Atari gamer rears his head.....

[Unbeliever]

Hello, fellow Atari fans everywhere! I'm new to these message boards, but in my quest to locate someone, SOMEWHERE who still played Atari 2600, I found you! I myself have owned/played the 2600 since it first came out, and my brother had one in his apartment! I remember saying, "I gotta get one of those!", and it's been a joy to own one ever since those early days. So, without further ado, let me say "Hiya" to you all, and here's to classic gaming at it's finest! Sun is fun, but I'd rather be playing Atari!

[garyp]

Nice to meet you man! Enjoy these pages! You couldn't have chosen a better place!

[StanJr]

Welcome, Steve. I'm kinda new here too (a couple of weeks), this is possibly one of the best message boards I've ever read. Everyone here is cool. What are your top 3 games?

[Unbeliever]

Thanks for the welcome! My top fav games for the Atari 2600? Hmmm, that's a toughie. Well, if I were to choose, I'd have to say Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Berserk. But, like I said, it's tough to choose any one! I love them all, of course, except maybe Pac Man! Augh!

[StanJr]

Yeah, its kind of tough to play Pac-man when Ms. Pac-man is clearly superior. Nostalgia is the only reason I play it.

[Nateo]

Hey Steve! Welcome to the message boards! I know how it can be hard to find other people who still like the Atari 2600. I'm only 14 years old, and the only friend I have that likes Atari as much as I do, is about to go into college!

[Unbeliever]

Ahh, well, I was alive when the Atari 2600 came out! An old "fossil" like myself (35 this Thursday) remembers when the shelves of the local stores were FILLED with 2600's...fresh, clean, and boxed! Those were the days... *sniff*..lol..anyway, without the web and the internet, how else would all of us nostalga games, young AND old, get together to trade and talk? Heh, modern technology and old gaming unite!!

[Inky]

Steve.. 35 this thurs? Not too far behind ya. 33 a week from Tues..

[ROCKINGROLL]

I just turned 29 and I've been playing on the same 2600 for twenty years. My parents gave us one back in Christmas of '81 and it still works! Of course, we've been through several joysticks and a few sets of paddles, but the unit itself has given us very few problems. Now that's a machine!!!

 

I'm just curious--how old are the rest of you Atari warriors out there?

[StanJr]

26 in October. Got my first 2600 in 1982, sold it in a yard sale 1990 (along with about 65 games and a Jr.) (It was the age of Nintendo, I was blinded by graphics). Got an all black version in 1994 with some games and I am still building, very slowly.

[RangerG]

If we are giving ages -- 29. I never had an Atari. My parents bought me a TRS-80 color computer (awful for games). My cousin's dad got him a 2600 and a 5200. We played those things for hours and boy was I jealous. But now I have my own ever growing Atari collection. My cousin (now a colonel in the Air Force) came over to my apartment recently and saw for the first time my collection. We had some great gaming wars like old times and now he is jealous of me!! -- RG

[Mindfield]

As long as we're sharing, I'll be hitting my 30th in a little over 3 weeks. And I was around when the first generation console wars were hot. Colecovision, Atari and Intellivision all vied for attention. I had a Coleco Gemini (Coleco's VCS clone), a Colecovision, and eventually, a real 2600. I enjoyed 'em all, but the 2600 of course stuck with me for the long haul. At least, until I went and sold it all shortly after I got my first computer (an Atari 600XL). I went up through the gamut of 8-bit, then 16-bit Atari computers until finally biting the bullet and getting a PC. Now in many ways it's all come full circle, as I use my PC to emulate the old VCS, as well as all the old Atari computers (and many others, to boot). One of these days, time and money permitting, I'll get into buying an ol' VCS again, and collecting all the new games. I'm rather looking forward to re-experiencing the excitement of buying a new VCS game, as I used to do every weekend back in the day with my allowance. :-)

 

Welcome aboard, Steve. I think you'll find a comfortable seat in which to park, and a lot of good conversation amongst like-minded people who for the most part all grew up through Atari.

[+Zeptari]

Happy Birthday Steve,Inky and Mindfield!!!!

I'm turning 35 this month too!

Anyone else birthday in September??

The only thing I ever played as a kid was the 2600.Now I have a Tele-Games 2600 system with about 110 games...plus a 7800 with about 15+ games...I gotta get a pair of them

eurocontrollers....

[bcprs1]

I remember getting my first Atari 2600 when I was 9 after breaking my collarbone. After years of playing, the Atari finally broke and I got a 7800 that I still have. Even now, with all the great computer games and systems, I still dig out and play my old 2600 and 7800 games. ahhh, if only they were still making them.

[Ze_ro]

Wow, I suddenly feel very young here... I just turned 21 in early August. I never actually had an Atari as a kid (My best friend at the time had one though), instead I grew up with the ColecoVision, the VIC-20, and the Commodore 64. I became interested in Atari about a year ago, and have been collecting ever since.

 

I think you'll find that AtariAge is probably the best Atari site around... at least, I sure haven't found any that even compare. Everyone around here is pretty cool, and will answer your questions without resorting to the sarcasm and flaming that is found on the rest of the internet

 

--Zero

[ATARIPITBULL]

Hello, and welcom to the site. You will find almost all the answers to all your Atari questions here.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I will be hitting 27 this October as well. Got my first 2600 4 switch woody in 80 when I was 6 and I have never really left Atari since. I did have a brief time where in my shiny new 286 PC clone took over for almost 3 or so years. But as they say, the classics just keep coming back. Aluminium X-mas trees, Beehive Hair doos, 50s styling on the cars coming back, swing dance and music, and now the 2600. Things are looking up in this world afterall...hehe.

 

Kinda sounded like one of those old Absolute magazine ads there for a bit didn't it?

[Mindfield]

You know what they say ... you can't keep a good thing down, and the 2600 was probably one of the greatest things. Little wonder then that it's still kicking and making news 24 years after its birth. Let's face it: The VCS created the console market. Oh sure, machines like the Odyssey tried to start the fire, but let's be honest: that was soggy kindling and old matches. Stella was dry brush and kerosene, and Atari had a Zippo. The resulting bonfire simply consumed even Mattel and Coleco. After that, video game consoles were to forever be a recurring item on every kid's Christmas wish lists.

 

Sure, I'm certain that were it not for Atari, there would still be a home video game market, but I really don't think it would be anything like it is now.

 

In fact, many people's Christmas wish lists still include the VCS. All the classics have come back again. And that's quite a good thing.

 

I could do without the beehives, however...

[Unbeliever]

Wow! Congrat's to all the older gamers! Looks like I've found several with like minds regarding classic video games and the Atari 2600! And a happy birthdays to all that just turned another year older. To be honest, I thought there were a lot of teens that were on these boards, but it looks like I was wrong! And to all those that are young and playing Atari despite the "current" consoles.....hat's off to you for playing a classic and still wonderful system. Now, a question to all....is there a free fanzine online that celebrates Atari? I'd love to browse it!

[+Atari_Warlord]

Well, since everyone is confessing there age, I turned 34 this summer. The 2600 was my first system I started to collect for in 1977 (230+). Since then I've collected many other systems; 7800 (60+), Lynx (70+), Colecovision (25+), SNES (40+), Jaguar (35+), PS1 (75+), PS2 (5+), PC (25+).

 

None of the other systems give me the feeling I get when I pop a cartridge in the slot and flip the switch. It's a strange feeling of anticipation. An intense curiosity to see what creativity was achieved with such limited resources.

 

Welcome aboard.