Harrison

I love this about the 2600. After 40 years, it's still got new games coming out. What I find interesting about the 2600 in particular, compared to so many other consoles where the games had to be licensed by the console maker, is that anyone could release games for the system. All kinds of companies were releasing things. It's an incredible adventure learning and discovering what this system is about. If you think about it, the homebrew of today isn't really any different than the third party 2600 releases back in the day in terms of being "legit". NES collecting can separate the unlicensed Color Dreams games from the main library, but no one would dream of doing that with Activision and the 2600. I think collecting for 2600 has to include homebrew, because they are just as much a part of the "official" library as anything released back in the day by third parties. I see it as a living library that is still growing, rather than an aging static library with a separate homebrew scene. I guess it's just semantics, but it's fun to think that a 40 year old console is still getting third party releases, complete with professionally printed labels, boxes, and manuals. Owning a 2600 is still an adventure in 2017.

I find the 4 switch woodgrain to be the best looking Atari console and always have, with the vader being second. It's the one I currently own and I was able to find one in very good condition for a great price. It looked practically new aside from some specks of white paint on it, which I covered with black marker, rendering them invisible.

I find the Super Grafx to be very ugly. It all seems very unnecessary and I'm not sure what they were going for. It looks like if there was a fictional future game console in an 80s sci-fi movie, and this is the plastic toy version of it. NES was kinda ugly. Not off-putting, just dull. Master System II looks crappy to me, but I kinda like the original master system. Both SNES models look fine to me, as do the genesis models. Turbografx 16 is pretty uninteresting. Anything that looks like a VCR, like the CDI or 3DO, is so boring to me that I would rate the Super Grafx over them just because it's at least interesting. N64 is one of the few consoles that I think looks better with color or a clear case. Its unique shape demands color. I'd take the clear green xbox over the black brick too, but it's pretty ugly either way.

I've been experimenting with a lot of different joysticks and controllers lately and Missile Command is the game I use to test them, and when I try to do a quick test it sucks me in and I have to play at least a full game.

Fun With Numbers sounds more fun, maybe. Who wants to play "Basic Math"? It sounds like homework.

It's always that end of the label lifting up, and then being hard to glue back down. It's such a weird shape. Very annoying.

I've actually had the opposite experience. Activision labels are mostly intact when I find them, however they do have the issue with the glue coming through the paper and giving them a mottled look. I have a few labels from other publishers that looked like they've been chewed up by bugs. Crazy theory: if the activision carts have a unique type of glue, maybe that type of glue is tasty to your local species of bugs.

Yeah, seems like just a chinese knockoff, but now I want to know where that seller got that model number. Did he just make it up? 83% feedback, so... maybe?

Just found this one on amazon. Same "joystick" lettering but with an orange ring around the joystick instead of black. There's a conspicuous imprint on the lower right (a brand marking removed from the mold?). The box imitates the style of the genuine controller, with no company name visible. "Made in China" on the bottom with some hilariously mis-sized rubber feet. https://www.amazon.ca/Standard-Joystick-Controller-Atari-VIC-20/dp/B00NE4KAJ0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1508012242&sr=8-2&keywords=atari+joystick The reviews are good. Might grab one just for fun. I like to have a variety of joysticks with different properties.

So I stumbled onto an ebay listing for "Atari 2600 Spectravision (NXATR003) Video Games Controller". I know Spectravision made the Quick Shot joystick, but this looks completely different. I can't find any info on it. Is this really made by Spectravision, or is it mislabled? If anyone knows what this is, is it any good? http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Atari-2600-Spectravision-NXATR003-Video-Games-Controller-/332380765209?hash=item4d636ffc19:g:c~IAAOSwjvJZPykU

I kinda like Oink. It feels very futile to play. It gets to a point where it seems impossible to drop the bricks fast enough. It has flaws, but the concept is very appealing.

Personally, the less I know ahead of time the better. I like to be surprised. I'm drawn to the more obscure ones with unfamiliar cartridge art. If it's bad, it's still another one for the collection.

I'm not a big fan of Bugs.

I have a few lable-less doubles around. This has inspired me to put some rediculous art on them and release them into the wild. Maybe they'll show up on here someday.

Didn't have a lot of time to play this round, but here's what I got. 17950