I have turned traitor on my Atari 5200

[Rickstilwell1]

I saw a bunch of Atari 400/800/XL/XE arcade port games on ebay for cheaper than usual prices from the same seller and couldn't resist. For the longest time I had trouble finding any of those I wanted apart from three particular games. Now there seems to be some more available than there had been in a while.

I could have bought most of these for my 5200 first and probably for cheaper, but just wanted to get more enjoyment out of my XEGS which just sets there most of the time. Plus there are games on it not available for the 5200, like Donkey Kong Jr.

I didn't expect it, but my uncle found a box and manual for Dungeon Explorer on Sega CD for me so I could buy the disc only for $25. Instead of the crazy $125 ebay Buy It Now price. I just had to try the original TurboGrafx-16 Dungeon Explorer too and this seller whom I've bought from before had the cheapest complete copy of it. In their store I saw all these Atari 8-bit games for less than $5 and combined shipping discounts. It sure got me interested in Atari again after not paying attention to it for a while. Luckily for me, with anything that's pre-NES I just settle for cartridge only because often times the play time I will get out of the game is not as much as the value of the box & manual for it.

Now people on here say the nostalgia for Atari collecting went away a few years ago and lately it's late NES and Super Nintendo that are everyone's favorite to jack up the prices on. Also can't forget the overpriced CIB Game Boy games nobody talks about but we silently collect... How many people on digitpress are still constantly hunting for Atari games rather than having moved on to the early Nintendos?

Is Atari 8-bit generally harder to collect for than Atari 2600, 5200 or 7800? Because I usually see a lot less games available for sale.

[M.Buster2184]

I dont avidly look for Atari games, well, not 2600 or 5200 too much. I do keep an eye out for 7800 games. One of my fav systems personally.

[Atarileaf]

Atari 8-bit games aren't that much harder to find IMO. The common ones are easy to get and the arcade ports are really fun. I love and prefer my 800XL over a 5200 any day of the week. Its an excellent machine with a lot of great games.

Do a "wanted" post in the marketplace at atariage and you'll get some answers for sure.

[MachineGex]

I am actively looking for games for my XEGS. Problem is, I dont know too much about the system and games. I would love to get a disc drive for it, but sadly dont even know which one would work or how to get games. I love my Harmony cart for the VCS, so easy to use.

[chrisbid]

atari 8 bit games are harder to find, but they are generally cheap when you do find them. the collecting demand isnt very high

[Steve W]

I was never a Nintendo fan, I've always been an Atari man myself. My collecting thing right now is Atari 2600 games first and foremost. In the Dallas area, there's a lot of stores to find Atari VCS games at, but it's damn near impossible to find any Atari 8-bit games. I've only ever found the occasional loose XE/XL cartridge or, if I'm lucky, a small pile in a flea market somewhere, and when I do find anything it's always commons. I've hardly found any third-party games in the wild.

[Pantechnicon]

atari 8 bit games are harder to find, but they are generally cheap when you do find them. the collecting demand isnt very high

This.


How many people on digitpress are still constantly hunting for Atari games rather than having moved on to the early Nintendos?

I've always been first and foremost an Atari 2600 collector and have never felt a compulsion to "move on" to early Nintendo. Atari was a defining part of my adolescence and NES never was. The shift in attention of the collectors' market attention from one successive epoch to the next should make no difference in the subjective enjoyment one derives from wherever they draw their "retro" line in the ever-shifting sands of time.

[Rickstilwell1]

This.



I've always been first and foremost an Atari 2600 collector and have never felt a compulsion to "move on" to early Nintendo. Atari was a defining part of my adolescence and NES never was. The shift in attention of the collectors' market attention from one successive epoch to the next should make no difference in the subjective enjoyment one derives from wherever they draw their "retro" line in the ever-shifting sands of time.

I think with my generation it's more that I was born in the sweet spot where I pretty much grew up with experience with practically every generation before becoming and adult. I started with 80's arcade games and handhelds that were out when Atari was as a toddler and had the NES and Genesis in my first school years. I think the Nintendo DS came out when I was 18 and I had it my Junior year of high school. That's a lot of stuff to bring back vivid memories from each time period. In my eyes that first couple years of Playstation 2 is now classic. It was 10 years ago.

My appeal for Atari is from the memories brought back from early childhood when I tried my first public arcade machines and my handheld Space Invaders game. A lot of those games are similar enough.

[Atarileaf]

It may be difficult to find Atari 8-bit carts locally to certain individuals depending on their area but with the online world we live in, its really not that hard. In all honesty, the best games for the system are the easiest to find - donkey kong, centipede, ms pacman, even some of the third party games can be had fairly cheaply.

Try some online merchants like 4jays or collectorscardsandgames. They have some games for the Atari 8-bit fairly cheaply.

Heck I just bought 3 common games from a member on Atariage for $8 total. There are deals out there to be had if you have patience and diligence.

[MachineGex]

What are your favorites Atarileaf? I want to do a top 10-20 list so I can focus on getting the best/fun games.

[Atarileaf]

It begins with Donkey Kong for me - best port IMO and has all 4 screens.

Centipede and Millipede are great, Pacman and Ms Pacman, Missile Command is awesome especially if you have the trackball as its the only game that uses genuine trackball mode. Its a shame because Centipede and Millipede would have been great with it.

The activision games are all great too - River Raid, Kaboom, Megamania, Pitfall, Pitfall II and the graphics are slightly tweaked too

Some other greats are Miner and Bounty Bob, Jumpman Junior, Pengo, Frogger, Zaxxon, Popeye, K-Razy Shootout (awesome Berzerk clone), Robotron, Jungle Hunt, Moon Patrol, Lode Runner, Deluxe Invaders, Gorf (needs a non-XL/XE machine)

There are so many others that I haven't played - this is just the tip of the iceburg but I'm a huge fan of the old arcade ports so that's what I gravitate too.

Again, most of those are pretty easy to find too. I recommend to anyone thats looking for these to put up a wanted ad on Atariage.

[Rickstilwell1]

I ordered Missile Command as a cart even though it is already pre-installed in my XEGS as a free game. Now that's hard core collecting right there. hahaha. I wonder if I'll truly be able to test that the cartridge is working and not loading the game directly from the bios?

[swlovinist]

I collect for almost every US system and have to say that Atari collecting is alive and well...It is just not as mainstream as collecting for more recent systems, which is not in the limelight with current gaming as much as Nintendo is. There are droves of people who are loyal to Atari and collecting hardcore for it. As time moves on, the retro systems that people collect will also change. I have seen the public go from collecting Atari to Nintendo, and predict that people will then start to move on to more recent "retro" systems such as Playstation and Potentially Xbox. There are more than enough loyal Atari fans to continue to play, collect, and collabrate online to continue to support the wonderful systems that Atari made.

Now Atari 8-bit...that is a whole other beast. Atari Computer collecting has a loyal fan base, but is small compared to console collecting. In my opinion, 8-bit Atari is one of the finest systems they made. You have the enhanced graphics of the Atari 8 bit line, with the simplistic control of the Atari 2600. There are countless gems on the system, as well as many exclusives.

[Steve W]

There are countless gems on the system, as well as many exclusives.
But sadly, not that many of those gems made it to the cartridge format, and the rest are on magnetic based media which is deteriorating year by year. Soon you won't be able to pop in an original floppy or data cassette and boot anything, it'll all have to be based on downloaded emulation files and extra hardware. I personally love the cartridge format, no waiting for data to load. Plus, there's a nice satisfying feeling when you push a cartridge into a console or computer. I'm sure it's a metaphor for something, I just can't quite put my finger on it.

[MachineGex]

Is there a way to load disc games via a cd player like you can do with a SuperCharger on the VCS(worship the woodgrain)?