copperation_again
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...After all, if it could talk, that old cartridge system would feel unloved and on the scrapheap too!
The Atari VCS/2600 was a seminal genre-making system, the best selling first-generation video game console and successor to the classic dedicated bat-and-ball systems. It had a long life since its 1977 release. Its reputation slowly grew and was just in time to host the Killer App game Space Invaders when the big craze hit. It barely survived the big gaming crash of around '84 but lingered on commercially until around 1990. As far as I'm aware, the last consoles were turned out around 1992 and the games stopped about that time too.
Even though Ebay buys are dirt cheap now, you can also run virtually all the old games on the PC. Just configure your joystick, run the emulator ( http://stella.sourceforge.net/ ), download some old game favourites ( http://www.bing.com/search?mkt=en-gb&q=atari+2600+rom+download&FORM=TOOLBR ) and marinate yourself in the memories.
The emulator is easy to run (F1 to select game options as you would on the original console, F2 to start the games and the other F keys acting as the difficulty switches, etc) and you use the arrow keys plus Ctrl or the joystick. The documentation tells you the rest.
Atari games were easy to approach, quick to get into and straightforward to play, if not always easy. My favourites include Mario Bros, Road Runner, Tapper, Space Invaders, Realsports Boxing, Rampage and many many more.
I've recently bought extra ones after watching some entertaining retro game reviews on Ebay and playing the emulator. One of the videos is here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=classic+game+room+tapper&search_type=&aq=f .
Surprsingly it is the later, more polished and contemporary-style games which are the rarest. A few very early ones are also hard to get, but some games in my collection such as Pigs In Space, Keystone Kapers, Mario, Rampage or Road Runner turn out to be far rarer than the likes of Space Invaders.
More interestingly I've discovered that the old Atari can be integrated into a modern recording studio due to the Synthcart and MIDI add-ons. Like the more sophisticated Commodore 64, the Atari sounded unique (although basic) enough for someone out there to turn it into a workable performance synth. (If you want some just go to Ebay and type in ATARI 2600 SYNTHCART MIDI)
The Atari VCS/2600 was a seminal genre-making system, the best selling first-generation video game console and successor to the classic dedicated bat-and-ball systems. It had a long life since its 1977 release. Its reputation slowly grew and was just in time to host the Killer App game Space Invaders when the big craze hit. It barely survived the big gaming crash of around '84 but lingered on commercially until around 1990. As far as I'm aware, the last consoles were turned out around 1992 and the games stopped about that time too.
Even though Ebay buys are dirt cheap now, you can also run virtually all the old games on the PC. Just configure your joystick, run the emulator ( http://stella.sourceforge.net/ ), download some old game favourites ( http://www.bing.com/search?mkt=en-gb&q=atari+2600+rom+download&FORM=TOOLBR ) and marinate yourself in the memories.
The emulator is easy to run (F1 to select game options as you would on the original console, F2 to start the games and the other F keys acting as the difficulty switches, etc) and you use the arrow keys plus Ctrl or the joystick. The documentation tells you the rest.
Atari games were easy to approach, quick to get into and straightforward to play, if not always easy. My favourites include Mario Bros, Road Runner, Tapper, Space Invaders, Realsports Boxing, Rampage and many many more.
I've recently bought extra ones after watching some entertaining retro game reviews on Ebay and playing the emulator. One of the videos is here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=classic+game+room+tapper&search_type=&aq=f .
Surprsingly it is the later, more polished and contemporary-style games which are the rarest. A few very early ones are also hard to get, but some games in my collection such as Pigs In Space, Keystone Kapers, Mario, Rampage or Road Runner turn out to be far rarer than the likes of Space Invaders.
More interestingly I've discovered that the old Atari can be integrated into a modern recording studio due to the Synthcart and MIDI add-ons. Like the more sophisticated Commodore 64, the Atari sounded unique (although basic) enough for someone out there to turn it into a workable performance synth. (If you want some just go to Ebay and type in ATARI 2600 SYNTHCART MIDI)
