Call for trivia

[76000in1]

Hello,

 

I'm lucky enough to have been given an opportunity to write a magazine article on the Atari 2600. I don't expect to make any cash from it, but given that I grew up on all things Atari and still sometimes plug in my 2600, I think it's a pretty cool thing to do. I was hoping some of you could offer up some particularly obscure trivia I could use. There'll be a special prize of my undending respect for anyone who can come up with anything really bizarre but true that not many people know (I'll also need to know how you know it to be true). No particular topic other than being 2600-related.

 

I've also a couple of specific questions -

 

i. I know the 2600 ceased production at the end of the 80s in the US, but I've heard it was still produced in some form (before making a retro comeback through TV Boy etc.) until 1991. Does anyone know the last place where a 2600 (or clone) was still being actively produced? And was it a clone, or officially licensed by Atari?

 

ii. Any homebrew programmers who'd volunteer to talk a little about the 2600 scene today?

 

iii. Does anyone know of any of the golden-era programmers who might be prepared to talk to me? If so, can you let me know a means to contact them?

 

iv. If there's any Atari 2600 angle that you think is often passed over when people write about the console, let me know what it is and I'll see if I can give it the emphasis it deserves.

 

Thanks a lot! By all means give me any information here in this thread, but if you wish to send it to me directly, you can do so at hannibal_smith at fastemailer dot com

[Gateway]

...

There'll be a special prize of my undending respect ...

 

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard this...

 

Nothing against you, 76000in1, just thinking out loud.

 

Can you answer a few questions first:

 

What is the magazine and Who owns it?

 

Where are you based? ( in the USA I presume? )

 

What's the article's connection, if any, to Infogrames/Atari of today?

[D.Yancey]

Searching around this website and some of its links would answer many of your questions. IMHO Have at it.

[76000in1]

Hi,

 

This is my first time doing this and I think I came across badly. I wont name the magazine as they have only agreed, based on a writing sample, to consider this - meaning I'm not here representing them, just myself - and beyond an interest in old Atari consoles and computers, have no connection to any incarnation of the company at all.

 

I'm really sorry if I came across as a cheap hack trying to get someone else to do write to do their job. I wasn't trying to be lazy, and have already come across a whole lot of interesting ideas just from perusing these forums. I suppose the crux of what I was asking (and I should have stuck to this point alone) is whether anyone who frequents these forums thinks there is an area of the 2600 which is overlooked or under-represented when people write articles so that I can be sure to cover it in mine.

 

I've a genuine interest, and wont be getting paid for this - I just want to insure the topics I cover are those that interest the fans. Sorry again if I gave a bad impression. No offence intended - I'll think more carefully before posting in the future.

[D.Yancey]

Here's a couple of simple things:

 

1. The great speed and responsiveness of the 2600 which is not present in many other systems/computers.

 

2. There's no pause button and no continue button for games. If you want to be considered great at a game on the 2600, you've got to learn how to play it for real. Unlike arcade games of today; that are designed to get you to continue as many times as possible to get more coins. I wonder if anyone could ever finish these games on 1 coin/reset?

 

3. The simplicity of the controllers is wonderful. You've got only one button to push. A few of the later games got complex using the buttons on the console (Space Shuttle, F-14 Tomcat, Ghostbusters, etc.), but most are just real fun to play.

[keilbaca]

Here's a couple of simple things:

 

1. The great speed and responsiveness of the 2600 which is not present in many other systems/computers.

 

2. There's no pause button and no continue button for games.  If you want to be considered great at a game on the 2600, you've got to learn how to play it for real.  Unlike arcade games of today; that are designed to get you to continue as many times as possible to get more coins.  I wonder if anyone could ever finish these games on 1 coin/reset?  

 

3. The simplicity of the controllers is wonderful.  You've got only one button to push.  A few of the later games got complex using the buttons on the console (Space Shuttle, F-14 Tomcat, Ghostbusters, etc.), but most are just real fun to play.

 

Especially the no pause button... nothing like wanting to go to the bathroom on a 3 hr long game of moonsweeper or cosmic ark... although the peeing out the window story was pretty funny. Something I wouldn't do just because of where I live, I think some guys here would get off on that if they seen someone doing that... yeah i hate this base.

[76000in1]

Thanks for the info so far - I'll be sure to mention how the lack of pause (or any concept of 'save') separated the men from the boys in hardcore gamers. That's actually brought back a blocked out memory of doing extremely well on galaxian and having my dad come up and just switch the power off because I'd failed to appear for dinner...a pause button could have saved quite a row...

[ZylonBane]

1. The great speed and responsiveness of the 2600 which is not present in many other systems/computers.

Not only is that not trivia, it's not even a sentence.

 

Now this is trivia:

The 2600 can display more colors than the NES (128 vs 52).

The 2600 is an 8-bit machine, just like the 5200, 7800, NES, and SMS.

The 2600 has only 128 bytes of RAM.

The 2600's graphics chip was designed by the same person who designed the Amiga's graphics chip (Jay Miner).

There were over 900 2600 games made.

New 2600 games are being programmed to this day.

The 2600 was the first platform for third-party software (Activision).

The 2600 was in production for 14 years (1977-1991), the longest lifespan of any game system. The GameBoy series has been around longer (barely), but the original chipset was only produced for 9 years.

 

More data here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_2600

[sku_u]

Thanks for the info so far - I'll be sure to mention how the lack of pause (or any concept of 'save') separated the men from the boys in hardcore gamers. That's actually brought back a blocked out memory of doing extremely well on galaxian and having my dad come up and just switch the power off because I'd failed to appear for dinner...a pause button could have saved quite a row...

 

Not all Atari VCS games were without a pause feature. You can pause Fast Eddie by pressing the B&W switch.

 

One Idea I can think of for your story would be to compare the launch titles to the last releases. It's comical how different the graphics are between games like Combat and Air-Sea Battle and games like Solaris and Xenophobe.

 

To answer one of your questions about when production ceased for the VCS, it never really did cease. There are many rumors that third party companies in countries like China and Uruguay are still producing games to this day! The last official releases were Motorodeo by Atari and Wing War by Imagic AFAIK.

[Blackjack]

You could say something about the underlying feelings of betrayal among the many long-time, dedicated Atari fans and homebrewers that kept the console alive and saved many games from extinction only to be stepped on by the corporate copyright nazis without so much as a thank you.

[D.Yancey]

1. The great speed and responsiveness of the 2600 which is not present in many other systems/computers.

Not only is that not trivia, it's not even a sentence.

 

True. (Sings in best singing voice.) Why's everybody always pickin' on me?

[76000in1]

That sounds like an interesting point to cover. Obviously I'll be covering a basic history of the 2600 but everyone's heard that story, so getting across the people who kept interest in old style gaming alive feel a little used and abused by the industry's actions once the major commercial life of the console was over sounds worthwhile.

 

I'll drop you a PM with a couple of specific questions and if you have time and want to take part, maybe you can answer them. If you don't, no problems, thanks for the suggestion anyway - I'll still cover it, but I'd be interested to hear your own take on it.

 

Thanks also to the other people who have made comments. I'll monitor this thread over the next week or two as I put pen to paper and if anyone has any other area they would like covered in a 2600-based article, by all means mention it.

 

Thanks again.