2600 For Life

If you lived in CT, I would have had cash in hand, and a pick-up truck .. yesterday! Almost exactly what I'm looking for (but I'm going to add a bit more controls).

Re: Allan. The 22nd is no good for me, unless I host it at my house (wife is working 7pm-7am Friday to Saturday night). The 29th is good for me though. Re: AtariRx. I have no problem with making this a family event. In fact, if my 4 year old was around, she always wants to play video games (she's excellent with the Wii since she was 3, but can't really handle the stiff atari joystick with it's hard to press and hold-down button. She'll run around Keystone Kapers until it times out though!) I'm the opposite of you guys. Saturday nights are usually a good night for me (if my wife is working at night, it's mostly Friday or a Sunday). She used to work pretty much every Friday night (at my suggestion, I'm tired from working all week, so it's a wasted night of me falling asleep on the couch). But, we've changed some things up, and I am now getting the occasional Friday night free (for example, tonight, or the 29th). I'm game for anything. I just think it would be a blast playing some old-school games with someone other than myself.

My wife is a nurse, so without checking the calendar, I never know which days she is working from week to week. I'll come back to this thread tonight, after I get home and take a look. The only thing I do know is that she's not working this Thursday and Friday night (a rarity). But that may be too soon for everyone. But, I'm up for spur-of-the-moment (with kids, I have to take opportunities when they come). As for a place? Where are the good arcades at these days? What's funny is that I was at the Southington truck stop (off of exit 28 I-84), and I just realized they had an arcade there! I always get my gas there, and I didn't realize it until yesterday. There was a pinball machine, a pool table, and like 5 or 6 arcade machines. One of the arcade machines was "Global Arcade Classics", which has like 80 something classic games (it even had Dragon's Lair). It's like a MAME type machine (google it). It's an idea, that Truck stop has a diner and a popeye's and a pizza hut express ... My good friend, who lives in Terryville, just opened up an ice-cream shop. In the space that they rent, there's room available, so he's putting in an arcade. Apparently, he's working with a place that leases the arcade machines. So, no money up front, and he's getting like $100K in machines (they take a percentage of the profits). That's not ready yet, but another idea for CT gamers. Although, that may be a bit out of the way for some. Lastly, if it's going to be just 3 or 4 people or something, I don't think I'd have any problem inviting people over. I live near Waterbury. You'd have to contend with a very nosy 4 year old and an almost 2 year old, though! I'll try to think if I can come up with other places ...

The craigslist post had a link to this site: http://www.retrogamefederation.com/index.html It looks like that twice a year, they meet to play classic games. The next one is Saturday, October 23rd from 3pm to 11pm. CT is a small state, and most things are close to me, but this one is 1 1/2 hours from where I live. I'm not sure if I can make it, but others might be interested. Also, maybe this will be the spark for more CT gaming events. I'm interested in learning about any events!

After starting this thread, I was thinking about it more and more: I'd love to play some classic games in a group setting. Let me go start another thread, specifically about that subject.

Pencil me in for any small get togethers! Heck, I may even host it (if it's small), but that would probably be best for the person in the most central location. And thanks a lot for the offer, I appreciate it. When/if we get together, it would be awesome if you took a gander. Btw, I'm a programmer too (worked at 5 different companies throughout CT). To digress, for some reason I've never been able to have a 5200 in my possession. 15(?) years ago, I was at a consignment shop, saw an atari 5200, noticed that there was absolutely nothing to plug the ac adapter into (In the little hole, that part that accepts the adapter was missing). I showed that to the consignment shop owner, and he gave it to me for free (5200, ac adapter, 2 controllers). I've had that sitting in a box as I had no idea what to do with it, but I wasn't just going to throw out a broken 5200! Fast forward to a month ago, and I pick this one up (according to her craigslist ad it was in "good shape", so I assumed that it meant that it worked), and I couldn't get the light on (when plugged in). So, now I have 2 5200's that I can't get to work, and 4 controllers! The controllers look to be in good shape. Maybe the combination of the two will yield a working one.

We're probably 20-25 minutes from each other. Nice to meet you! In fact, just a month ago I picked up an Atari 5200 from a lady outside the Sears Hardware in Wallingford (near Sonic). Unfortunately, it doesn't work (I can't get the red light to come on when I press the power button). But, that's a thread I've been meaning to start in the Atari 5200 forum for some time ... Is there some type of CT roll-call here (maybe I should start a thread for that)? I'd love to have people to trade with or to bounce ideas off of on where to find games locally. I use craigslist, but most people posting want too much for their stuff (more than you could get on Ebay). And CT is a bit dry (compared to say doing a search on the 'Hudson Valley' craigslist), especially when it comes to Atari. I'll try to hit up tag sales when I can, but I rarely find stuff. I've heard of a flea market in Torrington, but haven't been there yet. I saw another CT thread in this forum, and they listed some flea markets there, but I'm not sure how up-to-date that is now. I don't know, other stuff too. Like say, meeting every now and then and just playing some games (I've got two young kids so I'm still in baby jail, but eventually)!

As I sift through the tumbleweeds and cobwebs, I'm wondering if anyone still participates in this User Group and if people still meet? The website (http://www.azureware.com/necg/) no longer works and azureware.com was last updated 2 1/2 years ago (Feb 2008). I'm from CT (near Waterbury).

I'm curious, doesn't the exposure, to your items, count for something? I can go to craiglist, and wait months to maybe get a nibble or two (if you are contacted right away, you are probably selling it too low, to someone who wants to flip it on you). Or, I can go to EBay, and get potentially more than I wanted (or less, if no reserve), and get it sold within a week or less. There is value in that. I digress, but that's why I never understand why some of the re-sellers put these outrageous Buy It Now prices and re-list it for months. Isn't the point of a business to move inventory? Stop focusing on profit on one item! Focus on a little less profit on more items. But, I could be missing something. Anyhow, that's not to say that 15% isn't outrageous. It may be.

Wait, so there's "local chapters" of atariage? Meaning, do people meet in CT? And yeah ... that does suck. There's no way that a month should go by like that.

Yeah, I was using this as a comparison: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 280568505485 Although, $350 auction's game look in better shape (and it has the Atari).

I've been meaning to post this, and before it disappears ... Ebay auction here: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 260661164389 As I mentioned in the description, after a couple of quick glances, I'm trying to figure out how the price got so high. What cartridge or two is super rare in that lot? EDIT: I just saw Sumrfs Save the Day, that's an 8, but I don't think that goes for more than $30-$40; Also, it doesn't have the controllers needed to play that game - this is a start though! EDIT2: Don't get me wrong, it looks like a nice collection, I just didn't anticipate that price.

I don't mean to distract this thread, but I'm curious how much Miner 2049er I and/or 2049er II go for these days (each with manual)? Not that I'd ever sell mine, I'm just curious. I only have one "7" (2049er II w/Manual) and one "8" (Quest for Quintana Roo by Sunrise w/o Manual) in my collection, everything else is 6 and below. So, I guess those are the gems of my collection!

Oh, I hear ya. And agree that there is a lot of crappy games for the Atari. If there's more than 50 Atari games I'm interested in playing, I'd be surprised. I was just adding that High Score games do have merit. I like a mix of everything (I'm a huge NES fan, too - LOVE that system). And really, as I think about it, I'd wager to say that most systems have a lot of crap games. Don't make me go through my NES list! Or even the Wii, now. There was such a rush to put out Wii games, that you have to be very careful about what you buy (As you can see, I'm a classic gaming, arcade, and Nintendo fan - I don't mess with XBox's or PS3's, etc, maybe one day).

BFD? I'm not sure if that's a convincing argument. In other words, I could switch it around like this: "You play the NES game to get to some silly animated ending. BFD!". I'm split down the middle, why not have games that do both? And enjoy both? I have to imagine that if I go buy some shiny new game for $50, spend a weekend playing it, google hints and cheat codes, and then "finish it", why do I need to replay the game again? I've now got a $50 paper weight. Have I challenged myself? Sure. It might take me a couple of times to 'beat the boss', but once I've put that into muscle memory ... boring! That's not to say I didn't enjoy the ride (because I do like those games), it's just that the ride is over. Now, a high score game, that's a challenge! I've been playing Keystone Kapers recently, and haven't cracked 40,000 yet. Have I ever!? Or Pac-Man arcade, have I ever gotten past, let's say, the 3rd key? And heck, even on the levels I've done 1000 times, I can still go ahead and lose a life on the cherry screen (Pac-Man's 1st level). Sonofagun! Whereas with ending games, how often do you die on the first level, or sometimes even die with real consequences? Meaning, if I'm playing Super Mario Wii (which I absolutely love), the first thing I'm doing is going to the first level and getting like 15 guys. Heck, on my saved games, if I'm getting low, I just warp over to the first world and replenish another 50 guys. Is this a "trophy generation"* thing? Where you don't really want to be challenged? Or challenged to the point that you may never make it (most people can finish ending games, but most will never reach certain levels on high score games)? * trophy generation - the kids today. For example, if you play some organized event (e.g. baseball) -- EVERYONE gets a trophy. It's OK Little Johnny, that your team went 0-20, here's a trophy for trying!