Have you played ATARI today!!!

[SonicGamer74]

My favorite games on the system are easily Donkey Kong, Pitfall!, Zaxxon, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Jr., Demon Attack, and Berzerk. It's a good system; just not something I actively look for.

You need River Raid, Yar's Revenge, Kaboom, Warlords, and some paddles.

Oh crud! I forgot to include Yar's Revenge! I absolutely love that game. Also forgot to include the Missile Command port. Another great one.

I actually have Warlords, but I don't have any paddles to go with it. Didn't realize I needed paddles, until I plugged it in.

Thanks for the suggestions, though.

[marlowe221]

I wouldn't call myself a collector by any means but I do still have my Atari 2600 and roughly 40(ish) games for it.

I got the system in 1989-90 (don't recall exactly) when I was in elementary school. I had been begging my parents for an NES like my friend down the street had. But we were a single income family of 5 and it just couldn't happen.

Instead, on my birthday, I got an Atari 2600 with 2 aftermarket joysticks, 2 paddle controllers, and roughly 30 games packed into the plastic open-topped case they made. I learned years later that my mother bought it second hand at the goodwill or a yard sale.

I played the hell out of that thing until I got my SNES for Christmas in 1993... and then still played the hell out of it from time to time afterwards!

My favorite games were the usual suspects: Defender, Asteroids, Missile Command, Yars' Revenge, Atlantis, Ms. Pac-Man, Berzerk, Combat, River Raid, and so on.

I haven't played my old Atari for years and years now and haven't got any new games for it in a long time. I really should drag it out of the closet and see if it still works...

It's great to reminisce about the console though; I have a lot of great memories attached to those games. Atari games were the only ones my dad would actually play with me - when I got the SNES he said the screen was too busy and the controller too complicated for him.

I never had a 5200 or 7800 but I am curious about them.

Edit/Update: I dug to the back of the closet and broke out my old Atari 2600. It's the all-black model without the faux wood paneling. I could not find my joy sticks anywhere - don't know where they have gone off to... But I remembered hearing that you could use a Genesis controller on a 2600 so I plugged one in and turned it on. Works like a charm! I just spent the last half hour getting my ass handed to me by Defender.

[G-Darius]

The Atari 2600 has a place in my heart as it was my first main system when I was young,I do have a small collection of carts which I have accumulated over the years although I stick with emulatiuon mostly now.
The interesting thing with the A2600 (VCS) carts is the label variations which can seem to vary in colour and also the position,addition or removal of text such as controls and copyright which seem to change as the game is released and re relased over time.
Here are some scans of my collection ,see how the label colour and text vary especially with Centipede,Battle zone and Space Invaders. Atari cart scans

[ExedExes]

Yup! Many different versions of all the 2600 games out there thanks to numerous reprints, not to mention the 2600's reboot as the 2600jr in '86. Atari Age and even the collection area on RF Generation do a good job of covering them all.

I have a 2600 GOLF from 1987 that had a small black sticker underneath the title. My young self pulled it off only to see it covered the words "Use With Paddle Controllers"

[flojocabron]

I have plenty of atari games too.

I have four ataris! I am a hoarder . A wood atari, a black one and two jr consoles.

I play them when I get a chance or feel like playing something very old school.

But lately I've just been emulating stella on PC

Here are my games. I took a picture a few months ago to brag on another facebook gaming club. They're in an end table/ mini cabinet now.

Top of the box:



Bottom of the same box:



My atari collecting has really slowed down these last few years though. There's still a few more that I want, but they are the rarer, more expensive ones

[ExedExes]

Might as well throw out my "boxed" 2600 games The 7800 games I have are also here.

This first box contains a couple of XONOX Double-Ender games, and I forgot I have many of the original manuals for these! The game without a label is Asteroids.

Second box, just more stuff. Missing label game here is Return of the Jedi Death Star Battle.

If you want to see how Atari 2600 cartridge types are micro-managed by release date and such, check out my Atari 2600 collection on RF Generation.

[marlowe221]

I have plenty of atari games too.

I have four ataris! I am a hoarder . A wood atari, a black one and two jr consoles.

I play them when I get a chance or feel like playing something very old school.

But lately I've just been emulating stella on PC

Here are my games. I took a picture a few months ago to brag on another facebook gaming club. They're in an end table/ mini cabinet now.

Top of the box:



Bottom of the same box:



My atari collecting has really slowed down these last few years though. There's still a few more that I want, but they are the rarer, more expensive ones

You seem to have one too many copies of Dragonfire. Should you feel overburdened by this unnecessary clutter in your life, I know where that extra cartridge would have a good home...

[BoneSnapDeez]

Nice pics flojo.

I have a little bookshelf mostly dedicated to Atari 2600. Sorry for the crappy photo.

[CRTGAMER]

I never had a 5200 or 7800 but I am curious about them.

Edit/Update: I dug to the back of the closet and broke out my old Atari 2600. It's the all-black model without the faux wood paneling. I could not find my joy sticks anywhere - don't know where they have gone off to... But I remembered hearing that you could use a Genesis controller on a 2600 so I plugged one in and turned it on. Works like a charm! I just spent the last half hour getting my ass handed to me by Defender.

There are two renditions of that Defender game, the first and then the followup with better Graphics. The 2600 cart will be labeled Defender 2 or Stargate, both the same game on the 2600.

I have all three consoles; the 2600 (6 button woody and Jr versions), the 5200 and the 7800. Both the 5200 and 7800 I bought brand new back in the day along with a 2600 to 5200 adapter. Oh and all the Flashbacks as well except the newest incarnation.

The 5200 has a lot better version of that Defender game, a perfect rendition of the Arcade graphics and sounds. The huge console also has the best sound chip of the first three Atari generations. The joysticks are bad due to the buttons always failing (there are gold plate circuit replacements), but the sticks work perfect (with the Atari issued holder) for a couple of twinstick games. Robotron and exclusive to ONLY to the 5200, Space Dungeon. If you invest in this system, good to get a set of 5200 Wico Joysticks and separate Keypad though they tend to be pricey. The Atari issued Trakball has none of the fire button fail issues of the controllers and is as good as an Arcade Trakball.

The 7800 took a down turn on its sound chip, I think to make it more compatible with 2600 carts. Posted before, the best feature of the 7800 is the Arcade games are very close to the Arcade Cabinet version with one extra very cool feature; Simultaneous Two Player Mode! Not just for Joust, but also Robotron, Centipede and Asteroids which adds a Space Wars tactic into the mix!

The Genesis Gamepad does work well with 2600 games and even 7800 games that only require one button. You will be surprised how many 3rd party joysticks came out for the old 2600 Atari, look for the EPYX 500EJ or the Wico series as the best.

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Nice pictures of all the 2600 games! Tempted to drag out all the different Joysticks, Star Raiders Keypad, Paddles and Driving Controllers for a group picture. Say I have a Koala Pad for the C64 which is the same 9 pin pug, I wonder if there was ever a mod done on that to work as a 2600 keypad or emulate the paddles?

[mas]

Bumped this because I have been on an atari kick lately. I watched once upon Atari documentary and I have more appriaciation for those games and developers now and to find out what they had to go thru to make a game.