What do you think of the Atari 2600+ at the moment...

[DEANJIMMY]

4 hours ago, bent_pin said:

Tell you what I think of the 2600+

 

I worked a 17-hour shift yesterday and as soon as I got home, got out of the shower, and made a cup of coffee, the first thing I did was pop in berzerk and play with my blue button CX-78. It's got a beautiful, clear picture that looks wonderful on my big-ass TV. It's a bad day when I don't get 5 or 10 minutes to play.

 

I'm also looking forward to getting my 7800+ so I can have it in my game room and I can put my 2600+ in my sunroom. 

Yes, that's the great thing about playing Atari!

You can find always 30 minutes to play and you will have had good fun and will feel very satisfied🤙

Play Baldur's Gate 3 and you might not even have created your character in same time😅

 

Many thanks to @Ben from Plaion @raz0red @RevEng and all the others for bringing back the good old times 🤙

[JetmanUK]

17 hours ago, DEANJIMMY said:

Yes, that's the great thing about playing Atari!

You can find always 30 minutes to play and you will have had good fun and will feel very satisfied🤙

Play Baldur's Gate 3 and you might not even have created your character in same time😅

 

Many thanks to @Ben from Plaion @raz0red @RevEng and all the others for bringing back the good old times 🤙

This is what has made my 2600/2600+ my goto gaming platform. I have no time to play a deep story game, damn, I forget where it was all up to, and maybe even all the controls. So I can't pick up and a game and drop it and then go back to it. I used to play PUBG for hours with friends, can't do that now. Even if I have a free evening I'd be crap now, you need to follow updates and refinements and just plain stay in practice with online shooters. Modern gaming just isn't working for me with my current time schedule right now. 

 

However, a quick blast of River Raid or Dark Cavern gives me my gaming fix and I'm happy. That immediate arcade gameplay style fun, then back to reality. 

Edited Saturday at 10:29 AM by JetmanUK

[Dr Karnov]

A lot of games these days have a 20 hour mandatory tutorial! Who's got time for that??

 

I watched the Mrs play the new Zelda and she had to do so much hand-holdy tutorial before the game started. Literally hours and hours.

 

I think I'll stick to 2600 maze shooters and arcade games!! More suitable for a busy life. And more fun

[JetmanUK]

6 minutes ago, Dr Karnov said:

A lot of games these days have a 20 hour mandatory tutorial! Who's got time for that??

 

I watched the Mrs play the new Zelda and she had to do so much hand-holdy tutorial before the game started. Literally hours and hours.

 

I think I'll stick to 2600 maze shooters and arcade games!! More suitable for a busy life. And more fun

Yep, I couldn't imagine trying to play an RPG right now. Hours of tutorial to finally get into the game... And then I'd have no idea how to play it the next time I picked it up and maybe have to do the inane tutorial again. 😬🤣

[Dr Karnov]

While we're having a moan about modern games, one thing I hate is context specific controls.

 

I tried to play Red Dead Redemption 2 and there was something totally ridiculous in an early mission where you were in some kind of respectable establishment and the button for "speak to lady" was the exact same button as "draw gun and immediately fail mission", and it was just based on exactly where you were standing. And the bl00dy pad had stick drift.

 

That's was the final straw for me, with modern games 

Edited Saturday at 10:47 AM by Dr Karnov

[Dr Karnov]

I'll stick to playing games like these beauties:

[JetmanUK]

4 minutes ago, Dr Karnov said:

I'll stick to playing games like these beauties:

Awesome selection there! And maybe my most expensive cart too. 😬😬😬 F-it, it was worth it! 😁🤣

[Dr Karnov]

Just now, JetmanUK said:

Awesome selection there! And maybe my most expensive cart too. 😬😬😬 F-it, it was worth it! 😁🤣

Which one is that?

[Dr Karnov]

Subterranea?

[shane857]

4 hours ago, Dr Karnov said:

I'll stick to playing games like these beauties:

What's Entombed like, any good? Never heard of it.

[Dr Karnov]

1 hour ago, shane857 said:

What's Entombed like, any good? Never heard of it.

Not only is it a great game, it's also interesting from a technical standpoint:

 

https://www.techspot.com/news/85622-nobody-sure-what-makes-atari-2600-game-entombed.html

[Dr Karnov]

It's an interesting game, and feels really 'modern' (but not in a bad way!!)

[shane857]

2 hours ago, Dr Karnov said:

It's an interesting game, and feels really 'modern' (but not in a bad way!!)

Looks good, I'll try and pick that one up. Reminds me of Tutankham Parker bros. Looks like similar gameplay..

[shane857]

I'm more of an Atari 2600/+ type of guy. Don't mean to pi** on the 7800+. It's just the 2600 was a more Iconic console for me personally.

The 7800 had quite a poor library of games, in my opinion..

[insertclevernamehere]

In the interests of balance, Entombed can get frustrating quickly.  Be prepared for your character to easily get stuck to walls when the speed ramps up.

 

Edit: And likening it to PB's Tutankham is spot on.  That game sucks too and from memory, has the same issue as Entombed. So glad John Champeau is doing a new version that will probably be about a 1000 times better. Of Tut that is, not Entombed.

Edited Sunday at 08:33 PM by insertclevernamehere

[Brad_from_the_80s]

On 9/14/2024 at 5:45 AM, Dr Karnov said:

While we're having a moan about modern games, one thing I hate is context specific controls.

 

I tried to play Red Dead Redemption 2 and there was something totally ridiculous in an early mission where you were in some kind of respectable establishment and the button for "speak to lady" was the exact same button as "draw gun and immediately fail mission", and it was just based on exactly where you were standing. And the bl00dy pad had stick drift.

 

That's was the final straw for me, with modern games 

I spent many indulgent hours playing the first RDR, and all the old GTA games.  And you know what?  It was a total freaking waste of my life, hours I'll never get back.  If I never even played them I'm not sure anything of value would have been lost.  These games that people would fight and brawl over in stores on release days.  Basically glorified interactive crappy movies.  So I've lost any interest in giving a crap about the colossal time suck that is RDR2 or any future GTA sequel.  Don't get me wrong, I had fun, but it ain't worth the cost in wasted time any more.

 

Now, I love a Tomb Raider game since way back, and I've enjoyed various Assassin's Creed and Far Cry entries, etc.  And I do love some modern racers, Forza/Forza Horizon and such.  I even have a pile of Xbox games I still mean to get back to or even start on.  Eventually.  Maybe.  But really... all I want to play most of the time any more is retro stuff, 8-bit/16-bit, maybe some early 3D, and this past year Atari has been the lion share of that for me with the 2600+.  Pick up and play is where it's at.

[acidbottle]

Another shot fired in the direction of modern gaming here. Visually always appealing but gameplay nearly always misses the mark. Too many are now games as a service, requiring constant playing to keep you in the loop (think Destiny 2, Halo Infinite and all those MMOs etc).

 

I like story driven games as much as anyone, but about 20-30 hours is more than enough, those 100+ hour things are beyond insanity. Give me short burst arcade styles any day of the week, was raised up on arcade gaming!

 

One thing Atari and all other retro systems have is a library of preserved video game goodness, the entire game in the one small package that can be enjoyed years down the line.

 

 

[shane857]

Yeh, when I was younger, I used to put hours into games like Fallout 3 etc.

These days I can't believe spending so much time in my life playing these games. The most time I play games for now is only an Hour or so.

[Dr Karnov]

If I play Marauder for 30 minutes, that's 30 minutes of game time.

 

No loading, no updates, no menus, no tutorials, no unskippable dialogue scenes.

 

We're all busy and time is valuable.

 

Atari and arcade games for me

[shane857]

I think for me personally anyway, I'm not going to purchase the 7800+.

It's good for people who did not buy the 2600+, and if I had not then I probably would have been loved up about this new Atari console.

Even if the 2600+ ends up not supporting the Keypad and driving controller, and Champ and other Homebrew games.

It's the console I have nostalgia for so I'm staying with it..

[Gabe]

I'm still liking mine. I just ordered Galaga for it, which will be my first 7800 game.

[Ben from Plaion]

9 hours ago, Dr Karnov said:

If I play Marauder for 30 minutes, that's 30 minutes of game time.

 

No loading, no updates, no menus, no tutorials, no unskippable dialogue scenes.

 

We're all busy and time is valuable.

 

Atari and arcade games for me

Yeah, its something I never really considered till recently after having the wireless CX78+. The 2600+ or 7800+ is always plugged in to my front room TV and the CX78+ wireless lives with the remote controls. So I look at gamepad when I sit down for the evening and think oh I'm just going to have a quick 15 minutes or whatever on a cart thats plugged in. No logging in and updating noise, just like you say straight in and bosh. I've found myself during the day when working choosing a game that I'll play tonight for that quick blast, it scratches an itch. And its mostly down to the unteathered-ness of the wireless gamepad.

 

 

 

[Ben from Plaion]

22 minutes ago, Gabe said:

I'm still liking mine. I just ordered Galaga for it, which will be my first 7800 game.

One of my faves, its funny, I have played hundreds of Atari games and that one I automatically find to do tests, and usually its not a quick boot and see if it works. I play it cause its a very enjoyable game - the moment you get two ships really changes things up for the better. I just wish all Atari games could permanently save high scores - that would really change things for me.

 

I remember reading about Stella having a high score save feature. I'll put it on my wishlist.

Edited Monday at 07:56 PM by Ben from Plaion

[MarcinJ]

21 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Yeah, its something I never really considered till recently after having the wireless CX78+. The 2600+ or 7800+ is always plugged in to my front room TV and the CX78+ wireless lives with the remote controls. So I look at gamepad when I sit down for the evening and think oh I'm just going to have a quick 15 minutes or whatever on a cart thats plugged in. No logging in and updating noise, just like you say straight in and bosh. I've found myself during the day when working choosing a game that I'll play tonight for that quick blast, it scratches an itch. And its mostly down to the unteathered-ness of the wireless gamepad.

 

 

 

Well, I am with you here. Between family, house chores, work I have no time to spend hours with PS or XBOX, but 20-30 minutes shooting some aliens or playing Ms. Pac-Man is just the amount of fun I need. 
If we could save high scores it would be awesome. 

[shane857]

21 minutes ago, Ben from Plaion said:

Yeah, its something I never really considered till recently after having the wireless CX78+. The 2600+ or 7800+ is always plugged in to my front room TV and the CX78+ wireless lives with the remote controls. So I look at gamepad when I sit down for the evening and think oh I'm just going to have a quick 15 minutes or whatever on a cart thats plugged in. No logging in and updating noise, just like you say straight in and bosh. I've found myself during the day when working choosing a game that I'll play tonight for that quick blast, it scratches an itch. And its mostly down to the unteathered-ness of the wireless gamepad.

 

 

 

The wireless gamepads looks great. For me thou personally, I need to be close to my Atari for difficulty switches and games that use the Colour/BW switch. You should always be close to your Atari..😂