Atari 2600 thread
Hi Mike
Just got fathom after seeing the CGR review. I wish imagic had kept making games, I would have loved to see what they could have busted out on NES hardware.
2600 consoles surprisingly costly for how unpopular they are. Meanwhile, the games are still dirt cheap as they ever were. Is it a fail rate? Console-only shelf collectors?
>>3295723
Never seen a broken one, the only real thing that could go wrong with them is the Cart slot of other connectors, but that's due to missuse.
I have seen people try to force the cart in the wrong way, but that is due to the label being on backwards.
Atari collectors are bad with OCD at times.
Theirs tons of label/box variants and some collect them so own 5 versions of each game, nothing different about it, its just the label/box
I collect my self, but its one of each that I get cheap, really dont want to spend loads on a game that might be shite
>>3295828
a shame they never show up in flea markets now, I couldn't justify buying a 2600 for 60 when I could get most other consoles for that much
at least the flashcarts are fairer than other consoles
>>3295836
They rarely show up, its always those guys that want Ebay prices that have it.
The Harmony cart runs all official ROMs and almost all Homebrew (still gets homebrew, someones trying to port Street fighter to it)
The Encore edition is supposed to run them all.
>>3295723
My guess is, majority of serious 2600 fans probably have a Harmony cart, so they just need the console and controllers, and not the carts.
I'm debating selling all of my Atari stuff.
I've hardly been involved with the vintage game market - would you say that right now is a good time to "sell"? Will prices keep going up or keep going down or what?
>>3295901
In reality, a lot of Atari games are worth nothing, Most have been the same for years, only the odd E-celeb covering a game sometimes gets the price up, but only for a while.
>>3295892
Its the same thing with most consoles, buy the console and a flash cart and in theory never buy another game, but some still buy regardless
>>3295598
what ever happened to them? Did they die in the video game crash? Are there any noteable devs that went to work for other companies?
>>3296095
Died soon after
>>3295583
>small spaceship has to destroy the outer barrier of a larger spaceship before destroying the blue core
Nice going, Konami.
>>3295598
>I would have loved to see what they could have busted out on NES hardware.
Considering how many American games were incredibly simple and poor due to NES documentation being crudely translated, probably not very good. The only point of reference western devs had was the fact that it used a 6502.
>>3296704
I dunno, I'd say some western devs had a pretty good handle on it. Rare was putting out some really impressive stuff later in the system's life.
>>3297016
Well Rare is European, and Europeans were far more technologically adept. That Noah's Ark game for PAL NES uses some advanced tricks you rarely see in Japanese or American games. Even today this holds true.
>>3297016
Don't forget that Rare made Beetlejuice, the true pinnacle of NES graphics and gameplay.
>>3297774
>the true pinnacle of NES graphics and gameplay.
That would be Mr. Gimmick.
>>3297785
I was being facetious. Rare is a garbage dev. Mr. Gimmick is incredible.
Activision made some pretty dope as hell games for the 2600. Any of you guys know some other devs that made some sick as hell games for the 2600?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qAadfsJrmM
You should play Thrust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNXTJUfZNBY
>no one cares about the 2600
You miss out.
Should I buy a 2600 Jr. Rainbow for $50? The plastic coating on the metal plate thing is a little messed up on it.
>>3299738
While (thankfully) nobody has said that in this thread, I do see that sentiment a lot. Seems a lot of young people who are only getting into retro stuff in the last few years don't see any value in playing anything older than NES. Personally I'm fine with that, keeps costs down for 2600 and its competitors. It does bother me a little that a bunch of great games are going overlooked but seeing what the bubble has done to the NES and now the SNES I'm perfectly happy not having to pay 20 bucks minimum for every decent game on the hardware.
>>3299834
I think the Jr is more troublesome than the original design. The buttons tend to wear down and it renders the console near unusable. I'm not really sure how much the Jr design tends to go for but that seems a bit high compared to the original design.
>>3299834
I'll sell you mine for $40
>>3296691
Yars Revenge 10/10 IGN
>Gonna buy a Heavy Sixer Atari 2600
>Find out a lot of them have been modified or don't contain original parts anymore, so even if it looks like a Heavy Six it may not be
I'm not buying an Atari 2600.
>>3300112
Any particular reason to prefer the heavy six over the light six?
>You all probably don't have the prototype dual-monitor output 7800
Get on my level plebs
>>3299971
Probably because the Atari 2600 doesn't have Mario, Zelda, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Star Fox or any of the other Nintendo franchises that the kids seem to love so much. The graphics and sound tend to put off the kids who are so used to their precious 8 bit shit that talent less indie devs love to exploit for profit. It also isn't filled with the JRPG waifu wank fests that kids seem to have so much affection for.
But like you said it least it keeps the prices low so more for us.
I don't hate Nintendo btw. I just don't like parts of the fanbase. Especially the ones that claim Nintendo "saved" video games and that everyone should just bow down to them.
I don't even bother with my 2600. Big fan of 7800. Wish the catalog was bigger. Crossbow.
>>3300232
Using the term "kids" unironically is the biggest sign you're under 20 and trying to puff yourself up.
>>3300289
End yourself, 90s shitbabby.
>>3300294
Being born in the 80s doesn't mean you weren't shitting yourself till snes.
God, I hate these fucking little faggots who got into retro gaming from watching an e-celeb and pretend they were there in 1988.
I never remember 2nd gen games being worth...anything.
>>3300267
Would you care to tell us what some of the best games for the 7800 are?
Nobody gives a shit about consoles that caused the video game crash, pops.
>>3300343
If it weren't for the existence of the Atari 2600 you wouldn't have whatever precious video game console that you love so much.
>>3300343
I wish I could go back in time to 1983 so I could buy a shit load of old consoles and games brand new for a dirt cheap price. Then I would return to the future keep the games I want and sell the ones I don't want on Ebay and make a shit load of cash. (especially make money off of the more rare ones like Air Raid)
>>3300406
>I wish I could go back in time to 1983 so I could buy a shit load of old consoles and games brand new for a dirt cheap price.
You do know that Atari games cost like $40-$50 new and that's not counting for inflation.
>>3300267
They're is a pretty good homebrew scene for the 7800
>>3300424
Video game market crashed during that year brah. So they would cost a lot less. Also they would be brand new complete in the box and never opened. So they would be worth money in the present day in that condition especially the more rare ones.
>another Atari thread turning into an age war
>>3300465
At least this Atari thread got more than just 2 posts.
>>3300471
Fuck you faggot.
>>3295583
What makes the first and second gen games different from 3rd gen and after is the fact that technological limitations meant that most games were simplistic. You could have RPGs or open world games like Zelda. Instead, programmers were forced to create games like Yar's Revenge and Pitfall as well as not so great games and meh level subpar arcade ports. The Atari 2600 is great for people who like to play video games where the fun comes from simply being able to control what is happening on screen, which is the original purpose of video games.
>>3295828
The power circuitry can go bad on them. Frequently it's the power capacitor but the 7805 might go out as well considering their age.
>>3300562
Make sure to power up your old gear at least once every few months. Electronics don't like to sit for years and years and then be suddenly woken up.
>>3300548
> You could have RPGs or open world games like Zelda.
So if a game isn't an RPG then it's trash?
> Yar's Revenge and Pitfall
Is that really all you can think of? What about Haunted House, River Raid, Demon Attack, Atlantis, or Pitfall 2?
> meh level subpar arcade ports
What about Bezerk, Ms. Pac Man, Phoenix, Space Invaders, Defender 2 (Stargate), Vanguard, Warlords, or Solar Fox?
Also it could be said that arcade ports of the 3rd and 4th generations weren't so perfect either.
> where the fun comes from simply being able to control what is happening on screen
I think that phrase could be used to describe a lot of video games these days. Well sorta. You don't really get to control much due to the fact that you are bombarded with cut scenes, QTEs, and heavily scripted gameplay.
The Atari 2600 is great for people who like to play actual video games that give you a challenge, which was the original purpose of video games.
>>3300638
>The Atari 2600 is great for people who like to play actual video games that give you a challenge, which was the original purpose of video games.
They aren't though.
>shoot pixelly alien ships over and over and over again for 200 levels until the game glitches or locks up
Turmoil is more fun than the majority of new games today
>>3300969
My favorite 20th Century Fox games: Turmoil and Bank Heist
>>3297791
>cobra triangle
>snake rattle and roll
>battletoads
They were not without some successes
>>3300638
Other than SI, none of those ports are anywhere close to the arcade game. David Crane even said Atari were wasting their time trying to bring the arcade experience home on hardware too weak to properly handle the games.
:^)
I actually got into the Atari stuff in middle school through those plug and play TV stuff. I played the shit out of Adventure and Asteroids, which is what made in interested in the Atari library and I ended up getting a 2600 with a bunch of games for cheap. I still play Battlezone, H.E.R.O., Haunted House, Joust, and Combat every once in a while. The later two I play with my partner a lot when we're both exhausted and don't want anything more complex.
But to be honest, in terms of second gen stuff, I prefer the Intellivision because the games are just much weirder.
>>3301069
>>3301059
I'm only 24 and I'm already getting worried I'm turning into this because I only care about indie games in terms of modern stuff nowadays instead of AAA stuff because I don't wanna deal with shit like micro transactions and on disc DLC and such and just can't justify paying fucking much for a single fucking game and getting new consoles so often where I can gets lots of weirder indie and retro games for cheaper.
>>3301162
>The later two I play with my partner a lot
>partner
Into the trash it goes.
>>3301051
Well I don't think any arcade ports of the old systems were 100% perfect. But some can be done well on a system considering the hardware limitations and some are done very poorly.
>>3301340
Aside from pacman I think most of the arcade "ports" on the 2600 were good games. The graphics and mechanics weren't always all there but they were still fun to play.
>>3300118
Collectors value them more.
>>3300319
They were in the 2nd gen :^)
>>3301059
>Yet-Another-Beat-Up-the-Ethnic-Minority title
This is 1993? Shit. I wonder if this guy writes for Kotaku now.
The first game I played on the VCS when my step dad set his up in the living room.
>tfw I still don't have a glaive replica
>tfw I will never team up with Liam Neeson and Hagrid to stop the Black Fortress
>>3300337
Not that guy, but I'll chime in
- Ballblazer
- Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong Jr
- Mario Bros.
- Ms. Pac Man
Basically all the arcade ports are better than the NES counterparts, with the exception of 7800 Galaga (which isn't bad, but not great). The sound on the 7800 is a very odd pairing with the more advanced graphics capabilities of the console, it's the most off-putting thing about it. Ballblazer's sound is GOAT though, has a POKEY chip on the cartridge, which was Atari's plan for 7800 sound the whole time, but nobody bothered once it became a budget system for ex-arcade goers.
>>3300109
I liked it better when it was called Yars Revenge.
>>3302268
Other than Ballblazer, those ports are not better than the NES ones.
>>3302204
>step dad
So one might say that his wife's son loved it?
>>3302348
Debatable.
>>3302574
I don't think so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzjL5CbYmzA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHOLR0bdBXc
>>3302268
The 7800 is just a 2600 that can do more sprites. It's ridiculously primitive hardware considering its original release date would have been a year AFTER the Famicom.
>>3303508
I just said like three posts ago that the NES Ballblazer was ass.
>>3296095
I decided to poke around a little and found this, a 2005 article on Brian Dougherty, who (according to this article http://www.atarihq.com/othersec/library/imagic.html) was one of the creative minds behind Imagic:
http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2005/06/20/smallb1.html
>>3300581
Is that really true?
>>3301162
>I'm only 24 and I'm already getting worried I'm turning into this because I only care about indie games in terms of modern stuff nowadays instead of AAA stuff because I don't wanna deal with shit like micro transactions and on disc DLC and such and just can't justify paying fucking much for a single fucking game and getting new consoles so often where I can gets lots of weirder indie and retro games for cheaper.
This, I could spend 60 to get loading screens and updates to a game that might be good, or I can spend much less to get a game which has been proven by time to be good. I don't care much for indies though either, but that might just be due to personal bias. I'm just not that interested in giving new games the time of day, much less searching them out. Part of that is also because I hate game download services that aren't GoG, and I especially hate Steam. Unfortunately that seems to be the only place where new games are sold anymore, especially indies on PC.
So are these Jakks plug-n-play joysticks worth owning? Are the games terribly inaccurate, or does the device randomly break down? Am I missing out on any particular good games that aren't featured on this collection? Being able to play via a composite connection seems like it would be kind of nice.
I'm not sure I feel like trying to hunt down the original games or hardware in working condition. That's to say nothing of their cosmetic condition. I imagine one would be hard pressed to find any of the more popular titles with their respective labels still intact. Really, I just wanted to play Yars' Revenge, and maybe Millipede.
>>3303583
It is.
>>3303614
well damn, I better start doing that.
>>3303608
Get a flashback 2 or 2+
>>3303608
Trust me, you don't want one of those. They're cheap crap.
Sounds like what you want is a Flashback 2. There are a bunch of Flashback models, and the 2 is by far the best in terms of quality.
But whatever you do, don't get the original Flashback. Those things are are even worse than the Jakks ones.
>>3303638
The first flashback is actually an NES on a chip that plays poorly made ports of 2600 games, pretty bizarre.
>>3303608
>I imagine one would be hard pressed to find any of the more popular titles with their respective labels still intact
Actually, Atari games have really good labels. I own at least 40 games and not one of them is damaged. I didn't even try for that, it just happened.
The Atari is one of the easiest systems to collect for, the games are so cheap ($5 or less for popular titles, seriously, look it up) and they can stand up to a good beating. I've only had one game crap out on me so far.
>>3303654
>>3303638
>>3303619
Thanks for the input. I was looking at some of the Flashback series, but some are a little pricy. It looks like the ones produced by AtGames run on ARM-based emulation instead of console-on-a-chip hardware. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
Anyway, if I go that route I'll certainly consider the Flashback 2. Otherwise I may try to score the original hardware if I can find it in fair enough condition.
>>3303682
Emulators have varying degrees of accuracy. Personally I don't really see anything wrong with them but you could also get a raspi and just emulate for a similar price. One thing about these devices though is they have reproduction controllers with them and they support the original controllers.
>>3303752
Although apparently the flashback 4-6 use IR wireless controllers, IR fucking sucks so you'll actually need to use other controllers probably.
>>3303608
They are not bad, the emulation of some games is a little off, as is the sound, the choice of games is limited
Also PONG on a Joystick?
>>3303654
Pretty much this, I didn't have a 2600 until maybe 3 or 4 years ago but it's quickly become one of my favorite systems to collect for. I wouldn't say the carts have really good labels though, you run into a lot of label damage with Atari but it never really bothers me. I like giving scarred cartridges a home where they will be played and loved though, so maybe I'm just weird.
>>3305067
Excellent post friend
>>3305070
No it's not. If you properly store a car it will fire right up.
>>3303571
This is real interesting, thanks for sharing. I hope his new venture goes well for hi-
>article is from years ago
>never heard of this application before now
Oh. Oooohhh no.
>>3300232
Atari always was shit. Nice projecting though, champ. Don't blame the Japs for btfo Atari and making a superior product. Maybe if Atari made anything more than the equivalent of two blocks ramming into each other, then they'd have a legacy that people wouldn't mind paying actually money to have a piece of. Stay mad "kid".
>>3305940
Assuming you still have a working battery as well as usable gasoline.
>>3308439
>>3308443
What kind of idiot stores a car for long periods of time with gasoline in it? As far as the battery goes, I'd personally put it, as maintainers tend to cause fires, but to each their own.
