World Space Invader Championship in the 80s

[PMMS]

Hi,

in the early 80's there were championships, my question is: when was the last world championship with a 2600 game?

Or do they still exist?

[4ever2600]

I was a participant in my local Space Invaders competition for the World S.I. event.  

 

I remember also participating in a Pac Man 2600 one as well.  I do not remember any after that however.

[cx2k]

I entered the 2600 Asteroids Tournament back in the day. Couple of *bad joysticks* and I was toast. LOL

 

 

[4ever2600]

Yeah but did you throw them afterwards? 🤣

 

That's when it's important... 

[Trinity]

1 hour ago, cx2k said:

I entered the 2600 Asteroids Tournament back in the day. Couple of *bad joysticks* and I was toast. LOL

 

 

I would have brought my own joystick. They are only good for 2-3 months under heavy duty use. Learned that fast bitd.

[4ever2600]

I do vaguely remember there being an Asteriods competition back then but I sucked at Asteroids and never bothered with the competition. 

 

See pics, not mine, from an ebay auction running right now.  Shirt was for winner.

Edited July 6 by 4ever2600

[PMMS]

And so, no "big" championship since the 80s?

[+cvga]

Sounds like we're due for a big championship in something!

[Rom Hunter]

On 7/5/2024 at 3:47 PM, PMMS said:

Hi,

in the early 80's there were championships, my question is: when was the last world championship with a 2600 game?

Or do they still exist?

Officially Centipede on september 14th, 1983 in München.

Edited July 7 by Rom Hunter

[cx2k]

On 7/5/2024 at 4:49 PM, Trinity said:

I would have brought my own joystick. They are only good for 2-3 months under heavy duty use. Learned that fast bitd.

If I remember correctly, you weren't allowed to bring your own stick. I guess they were worried about people modifying it for rapid fire or somehow having an advantage. I do remember it was game 6, difficulty "A" that was the official contest version.

[cx2k]

On 7/5/2024 at 10:34 PM, 4ever2600 said:

I do vaguely remember there being an Asteriods competition back then but I sucked at Asteroids and never bothered with the competition. 

 

See pics, not mine, from an ebay auction running right now.  Shirt was for winner.

 

That's not the shirt given out at the tournament. If you reached certain milestone scores, you could win a poster, shirts, buttons or even wristbands. I played several times and won all four of those. Lost the wristbands many, many years ago. They were just plain white with the Atari logo on them (nothing about Asteroids). The shirt, buttons and poster had similar designs. Interesting note - the shirts were actually printed upside down. If you look at the attached picture (courtesy of Atarimania), you'll see that it should be rotated 180 degrees so the ship is flying in from the top-left.

 

[Trinity]

22 minutes ago, cx2k said:

If I remember correctly, you weren't allowed to bring your own stick. I guess they were worried about people modifying it for rapid fire or somehow having an advantage. I do remember it was game 6, difficulty "A" that was the official contest version.

Oh man! That is a hard variation!

 

 

 

[4ever2600]

On 7/5/2024 at 11:37 PM, PMMS said:

And so, no "big" championship since the 80s?

Nope because by 84 the VG crash started and by 85-86 Nintendo and Sega were moving in.  That brought the NES and Sega championships.

1 hour ago, cx2k said:

If I remember correctly, you weren't allowed to bring your own stick. I guess they were worried about people modifying it for rapid fire or somehow having an advantage. I do remember it was game 6, difficulty "A" that was the official contest version.

Cx2k is correct that wasn't just for Asteroids, you couldn't byo joystick to Space Invaders or Pac Man.  

 

And CX2K on the shirt thing, that was someone else's ebay auction I found.  No clue if it's authentic or not.  I believe what you are saying though.

 

And yes on the difficult variation for Space Invaders, that was also tournament rules.

Edited July 7 by 4ever2600

[cx2k]

3 hours ago, Trinity said:

Oh man! That is a hard variation!

 

 

 

Sorry, I meant Asteroids was Game 6, difficulty A, not Space Invaders.

 

[Trinity]

2 minutes ago, cx2k said:

Sorry, I meant Asteroids was Game 6, difficulty A, not Space Invaders.

 

It's all good.

[BIGHMW]

Best variations I was turned onto here on AA on certain 2600 titles:

 

Asteroids: Game 10, difficulty A

 

Berzerk (Voice Enhanced Edition): Game 9, difficulty A

 

…and now Space Invaders: Game 6, difficulty A

 

THANKS!!! My scores have gotten lower because of these variations, any more I can be turned onto??? Always looking for a new challenge. 😊

[Maztr_0n]

On 7/6/2024 at 6:04 PM, cvga said:

Sounds like we're due for a big championship in something!

I for one sign up for the Atari World Championship 2026's Ikari Warriors category, i expect to lose, but not as much as i would in the air raiders category, so i wanna go out with a big whimper.

[davyK]

Asteroids game 6 was extra life at 20,000, fast rocks and hyperspace. Diff A (of course!) That's what my bro and I played every day for nearly a year (game 39 in 2 player).

 

Hardcore is game 32 - no extra lives and no hyperspace/shield/flip. Used to play that too but with hyperspace is more fun. That's game 8.

 

I was able to repeatedly clock the game with lower 1UP score boundaries. The 20K barrier made quite a difference.

 

Some of those Atari championships were timed score attack if I remember correctly. You had a set time to record a score. Kept things moving quickly.

 

Similar to the caravan shooter competitions that Hudson used to run in Japan. That made those old NES shmups like Star Soldier really popular.

Edited July 10 by davyK

[PMMS]

thanks for your answers guys, for information, we are going to organize a (world?) championship of Space invaders at the next GemTos convention (2025)

there will be ten 2600 consoles with the 10 best players, we will try to do like in the 80s with the live TV less and the winner may not receive 50,000 dollars 🙂

But the tournament will be filmed.

so to be continued 🙂

[Eduens]

On 7/7/2024 at 10:08 PM, cx2k said:

 

That's not the shirt given out at the tournament. If you reached certain milestone scores, you could win a poster, shirts, buttons or even wristbands. I played several times and won all four of those. Lost the wristbands many, many years ago. They were just plain white with the Atari logo on them (nothing about Asteroids). The shirt, buttons and poster had similar designs. Interesting note - the shirts were actually printed upside down. If you look at the attached picture (courtesy of Atarimania), you'll see that it should be rotated 180 degrees so the ship is flying in from the top-left.

 

Hello, what do you think of this one ?

 

Edited August 17 by Eduens