Irrelevant Young Person gives their Thoughts on Atari as a company now.

[Maztr_0n]

So i'm young, how young? well if you want the full picture i'll let you click a spoiler to read it. Be forewarned that it could make some feel awfully old.
 

Spoiler

i am 18 years old, aka a 2006 baby, first game console i played on was OG Xbox, my first console that was all to myself was a Nintendo DS. I'm younger than a lot of homebrew let alone any Atari systems.

well thanks for that... So why does that matter?

Obviously its because my history with Atari is very different than a lot of people here did, i think that's obvious, but i think we can agree on a few things, we like Atari games, consoles, computers, software and likely. We'd say with products like the 2600+, Modern Atari is finally heading in the right direction. But why would i care? I grew up on stuff that people back in the 80's and 90's would've drooled over, why should i care about this "old shit"? Well. I think many people my age still see Retro Gaming as a secondary pillar to their standard gaming set-up, the right retro system will always be connected to the TV along with the modern system or similarly to the Gaming PC, plus we grew up during the rise of the internet. So of course we watched stuff we really shouldn't have at the time Like The Angry Video Game Nerd, and other retro youtubers, even more contemporary ones for my generation like Scott The Woz who cover more recent retro systems, but they all still  say "Theres nothing like a good atari game with an old tv glowing in ambient light" and myself, i agree, even without the CRT, it is fantastic, it will never replace many modern titles, with hours of stories, hyper realism, freedom to explore, etc that a GREAT modern game can have, but like with a good mobile or flash game, a good atari game can be timeless fun, something to lose yourself in. Simple but so addictive.

So for me, where does this start besides watching a few videos on youtube?

Well one day as a kid, i got an Atari Flashback from my step-dad as a surprise gift from the dollar store, the cover had centipede which looked pretty cool, but ironically i dont remember ever playing it. I was playing all the other stuff, it even had homebrew like Adventure II and Sword Fight, but my true favorite was Air-Raiders, despite never knowing that you could land the plane until literally this year. It was the one i remembered the most, it was beautifully simple yet addictive like the many Flash Games i would play in the computer lab when i was young, it was enjoyable enough for me to buy third-party wired joysticks, since... ya know... playing with a TV Remote joystick isn't all that great. And for awhile it was right next to my Xbox, i'd explore in Adventure, (swear it was either this or sword fight) High Kick my brain trying to wrap my head around Karate, Visit one of the Swordquest games to see that it was real like in the AVGN episode! And of course always do a bit of Air Raiders.

Until i got a Game Boy, which was portable, but moreso was more recent than an actual Atari, had tons of games of all genres (Action, Adventure, RPG, even Open World Driving, Virtual Pet/Life Simulation and First Person Shooter titles) to scratch my retro itch, while rarely feeling like "same old, same old action/arcade game", more of my friends who were into retro had Game Boys or wanted one, and i could get my own cartridges for it! (Sure i could with atari, but not my flashback, and i think around this time Game Boys were much more common to find and the games were still reasonably priced) 

But if i wanted to do that with Atari, i would need to find an old system at a yard sale, which was less likely than a Game Boy, hope a relative could give me one, or play on one even, possibly need to get a new power supply, mess around with an antenna port, set the channels or what not, and perhaps find the old CRT for that authentic experience. but for me, compared to a Game Boy or even a Sega Genesis with the A/V cables, it seemed like a bit much, so i would slowly stop playing flashback...

UNTIL...

Atari announces the 2600+, the 2600/7800 emulator console that plays all the great atari games i remember plus the underrated 7800 library that i was barely ever aware of.

That got me back into the Atari kick, i started to consider it, i'd play 2600 and 7800 games in a browser emulator, then i'd download Stella or ProSystem and a few of my favorites to try them out without the internet.

but some were skeptical about the 2600+ because it wasn't fully compatible and notably some classic titles were not compatible, etc. So then i was going back to the old conundrum, do i get an old 2600 and 7800 (since some games like Space Shuttle, Decathlon and Robot Tank weren't compatible with the 7800 apparently) or do i go with that (seemingly) not so awesome sounding 2600+?

Well it turned out 7800 systems are expensive... and again i would need to do all of that stuff i was not entirely sure about doing before. I eventually found a 2600+ for a really good price, barely used with paddles! And it was GREAT i was seeing those fuzzy games clearer on the LCD TV, and plus, most of the games i wanted and could feasibly get were actually compatible, at least after a swab with some IPA and a few tries, which from Game Boy and Genesis, i was kinda used to, immediately, i was looking for all the games i wanted to try and my old favorites from online or the Flashback. I was even looking into 7800, i was looking into CX-78s since i heard the Pro-Line sucked, but those were expensive, so i was holding off on that and holding my breath about those NES controller clones or that the Pro-Line would be okay enough, but then. Atari announced 3 games (including Fatal Run which i loved but could never afford) would be repressed along with updated CX-78(+) controllers! so as soon as i could've i pre-ordered the game and controller and i was really excited about all that, and eventually since hardware wasn't a big issue, i felt like after a trade, i could get a 2600 Jr for some of the games that weren't compatible with the current public/launch firmware (do not have windows, i did try a VM but i couldn't get the beta on it, so i'm just patiently waiting for the proper full-update) but honestly, i dont even have one of those games. Although i really like the Jr and i am glad i have it ofc, so i'd say the 2600+ was SUPER worth it and got me more into Atari.

So absolutely i think compared to their other attempts at branching out to other things, this is the best one so far.

I mean, look back at some of the things Atari tried to do on the side, of course i dont mean publishing modern games, of course thats a good thing and its definitely a good source to fund the retro stuff and i would not want them to only focus on retro, that wouldn't work for anyone. But stuff like only a few plug and plays and mobile apps, while i think are cool and do work for Atari to bring their retro stuff to more people, they're not the best way for Atari to do so, then they made their new VCS, announcing it at the time of the Switch, and since the Switch was basically the only 9th gen console, seemed like an easy ticket to being the next gen competitor, but making a console is hard for anyone, and while i think the VCS is still a good console (i will get to that in a second) it took a long time to come out and by the time it launched, the PS5 and XBS were coming out and the Switch was getting a facelift to better fit in with the competition, it sadly didnt get its time in the spotlight for that long, and then... NFTs? Which is the worst thing any company could do, ESPECIALLY ATARI because Younger people know its a scam that is entirely pointless (because screenshots exist for example) and Older people dont even care about them so of course that flopped without any grace.

But Atari is special, they might be the only company that COULD try to do this and make it successful, Nintendo basically puts hits on romsites or fan games, SEGA might not do that, but they also probably wont make a Genesis+ or something like that and put it out there, it doesn't make too much sense for them. But Atari could, their only competition is stuff like Analogue, but since it isn't FPGA, the advantage of being able to make more of those systems for a more affordable price, and honestly if they do consider an FPGA product it probably wouldn't be for 2600/7800, the systems (besides the Lynx) that most people had, at least passing memories of or even had a few carts lying around, to me it would make sense to do it for a majorly complicated system (Atari Jaguar) or the less common ones to ensure a near 1:1 experience for first impressions or for revisiting users who forgot about them, or the ones that had complicated peripherals that could benefit from a more luxury solution for modern use. (Atari 5200, 8-Bit Computers, ST, XEGS)

And now that they have, i feel like that opens up the 2600/7800 retro gaming/homebrew/hobby to more people, those like me who are young and just want to have a retro system to play classic games on, but dont want to commit fully to an "authentic setup", those looking to relive their childhood games on their modern TV, without fiddling with decades old consoles, just pop in and play. And of course those masochistic programmers who see the 2600's hardware as a challenge, and are currently trying to port DOOM to it, just so they can spite god. (/joke)

And with retro games being pretty expensive these days, Atari being able to provide cheaper repressings, new homebrew, previously unreleased games, new accessories, etc for not just the 2600+ but for the old systems to is a game changing move, if they can keep this going, if they can somehow get licenses to classic games, even possibly somehow making new ports of old titles, more varieties of game genres, updates, availability in stores, etc. Even if we only get a fraction of that, i think Atari will be set for their best years since the 90's. And i imagine it would get people interested in their other projects like the VCS! (i told you it would come back later)

I mean i'd kill for my dream of seeing 2600+ consoles, controllers and games at the dollar store or a grocery store so a random kid will just see one and just want one because its a video game at the dollar/grocery stores, or to see other classic games that never got to be on 2600/7800 or genres that haven't been explored yet to be ported or attempted for 2600+, but killing is wrong so i'll only kill the space invaders for it.



But, i just wanted to share this because ironically, this is how Atari is best able to appeal to the "fellow kids" since retro gaming is becoming more universal and in general is just working better than some of the other attempts at being back at the spotlight in some form, espeically when retro gaming is getting really expensive, its good to have 1 option that might become more universal and reliable than buying an old console second hand. I've got hope this time because this is really bold and original for a legacy games company to do.

 

[+Sauron]

It's always heartwarming for an old fart like me to hear that younger people are finding some of the fun and magic of Atari for themselves. I hope that Atari is paying attention to testimonials like these as well, as the primary way of growing their business will be by appealing to all generations, not just us Gen X fogeys.

 

[John Stamos Mullet]

1 hour ago, Sauron said:

It's always heartwarming for an old fart like me to hear that younger people are finding some of the fun and magic of Atari for themselves. I hope that Atari is paying attention to testimonials like these as well, as the primary way of growing their business will be by appealing to all generations, not just us Gen X fogeys.

 

Hear, hear.

 

and this site needs more of this kind of positivity, and less of the half assed Yelp! Review style negative/sarcastic reviews by wannabe YouTube gaming influencer types.

[Maztr_0n]

On 7/8/2024 at 10:45 PM, John Stamos Mullet said:

Hear, hear.

 

and this site needs more of this kind of positivity, and less of the half assed Yelp! Review style negative/sarcastic reviews by wannabe YouTube gaming influencer types.

oh but they CAN be funny sometimes, but in all seriousness i've seen quite a few youtubers and even non retro gaming types who have tried atari and not like... been unfair about it, like this one guy who couldn't get pong to work was still like "uhhhhhh"... but the kind of "uhhhhh" that screams "i still see value in this if i figure out someday" and thats the best UHHHHHH you can hear.

[MASTER260]

On 7/8/2024 at 1:28 AM, Maztr_0n said:

plus we grew up during the rise of the internet.

Dude, I was born in 1994 & I grew up with the internet.

Edited July 18 by MASTER260

[Maztr_0n]

1 hour ago, MASTER260 said:

Dude, I was born in 1994 & I grew up with the internet.

fair enough, lol

i think i meant not the internet but like... ya know smartphones? i mean like Internet EVERYWHERE... like in someones pocket... like not knowing life before that.

but 100% my fault my dear friend...

[Amanita]

I'm a little on the "younger" side of Atari fans (27) but I see the company as one of the friendliest in the business for the fans of their classic games. Sure, unlike Nintendo Atari doesn't have brand new console-selling games constantly in development, but if the big N gave even a quarter the effort that Atari is with re-releasing physical copies of their classic games it would make headlines everywhere. I didn't grow up with a 2600 but I had a Ps1 game with Activision titles on it so I grew up with (poorly emulated) Pitfall, Keystone Kapers, and the like.

[MASTER260]

16 hours ago, Maztr_0n said:

fair enough, lol

i think i meant not the internet but like... ya know smartphones? i mean like Internet EVERYWHERE... like in someones pocket... like not knowing life before that.

but 100% my fault my dear friend...

Yeah, when I was a kid I had, "smart," phones that ran some crap Verizon OSs & you could buy a few games like Pac-Man on but I was never allowed to cuz it would affect our bill too much.

 

But, yeah, back when I was a kid, going on the internet usually meant going to the, "computer room," in my house that had the desktop there lol.

[English Invader]

Loved your post and I'm glad these Flashback type systems provided an entry for you.  At 43, I'm actually a bit younger than most of the folk who grew up with the 2600 in its pomp.  I passed on the 2600+ myself because I'm already used to the real hardware and Stella and am one of the minority who would be happy to pay a bit extra for an Analogue style FPGA console that offers total recreation of the original hardware with a few mod cons.

 

I think the Raspberry Pi can also be a good gateway system for young people who want to play retro games.  I'm currently typing this post on a Pi 400 and through Retropie I have emulators for everything from the Atari 2600 to the PS1.  You might say it's one micro computer to rule them all.

[doctorclu]

A fun read!  Thanks for chiming in.

[ZippyOasys]

Quote

i am 18 years old, aka a 2006 baby, first game console i played on was OG Xbox, my first console that was all to myself was a Nintendo DS. I'm younger than a lot of homebrew let alone any Atari systems.

Damn. I was 10 years old in 2006 (I was born in 1996). I was one of those "weird kids" as I got into retro-gaming at age 8 which was in 2004.

We're basically 10 years apart lol.

[Chris+++]

 

A significant thing amongst game-players that younger people have had all their lives, and probably take for granted (who can blame them?), but which we certainly didn't have as kids during the "golden age" or whatever it's called, happens to be my favorite thing about forums like this: We now get to hear about the experiences of people around our age who grew up in other countries.

I just think it's cool to dig the different perspectives from around the world. Would have been cool in the '80s as well, but it just wasn't available on this level or anywhere near it.

-- An Irrelevant Middle-Aged Man Who Still Doesn't Have a Cell Phone or Whatever You Guys Are Going on About

 

[Zonie]

My boat was built in 2006.

 

Needs a new lower end...