Digiplay, & Digimed software are South American versions of the popular Intellivision video games. The  games are among the most sought after by collectors of Intellivision software.  The games are much rarer than those made in the U.S. because of the limited number of produced copies. All of the Digiplay games come in a book-style box which mimics the U.S. version. The major differences in the South American games are the text, and the cart design.  The text on Digiplay games is mostly, or entirely printed in Brazilian Portuguese.  Some of the titles, like the Mattel versions, also have English text. The carts of these games are all in the original Mattel style plastic shell. This sets the games apart from the original manufacturer like Imagic, Activision, etc.  Another difference in these games are the overlay design.  The overlays were produced in a less technical fashion.  There are a few variants of these overlays which you will see further in the page. The Digiplay overlays were also printed in Brazilian Portuguese, which makes them an intrical part of the entire Digiplay game. Most Digiplay games that you come across are a bit tattered & beat up.  I am not sure if this has something to do with the climate in South America, or not.  Many of the games that I see look somewhat dry-rotted, or crisp compared to U.S. titles.  If you get a mint copy, hang on to it!

Click here to see all of the Digiplay games !

   Digiplay's History

   In the beginning of their production of Intellivision games, Digiplay was originally called "Digimed".  Digimed started producing games sometime between 1979, and 1980. Their main focus was to cash in on the video game boom that overflowed from the U.S., and Japan. Their market spanned from South America to Mexico, but concentrated on Brazil and other high population areas. Digimed was a subsidiary company of the Machline Group, who was also affiliated with the Sharp Company.  Digimed set up shop in the Amazonas state, in the city of Manaus, which is just north of Brazil.  Many Brazilian industries were building in Amazonas because this region was free of taxes to industries that would build factories there. This area was called "Zona Franca de Manaus". Thus, the cost to produce goods in this region was very minimal, and very profitable. Maybe this is why Digimed was able to afford to change the games appearance so much?

(An ad from a Brazilian gaming magazine)

   Digiplay?.....or Digimed? 

   Soon after the video game boom took off in South America, Digimed changed it's name to "Digiplay".  Needing a larger facility to produce the games, they expanded their factory to keep up with the growing video game craze. Roughly two years after Intellivision Inc. closed their doors, Digiplay stopped making games for the Intellivision system.  They were in mid production of "Buzz-Bombers" when this happened, so there are very few copies of it out there. It is the rarest of the Digiplay Intellivision games. (Here is an example of the change from Digimed to Digiplay.  These are two "Futebol (soccer)" games. They look the same at first glance, but one is Digiplay, the other is Digimed. The box covers are identical.

(DIGIMED box)- Notice the verticat slit for the overlays, & the side instructions tuck.	(DIGIMED box back panel) - Digiplay had to put a decal on the Digimed box after the name was changed.
(DIGIPLAY box) - Notice the horizontal cut-outs for the overlays & instructions.	(DIGIPLAY box back panel) - Digiplay starts to print their new boxes with current manufacturer's i.d.

   Digiplay Overlay variations  

     There are many variations in games for the Intellivision system.  Digiplay games are no different in that respect. I have found 3 variations for many Digiplay games. This seems to be pretty consistent.  First, there is a plastic Brazilian overlay that is similar to the U.S. version except for the language.  This is the most common Digiplay overlay. 

   Next, there are paper overlays. I beleive that these were originally included with the Digimed games, but I am uncertain. They have a thin laminate over the paper, but are very easily damaged. They are printed with Portuguese text just like the plastic versions. 

    Last are the black-out overlays. These are also plastic like the original versions with an interesting difference.  The Mfg. origin, and possibly the copyright, are blacked out at the top. In addition to that, they are printed in English.  The story on that has to do with the time line.  (I cannot confirm that the rest of this story is true, but it is what I am told from a Brazilian collector.)  After the collapse of the video game industry, Digiplay tried to keep making the games. This was because South America was usually behind the times a year, or so. Thus, the games were still selling down there. Digiplay then bought left over stock from U.S., and other manufacturers for pennies on the dollar.  They were also able to buy Dies for the overlays. By blocking out, or blacking out the Mfg. and copyright, they could produce a better overlay at a fraction of the cost. The down side to this was that the rest of the overlays would be in English.  This is why you will see overlays with English text in the late production of some Digiplay games.  Most of these overlays were blacked out in the same color as the background of the overlay, but there are some mistakes.  You will see these mistakes as a bar that goes over the copyright area.  It will be either a white, or blue bar.  Here are pictures of 5 different Astrosmash overlays that I have in my collection. Look at the differences between the U.S. versions and the Digiplay ones.

U.S. overlay       U.S. overlay (light)    DIGIPLAY paper    DIGIPLAY plastic   Digiplay english The first Astrosmash overlay is the U.S. version, and is the one that most people will have. It has a black background, and is coded as G1. The next one is also a U.S. version, but has a grey background with lighter tint. The third overlay is the Digiplay paper version. It has Portuguese text and has a light blue top.-(notice the middle asteroid is yellow)  The fourth overlay is also printed in Portuguese, but is a plastic, lighter colored version.  The last overlay is the rare one with the bar through it. It is in English, but was released in a Digiplay game.

    Many other variations for the overlays exist. Here is an example of how Digiplay changed their overlays to better suit  the area in which they were being sold. The overlay on the left is the U.S. version of Shark! Shark!, & on the right is the Digiplay version. Notice the Portuguese text. Another big difference is the hand painted style of the artwork. Notice the Digiplay shark.

Differences in Digiplay & other Intellivision games

  To show the differences in the Digiplay & Mattel versions of the Intellivision II, I have put them side by side for comparison. The difference is plain to see on the front panel of the unit.

  The Boxes & instructions created by Digiplay put the Mattel & INTV versions to shame. They were not as nice as the Imagic or Activision games, but much better than the late Mattel & Intellivision Inc. versions. The games were really nice with multiple colors in, and out. Except for the title, they are completely printed in Portuguese.  Here is the Atlantis (Imagic) game- next to the Atlantis (Digiplay).

  Notice the difference in game carts. All Digiplay games have this style cart shell. Whether it be Activision, Mattel, or Imagic, the cart styles are the same. These games really stand out.  This was a late version Digiplay game, so the overlay is in English, but is unlike the original version.  The "Imagic" logo is missing, as well as some text. I noticed that it is much thinner than the Imagic overlay.

   Digimed Overlays different than Digiplay ???

  I have found something very interesting regarding overlays for the Digiplay games. Three stages of developement can be seen over the span of Digiplay overlays.  First of all, the original company name...Digimed, produced paper overlays that were laminated with a clear, thin plastic. These overlays were made with Brazilian Portuguese text. You will see these overlays in your games if the box says -"DIGIMED" on the back. 

   Once the company changed it's name to Digiplay, the overlays were switched to plastic version, mimicing the paper ones made previously. You will see these overlays in your games for the older, Intellivision book style boxes with DIGIPLAY on the back.  The front of these two types of boxes will look the same. The differences are in the inside slots & the copyright label on the back.

   The third stage of the Digiplay Overlay is the most curious.  Digiplay seemed to have bought the dies, & rights to the Overlays for some Intellivision games.  Certain late releases by Digiplay seem to have Activision overlays, but without copyright on them. This can only be done in the printing stage. This is how they do it... The die that has the copyright on it is masked, or ground off so that it does not print copyright material from Activision. Late Digiplay releases with these mixed overlays are Demon Attack, Pitfall, Happy Trails, River Raid, Atlantis, & Desafio Estelar.  Interesting differences!

   In Addition

  The number of different titles that Digimed/ Digiplay has produced is beleived to be 31. This number of games was obtained from many years of collecting, & research.  The number is no where near the number of titles produced in the United States. I am told that none of the Atarisoft, or INTV games were made.  I am still researching Digiplay, so check back later for updates.. I currently have all 31 different Digiplay games in my collection. All but one are boxed with instructions, & overlays. Check out all of the rare Digiplay games in my collection. There are some interesting variations! (Check out all of the Digiplay games here!)