I blame atari

[Albert]

Here is a link to the actual article:

 

I Blame Atari

 

Enjoy,

 

..Al

[Ian Primus]

In my opinion, Atari didn't promote laziness, it was exercise. Just think - the people on this board probably have the strongest thumbs on the planet

 

Ian Primus

ian.primus@usa.net

[Albert]

Ha ha! I just read the article, pretty amusing. So he's basically blaming his slacker attitude on the fact that when you finished an Atari game there was no fancy fanfare or endgame sequence, but the game instead would either simply end or start over with more enemes, faster, etc.

 

What surprises me is the fact there are people in college today who actually played Atari when they were younger. I had an Atari when I was a kid and I entered college in 1988 (aiiigh! so long ago!) Heck, that was 13 years ago! Assuming someone is 18 when they start college, and that they *maybe* started playing videogames at the age of 5, that would put the year around 1988. So, yeah, I guess it's plausible in some cases, but by then most everyone had graduated to the NES and newer systems..

 

In 1988 I was still messing around with Atari 8-bit computers and around that time the Atari ST line debuted. I certainly wasn't playing 2600 games then..!

 

..Al

[Joel D. Park]

Hehe. Nice article.

I don't agree though..

 

I'm a slacker because I'm lazy, not because of Atari. Atari, if anything, keeps my drive alive.

 

I've gotta Work so I can make Money and buy more Atari stuff...

[Malix]

Thanks for linking the actual addy albert.

 

As far as people in college playing atari when they were kids, I was born in 78 graduated college in 2001 and played an abundant amount of atari...of course I was only four or five at the time but never the less had an impact on me because 18 years later I am hooked again. I am part of the NES generation but even after getting my first NES Atari still was my favorite.

 

I figured you guys would enjoy the article it. The author portrays exactly what is wrong with society today. We all blame our mishaps and wrong doings on other things. Whether it be music, movies or ( I really got a good laugh out of this one) atari. We need to step to the plate and take responsibility for our actions. Blaming laziness on atari is one of the most absurd things I can imagine. Beer has a much bigger effect than atari to my laziness. Of course I do tend to play atari while drinking beer so maybe there is some correlation.

[JagDiesel]

Thats the problem with "kids" anymore, nothing is their fault.. If they do something wrong, well, that was because of ...never their fault..

 

Well.. he cant blame my case of "Lazitis" on Atari, as I didnt even have one till I was in my mid 20s.. I had an Adam and an Odyssey2 up till I bought a used NES in high school (1989 or so) and at that time I worked 40 hrs a week and played football.. so, my laziness is my own fault, not Atari's..

[Agent57]

Well, I found that article quite amusing, even though it's total tripe. Quite simply, my generation is lazier than my parent's - no secret there. I'm 33 now, and the next generation seems to be even worse (is that even possible?!?) Blaming Atari for this is like blaming the bulldog on the Mack truck that ran you over. I do admit that I would have been outdoors much more often in the later 70's / early 80's if it wasn't for Atari, and I remember that my school was pratically begging people to go out for sports back when home videogames hit. The main problem today with the young folk seems to be information overload - between the Internet, home videogames, and TV, it's no wonder a 14 year old today has about a half-second attention span. People can blame this on whatever they want, but leave Atari out of it, dammit! Actually, after re-reading the article, I realized that it's just a (badly mis-guided) attempt at levity anyway...

[khryssun]

Funny article, but the author want to analyse a situation with a wrong point of view (at my opinion). Why searching the reasons into external causes ?

 

Anyway, he says it was impossible to beat the games... and what about Adventure, E.T., Haunted House, Superman, Raiders Of The Lost Ark... ? Few games indeed, but damn he was free to choose the games he was playing with.

 

Beat it's own highscore, that's also a goal -- No more frustrations

Let's create our own goals insteed of wainting only for the computer congratulations

 

Nobody's fault but mine - Led zeppelin

[Mindfield]

It's rather stupid and ill-informed to blame one's own lethargy on Atari -- or anything but one's own motivation (or lack thereof.)

 

The crux of the argument states that he blames society's overall laziness on the frustration of never being able to beat a game. This makes no sense to me; most of us knew there was no ending to a game, or that games had a tendancy to "wrap" when the last level was reached. The game is the thing; it's the play that keeps you enthralled, not some notion of a grand finale. We played the games because they were fun to play, not because we were determined to get to the end. Sure, for games where there was some sort of ending (the "closure" he spoke of) the ending was a goal, but it was the getting there that was the whole point of playing.

 

Sure, I like kicking back and relaxing, chilling for a few hours -- but I work hard every day. The last thing I want to do is run around at home like I do at work. That's rather contrary to the whole concept of "relaxing." If relaxing is considered slacking, then I shudder to think of the sort of workaholic you'd have to be to avoid it.

[Mountain King]

Thats totally bogus. Atari to me was anti lazy. I would walk miles to the toy store or mall to buy Atari Games. And when I played them I got tired after a while so I went out and did something else. I never sat there totally glued to the T.V. The games now are overly time consuming, tedious and addicting. While Atari was mildly addicting.

[Malix]

Everyone needs to go and check out this article on atari. Please flame this dude. He is blaming atari for the lazy attitude of todays young adults. The addy is www.collegeclub.com click on the games link below the blast your way out link and you will see the I blame atari article.