Via the ever-vigilant Atari Age, we're directed to a new interview with Coleco Industries' Dave Johnson at the ColecoNation magazine - according to the intro, Johnson "helped design and produce over 100 video games for the ColecoVision, ranging from Donkey Kong to Spy Hunter."

Among the interesting subjects covered was just how arcade conversions such as Donkey Kong, for which the Colecovision version was the first home version, were done ("We were never given source code or any other documentation. The basic technique for documenting a game was to have one person play [the arcade game] while another videotaped it. We never even did a direct video feed because it was better to zoom in and get close-ups of the actual pixels.")

He also gives a heartwarming reference to the relatively homegrown Coleco success: "In the beginning, no one knew if the product would be successful or even noticed by the public. Atari seemed like an incredibly successful product and it was hard to imagine how a little toy company from Connecticut could compete. It was very rewarding to see ColecoVision take off." Aw.