I unplug. Then it repeats the process. I was given a cartridge called "Yar's Revenge" to work with. It's an Atari game. Any help would be appreciated. I did touch up the board, power port, controllers, slot pins, etc. The slot was cleaned with a fine sand paper and because of it's life in humidity, I did apply a thin coating of dielectric grease to help stop corrosion. (This was done by drilling out the small rivets and extracting the screws) It did cause one trace to become damaged and it took a while to track and jump it so I would not drill the rivets unless absolutely required. They can only be drilled from the bottom and the one that is closer to the center of the board sits right over one trace and is dangerously close to the second one. proceed with caution. I used a single strand from an IDE ribbon cable to run a jumper from one side of the board to the other. Tracing it was insane but I'm positive I jumped the right 2 pins and left nothing excluded from the circuit.
One note, I got it with the output shield bent, unsoldered and has been removed. I don't see anything missing within the box or evidence of any tampering.
I noticed something: the corner of "Consumer Note" on the console got loose and I remembered that I have the problem with the label of my 32X and on a few of my NES games. You never explained as far as I know how to "re-glue" a label properly. That's something I would love to see ;)
I found an old gemini at my moms place. Apparently it was my brothers and we wouldn't let her throw it out.
Not sure if it's working or if I even have any of the cords but I might try to see if I can get it going, even though there doesnt seem to be much value in them.
i would have used Isopropyl alcohol for the pcb as that is what is used in the industry
My Dad hod one of these growing up.
Restore a few of the newer consoles like the PS3 and X360
Mir Syed Ghous Not likely, they're too expensive, too complicated, and too unreliable to be restored by a simple cleaning.
Fantastic! I love your cleaning videos!
David Halligan Thanks.
AdamKoralik outta curiousity how much is this thing worth i got mine for 20 bucks at a yard sale lol
pokemania You did well, take a look at Ebay. ;)
I had this same model when I was a kid. I got it in 1982 or 83 at a Zayre's store in Kalamazoo MI, so it was made available at stores not just mail order. At the time it was the same price as a Atari, I believe 89 or 99 dollars and came with Donkey Kong.
Where is the attachments for the datavac? it will get the dust off the board better.
get some contact cleaner or isopropyl alcohol to clean your chip sets etc
What a coincidence, I was just cleaning and repairing an Atari 2600 Vader model.
My parents bought me one from Toys R Us. Why? Because it was cheaper than the Atari. That was the only reasoning my dad needed since he thought the Atari I wanted was too expensive. The sales guy offered him the Gemini as the alternative. It played all the Atari games and never had a problem. The controller was excellent too.
ur dad's reasoning was on point.
Why not use a soft brush? I have a soft paintbrush to clean my laptop keyboard etc.
This was my first console. I don't know what my parents did with it, but I wish I still had it. I might just try to track one down on ebay.
question why not use alcohol over Windex since it can dry a lot faster
raul hernandez I find it to leave a residue and not work as well.
hey,can you do a cleaning video on the original gameboy
The RF shildering is missing
You should make a video on cleaning and restoring CD's.
Another awesome video, Adam!
BTW, I have a couple of retro consoles that have white paint splatter on them. Any recommendation as to how to get them off w/o ruining the plastic? These are Colecovision & SEGA Master System consoles from my childhood, btw.
Guernicaman I suggest a lot of Windex. If it's more extreme, maybe nail polish or paint remover. But that can cause more damage than it's worth.
AdamKoralik Thanks, Adam! I'll try both w/Windex first & see how that works.
Hey Adam would your buddy over in the UK be able to fix a PS2 controller? It works but it takes a lot of pressure to get the X button to function, as well as the analog sticks lost their cover things. The Analog sticks are also a bit loose and I don't trust myself opening the the thing and possibly breaking something.
Geez so many game consoles out there
My mom got me a Gemini for Christmas and she got it atva Sears
Can you do a cleaning and restoring a R.O.B
1:44 I prefer footofaferret.
Nice video.
When can we expect the play load of your European trip ?
Wait can you make a quick video of a better explanation of credit card trick and shows you doing it? I really don't understand what you mean by it
He could definitely do that. But it's very simple. You get the appropriate amount of felt cloth and a credit card. Wrap it around the credit card. Then wet it with Windex and shove it in the cartridge slot. Then it transfers the dirt to the felt cloth. (The credit card just acts as a hard surface to give the availability to shove it in the slot). You wipe off the felt cloth and repeat until satisfied.
a atari 2600 jr uses a different power suply then the normal 2600???
I think so? I don't remember off hand.
Our first game console our parents got it over Atari 2600 because it was cheaper
The Atari 2600 could be reproduced with standard parts witch is why this was legal. And I do have one request , can you make a video discussing SEGA's profits going down 40%?
can you use the gemini controller in a 2600
+William “Billden55” Burgoon Yes.
Sega works to
I use Armor All instead of pledge to protect and shine it up!
+Adem Iscariot Thats what I use too. It works WAY better.
thanks for the vid although I might never own one but just in case I do own one your vid would be a big help
I have one and I need a sale!
Hey adam love your video but will you ever do a video on the NES like all of the others or are those things too far back? Keep making videos!
Steven Longo Cleaning them? Most of those, including the NES, I already did.
No no I meant do a video about the NES like with the generations of gaming consoles
that's been in there since the Early 80's that's before I was even born, if that tells you something.
IDK why but I actually ROFL'd
thanks for another cleaning video Adam.
Austin Ellis Sure thing.
Adam Koralik, proudly sponsored by Q-tips!
K Hewett I wish.
AdamKoralik Lol! Have you ever heard of a youtuber called Snestastic? If not then I would recommend him.
How is it connected to that screen/tv?
ApemanMonkey RF.
It looks really good for RF!
Hey Adam can you clean a PS3 please?
No dead roaches inside. Phew. OR LIVE ONES.
About How much is that worth on eBay these days?
No idea.
these sold in canada cheaper then the 2600
hey Adam I been thinking konami and Nintendo will be getting together on Nintendo nx seeing how nx is Android based and konami is going mobile games not console games maybe the best to come I like your pick ups shows a lot and your hardware genarations reviews I still play my wii-u more the my ps4.
Doo a 3 gen retrospective
Adam You added me omg. I'm Nuke Neoxe I Luv U.
bryce west Thanks, not sure what you're talking about though.
Xbox ur FigureItOut Pro right u added me
bryce west Oh, yes.
uhhhh that label is driving my ocd mad .. either peel it off or stick down the corner please :D
Why not use a Atari VCS Game to clean the cartridge port? Donkey Kong on the Atari Sucked and so did most games.
Can't you just wipe down the case
Max French Yes, but it's "nice" to do it in a certain order.
Oh that makes sense
i just found 2 of these with like 30 games in my basement
Update and edit: they both dont freaking work.....
Oh yes, I like how they were trying to do Console in the early 80's as far as choice for a vendor. It was like Sony made a DVD Player and now Philips is making one.
I know 3DO tried this and failed, but they didn't fail because it was a stupid idea, it was just poorly executed because it was too expensive and the technology was rapidly evolving. Right now, we're real close to a processing technology freeze. Unless we have chips made out of carbon, there isn't going to be another upgrade in CPUs. (GPUs still have about 5 years worth of upgrades until we get carbon chips)
GastonAsston Wow that is so interesting. Thanks!
3do didn't fail it was moderately successful especially in japan with super street fighter 2 they had a follow up system with the 3do M2 but was canceled last minute. But you are right was too expensive! Had 3do been more affordable it would been much more successful the system had good games
first Xd