Atari 2600+ is AARP approved!

[Warboss Gegguz]

16 hours ago, tradyblix said:

now we need a Tempest for the 7800. I would love if Jeff did it. But someone should make a version for it... 

I recall someone made or at least tried to make a homebrew version for the 7800 but it ran weird when I emulated it.

My dream homebrew to make would be a more realized version of Tempest for the 2600. I've suggested maybe taking the Beamrider approach and subbing in solid grids for a mix of lines and dot matrices. It would also only be able to be a few levels that loop, but even that would be awesome both technically and just as a game to play.

I keep hoping that Atari uses their new carts to make 2600 conversions for Atari arcade games. They did it back with the flashback 2 for Lunar Lander and Caverns of Mars (albeit to mixed results) and I would love to see them try it with others... and also improve those conversions and others actually from the 80s.

[Warboss Gegguz]

7 hours ago, scifidude79 said:

Yeah, I think it was just due to the 7800 being a post crash "Tramiel era" system. The Tramiels didn't seem to know how to market systems. They released some really good ones. The 7800 was on par or maybe a bit better than the NES, but poor marketing and a lack of 3rd party support killed it. They only released, what 50-something games for it? The Lynx should have been a GameBoy killer, but the same issues kept it from being a hit. Of course, launching at $90 higher than the GameBoy didn't help the Lynx either, but it was so technically superior. And, lastly, the Jaguar should have had more of a market presence but, again, poor marketing and lack of 3rd party support. It's a shame these systems never really stood a chance due to who was running Atari at the time. Due to all of this, collecting for these systems can be expensive, especially with the retro craze that's gone on for the past few years. People selling carts for more "rare" systems like the 7800 think everyone who wants them is a diehard collector, so they can charge more for them. Some of us just want to play games we remember from our past, without breaking the bank.

I mean, it's always perplexed me that they released ANY consoles given they literally sold off Atari's game division for this exact reason.

I assume they saw that the Crash was a fad and decided to reenter when the smoke cleared, assuming the there was enough brand recognition to draw consumers back. And honestly there could have been if they had a stronger library and marketing. And the Lynx was eons ahead of its time... and the battery life shows it.

 

Ironically, by the time Atari Computers did reenter the market, Atari Games was arguably in a renaissance in arcades and even consoles via Tengen, slowly but surely shacking up with Midway/Willams, and the bizarre stuff they put out on the Atari 2600/7800. And with that, I think losing all of the staff that actually had experience with video games and game design certainly reflected the performance and library of the 7800, Lynx, and Jaguar.

 

I mean, everyone's favorite 1st-party game for the Jaguar is an update of a then 11 year old arcade game (shout outs to Jeff Minter and his drugged-out british antics). And the development management of things like Fight For Life show they really had no idea what they were doing when it came to video games. So yeah, the short sighted decision to go completely scorched earth on 1st-party game development, only to then try to reenter the market 2 years later was about as wise as that sounds.

 

Were I piloting that ship, I would've said to sell a stripped down gaming-focused version of the ST in the late 80s. Kinda like the Amiga CD32, except not over half a decade past when the tech inside was impressive. And ironically what I'm describing is kind of what the VCS is just 20+ years earlier (eg a consolized PC). 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Warboss Gegguz

[scifidude79]

9 hours ago, tradyblix said:

I love the 7800, but it was honestly a source of deep shame for me and inadequacy growing up. I wanted an NES bad, but my parents weren't successful and they used the 7800 as an excuse why I couldn't have another video game system. Looking back on it, I got an NES by 1988, but that was a lifetime as a kid, like, the pressure started in 1986. Now, as an adult, 9 years doesn't seem like much difference, but between 1977 and 1986 so much had changed when it came to gaming and computers in general. 

 

As far as it being competitive with the NES, well it's sound chip wasn't, the games were mostly ports of early 80s era games while kids were playing stuff like Jackal and Metroid - the NES was on a whole other level in terms of what the games could do. 

 

I don't doubt some of those games could be done on the 7800 given time and the sound could have been better, but whenever people say this, it rings a bit false to me. The 7800 ended up being a slightly enhanced 2600 in all respects. It had some real stinkers too, like Karateka. Of course now I love collecting for it, but even Ballblazer couldn't impress my friends back then when they were getting down on incredible games like excitebike, gradius and super mario brothers, none of which had an analog on the 7800. 

 

And that gap only got worse heading into 1987. I remember going to a friends house and seeing contra that year and I was just flabbergasted. The writing was on the wall. There was absolutely a generational difference -hardware better or not. 

 

Of course now, I can play all those games and still do, but now I want to play centipede and xevious. lol. 

 

But yes, as a casual player of nostalgic Atari, it's beyond annoying that I can pick up the superior NES cart of Kung fu which is a far better game gameplay wise for like, 5 bucks and I have to pay 150 for Kung-fu master on the 7800 for a significantly worse (but still one I want) game. Eh. 

I bought an NES off of a friend at work when I was 16 or 17. It was either 1995 or 96, so the SNES wasn't even a "relevant" system by then. But, he sold me the console and a box of games for $20. Actually, he was going to just give it to me, but I felt bad about just taking it and gave him $20 for it. Prior to that, I'd never played one. Earlier than that, after I got my first job, I bought a GameBoy in a regular store (my first VG system purchase) and a SNES in a secondhand store. I have some love for the NES but, coming into it later, I just don't have the nostalgic love for it that I do the Atari systems. Though, I too wanted an NES and was jealous of my friends who had the NES, so I completely understand your point there. It's funny how I felt inadequate then, but nowadays I'm proud of the fact that I grew up with Atari. The fact that I still play Atari games to this day is a testament to how much love I have for the company and their products. Of course, I still play NES games too. But, my favorite is the SNES. Man, I love that system.

 

One of the funniest things is that I first played Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr on the Atari 7800. Back in the 1980s and even the early 90s, I didn't appreciate how crazy it was to have Nintendo games on an Atari. Sometime back, I got into clone systems and I started buying NES games again, and I actually bought Famicom copies of DK and DKJR because they were cheaper than the NES cartridges on Ebay and an adapter to play them on an NES or NES clone was only about $12, so I got them. I was really blown away by the fact that they were the exact same versions I played on the 7800 back in the day.

 

Heh, I remember Karateka. We had that one too. Judging from Ebay listings, I'd say a lot of people did. 😂

 

7 hours ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

I mean, it's always perplexed me that they released ANY consoles given they literally sold off Atari's game division for this exact reason.

I assume they saw that the Crash was a fad and decided to reenter when the smoke cleared, assuming the there was enough brand recognition to draw consumers back. And honestly there could have been if they had a stronger library and marketing. And the Lynx was eons ahead of its time... and the battery life shows it.

 

Ironically, by the time Atari Computers did reenter the market, Atari Games was arguably in a renaissance in arcades and even consoles via Tengen, slowly but surely shacking up with Midway/Willams, and the bizarre stuff they put out on the Atari 2600/7800. And with that, I think losing all of the staff that actually had experience with video games and game design certainly reflected the performance and library of the 7800, Lynx, and Jaguar.

 

I mean, everyone's favorite 1st-party game for the Jaguar is an update of a then 11 year old arcade game (shout outs to Jeff Minter and his drugged-out british antics). And the development management of things like Fight For Life show they really had no idea what they were doing when it came to video games. So yeah, the short sighted decision to go completely scorched earth on 1st-party game development, only to then try to reenter the market 2 years later was about as wise as that sounds.

 

Were I piloting that ship, I would've said to sell a stripped down gaming-focused version of the ST in the late 80s. Kinda like the Amiga CD32, except not over half a decade past when the tech inside was impressive. And ironically what I'm describing is kind of what the VCS is just 20+ years earlier (eg a consolized PC). 

Yeah, the Tramiel days were really weird. I mean, Jack Tramiel bought Atari after he was ousted from Commodore, so he had a thing about trying to take down the computer company he founded. In a way, he kind of did. While Atari and Commodore were duking it out, IBM snuck in there and took the top spot. But, since his focus was on computers, the 7800 release seemed more like an afterthought. It's like he saw what they had been working prior to his takeover of the company, and he was like "Sure, release that." It wasn't until Atari was out of the computer business altogether that he went into serious console development with the Jaguar. But, like you said, they did that one and the Lynx without the infrastructure they needed to churn out a lot of great first party games, and they had little third party support.

Edited December 7, 2023 by scifidude79

[Warboss Gegguz]

10 minutes ago, scifidude79 said:

 

Yeah, the Tramiel days were really weird. I mean, Jack Tramiel bought Atari after he was ousted from Commodore, so he had a thing about trying to take down the computer company he founded. In a way, he kind of did. While Atari and Commodore were duking it out, IBM snuck in there and took the top spot. But, since his focus was on computers, the 7800 release seemed more like an afterthought. It's like he saw what they had been working prior to his takeover of the company, and he was like "Sure, release that." It wasn't until Atari was out of the computer business altogether that he went into serious console development with the Jaguar. But, like you said, they did that one and the Lynx without the infrastructure they needed to churn out a lot of great first party games, and they had little third party support.

It's always been funny to me, because on the polar opposite side of things the ST had a TON of support all they way to it's deathbed in the early-mid 90s, and graphically completely smoked the NES, MS, MD, and even SNES... but they never thought to tap into that during the 80s. It literally came out the same year as the NES in the US. Just swap the monitor for a TV and add a pack in controller and you're good. It'd be SUPER expensive to general consumers, but it would've had way more of a competitive edge than the 7800 or Atari XEGS.

Basically the Xbox of the 80s. But I guess it wasn't meant to be. 

 

... and best of all. they discontinued the ST specifically to focus on the Jaguar. Just for some added salt on the wound.

[scifidude79]

9 hours ago, Sean_1970 said:

As apparently one of few Jag owners back in the day (and very few Jag CD owners) I remember a major issue with third party support was the lack of programming tools from Atari. Minter is a genius, but most people weren’t going to learn assembler for a system that might not sell a lot of games. Consequently they did ports of stuff than ran on the Motorola 68k that the Jag included as a controller, which is why you see a lot of 16-bit ports despite having 32-bit graphics capabilities.

 

As to the 7800, I remember being confused that even existed since as you say the marketing was non-existent and the controllers with the buttons on the sides when all other systems had joypads (yes, I know they had those as well for the 7800), was just a reminder of the awful 5200 controllers. Man I wanted a 5200 so bad when they came out, but that desire was cured when I got hands-on with that joystick 😂!

 

Of course Sony arrogantly did something similar to the Jag with the PS3 Cell architecture and figured devs would just learn their new processor, but they were able to course-correct after it became obvious they were going to get subpar ports or skipped. Now consoles are all just PCs, so not an issue.

 

On-topic it was a nice article, though given Boomers now cover most of the sixties I don’t feel like I need a retirement rag catering to my interests just yet - come back to me in fifteen years 😜

I'm actually jealous. I wish I'd had a Jaguar back in the day. I looked into getting one secondhand a couple years ago, but the prices were higher than I wanted to pay.

 

As for the 5200, that was the first console we had in our house when I was a kid. It was a great console and we had some great games on it, but I wouldn't wish those joysticks on anyone. Of course, it wasn't until Atari 50 that I found out what Atari engineers thought of that controller, and how they pleaded with marketing to do something else. I wish marketing had listened.

 

Yes, consoles are just PCs now and, ironically, a lot of AAA titles released on PC are badly (or not at all) optimized ports of console games. It's actually a sad state if you're a PC gamer. 15 to 40+ years ago, the best versions of many games came out on PC, because PC specs could blow a console out of the water. I have some old DOS and Windows games from back in the day where I also own the console versions, and the PC versions are vastly better. But, with the way things are now, PC players get treated like second rate citizens. They just get console leftovers. Luckily, I play on both. Of course, the indie scene is still super strong on PC, but digital stores have made it so that consoles have caught up in that area.

Edited December 7, 2023 by scifidude79

[tradyblix]

9 hours ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

I recall someone made or at least tried to make a homebrew version for the 7800 but it ran weird when I emulated it.

My dream homebrew to make would be a more realized version of Tempest for the 2600. I've suggested maybe taking the Beamrider approach and subbing in solid grids for a mix of lines and dot matrices. It would also only be able to be a few levels that loop, but even that would be awesome both technically and just as a game to play.

I keep hoping that Atari uses their new carts to make 2600 conversions for Atari arcade games. They did it back with the flashback 2 for Lunar Lander and Caverns of Mars (albeit to mixed results) and I would love to see them try it with others... and also improve those conversions and others actually from the 80s.

I'm not convinced the 2600 can do something like Tempest justice, but after playing Gyruss I'm beyond impressed. Gameplay and sound == Superb. Doesn't look as hot as games like Solaris or Moonsweeper but man is it fun to play. Yes. That's a planet in my system I recognize ! Neptune ! lol. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by tradyblix

[scifidude79]

11 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

It's always been funny to me, because on the polar opposite side of things the ST had a TON of support all they way to it's deathbed in the early-mid 90s, and graphically completely smoked the NES, MS, MD, and even SNES... but they never thought to tap into that during the 80s. It literally came out the same year as the NES in the US. Just swap the monitor for a TV and add a pack in controller and you're good. It'd be SUPER expensive to general consumers, but it would've had way more of a competitive edge than the 7800 or Atari XEGS.

Basically the Xbox of the 80s. But I guess it wasn't meant to be. 

 

... and best of all. they discontinued the ST specifically to focus on the Jaguar. Just for some added salt on the wound.

It's funny, because that's exactly what the Atari 5200 was. It was the same hardware as the 400/800 computers, turned into a game console. Of course, at that time, the 400/800 computers were a few years old. So, it's not like Atari couldn't have done something like that again. Though, it's hard to say how the would have been able to price it to stay competitive and make money. The NES launched at $179, the Atari ST computers launched at $800 and $1,000. Since most computer and console manufacturers sell systems at or below cost because they make money off of software and accessories, I'm not sure they would have been able to recoup the costs if they'd priced an ST based game console to compete in the same market space as the NES.

Edited December 7, 2023 by scifidude79

[Warboss Gegguz]

14 minutes ago, scifidude79 said:

It's funny, because that's exactly what the Atari 5200 was. It was the same hardware as the 400/800 computers, turned into a game console. Of course, at that time, the 400/800 computers were a few years old. So, it's not like Atari couldn't have done something like that again. Though, it's hard to say how the would have been able to price it to stay competitive and make money. The NES launched at $179, the Atari ST computers launched at $800 and $1,000. Since most computer and console manufacturers sell systems at or below cost because they make money off of software and accessories, I'm not sure they would have been able to recoup the costs if they'd priced an ST based game console to compete in the same market space as the NES.

I'm talkin like maybe wait until 88-90 to release it. Possibly beat the MegaDrive to market and absolutely beat the SNES to market.

I mean if they were willing to make a 16bit hand-held at the time, a 32-bit shaved-down PC is about as practical. Lol. At the very least, leveraging their stronger hardware before the mid-90s would've kept the company relevant in the console market vs. the NES and Master System outclassing the 7200.

The 5200 could've done well if it hadn't released at the WORST possible time and didn't have issues like a terrible controller and being absolutely massive. Everything after that though was more of an issue of mismanagement.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Warboss Gegguz

[scifidude79]

37 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

The 5200 could've done well if it hadn't released at the WORST possible time and didn't have issues like a terrible controller and being absolutely massive. Everything after that though was more of an issue of mismanagement.

Don't forget the 5200's lack of backward compatibility, and the fact that the first party lineup of games were mostly upgraded versions of 2600 games. Neither of those helped entice 2600 owners to invest in the new system.

 

The massive part was Atari marketing thinking the size equates to perceived value, literally "bigger is better." 🙄

 

So, while the crash didn't help, I don't think the management at Atari was even that good before it. They made so many bad calls with the development of the 5200 that it proved that even Ray Kassar didn't really know what he was doing. He had a lot of people do the thinking and hard work for him, but he wouldn't let them innovate. That led to them not having anything to replace the 2600, then the hurried effort to bring out the 5200, which wound up being a disaster. If they'd made a move sooner, they may have avoided the crash altogether. But, nobody really knows. It may have been inevitable and, like anything else that happened in the early days of video games and consoles, it shaped everything that followed. It's just a shame that Atari was barely a shell of what it had been after the crash.

[82-T/A]

Ugh... F that...

[YonderVittles]

I remember wanting a Jaguar back in the day but only being allowed one console I skipped it. I wish I had gotten one back then because everything related to the system is expensive, and I would love to play some of the home brew releases. lol

[Warboss Gegguz]

1 minute ago, 82-T/A said:

Ugh... F that...

Too real? I mean... My dad is 61 and I bought it for him, so it checks out.

 

1 minute ago, YonderVittles said:

I remember wanting a Jaguar back in the day but only being allowed one console I skipped it. I wish I had gotten one back then because everything related to the system is expensive, and I would love to play some of the home brew releases. lol

BigPEmu is basically 100% compatible with the jaguar library and homebrew iirc. Even CD games, which barely worked on the console itself. Used it to play the other 2000s series games and some of the other good stuff not included in Atari 50 like Zool 2, Iron Soldier, and Wolf 3D (Carmack's favorite version apparently).

And best of all: you get to play them with something other than a Jaguar controller!

[82-T/A]

11 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

Too real? I mean... My dad is 61 and I bought it for him, so it checks out.

 

Yeah... I view AARP as a life alert group... like, really, really old people, and not even cool old people, but really old-ass people who watch PBS News Hour while drinking their Ovaltene and their Breakfast Biscuit with digestive enzyme support. 

 

My parents live in the Villages, where there's a concert every Saturday at one of the town squares. The bands that play at The Villages run the gambit from 80s hair bands to heavy metal groups. Like, the place is crazy. Other than Duval Street in Key West, the Villages is the only place in Florida where you can legally walk around drinking alcohol. There's a car show every single day, and if you're not out golfing or doing something fancy like watching a polo match on their own polo fields, then there's some kind of party going on somewhere... and everyone is driving like a maniac with their pimped out performance-tuned golf carts. 

 

It could just be that AARP has an image problem... but adding Atari in the AARP magazine is akin to adding steaming hot pornography boob pictures to an EPA journal conference paper on the mathematical study of East African bird migrations in the last decade.

 

I'm 45... so it's a bit too close. My dad just turned 80... and he's on some African safari right now with my mom... so AARP is... well, I view it like I do minivans. The minivan is for the people who have just given up on life... no longer care about that growing gut or the sweat pants they've started wearing day in and day out.

[Warboss Gegguz]

1 hour ago, 82-T/A said:

I'm 45... so it's a bit too close. My dad just turned 80... and he's on some African safari right now with my mom... so AARP is... well, I view it like I do minivans. The minivan is for the people who have just given up on life... no longer care about that growing gut or the sweat pants they've started wearing day in and day out.

If it's any consolation, I'm considered a way bigger weirdo for being 25 yet enjoying 50+ year old games and consoles, lol.

Guess people always telling me I'm an "old-soul" extended into multiple aspects of my life. I also like Cadillacs and Lincolns and hate modern top 40s music.

I'm basically an old man in a 20-something's body.

 

I remember talking to a 60 year old IT guy about him building his kids a gaming rig in the 90s, and I mentioned stuff like DOS, the Wintel era, and 3DFX Voodoo cards before he did... in other words, at least liking 8-bit consoles is age appropriate for y'all. I'm the freak. lol.

 

I mean, I sat here and recited the history of a company that was out of business before I was even a fetus...

Edited December 7, 2023 by Warboss Gegguz

[Flyindrew]

18 minutes ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

If it's any consolation, I'm considered a way bigger weirdo for being 25 yet enjoying 50+ year old games and consoles, lol.

Guess people always telling me I'm an "old-soul" extended into multiple aspects of my life. I also like Cadillacs and Lincolns and hate modern top 40s music.

I'm basically an old man in a 20-something's body.

 

I remember talking to a 60 year old IT guy about him building his kids a gaming rig in the 90s, and I mentioned stuff like DOS, the Wintel era, and 3DFX Voodoo cards before he did... in other words, at least liking 8-bit consoles is age appropriate for y'all. I'm the freak. lol.

I don’t find you “weird” at all. It’s common to enjoy means of entertainment that were popular before we were born.

I was born in the early 70’s and as a teenager in the 80’s was a total Beatle Maniac

Video games are just another genre of entertainment.

To compare video games to music. Rock and Roll was created in the 1950’s. By the early-mid 1970’s the “oldies” genre was created with oldies stations popping up over the country playing 20+ year old records. There were 1950’s-1960’s rock and doo wop groups touring well into the 1980’s and 1990’s bringing a nostalgia wave.

The 1980’s-1990’s golden age of video games, is now going through an “oldies revival” similar to the before mentioned rock and roll oldies revival in decades past.

There can also be a correlation as early 1970’s Watergate/pessimistic tone of country led to the ‘50’s music nostalgia wave. The same I think can be said in the 2020’s with COVID,political climate with regard to the rise in video game nostalgia.   

[+LS650]

 

 

[Warboss Gegguz]

1 hour ago, Flyindrew said:

I don’t find you “weird” at all. It’s common to enjoy means of entertainment that were popular before we were born.

I was born in the early 70’s and as a teenager in the 80’s was a total Beatle Maniac

Video games are just another genre of entertainment.

To compare video games to music. Rock and Roll was created in the 1950’s. By the early-mid 1970’s the “oldies” genre was created with oldies stations popping up over the country playing 20+ year old records. There were 1950’s-1960’s rock and doo wop groups touring well into the 1980’s and 1990’s bringing a nostalgia wave.

The 1980’s-1990’s golden age of video games, is now going through an “oldies revival” similar to the before mentioned rock and roll oldies revival in decades past.

There can also be a correlation as early 1970’s Watergate/pessimistic tone of country led to the ‘50’s music nostalgia wave. The same I think can be said in the 2020’s with COVID,political climate with regard to the rise in video game nostalgia.   

Lol. don't worry, I'm joking.

Not about my tastes, but that I don't really care how other Zoomers see me.

[82-T/A]

4 hours ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

If it's any consolation, I'm considered a way bigger weirdo for being 25 yet enjoying 50+ year old games and consoles, lol.

Guess people always telling me I'm an "old-soul" extended into multiple aspects of my life. I also like Cadillacs and Lincolns and hate modern top 40s music.

I'm basically an old man in a 20-something's body.

 

I remember talking to a 60 year old IT guy about him building his kids a gaming rig in the 90s, and I mentioned stuff like DOS, the Wintel era, and 3DFX Voodoo cards before he did... in other words, at least liking 8-bit consoles is age appropriate for y'all. I'm the freak. lol.

 

I mean, I sat here and recited the history of a company that was out of business before I was even a fetus...

 

No, I think it's awesome. I'm a Gen-Xer, and we would unaffectionately call that being a "Hipster" ... but in my opinion, it's carrying the torch.

 

We build upon the lessons we learn from our past. People who understand DOS, help newer developers not make the same mistakes in newer operating systems. DOS was an iterative development process where a very stable OS was continually improved... rather than the more chaotic Windows development seems to follow the trends and style. Anyone remember the initial version of Windows... 8 or 10? Which had the start button in the middle like the Mac? Yeah... that didn't last long.

 

And man.. those 3DFX Voodoo cards were awesome... VESA Local Bus baby!!!

 

 

What I will say about people like you... in dystopian movies... you're either the first or last person to be killed... depending on whether they value history! Hahaha!!!

 

[TeddyBear89]

Since this thread is all over the place anyways this proud Gen-X dude will reminisce about Xmas morning 1979.  The summer of 1980 was months away before TESB was released but Star Wars was still red hot.  Oddly enough, the toy I really wish I had still was the junkyard manual pinball game.  Broken rubberbands were easily replaced and that stainless steel ball could do some serious damage when launched off the game board.

 

Since that awful Star Wars Battle Command game is technically a handheld this post is still germane to everything video games lol

 

 

[TeddyBear89]

And 45 years later........I appreciate the 10% AARP discount at Outback, Rainforest Cafe and Denny's!

[Gamemoose]

So if it's mentioned in AARP....is Atari going to start showing commercials on those OTA retro TV show channels? Get a bit of Liberty Life, reverse mortgage ads and then the "twenty-six-huunert ("plus"...said in a whisper) from A-Tar-Ee!"

[Brad_from_the_80s]

FWIW.  A newer review, and one of the better ones....

 

https://www.ign.com/articles/atari-2600-review

 

This guy mostly gets it.  He loses me a little that the games "just don't hold up" narrative.  Sure there was plenty on Atari 2600 that wasn't gaming gold or could have been better.  But it is lacking perspective and a bit narrow minded that there is only one (modern) way for games to be good, and that they just regress from there.  A different perspective could find much modern gaming utterly uninspired.  When Atari 2600 is good it is very good, and not just "for it's time".  But I despair of even bothering to attempt opening some people's eyes to that.  You get it or you don't, and if nothing else at least half of gen X will "get it" by default and maybe some number of younger people.  Also, even as among the very youngest of that group myself I take some exception that gen X are now "old" according to the reviewer.  The entire set is still pretty solidly middle-aged.

 

Also some of the comments provide face-palm moments on just how dumb some people can be.

 

A poorer review IMO was Arstechnica's, which covered the features well enough but pretty much dismissed the concept overall.  The reviewer kind of missed the cut-off generationally to have any real Atari appreciation and just didn't get it.  And again some of the comments are even worse.

[Hawkeye68]

11 hours ago, 82-T/A said:

Yeah... I view AARP as a life alert group... like, really, really old people, and not even cool old people, but really old-ass people who watch PBS News Hour while drinking their Ovaltene and their Breakfast Biscuit with digestive enzyme support. 

 

 

Funny.  I view it for what it is, primarily a lobbying and watchdog group advocating for older Americans.  I joined on my 50th birthday.  I've never once used a discount of any kind.

[Sean_1970]

12 hours ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

Wolf 3D (Carmack's favorite version apparently).

Wolf 3D on the Jag was pretty great!

 

 

 

On 12/7/2023 at 1:59 AM, scifidude79 said:

As for the 5200, that was the first console we had in our house when I was a kid. It was a great console and we had some great games on it, but I wouldn't wish those joysticks on anyone. Of course, it wasn't until Atari 50 that I found out what Atari engineers thought of that controller, and how they pleaded with marketing to do something else. I wish marketing had listened.

Maybe a 5200+ next with a decent controller? Not sure if carts on the secondary market are too dear to make that viable…

[Warboss Gegguz]

30 minutes ago, Sean_1970 said:

Wolf 3D on the Jag was pretty great!

Carmack liked it because on a hardware level the Jaguar was the only console that could run a version of wolf 3D that was MORE advanced than the PC version.

He talked about it getting 100+ FPS during development. It also actually has music, unlike Doom.