Velvis

February 26

23 hours ago, ledzep said:

Oh, of course. Asteroids, Lunar Lander, Space Wars, they were like 10 (3+) years old! Nobody would want to play those games, they wanted colors, not gameplay. But what about Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Star Castle, Armor..Attack, they had colors (overlays)! Some were from 1980, still a lifetime away from 1982 but closer, right? Space Invaders was color (overlay), that means people would accept it. Take the overlay off, though, instant rejection, completely different game. How do you play this without colors, what's happening? Yet the Sprint games were popular and they were always B & W from what I remember. Super Sprint was a slightly different perspective, but in color so clearly that one would be 10x as popular as the older Sprint relics at least even though the gameplay was basically identical. But the colorplay was night and day.

Maybe it was illegal to add color to the home ports of B & W games? That was probably it, gameplay wouldn't be a consideration, Realsports Baseball was practically a different sport from Atari Baseball, right? One game has 9 players on a diamond, the other has 9 players on a diamond. One uses an analog joystick or Trak-ball controller, the other uses a Trak-ball. The learning curve would be too steep.

Ya, Surround would be stupid. A Tron Light Cycles game would be instantly rejected, like that level in the Tron arcade game, right? Nice try using some of the most boring 2600 carts to move the goalposts about popular and fun arcade sports games that utilized the Trak-ball controller like the 5200 has. You missed the Basic Programming cart.

Wait a second, if a game being 3-5 years old makes it an embarrassing relic, and this is 2024, that means...

None of that word salad changes anything I said originally nor is it related to the original post of thinking it would be a good idea to take a B&W football game with x's and o's as players and porting it to the next generation "Super System", which was sold specifically as a graphical upgrade to better replicate then current 1982 arcade games, simply because it had trackball support or an analog controller.

"Hey, lets spend $270 on the 5200 and then buy games that look worse than 2600 titles!"

Atari really should have gone after that market.

February 26

12 hours ago, christo930 said:

Yeah, nobody was playing games from 1978..... Except Space Invaders is from 1978 and is a pretty common 5200 cartridge having sold pretty well.

The games you list there weren't ported to the 5200 not because of their age, but because they weren't very good games. One of the 3 is an "educational" "game" that isn't even really a game.

You talk about Colecovision's arcade games while I guess pretending Atari wasn't known for bringing out home ports of arcade games. Plus, we're talking about arcade cabinet games here even if they were B&W. Coleco badly suffered in this area not being able to compete well with Atari in acquiring arcade licenses. They got Donkey Kong and Jr, most of Exidy's games and a hand full of others. Atari got the vast majority of the rest. Since Atari itself was a large arcade cabinet manufacturer, they had access to all of the Atari games.

B&W X&O Football or Baseball isn't the same thing as Space Invaders in any way, shape, or form.

Releasing the earliest primitive sports games on what was supposed to be the latest and greatest hardware and specifically designed to surpass the 2600 in graphics and game play would make no sense whatsoever. There were already more modern baseball and football games on the 2600, no one was looking to "go retro" in 1982 and have a football game with X's and O's as players. The whole thing at the time was to make videogames to look, play, and sound better. Never mind requiring people to purchase a trackball or two to recreate the experience which as you pointed out would be expensive. No one wanted to buy a 5200 at $269.99 likely replacing a 2600 in order to play games that were more primitive than the already existing 2600 versions.

Those games weren't even still in arcades by 1982. I don't think I even knew the Baseball game existed before this thread.

I was referring to Colecovisions games because they came out roughly at the same time as the 5200 and the biggest selling point was their arcade games that "play like the real arcade game." The point being people were buying 5200's and Colecovisions to get away from primitive graphics and sound. People wanted to get arcade quality games at home. By 1982 arcade hardware was leaps and bounds beyond Atari Football from 1978.

A few years later as a comparison, one of the (many) reasons the 7800 did poorly against the NES is its library is filled with the same old Atari arcade games that people had moved on from by 1986.

February 25

On 2/19/2024 at 9:06 AM, Flyindrew said:

Take it from an arcade/video game console junkie in 1982, nobody would have bought these late ‘70s titles at the time on a new console. In late ‘82 home console buyers were enamored with Colecovision and its home arcade ports of (then) cutting edge arcade games. As for Atari sports fans, they were buying the Realsports titles.

Yes..in 2024, through the eyes of nostalgia, these late 70s Atari sports games were/are awesome and should be part of any compilation. I remember these games being popular circa 1979. Im just saying that in ‘82/‘83 they were considered old news, and were collecting dust in the arcades sitting next to newer games.

I agree 100%. Those B&W games were relics by 1982. Porting them to the new "Super System" and having them go up against things like Colecovisions arcade games would be embarrassing.

It would be almost as bad as porting Fun with Numbers, Slot Racers, and Surround.

January 31

2 hours ago, bigfriendly said:

After what we were talking about earlier in this thread I was looking a recent video game completed listings on Ebay. You've got to be sh*tting me!

If the box wasn't crushed on the edges from the shrinkwrap I'd say it's worth $50 as a cool display piece (not my thing but I get why people like to display things like this). I'd rather it on a wall as a conversation starter than ever playing it again.

January 30

7 hours ago, bigfriendly said:

Thanks for posting that article. A very interesting read.

It was only a little over a year old by then. I looked on Wikipedia but I didn't see what the price was on its release day. Do you know or remember by chance?

I clearly remember having a guy at the video store hold one for me until I could get back to the store with my mom. He said he could only hold it for 2 hours. My mom agreed and we went and picked it up. Once I got home with it, I was so disappointed. I tried to pretend it was good, but it just wasn't. I knew it was garbage.

What I'm not super clear on was the price. But I am pretty sure it was either $34.99 or $39.99.

It was the first time I saw it in a store so it must have been shortly after it came out.

It was also the first time I was disappointed with a video game.

2600 Pacman has to be the first big videogame failure in terms of public opinion, right? I know it sold 12 million copies but clearly that was hype and the lack of easily accessible honest reviews. For a "AAA" title to go from $35-$40 to $2 on the used market in about a year says it all. Realistically people trading them in were probably getting fifty cents.

January 30

July 1983 and Pacman is only $1.95.

January 24

Why was there a proportional trackball made for the 2600 if there were no games available to take advantage of it?

January 9

What are the chances we will be able to add games and artwork to the default menu rather than going through the text based sd card interface?

January 7

I am trying to update the firmware on my GSP and when I press the reset button and power my computer pops up an unrecognized usb device message. I have installed the driver included in the download package. Does anyone know a way around this?

January 7

Does the GSP support 4 player paddle games if I got 2 more controllers?

December 20, 2023

Am I missing something? Who would do that?

December 15, 2023

Thank you! I tried a couple and it found one it likes.

December 14, 2023

I received mine a few weeks back but tonight was the first time I tried to use it.

1) Plugging in just the hdmi cable lights the Atari logo. Seems weird, I didn't realize hdmi carried any sort of power.

2) Plugging the unit in and turning on the power switch does nothing. Screen stays black.

Both the power and hdmi cable are used for other various mini systems without issue.

Any ideas what might be going on?

November 26, 2023

I recently got an SNES classic and was able to add games to it directly to its internal memory. Will something like this possible with the 2600+?

Also will multi-carts ever be able to work with the 2600+?

I understand its early in the game but I was wondering if these are possibilities now that we have seen what's inside the 2600+ or is it just not possible?

November 24, 2023

I am wondering why the pack in game for the 2600+ has a pretty good selection of games but the paddle pack in is missing Warlords.

I would have bought the paddle pack if it had that.

September 27, 2023

I have always felt the original 6 switch looks the best. It is what I had as a kid and I recall a few years later when a friend got a 4 switch I thought it looked weird and cheap after being so used to the original.

I don't think I have ever seen any other model in person.

September 18, 2023

On 9/16/2023 at 3:22 PM, famicommander said:

This is the most baffling attitude.

You don't know if it's good, but you're going to buy one anyway, and if it's not good you hope they make another one so you can buy it next year and hope it's good?

This is why we got horrible AtGames products for 10 years in a row.

For many people dropping a couple hundred dollars on something as unimportant as a remake of a 40 year old video game system really means nothing to their bottom line. So it's not particularly baffling to a lot of people. I'd say it's far more baffling to most people that anyone would purchase it in the first place regardless of how good it is.

If no one bought the first Atgames product there would not be the second and so on.

I'd guess 75% (maybe higher) of the AtGames sales were to the same people over and over. A product like this has a very narrow market.

There is just no way Atari could release a perfect 2600 in 2023 and charge $130 and continue to sell it year after year. The market just doesn't exist.

Hell even xbox, ps, and switch release new versions of their hardware.

September 12, 2023

2 hours ago, Sauron said:

I think you're being way too overly critical here. I think most everyone understands the concerns you're expressing, but is it really necessary to nitpick things said in an interview and take them to mean something that hasn't been clearly expressed? You should probably step back, take a deep breath, count to 10, and then post your concerns in a more tactful manner rather than just hammering down on every little detail that you don't like. These are video game products. They're not a matter of life and death.

Agreed. This whole thread is filled with nitpicks, complaints, and ridiculous requests. People are complaining it doesn't have analog out for connecting it to old school tv's to play 4 light gun games no one gives a crap about. Why on earth would you buy a modern version of an Atari to connect it to an analog television? If you own an analog TV, the light gun game cartridges, the light gun, you probably own an original Atari 2600. Use it and don't expect a modern version of Atari support something so niche. It is a ridiculous idea. I'd guess the number one feature people would want in a new Atari is to be able to connect it to HDMI.

I also don't get the notion of complaining that there might be an update next year (like AtGames yearly updates). Do people not realize that's how companies make money? They are in the business of selling things.

And most of all it is $130. If that's such a high price to pay that you want it to have every feature under the sun and anything less is unacceptable, I suggest holding on to your money as it sounds to me like you really can't afford $130.

The original VCS retailed for $199 in 1977 (equivalent to $960 in 2022) for comparison.

May 18, 2023

That's it, and why I couldn't find it with "no holds barred" which I couldn't understand why it would say that. Thank you!

And I can't imagine the horror show a 'gaping holes' Google search would be.

May 18, 2023

I just watched a YouTube video on this company by POJR. My question was how and why would the company bother to remove the Activision logo from the games?

1) It seems like it might be hard to do back in 1982.

2) Does it suddenly make it legal when you completely copy Keystone Kapers but remove the Activision logo from the bottom left of the screen?

May 18, 2023

I distinctly remember having a bumper sticker sized sign (may have actually been a bumper sticker) on my wall as a kid in 1982-3ish that said something like No Holds Barred and it had a list of available Activision games.

Does anyone else remember something like this?

I tried a Google search but Activision has gone far past their early days and no matter what I search for a million other things come up.

December 30, 2022

On 11/2/2022 at 9:53 AM, glazball said:

Lots of great comments here, and though I don't think this is the MOST remarkable thing about the 2600, I do find it remarkable that many "retro" gamers completely shun the Atari. It's almost as if retro gaming began with the NES. And lately, I've noticed many, many comments that even NES is too antiquated and SNES is where it all began. "Super Metroid is gaming perfection, Metroid was just a necessary step to get there." Rinse and repeat for Legend of Zelda or whatever. Without the Atari 2600, I would argue that none of these games would even exist.

I kinda think if you didnt grow up playing the 2600 looking back on many the games just look and play way to primitive. On the NES the graphics and sound are so far beyond the 2600 that it is far more appealing to someone not looking through the lens of nostalgia. In addition Nintendo as well as their most popular titles have been and are still a part of modern gaming. Someone who played the latest console version of Super Mario Bros or Zelda would be more inclined and interested in those same games on the NES. The 2600 doesnt really have that same sort of connection to modern gaming.

September 10, 2022

Wow. I'm assuming they are the same people responsible for those "arcade game" handhelds filled with 200 games that no one has ever heard of before.

September 9, 2022

Oh I see now. Seems like an odd product to create if the hardware or emulation wasn't there to support it. Seems like it would be expensive to hire programmers to essentially recreate the games from scratch.

September 6, 2022

What was the reasoning behind using a NES-on-a-chip?

Wouldnt it be much easier to design a proper 2600/7800 emulator to run the existing game code rather than recreate 30 games from scratch for completely different architecture?

Not only are they ports but they are also supposed to play and look like the original system (rather than be the "NES version of Adventure" for example)

What gives?

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