Atari Video Computer System
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October, 1977
(EDIT: Apparently the original shipping date was scheduled for October of 1977, but somewhere in the years since 2005, I seem to remember hearing it didn't actually ship until November. I don't recall the source and I'm too lazy to look but I thought I'd mention it.)
The Atari VCS is born!
The system that started a lifelong habit for most (edit: many) of us.
I can't say anything about this system that hasn't already been said. Seriously, I'm at a loss. My idea for playing every game in chronological order can happen whether I write about it or not, however, it's much more fun for me if I keep a running blog of it. For some games I can feel like I'm contributing something to the community at large when I write about games that hardly anyone has played. Some games, in my little mind, I feel need no introduction or commentary. This is one such game.
Combat (Atari VCS, 1977)
Now, here I am looking at Combat. The first pack-in game for the Atari branded systems. (I think the Sears branded systems came with Target Fun.) There's nothing I can say about Combat that someone else hasn't already written or said. I'll just say this: In my opinion, Combat was the first truly satisfying "deathmatch" made for a home video game console. Whether you're playing the Tanks or the Planes you're having fun. Even if it's just for 10 minutes. It won't be 10 minutes you'll regret and it's 10 minutes you won't hate repeating once every other month for like, 20 years.
This is one of the few "old games" that I don't have to bribe my son to play.
Who hasn't played Combat? (dead silence) (EDIT: Okay, I guess I should realize that not everyone here, just because they're here, has played Combat, so in the interest of historical accuracy, I should say the answer was not dead silence, but I can't just go in and redact my original response... so the edit represents my admission of fallibility. again. I hope someone isn't counting these.)
I'm going to make a thread in DP forums and see what I get for answers. Of course, there's always the person who doesn't understand that it is essentially a question that should produce one of two answers ("I haven't" or "I have") but there are people who take polls who'd rather just expose the inadequacy of the choices, i.e. "I played it on an emulator but that wasn't a choice". To them I say, go play in traffic.
Nine games were "launch" titles with the Atari VCS. I'm not sure if there were Nine launch titles plus Combat or Nine titles including Combat. I'm going to go with what is listed in the book "High Score!" which lists the launch titles as:
Combat (a.k.a. Tank Plus)
Indy 500 (a.k.a. Race)
Air-Sea Battle (a.k.a. Target Fun)
Basic Math (a.k.a. Fun With Numbers)
Blackjack (a.k.a. Blackjack, but from Sears)
Star Ship (a.k.a. Outer Space)
Street Racer (a.k.a. Speedway II)
Surround (a.k.a. Chase)
Video Olympics (a.k.a. Pong Sports)
That list reads like the early history of arcade games, too. Atari wasted no time porting most of the early arcade genres into the home including more Pong variations than you could shake a joystick at. The only two for which I can't think of arcade equivalents are Blackjack and Basic Math. (WTF? I'm looking forward to the first system that doesn't have Blackjack or a Fun With Numbers game.)
Next entry I'll try to talk about Indy 500. At least I have a picture for this one from "back in the day".
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