First of all: I'm not a collector of VCS stuff that's breakable.

In fact, the only VCS related items I own, are a pair of CX40 joysticks that I use for playing and testing VCS games on my PC (with the help of the excellent Stelladaptor).

I did own an Atari 2600 game console once, though.

Back in the early eighties I fell in love with the VCS when I visited a huge toy fair in Amsterdam.

It was August 1983 and the dam of the game console software river was completely busted.

There were dozens of game manufacturers demonstrating hundreds of different game titles and I just couldn't believe my eyes.

Three months later I got my Atari 2600.

I also bought this video game review book, which I still own and cherish:



IMO one of the best video game review books published in Europe back then.

I loved reading all the reviews (especially the ones describing the best and the worst games) and I only spend my money on buying the games that had four or five thumbs up.

Eventually I ended up with these:

Missile Command     (this one came bundled with the console)
Space Invaders      (this one too - the first VCS game I ever played on my own console)
Raiders of the Lost Ark     (my personal favourite - I found the Ark without reading any hints)
Vanguard     (great shooter with a lot of different game screens and... an end of level boss)
E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial  (a mistake - my mother gave it to me for my birthday together with the next two titles)
Swordquest - FireWorld  (I searched high and low for the comic book in Europe, but never found it - fascinating but extremely frustrating game)
Yars' Revenge    (highly original action game by Howard Scott Warshaw, the creator of Raiders and E.T.)
Enduro     (very addictive racing game - loved the different weather stages)
Pitfall II - Lost Caverns      (Crane's masterpiece - an incredible programming achievement on the VCS)
Robot Tank      (great game - IMO better than BattleZone)
StarMaster      (excellent pseudo 3D space shooter - played it a lot)
Demon Attack      (very colourful Phoenix clone with funky sound FX)
Tutankham    (I changed this one for Super Cobra after completing it in one afternoon)
Super Cobra    (I should have kept Tutankham)
Jawbreaker      (fast paced Pac-Man game - loved the rotating smilies and the toothbrush-intermezzo)
Marauder    (I wanted to buy Berzerk first, but the seller adviced me to buy this one instead - wise seller)

While a friend of mine owned these:

Chopper Command (Defender in the desert)
Space Shuttle - A Journey into Space (complex but brilliantly programmed shuttle simulator)
Riddle of the Sphinx (really liked the puzzle-adventure style of this one)
Donkey Kong (always wondered what the "ducks" in the second level were suppose to be - I now know these are fireballs)
Mouse Trap (cute game - loved the sound FX of this one)
Zaxxon (a shock at first sight - somehow, I expected it to be like the Arcade version)

Certainly not bad games at that time and I really enjoyed playing them a lot, before I sold my Atari 2600 and all my games to someone else (I still regret this action) and stepped over to the Commodore 64 (which I luckily never sold and will never sell).

VCS chapter closed.

Or so I thought...

Fifteen years later, my brother gave me a CD ROM, entitled: "And then there was... The Atari 2600!"

On it was a VCS emulator and some 500 different Atari 2600 game ROMs...

What happened next is described here.

I wanted to share all this gathered information with other VCS enthousiasts and contacted the guys at Atarimania, who immediately offered me a job as a moderator, giving me full access to their database.

I worked almost daily at the Atari 2600 section, updating every single VCS game entry (some 1500 by then) and adding a massive amount of new ones (the database now contains almost 9500 different VCS titles).

This is our site.

This is our team.

And this is what I do at Atarimania:

At least 90% of what you see in the Atari 2600 section of our database was added by me: ROMs, game titles, screenshots, scans, pictures, game info, additional comments, goodies, you name it.

I am not a contributor, I'm the head maintainer of the Atari 2600 section.

Every new VCS ROM or game title that I find or receive is first double-checked for its true existence before it's added to the database and every new scan or picture that's coming in, is first examined for resolution quality and cropped and/or resized by me before I add it to the correct corresponding game title.

In short: I run the Atari 2600 section, just like Franck Palusci runs the Atari 8-Bit section and just like Marko Latvanen runs the Atari ST section.

The site's interface and look is programmed by Franck, but his work relies heavily on the advices, suggestions and demands of the other team members.

Again: I'm not a collector of the real thing, I'm an archivist who is trying to create the world's largest and most accurate Atari 2600 database with the help of many other VCS fans.

Here are our main contributors (to whom I'm much obliged).

Well, that's what I do at Atarimania, folks.

Take care and don't forget: keep those missing scans coming!

Cheers,

Rom Hunter