Do you call it "Atari 2600" or "Atari VCS"

[+KaeruYojimbo]

I usually just say "Atari." To most people that means the 2600. When I'm talking to other Atari nerds and actually need to specify which Atari I don't really favor one name over the other. I use 2600 and VCS pretty equally. At least, I did. Thay might change if the new console actually makes it into production.

Edited June 13, 2018 by KaeruYojimbo

[Cambouis de l'Atari]

Well then there's a reason I'm glad my country fought the redcoats. They don't know how to read initials properly....

Hmmm.. do you say nato or n.a.t.o ? Nasa or n.a.s.a ?

We usually say "ness" in french, although we DO know they are initials. Or, well, I don't really say nes, because I never cared about that toy

[Tickled_Pink]

Used to call it "The Atari" back in the day but for as long as I can remember I've called it the 2600.

[atarilovesyou]

Actually, back in the day? My friends, family and I just called it "Atari".

 

These days I usually call it the 2600. Only if I know I'm talking to nerds do I call it a VCS.

[icemanxp300]

As far as NES and SNES goes, I say the letters. N.E.S and S.N.E.S, I never heard people actually reading them as words until recently. I will admit after 30 years I am set in my ways and prefer saying and hearing the letters. Hearing people say them as words just does not sound right to me.

[atarilovesyou]

Never heard anyone refer to the Genesis as the SEGA.

 

And while I am thinking about it people need to stop referring to the original Nintendo as Ness. It is N,E,S, just like my initials are lam not lamb. People sound so stupid when they say Ness or Snezz. It would be like saying the VCS is the Atari Vics.

 

The N64 is not the NeSixteeFour and the Gamecube is not NinGiC.

 

While I am ranting the walkers in Star Wars are A,T, A,T, not at at. They are initials. That would mean the dummies would say the AT-ST are at steh.... dumb just dumb.

 

Come on people!

 

Edit* if you pronounce it Ness or the SNES Snezz you sound dumb. I am sure you are a nice person but don't worry there is hope, and you can change. Just remember they are initials.

Lol, you had me until AT-AT...you may call it the initials today but back in the day and well into the three prequels, those big bastards were AT-ATs. Mainly due to the toy, which was the grail. That's what the box said. Yes, yes I know: the AT-ST was always just that, but who cares? That thing was stupid. Not like the AT-AT...which was glorious.

 

People who call the NES a "ness" are the same who wear workout gloves while playing track-ball games. And those that say "sness"? Roundhouse KICK to the solar plexus.

[GeekDragon]

I have always called it Atari 2600. Wasn't until the last few years that I found out about the VCS name.

[Keatah]

I call the console the VCS. Though improper, 2600 or 2600 VCS will do. 2600 seems to have been adopted around the timeframe when more arcade translations and ports became available.

 

"Atari" was and often still is a generic term for videogames at home. We always used to say, "Let's go play Atari." And though would mean any electronic game on a television. It was simply a shortcut or slang. It was certainly easier to say than "Intellivision" or "Odyssey^2".

[spacecadet]

I think this is something that's probably changed for a lot of people over time, in the same way people used to say "PSX" to mean "PS1", until Sony released a product actually called the "PSX" and then you couldn't say that anymore.

 

I just said "Atari" as a kid, but then Atari released the 5200 and you had to be more specific or nobody'd know what console you were talking about. At that point, because Atari was clearly calling the new system the 5200, I started calling the old system the 2600. It was being marketed that way at that time anyway.

 

Nowadays I had reverted to kind of using "VCS" and "2600" interchangeably, depending on context. I mean the woodgrain versions clearly say "Video Computer System" on the box, so if I'm writing a forum post with a picture of the box or something, I'd usually say VCS. But I've also altered that now too because of the new system, and I don't think I'd refer to it as VCS as often anymore.

 

As for the Sega thing, the funny thing is the Master System really is supposed to be just "The Sega System". This was when Sega had the SG-1000 Mark I, II and III as well as the SC-3000, and that was the "Sega System" - all of it was backward compatible, multiple models in one system. So you could call *that* "The Sega" and actually you're pretty much right. The "Sega Master System" was originally a specific package of the Sega system (there was also a "Sega Base System" and I think a "Sega 3D System"), but Sega just kind of gave in to what people were actually calling it and started referring to the system in general as the Master System. But it'd be kind of like if everybody called the NES the "Action Set" regardless of whether that's even what they actually had. It'd be like two kids talking to each other and saying things like "hey, you got a Master System?" "No, the Action Set's got better games!" And eventually Nintendo just started referring to the Action Set in all their press releases and on all the boxes because they knew that's what everybody was calling it.

 

I have heard people say just "Sega" for the Genesis/MD, though, because at the time it would have been clear what you meant. "You got a Super Nintendo?" "No, I got a Sega." It wasn't very common, but I've heard it.

[LidLikesIntellivision]

I've always called it "Atari". In Brazil that was the only Atari hardware we got.

 

Since I joined AA, I use to write atari 2600 to differenciate from other consoles and systems.

[AtariLeaf]

whoops, thought we were talking about something else, nevermind.

Edited June 13, 2018 by AtariLeaf

[MrBeefy]

I say "NESSS" and "SNESS" sometimes. They're acronyms, not initialisms, so they obviously lend themselves to that. If someone has a problem with that, that's on them. And, for the record, I say "Gif" with a hard G, not "Jif".

Bill Bill Bill...you are sometimes wrong then.

 

So do you pronounce USA as 'YouSa' it lends itself to be an acronym as well.

 

Here is a commercial for the SNES. That refers to it as the Super N.E.S. https://youtu.be/0PXmN1KPV88One from Nintendo Direct saying Super N.E.S.

https://youtu.be/arl3ACzJCBI

 

I would like to see one source from Nintendo that actually says Ness. Dumb YouTubers don't count.

 

Glad I live in the great YouSa so I can have these discussions.

[MrBeefy]

Hmmm.. do you say nato or n.a.t.o ? Nasa or n.a.s.a ?

We usually say "ness" in french, although we DO know they are initials. Or, well, I don't really say nes, because I never cared about that toy

NATO and NASA. They also read it though. I have heard Nintendo refer to it as N.E.S. never once ness.

[MrBeefy]

Lol, you had me until AT-AT...you may call it the initials today but back in the day and well into the three prequels, those big bastards were AT-ATs. Mainly due to the toy, which was the grail. That's what the box said. Yes, yes I know: the AT-ST was always just that, but who cares? That thing was stupid. Not like the AT-AT...which was glorious.

 

People who call the NES a "ness" are the same who wear workout gloves while playing track-ball games. And those that say "sness"? Roundhouse KICK to the solar plexus.

Star Wars and He-Man were first toys I played with and I never heard the @@ pronunciation until like 5 years ago. I was like what? I don't think they were ever named in the movies. I know they have been referenced as ATAT in the games.

[MrBeefy]

I think this is something that's probably changed for a lot of people over time, in the same way people used to say "PSX" to mean "PS1", until Sony released a product actually called the "PSX" and then you couldn't say that anymore.

 

I have heard people say just "Sega" for the Genesis/MD, though, because at the time it would have been clear what you meant. "You got a Super Nintendo?" "No, I got a Sega." It wasn't very common, but I've heard it.

The PlayStation started as being the PSX the PS One was the mini version of the PSX. It is still PSX....guess I can understand why now people hate the new VCS

 

That last part sounds more like branding. "Hey man you have a Dodge Ram?" "No I have a Chevy."

[LidLikesIntellivision]

In Brazil, we said nintendo for the nes.

 

When the Super Nintendo arrived, we started to say nintendinho for the nes, which translates to "little nintendo".

[fiddlepaddle]

When speaking, I prefer VCS because it rolls off the tongue so easily, but even though it's more awkward to say, I will use 2600 if I need to distinguish more specifically from the 5200 or the 7800.

 

Particularly when writing, VCS has a more vintage connotation, and more correctly refers to the official product name in the early years.

 

Also, as a collector, there was a time when I had approximately 2600 carts, including Ataris, Segas, Intendos, Vectrexes, Colecos, and assorted other types.

[Keatah]

I call the console the VCS. Though improper, 2600 or 2600 VCS will do. 2600 seems to have been adopted around the timeframe when more arcade translations and ports became available.

 

"Atari" was and often still is a generic term for videogames at home. We always used to say, "Let's go play Atari." And though would mean any electronic game on a television. It was simply a shortcut or slang. It was certainly easier to say than "Intellivision" or "Odyssey^2".

[zylon]

I got mine used in mid 80s and 2600 is what it was called in the commercials and in the stores then. However, mine from then says neither VCS or 2600 on it, but has Video Arcade on front and Tele-Games up top, lol.

Edited June 13, 2018 by zylon

[BassGuitari]

I call the console the VCS. Though improper, 2600 or 2600 VCS will do. 2600 seems to have been adopted around the timeframe when more arcade translations and ports became available.

What's improper about it? The name was officially changed to "2600" when the 5200 came out. It's no less legitimate than "VCS," although it's technically inaccurate when applied to pre-Vader consoles.

 

"Atari"...[snip]...often still is a generic term for videogames at home.

In your home, perhaps.

 

Otherwise...haha...no.

 

I have heard people say just "Sega" for the Genesis/MD, though, because at the time it would have been clear what you meant. "You got a Super Nintendo?" "No, I got a Sega." It wasn't very common, but I've heard it.

 

That's how it was where I come from. It would have been weird to hear anything else.

 

NES = "Nintendo," and after the SNES came out, sometimes "Regular Nintendo"

SNES = "Super Nintendo"

Genesis = "Sega"

Master System = "What?"

 

Fortunately, the practice of referring to game cartridges as "Nintendo tapes" fizzled out by the time the SNES and Genesis hit their strides.

[Bill Loguidice]

Bill Bill Bill...you are sometimes wrong then.

 

So do you pronounce USA as 'YouSa' it lends itself to be an acronym as well.

 

Here is a commercial for the SNES. That refers to it as the Super N.E.S. from Nintendo Direct saying Super N.E.S.

 

 

I would like to see one source from Nintendo that actually says Ness. Dumb YouTubers don't count.

 

Glad I live in the great YouSa so I can have these discussions.

 

Yes, "YouSa" sounds stupid and is not in common usage in any way, shape, or form. NESS and SNESS sound just fine and are in relatively common usage. It's no big deal. And of course I'd expect Nintendo as a company to have strict guidelines for how they say and use their own marks and trade names.

[Mockduck]

I usually say "VCS/2600".

[+KaeruYojimbo]

AT-AT = Walker

AT-ST = Chicken walker

 

That's what we called them for years. It wasn't until the 90's that I started hearing "AT-AT" (pronounced either way, but at-at was way more common than a-tee-a-tee) or "AT-ST" regularly.

Edited June 13, 2018 by KaeruYojimbo

[icemanxp300]

The PlayStation started as being the PSX the PS One was the mini version of the PSX. It is still PSX....guess I can understand why now people hate the new VCS

 

That's not how I view it or from my understandings the majority of people view it.

 

I view it this way.

 

PS1 was the first grey PlayStation in the USA. PS One was the second release white small PlayStation released in the USA. PSX was the PlayStation released in Japan. USA are PS1 games where as Japan (imports) are PSX games.

[supercoupe91]

I personally prefer "VCS" but usually say "2600" just so people will know what I'm talking about.