My Atari 2600 story

[accousticguitar]

That's a good story. Tell us more.

[+RichG1972]

That's a good story. Tell us more.

Who?

[up2knowgood]

Ok, you asked for it,

 

When I was at Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1981, I had gotten my FIRST taste of Atari on a 6 switch unit that was used for rehabilitative purposes to hone and sharpen patients' reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Not long afterward my sisters and I started spending Summer vacations with our Dad, when we spent the SECOND Summer with him he had gotten a 4 switch Atari console, of course when we would return home to our Mom's house after vacation we had no Atari there and I didn't find it FAIR. Well I decided that I would bug the HECK outta my Dad for as long as it took and I kept it up every weekend and holiday for a solid YEAR. Well we had this friend that lived up the street from us named Sherry, she would bring over her Atari and we'd play Frogger and Ms. Pac-Man and Jungle Hunt and other games she had. Her Atari was just like the one Dad had and she would bring it over whenever she came over to hang with us, well on one such day during a weekend our Dad came over and he knocked on the door, Mom let him in and he saw we were playing Sherry's Atari. He gives her a very stern look and says to her while pointing at her "YOU, unhook your Atari NOW" she looks at him and says "But......." Dad says "No BUT, don't argue with me, I said unhook it NOW!" She did as she was told all the while looking like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights.

 

He then walked outside and we thought he was MAD and apparently so did Sherry, he came back in with a Lionel Kiddie City bag and sat it on the floor, he pulled out a silver box containing a brand new sleek looking silver box with an all black Atari pictured on the box, this Atari had TWO pack in games, Pac-Man and COMBAT, he also bought a two more games, Space War and Bowling so at that time we had a choice of 4 games to play at least until Christmas, he hooked the Atari up and adjusted the color, then he tested the sticks. We had a SINGLE set of paddles but no paddle games YET, but seeing the look on Sherry's face when she thought Dad was mad was all too priceless and I had busted out laughing when I saw it because until Dad brought the box in she REALLY thought she was in trouble. But if it hadn't been for my full year of NAGGING at Dad we may never have gotten that Atari.

 

We got that one in 1982 and eventually that Atari went bad and for a while we had none again, at least for 4 years. By this time Mom had moved me and one of my sisters to Delaware while the other stayed behind, it was now 1986 and Dad had picked me and my sister Gail up from the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal and we were on our way to his house, he said to us, "I have a surprise, ONE of you has gotten the most expensive gift of ANYONE else in the house" Well until Christmas came me and my sisters were bickering over who got that gift. Christmas Day finally came and we opened all the gifts except for the single one that remained under the tree. Dad went and got it, he held it out first to my stepsister Amy and she reached for it, then he backed away from her, he then held it out to my sister Maryann and again she reached out and he pulled back again. He then held it out to my sister Gail and the same thing happened over again. Then he set the present down in front of ME, at first I didn't move, but then he nodded toward the box and I unwrapped it to find a brick red box containing a SMALLER version of the Atari 2600 with a much sleeker design, no pack-in game and all the hookups and a SINGLE joystick.

 

I was in total disbelief, what had I done to deserve such a special expensive gift? By this time the all back 2600 Dad got us BEFORE was history because somehow the inner circuitry had become moldy because we temporarily had to store it in the attic, so that's how this one the smaller one came into play, the difference was THIS one was MINE and I had the say who used it and who didn't. I DID share it with my sister Gail when we got back to Delaware, and I had no problem doing that because she was 1 of 3 siblings I got along with the best but the only 1 of the other FOUR that I spent ANY time with back in those days due to not having very many friends. Those 2 stories hold many fond memories for me, in fact after Dad got us the FIRST Atari, there were some Atari related tricks and pranks played on me the following year both on my birthday AND Christmas and I'll tell those stories if anyone wants to hear those, I would tell them here but THIS story is already long-winded as it is.

 

Well? Opinions?

 

That's touching man, a great story, and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.

[+RichG1972]

 

That's touching man, a great story, and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.

Now for ANOTHER laugh, on my birthday in 1983 I was HOPING I'd get my FAVORITE Atari 2600 game for my birthday, Exidy's MOUSE TRAP. That year I got Knight Rider PJ's a Knight Rider Album book a Knight Rider birthday card and a Sports Trivia Toy as well as a gold remote control toy car that resembled KITT mildly. Dad handed me a small box the EXACT size of an Atari game, I opened it thinking it was Mouse Trap.........ARRRRRGH!!!! FROGS AND FLIES!!!!!!!, then he hands me a BIGGER box about the size of a cereal box wrapped up, I open THAT box and ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!! RITZ CRACKERS!!!! By now major frustration was kicking in BIG time, so I opened the RITZ box thinking "Might as well eat while I play, since this 11th birthday is proving to be a total BUST!" I open the Ritz box expecting to chow down on a sleeve of my favorite buttery cracker and there is a HUGE wad of newspapers inside. I remove them and under it all.......MOUSE TRAP!!!!! Dad got me GOOD!!!

[up2knowgood]

Now for ANOTHER laugh, on my birthday in 1983 I was HOPING I'd get my FAVORITE Atari 2600 game for my birthday, Exidy's MOUSE TRAP. That year I got Knight Rider PJ's a Knight Rider Album book a Knight Rider birthday card and a Sports Trivia Toy as well as a gold remote control toy car that resembled KITT mildly. Dad handed me a small box the EXACT size of an Atari game, I opened it thinking it was Mouse Trap.........ARRRRRGH!!!! FROGS AND FLIES!!!!!!!, then he hands me a BIGGER box about the size of a cereal box wrapped up, I open THAT box and ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!! RITZ CRACKERS!!!! By now major frustration was kicking in BIG time, so I opened the RITZ box thinking "Might as well eat while I play, since this 11th birthday is proving to be a total BUST!" I open the Ritz box expecting to chow down on a sleeve of my favorite buttery cracker and there is a HUGE wad of newspapers inside. I remove them and under it all.......MOUSE TRAP!!!!! Dad got me GOOD!!!

 

HA! That's a prefect Dad thing to do. Sounds like your Dad was quite a prankster.

 

My family reused boxes all the time, so I never trusted what it said as a kid. I once got a watch in a box of oatmeal.

[+RichG1972]

 

HA! That's a prefect Dad thing to do. Sounds like your Dad was quite a prankster.

 

My family reused boxes all the time, so I never trusted what it said as a kid. I once got a watch in a box of oatmeal.

Oh believe me when Dad was alive the pranks would never end, he had more tricks up his sleeve and pranks in his inventory than the Ridder and the Joker COMBINED

[+RichG1972]

 

HA! That's a prefect Dad thing to do. Sounds like your Dad was quite a prankster.

 

My family reused boxes all the time, so I never trusted what it said as a kid. I once got a watch in a box of oatmeal.

If you have FB feel free to add me there just search my email michaelarthurknight2010@yahoo.com then we can discuss our Atari childhoods ^_^

[accousticguitar]

Who?

You.

[+RichG1972]

You.

I posted a 2nd story above even funnier than the FIRST one, have a peek

[Opry99er]

Kind of dumb, but here goes:

 

As a small kid (3-4 years old) we had only a Texas Instruments computer on which to play games. Without internet or a repository nearby for purchasing games, we had only 6 or 7 games for it. They were awesome, and I enjoyed them greatly. But..... 6 or 7 games eventually get old... even if they are great. My friend Eddie down the street had a 6 switch Atari (don't remember if it was heavy or light) and I would play his games and he would come to my house to play Parsec, Henhouse, and Tunnels of Doom on the TI.

 

Anyway, my dad had a friend who had two big smelly dogs. The guy told me when I was 5 that I could make some money if I fed his dogs while he and his wife were out of town. Dad drove me the mile or so to the guy's house every day to feed these dogs, and this fellow had a big beautiful 6 switch Sears Tele-Games unit with a big ass stack of games. I had played it many times before when I went to visit them with dad.... they had a son who was probably twice my age and who viewed me as a nuisance.

 

Anyway, while we were over there to feed the dogs every day for those two weeks, I would play his game system and fell completely in love with it... the silver face plate, the clunky feel of the switches, the simplicity of the games... Towering Inferno, Enduro, PAC Man (yes, THAT pac man) Target Fun, Cosmic Ark, and GORF amongst many others were played heavily and in rapid succession (because we were only there for 20 minutes a day).

 

Long story short, I never got paid the agreed-upon $20 for the work I did at that guy's house. Instead, I went home on the last day with a big cardboard box full of gaming goodness, and the biggest smile you've ever seen on a kid's face. They'd moved on to a Sega Master System, and I was the recipient of the most lopsided deal in dog-feeding history.

 

A couple years later we were on to the NES, and that Sears machine sadly went to a garage sale. I sold the whole lot for $30 and used that to help buy Mario 3 which had just come out. In the late 90s, I got a 2600 Jr and most of the games I had as a kid. The Junior died around 2008 or so, and I went without an Atari until a few years ago when I bought a nice 4 switch woody.

 

No system ever felt like that old Sears sixer though.... and I wish to this day I'd never let it go. Someone in Brighton Colorado probably still has it in a basement somewhere.

[Rom Hunter]

From my blog:


Back in the early eighties I fell in love with the VCS when I visited a huge toy fair in Amsterdam.

It was August 1983 and the dam of the game console software river was completely busted.

There were dozens of game manufacturers demonstrating hundreds of different game titles and I just couldn't believe my eyes.

Three months later I got my Atari 2600.

I also bought this video game review book, which I still own and cherish:



IMO one of the best video game review books published in Europe back then.

I loved reading all the reviews (especially the ones describing the best and the worst games) and I only spend my money on buying the games that had four or five thumbs up.

Eventually I ended up with these:

Missile Command (this one came bundled with the console)
Space Invaders (this one too - the first VCS game I ever played on my own console)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (my personal favourite - I found the Ark without reading any hints)
Vanguard (great shooter with a lot of different game screens and... an end of level boss)
E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (a mistake - my mother gave it to me for my birthday together with the next two titles)
Swordquest - FireWorld (I searched high and low for the comic book in Europe, but never found it - fascinating but extremely frustrating game)
Yars' Revenge(a weird, but original action game)
Enduro (very addictive racing game - loved the different weather stages)
Pitfall II - Lost Caverns (Crane's masterpiece - an incredible programming achievement on the VCS)
Robot Tank (great game - IMO better than BattleZone)
StarMaster (excellent pseudo 3D space shooter - played it a lot)
Demon Attack (very colourful Phoenix clone with funky sound FX)
Tutankham (I changed this one for Super Cobra after completing it in one afternoon)
Super Cobra (I should have kept Tutankham)
Jawbreaker (fast paced Pac-Man game - loved the rotating smilies and the toothbrush-intermezzo)
Marauder (I wanted to buy Berzerk first, but the seller adviced me to buy this one instead - wise seller)

While a friend of mine owned these:

Chopper Command (Defender in the desert)
Space Shuttle - A Journey into Space (complex but brilliantly programmed shuttle simulator)
Riddle of the Sphinx (really liked the puzzle-adventure style of this one)
Donkey Kong (always wondered what the "ducks" in the second level were suppose to be - I now know these are fireballs)
Mouse Trap (cute game - loved the sound FX of this one)
Zaxxon (a shock at first sight - somehow, I expected it to be like the Arcade version)

Certainly not bad games at that time and I really enjoyed playing them a lot, before I sold my Atari 2600 and all my games to someone else (I still regret this action) and stepped over to the Commodore 64.

BTW: the old bulky B&W television I got from my parents was old fashioned (to say the least) and I still remember my disappointment when I discovered I missed the correct RF cable connector.

LOL, I'm talking REAL old skool here.

What I needed was something that looked like this:


After a whole week of waiting (which seemed like a lifetime for me) my mother's nephew finally got one for us.

And then there was no picture...

The next day a friend of mine helped me finding the right channel.

We heard the Tsjomp Tsjomp from the invaders first before the game screen popped up.

I'll never forget that moment.

Great memories...

[+atari2600land]

Our family reuses food boxes to wrap presents in. So if someone, say, got a box of Ritz crackers, we knew to open the box because crackers were probably not inside the box. And my dad used to use newspaper as wrapping paper.

[Twin_power]

I got to share a 4-switch with my siblings for a 1982 Christmas present. I'm young enough to remember the Dragster contest. Where you took a Polaroid picture of your runtime and mailed it in. Going to KB toy stores after the crash and finding awesome 2600 games for $5!!!! I tried to sell it later...my dad found out about this and bought it from me.

[accousticguitar]

Our family reuses food boxes to wrap presents in. So if someone, say, got a box of Ritz crackers, we knew to open the box because crackers were probably not inside the box. And my dad used to use newspaper as wrapping paper.

My sister used the comics section from the Sunday newspaper as gift wrap (since the Sunday edition is in color).

[up2knowgood]

If you have FB feel free to add me there just search my email michaelarthurknight2010@yahoo.com then we can discuss our Atari childhoods ^_^

 

I might be the only person on the planet to not have a FB, but I don't. I don't have an Atari childhood either, or very little of one as I said.

[+RichG1972]

 

I might be the only person on the planet to not have a FB, but I don't. I don't have an Atari childhood either, or very little of one as I said.

I just picked up some Atari games at the local flea earlier today, most I already had and got maybe 1 or 2 needed ones

[+RichG1972]

Sounds like your Dad and mine woulda got along great

accousticguitar