3mo ago

Atari’s Black Beauty

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So, real talk? Most 2600 games are rough, and barring personal nostalgia, there's little reason to play most of them in the age of emulation, especially arcade conversions, which sometimes nail the gameplay (but often don't), and generally have to perform acts of violence on the visuals to make them work with the system and the business realities around their development (i.e. staffing, timeline, budget for ROM chips, etc.).
Some worthwhile ones that come to mind:
Combat (multiplayer only)
Warlords (multiplayer only)
Pitfall
River Raid
Pitfall II
Space Invaders
The Empire Strikes Back
It's not that so many more weren't fun, or even still aren't in isolation, but it's like we're all the rich fat kid from Pee-Wee's big adventure and have access to every single game on every single system, at least up until the end of the 90s. There's no reason to play the nice port of Berzerk that looks like it does, or play the flickery Pac-Man mess, or even (I'll say it) fight with the groundbreaking but still primitive and abstracted gameplay of Adventure.
- I think OP just want to show the console, not if the game library hold ups
  
  Fair, and maybe I'm stepping in it a bit, but thought a post about a 4-switch Vader 2600 might attract a lively crowd.
- Burn the heretic !
  You’ve listed the most basic games when there were many 3rd titles from Parker Bros , Spectra Video, Imagic etc.
  I liked Gorf, Starwars , Atlantis … there were loads more
  
  I wouldn't presume to have even 20% of the 2600 games that bring something different and good to the table, it's just (to misquote Samuel Johnson), for so many of them the good parts are not different and the different parts are not good.
  And again, that's completely apart from a personal nostalgia (god knows I indulge in that) or to propose that they're simply not fun in a binary sense. If I'm 12 and I get 2600 Venture I enjoy the hell out of it, but if I'm a middle aged man in 2024, at the bare minimum I'm going for this.
  
  Combat and Gorf are amazing. I may feel that way about Combat because it was the first one I remember playing. However, Gorf is like three games in one so you got a lot of bang for your buck in playtime.
- Most of the emulators get the sounds wrong. I still have my original 2600 and a TV to run it on. Someday it'll make it back out of storage.
- The Degenatron gaming system plays three exciting games, including Defender of the Faith, where you save the green dots with your fantastic flying red square.
- Spy vs spy was excellent!
- Adventure
  "somebody get this freaking duck away from me"
- Atari sucks and always has

My parents went down the home computer route, and I ended up with an 800 XE.
It was beautiful. The detachable keyboard, the IBM-grey sleek housing, the pastel console buttons, and satisfying "chi-chuunnnggg" of the spring loaded power button.
I felt like I had the future under the palms of my hand.
- That’s much later though
  
  It was, but as Atari was known for, was just a fancy new shell on eight year old hardware not too dissimilar to the 2600 or VCS or whatever your region calls it.
- That is so cool. I’ve yet to collect one of those.

Anyone for a quick game of ET?!
- NO

Huh, I thought this form factor only came in faux wood grain.
- This is the 80s black model.

One of the most iconic and best-looking games consoles of all time.
- those joysticks gave blisters in places nothing else could ever touch.

I spent so much time with this thing. Moon Patrol was my jam.

I've always considered the six switch variant more iconic, but my six switch one is also the one I've got that doesn't work. So there's that.

Dragster shone in '83 as an example of gameplay-over-graphics. Just outstanding.
I don't have a 2600 today, but I do have a solitary cart of Dragster. Be ready.

Me and my brother got one of these as a joint Xmas present, it came with a free game- Combat!
I loved playing Space Invaders, Frogger, Empire Strikes Back, there was also a space game where you had to input coordinates into a gadget to then hyperspace jump and fight other space ships, can't remember what it was called but it was great!
It's still at my parents house in the original box...
- You mean Star Raiders? I have that and the official control pad.
  
  Yes that could be it! I just remember it being amazing and futuristic pressing the buttons and zipping through hyperspace
  I can also remember being very disappointed that the Atari packaging art never reflected the game graphics lol (I was young)
  
  I had that on the Atari 400 without any instructions. It took me forever how to refuel. Also, I later found out this weird game I remember playing was Conway's Game of Life and its significance way later in life.

Mmmm. I'm not sure why, but this pic unlocked memories of me chewing on my Atari controller growing up. I can still taste the plastic.

First console—or anything—that I played a video game on. I remember out of the games we had, my favorite was Joust (I was a little kid). Later, we got E.T., and that became my least favorite game.

We had the Sears version. Just not as cool
- I think the branding is interchangeable.
  I almost got a Sears version myself.

Something I haven't touched since grade school

Got one in the loft. Sometimes I look at my sons PS5 and cry quietly for what could have been

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