from the beginning?

[AtariKen64]

I know it might not be a very common thing....

 

 

but how many people out there would meet this criteria?

 

1-the bought the VCS in 1977, prefrably as early as possible.

2-kept in complete working order preferrable keeping all boxes and etc intact

3- never bought another game system as others came out

4- played it and bought games for it up until the end in 1990. and maybe continued to today

 

 

i just get the idea

of a heavy sixer sitting in someones gameroom all this time always being loved, so who ? and how many? i played 2600 since 82 and 7800 since 87 but havent let it go but thats not 1977

[NE146]

Sure, I'll answer. Anyway it's Sat. night and I'm bored

 

1-the bought the VCS in 1977, prefrably as early as possible.

My mom bought my sears model around 77-79. I was 9 years old and hooked on the arcade Space Invaders and never stopped bugging my parents to find a space invaders I could play at home. It was my all-time dream.

 

2-kept in complete working order preferrable keeping all boxes and etc intact.

All my games since my childhood are in working order. But I threw away all my boxes then and still do. But I've pretty much kept EVERYTHING ELSE (magazines, games, handhelds, flyers, hardware) and am a classic case of a videogame packrat in my 24 or so years of playing.

 

3- never bought another game system as others came out

Huh? I've tried to buy every console as they came out when they were the 'latest and greatest'. For example after the 2600 came the 5200 & Colecovision. This tendency continues 'till this day with the xbox/GC/psx2.

 

4- played it and bought games for it up until the end in 1990. and maybe continued to today

I'm not really a 'collector' in that almost all of my 2600 collection was bought in the 70's and 80's. I bought almost NOTHING for it in the 90's. (I was too busy playing snes/tg-16/genny)

 

So I guess I don't meet your criteria

[moycon]

I suppose I'm about the same as NE146. We got our 2600 the first year it came out...And yes I still have it. Unfortunately I sold off a good deal of my games (about 260 different) about 4 years ago. So I don't know that I still have any of my original game carts...Altho I suspect there are a few.

 

The 2600 was all I had until my parents bought my younger brother an NES. I knew friends that had the other consoles (Colecovision, Intellivision, Odyssey,5200) And would play them when I went over their houses... But none could compare to the 2600. So from the late 70's up until the NES came out (He got the one with R.O.B.) thats all I had.

 

Once I got older I went back and bought all the classic and since then have pretty much kept up with the latest consols. All except the pre-Dreamcast Sega consoles.

[Osmeroid]

I didn't get mine until 1980 (I was 8 ) & played up until '85. I even sold off a bunch of my boxed carts :cry: Didn't pick it back up until '96.

[Rob Mitchell]

 but how many people out there would meet this criteria?

 

Well there is a friend at work who swears that she has 150 games (complete pristine in box) with the console (complete pristine in box) since she bought the VCS. I'm not sure what year she purchased it.

 

I am still trying to get a list of games from her and find out what she has. She won't sell .. and I'm not interested in buying from her. I'm just curious.

 

My story is .. I read the Consumers' Report mag in fall 1977 which concluded that the Atari VCS was the best. So Dad and I went on the hunt .. and found the Sears Video Arcade in Oct1977. I recognized it right away as the Atari with the Sears name (I knew it from the picture in the mag). Dad had to ask the Sears sports salesman who made it. We bought it that same evening. It was the last one in stock. Pack-in game was: Target Fun. So we paid $20 for Tank Plus. Games came out one at a time until just before Christmas. Picked them up one-by-one as they came in stock. Every cart ( except Math. The early heavy sixers were tuned to broadcast on one channel only! Sears (Atari) made the error of sending Ch3 machines to Chattanooga where a TVCh3 is broadcasting .. So we returned our console within 2 weeks to exchange for a Ch4 one (too much interference from TVCh3).

 

We eventually acquired a second set of paddles, keyboard controllers (1978) for Codebreaker... and a total of 20 carts. I kept the manuals .. but eventually trashed the Sears Telegames book boxes ..

 

Later I got the Atari 800 with cassette recorder and some carts.

 

In 1983 I sold the Sears VA w/carts& controllers for $300. At the same time I sold the Atari 800 for $300.

 

Then I got serious about college and grad school. So I failed your criteria.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[lionrohrs]

Got the Atari for Christmas in '78 and bought roughly 150 games in about two years with my paper route money (2 routes! I was a work-aholic). I kept everything including receipts. Then traded it all in for an Atari 5200 at the local video game store. Then traded that in a couple of years later for a Commodore 64. I liked the C64 because you could copy games I buy new games/hardware occasionally but have focused more on buying the games I once loved. Now like a lot of us, I'm kicking myself for getting rid of that stuff way back then.

[Rick Weis]

only one that kills me is criteria

#3

 

i have way too many other systems!!

i don't collect for all of them! but i got most of the systems that came out over all the years!!..

 

Take care

 

Rick

[Big Player]

1. My friend got a 2600 in 1977. I was indifferent to it then. The games were okay to play, but I didn't think they were worth the high price. Not until Space Invaders came out did I have the need to own a 2600. And then, I almost got an Odyssey 2 instead. :oops:

 

2. My first 2600 bought in 1981 still works, but a few of my cartridges died. Losing Mountain King and Starmaster really hurt. Video Pinball? No great loss. Boxes? My parents made me keep them until the 30 day warranty ran out. Otherwise, I would have pitched them right away.

 

3. You're going to have a hard time finding someone who meets this criteria. The only other systems I have owned are the NES and Genesis. Most Atari Age members have had at least that many.

 

4. Again, price kept me from buying Atari games in the late 80's. $15 bucks seemed like too much for the games in 1989. Of course I didn't know how good Double Dunk and Solaris are.

[Ze_ro]

I can almost claim all of these for my Colecovision... except for a few problem:

 

- Obivously, I ended up buying MANY more systems! The CV still has a place in my heart though

 

- Although I still look for games for it, there was a long period (a couple of years) when I hardly played it at all

 

- It is now broken, and in a mostly unplayable condition... although I'm still able to play Donkey Kong on it once in a while.

 

However, I can honestly say that I still have a working CV joystick that I've had for the last 20 years or so, and it still works great! (That's a pretty big feat for the CV)

 

(As for the Atari, I bought mine about a year and a half ago, so I'm nowhere close )

 

--Zero

[AtariKen64]

well i didnt mean it to mean like a criteria like asif it was a test, just some guidline to keep the posting in--line

 

as far as not buying other systems , i mean it more as "i had a 2600 but got and nes and it the atari went in the attic" i guess its ok to play side by side but not abandon old for new. i got an nes but by brother was an ass so i didnt bother with it and stuck the 7800 which my brother hated since "atari is like a bunch of squares nintendo has graphics"

 

but i know somewhere in the world is a madcap vcs devotee that has had only that since fall 1977 and thats it