What's your memories of the Atari 2600?

[BlastProcessing402]

My memories are everyone I knew who had a videogame had Atari, except me. I only had Intellivision. Now, while Intellivision was technically superior, and had some really good games, Atari just had so many more, it just felt like I was missing out.

[Gamevet]

My memories are everyone I knew who had a videogame had Atari, except me. I only had Intellivision. Now, while Intellivision was technically superior, and had some really good games, Atari just had so many more, it just felt like I was missing out.

My neighbor had an Intellivision. He had Space Armada, Some car game, Poker, AD&D, Armour Ambush and Donkey Kong. I thought it was alright and Donkey Kong was better than the 2600 version, but man the VCS just had better games.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I was born in '86, so the 2600 was before my time and I didn't own one until just a couple years ago. My first memories of it though were realizing too things: Activision games blew everything else away, and the 2600 CX40 joystick absolutely sucks for me as I'm left handed. I need to use a Wico joystick or Master System or Genesis controller to play 2600 games. Why didn't they ever make a lefty friendly joystick?!

[GamerTheGreek]

You could make any cx40 joystick a lefty if you cross 2 or 3 wires in the original controllers. I think orange and brown. Or green and brown

[thom_m]

The VCS was my first console. I had the "Darth Vader" official console made by Polyvox, who held the rights to make the VCS 'round here; i say official because clone system were very common in Brazil. Some of them are pretty cool, by the way; look'em up!

I got the console for my 6th birthday from an uncle in 1987. First games: Missile Command and Enduro. I was instantly hooked; I have a lot of cousins and most of them had an Atari (here, it's just "the Atari") as well, so we traded games and were always at each other's places playing together.

I have lots of goode memories from that era: getting a pink multicart with a lot of hard to find (here in Brazil, at least) games like Ms. Pac-Man, Taz and Real Sports Tennis; borrowing a box of equally hard to find games like Oink!, Ghost House and Q-Bert (how excited I was when I first played Q-bert); simply MASTERING Megamania, Missile Command, Yar's Revenge and Snoopy and the Red Baron (I simply couldn't die anymore at that game) and feeling damn good for it; ruining one joystck after another playing Decathlon, a fact that led my father to ban it from our house - so my neighbor had to sneak the game in when dad went to work; playing H.E.R.O, what a great game; getting so excited when I first played Choplifter...damn, the list goes on and on. Those were great gaming times!

I wouldn't get another console until much later; I was always a generation behing when it came to consoles. I got my first famiclone when people were already buying Mega Drives. My mother made me give away my Atari and all the games, somethng I regret to this day, since my cousins didn't take care of the games and didn't have them anymore when I came looking for them a few years ago.

Today I have two "Dactar" clones, only one of which is working. I must admit that some games haven't held on well; others, like Keystone Kapers, Enduro and River Raid are still a blast; my 9-year-old daughter loves playing Freeway with me. Although it's getting less attention than it should lately, the Atari still holds a special place in my heart.

[homerhomer]

Back in the day, I REALLY wanted an Atari 2600. My parents when overboard and bought the 5200 with a 2600 adapter, I think it was really expensive at the time. Anyway. The 5200's controllers broke but I was still able to play 2600 games using the adapter. Although, I initially only had a few games I used to buy them at a local thrift store for $3 each. I had quite the collection back in the day, probably 12 games. Pretty cool stuff. I can still remember thinking it was really awesome buying games for like 3 dollars. I would usually look for the arcade conversions; all I needed back then was the game to be somewhat similar to the arcade and my imagination would take over.

Awesome stuff.

[MachineGex]

I got a VCS (2600) for Christmas in 1978 or 1979. It was a great gift and one of my favorite systems of all time. The system really shines for it's two player games. I remember having epic battles with my best friend Steve. We would play Indy 500, Slot Racers, Maze Craze, Bowling and Basketball. I still think the first 3 games are some of the best head-to-head games ever made.

As far as the crash, I took the opportunity to buy up all the games I could. At first, they were discounted at $10. Later, most games were $3 in the close-out bin. I bought a ton. I think I had almost 500 games back in 1984-1985. I put an ad in the Penny-Pincher(Fickle-Nickel) paper and bought a ton of games for $2-$3 each. When the NES was released, I got it as a Birthday present in 1987. I sold my whole Atari collection for next to nothing and bought Zelda, Rad Racer,and a few other games. It was a terrible decision that I still regret today. I do have all the games back in my collection and I will never make that mistake again!!!

[XYXZYZ]

My next door neighbor had an Atari, but he wasn't even allowed to play it unless is parents let him. So, I only got to play it once, I think he had Qbert? I was too young to know what I was doing but it was fun anyway. I had lots of anxiety around video games because I loved all the cartoonyness of them, but my parents would never blow any money on something like that. I was a rare occasion indeed when my mom would give me a quarter for an arcade game, and if I had some means of reaching the controls I would have no idea what to do with them. Maybe that's why Mom would never give me money for them.... Reaganomics, man. Anyway, Atari was just out of reach for me; a toy for older rich kids. But I really wanted to get into video games, and later on my cousin got the NES. I was hooked instantly, and thus began my first serious attempt at saving money to buy something awesome.

[Captain_N77]

We actually had at least two, I think three, Atari 2600's as kids. The darn things kept breaking and it would always be on our Christmas or combined b'day list.

The game that most enraptured me was Pitfall!, my first video game crush/obsession. I don't think I was ever able to beat it, but I remember watching my uncle finish it.

Other games that I have fond memories of playing back then: Pac-Man, Spider Man, Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, Indiana Jones, Q*bert, and River Raid. I have not so fond memories of play M*A*S*H*.

I don't recall the crash ever happening(I was born in 77). I just remember not playing games there for a while. I guess we just gave up on them after having such bad luck with our 2600's breaking. It wasn't until Excitebike and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out that me and my bro jumped back into home console gaming at Christmas 88.

I also remember loving to watch the Saturday morning cartoons that featured Pitfall Harry, Q*bert, and Pac-Man. I really should check to see if those are on dvd yet.

[treismac]

I also remember loving to watch the Saturday morning cartoons that featured Pitfall Harry, Q*bert, and Pac-Man. I really should check to see if those are on dvd yet.

Give a communal shout-out if they are, will ya?

[Gamevet]

The VCS was a pretty reliable console. What did you do to them?

Were those 2600 Jr. Models?

[AdamAnt316]

I was born in '83, around the time of the crash. Sometime in the late '80s, we were handed down some sort of VCS. We had it hooked to a small color TV on our porch, which sat on top of a large B&W TV console/stereo system. Not sure what games we had, probably stuff like Donkey Kong and Pac-Man, but it was fun to play. It disappeared not too long after we got it; I have no idea what might've happened to it.

Several years later, one of my brother's friends gave me an Atari 7800, along with a box of 2600 and 7800 games. I got to rediscover the old 2600 classics, as well as the better graphics of the 7800 stuff. The fraying power supply died some time after that, but the fuse had been lit. I now own five 2600s (two six-switch, two four-switch, one 2600jr), two 7800s (got a replacement AC adapter for the original), and a 5200 with the 2600 adapter (also Colecovision Expansion Module #1).

Pretty much all of them work, except that my Heavy Sixer has an issue where the color drops out after being turned on a few minutes. Guessing one of the ICs has gone flaky. Other than that, they've pretty much been bulletproof.
-Adam

[WhyTalk???]

The first time I got a Ms. Pac Man game and finished it.

The time I enjoyed E.T for the Atari.

[M.Buster2184]

Lots of memories here. I was born in '84, a little late, but my older brother had a 2600 and I can remember playing it when I was 3-4 until we eventually got our NES. The games I remember loving and playing a lot were Empire Strikes Back, Pitfall and Krull. Coincidentally, when I was a kid I had no idea Krull was based on a movie.

[EricThaDead]

We probably got ours around '87 or so (I was born in '81) as a hand-me-down from a cousin, I believe (my cousin probably upgraded to NES). I was young enough to not care that it wasn't the newest and greatest thing, so I played the hell out if it til we finally got an NES a few years later. Laser Blast, Megamania, Donkey Kong, Freeway, Kaboom!, Circus Atari, ET, Haunted House, Eggomania, Dragster, Boxing, Barnstorming, Tennis, Night Driver. River Raid was easily my favorite game for the system. I'm sure there are others that are slipping my mind. Sure, some were garbage, but I didn't know any better. I played them anyway!

[jammajup]

I have strong memories,it was my first system in the early 80`s and so it has a place in my heart.I was in high school (secondary as it is called here now in the UK) from 1982-87 and I remember being invited back to a school friends house and we played on his 2600 and this was the first time i had seen one,it was called an Atari VCS back then as the `2600` label came later.I recall playing Pele`s Soccer,Missile Command,Space Invaders and Pacman and i was amazed,later i soon had a VCS of my own and played many good games.Some of my favorite memories are playing Haunted House,Adventure,Riddle Of The Sphinx,Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Berzerk. (Sigh good times).

[Captain_N77]

Give a communal shout-out if they are, will ya?

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Sat...-Planned/14789

I guess the wait continues...

[Tron 2.0]

Just caught this video recently what the avgn&mike think of the 2600.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGsckFydtXc

[PreZZ]

I know its the first popular home console and many of you have great memories of it, but Intellivision and Coleco were so much better than the 2600, I never liked it. Your first console is often like your first girlfriend, they were both ugly and annoying, your memories plays tricks on you!

[TheRetroVideoGameAddict]

As I said earlier in this thread, the Atari 2600 was my first true video game system and my memories with it are extremely fond. I love to revisit it every year and enjoy playing many of the games on it and I'll always pay homage to it on a yearly basis no matter what, it's too important to the entire big picture of retro gaming not to show it some love. Sure, the graphics are primitive, the sounds are borderline annoying at times, and the system did't have the best games overall, but deep down it's got a charm and a spark about it that really makes it a wonderful console and my memories of playing it in my basement as a child will always hold up. Love live the 2600!