JerseyDevil Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 When was the 2600 JR released? I know I bought one when they came out. My friend had a 5200, but I was working at McDonalds and could not afford the 5200. I was just wondering what year that was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 1986, as I recall, which gave birth to that cheesy "The Fun Is Back!" rap ad. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyDevil Posted October 30, 2003 Author Share Posted October 30, 2003 OK, I guess I was wrong. I thought it was earlier, like 1984. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 OK, I guess I was wrong. I thought it was earlier, like 1984. No, 1984 was during the videogame crash, when everything pretty well died and no one made consoles, and also the ownership changeover when Warner Communications sold Atari to Jack Tramiel, at which point Jack immediately shifted the company's focus on computers and disregarded the console line. It wasn't 'til Jack saw the success of the NES and the resurgence of interest in video games it brought that he decided a re-release of a redesigned, cheaper VCS would be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerseyDevil Posted October 30, 2003 Author Share Posted October 30, 2003 OK, I guess I was wrong. I thought it was earlier, like 1984. No, 1984 was during the videogame crash, when everything pretty well died and no one made consoles, and also the ownership changeover when Warner Communications sold Atari to Jack Tramiel, at which point Jack immediately shifted the company's focus on computers and disregarded the console line. It wasn't 'til Jack saw the success of the NES and the resurgence of interest in video games it brought that he decided a re-release of a redesigned, cheaper VCS would be a good idea. Thanks, I am a little fuzzy about the mid 80's, those were my pot smoking days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 I thought the story went something like Tramiel was ignoring the console market but Toy Stores kept calling wanting 2600 stock (carts, etc..) - He sent them whatever he had until he realized they continued to call for the stuff. Thats when he decided to dip his toe back into the VG market. Thats the story I remember reading in Current Notes or something like that a looooooooong time ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Current Notes? You must be an Ontarian. I used to write for them for a few issues back in the 90s. Anyway, I don't know the exact story behind it, but I'm pretty sure the renewed interest in video games post-crash played a role in it at any rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckhard Stolberg Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 I don't know when the 2600 Jr came out in the USA, but here in Germany it was released in late 1984. I got my "short rainbow" 2600 Jr with Centipede and two proline controllers for Christmas in 1984. A friend of mine, who got his VCS a couple month earlier, still got the black four-switch model with Pac Man. I think it was the "long rainbow" 2600 Jr that came out in 1986. Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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