Atari2008

I was wondering about the extra milliamps, thank you for clarifying! Looks like the jack is a bit smaller than the tip of the 2600 power supply but perhaps I can find something comparable that will fit now that I know the specs.

Funny I was thinking the Atari 2600 one would be a good candidate, but exactly I'm going to find out the exact specs of the original power supply to be sure. Think I might actually have the opportunity to play the Odyssey with someone instead of me just testing it out solo to make sure it works.

Thank you for this clarification, cool I'll put my systems on a monthly schedule, well the ones that aren't getting active use anyway. All my systems are cartridge based, original capacitors though so I'll have to test them periodically to make sure everything is cool. So far the ones longest in storage are a Fairchild Channel F (1st model) and the Atari 2600 (4 switch woodgrain). I like how you outlined the different things that could go wrong with different types of systems, what about the original Magnavox Odyssey, any unique things to watch out for with that one? I know not to leave batteries in as they can leak but since it's a more basic unit and more dated tech compared to the others, I wonder if I should do anything differently with it.

You know there's a Barcade not far from me at all, I'm digging this suggestion.

This is the MOST helpful advice ever

I remember reading on here, years back, that video game systems need to see some electricity periodically otherwise they're likely to stop working, which seems similar to what you're saying here. I only ask because I do have some systems that I keep in storage for extended periods and sometimes don't get around to playing for a year. So would it be a good idea to at least for the ones I don't play regularly, to maybe fire them up about once a month? This thread is a very good question, I've been thinking about this myself as I live in a studio currently, so I think about space a lot. I think the advice here is good, I would add and it's helped me, is look at your systems and the ones that you haven't used in 6 months to a year maybe assess if its worth selling. Folks have also suggested maybe selling things that can be easily obtained later if you change your mind, like a common console vs things that might be more rare and harder to get like a limited edition homebrew game. I too am looking to slim down my collection a bit and focus.

Great, thank you! I'll track down those specs, so far I know it's a 9 volt. Once I get the other info I'll see if either the AC adapter of another classic console or a universal one will work.

I have the original Odyssey (the one released in 1972), and I was wondering since the original AC adapters are a bit hard to find, is it compatible with any other AC adapter? I'm fine using the batteries but figured it would be better to just plug it into an outlet rather than cause any wear and tear to the battery compartment.

Been thinking a lot about that especially based on this thread, and I think my original approach was going to be pretty scripted. I think it might be better that I just add a few of the titles people suggested, since I'm genuinely interested in playing them personally, and just on the night of going with the flow and not have like a run down of games in my brain and a schedule of what we'll be doing. The 2600 is in the entertainment center and hooked up to the TV already anyway, so it'll be somewhat prominent if it peaks her interest but I agree a more go with the flow approach might be best. Also she may just want to look at the stuff and talk about it like friends usually want to instead of taking a deep dive.

LMAO!!!!! By then it will have been a few dates in so I'm hoping she'll like me enough to excuse the weird nerdiness. But I am planning to make it much less of a focus on our date cuz I can see this going South very rapidly lol. Listen I've been single for a bit haha, I'm rusty.

Now this is the DEFINITIVE list of games for date night.

I'm digging all these ideas, also I'm realizing how many great 2600 games I either haven't tried or wasn't aware of so this is awesome. Also, I like the drinking game idea, that'll be a fun way to spice things up. Additionally throwing in a little history of hard it was to program a game at the time and how much work went into it could be cool. I also wasn't aware of some of the variations like in Space Invaders, the 2600 is the gift that keeps on giving.

Trust years ago I would've needed a good talking to. ? I like that original & homebrew idea, that's great! It'll show what the system is capable of and I do like the idea of introducing her to the concept of homebrews which in my experience, people tend to be surprised by.

That's the part I'm more than prepared for. ? And just for context this will be for a date in the near future and by then it'll be date 5 or thereabouts and I've been on enough dates to learn not to spring "hey wanna play retro video games?" to someone I'm trying to get with. ??? She wants to check out the retro things I'm into (we'll also be listening to vinyl) and I figured the 2600 is less scary than the Channel F or original Odyssey. ? I LOVE all of these suggestions! Thank you everyone! I see there's a consensus on Warlords and Ice Hockey so will definitely be picking those up. Also like the idea of games we can play together like Space Invaders or a homebrew like Fall Down. Also games that tend to be popular with women like Ms. Pac-man sounds great. I've been thinking of the Harmony cart since I like the Heavy Sixer and it has that tight cartridge port, so this might be a good time to get it. Looking forward to this and yeah I doubt the gameplay portion will last very long. ?

I'm planning a retro themed date night, and I will be introducing my date to the 2600 for the first time. I'm thinking of focusing on 2-player simultaneous games since I think that'll be the most fun plus pretty cool for a date, so I've been looking at the 2-player games list thread on here. Despite having a 2600 since I was a kid, I haven't always kept up with my collection, usually focusing on other systems of the time, but for this I think the 2600 is the best candidate in terms of it tends to be easy to pick up and play and in past experience, I found people tend to like it more than others. I wanted to share what I have in my collection, because I basically want to ask, am I missing anything that would be cool for showcasing the 2600? Any must have titles I'm missing? Including homebrews. Also would love opinions on controllers too. This i what I have: Atari 2600 4 switch woodgrain console Atari 2600 Heavy Sixer console CX40 evolved Joystick (it has 2 buttons for left handed and right handed players, I'm a lefty) from Atari Sales CX40 replica Joystick (I believe I bought this one from Atari2600.com back in the day) Paddles Games: Pac-Man Jr. Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man Pac-Man 4K Space Invaders Asteroids Joust Wizard of Wor Pitfall Defender 2 Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back ET Mouse Trap Frog Bog Smurf Enduro Yars Revenge Blueprint Chopper Command Missile Command Frogger Tunnel Runner Kangaroo Looking forward to your suggestions. Let me know if there are any cool titles I'm missing and also if you think it makes sense to add some additional controllers. I like the joysticks well enough but I know there are many options for the 2600 out there so I'm interested in hearing about them. I was thinking also maybe Genesis pads or a replica for comfort.

This thread is so awesome! Funny thing as I was thinking of looking up a list of 2-player simultaneous games since I'm going to have a retro themed date night and want to introduce my date to the 2600. This is a good list.

This podcast was GREAT! Inspired me to hook up my Studio II, glad it works with my TV. ?

Thank you for these thorough suggestions! Those coaxial adapters come in super handy! I have a few and similarly I leave them connected to things then forget I did so lollll. Sweet! I do have composite cables, so I tried as you suggested. I get an image yayyyyy but it looks pretty bad, I'm guessing it's due to the fact that it's a cheap composite cable from the dollar store, so likely not much shielding in it. I'm getting a proper RF cable that should arrive later this week, so this should hold me over for now. I do miss Radio Shack at times like these. Many thanks!

Hey everyone, I got an Intellivision II recently but it doesn't have the RF cable to hook it up to the TV. I do have other retro game systems but for all of them I'd have to open them up and take the RF cable out from the inside if I wanted to swap it into the Inty II. I've ordered a replacement cable that's compatible with the Inty II on eBay which should arrive later this week. I was wondering, if I wanted to connect the system to the TV in the meantime, is there a more common type of cable I can use?

Awesome, thank you! I was going to look for a site that had the instructions online. This is great.

I'm glad to hear there's a variety of titles, when I first heard of the Intellivision I just thought it mostly had sports games, but now after having seen a list of the library I see that it has a nice selection of different types of games. I also like how affordable many of the games are, including CIB! I was looking into the Flash Cart and noticed it wasn't available at the moment, hope there are more soon. Nice, I actually am expecting 3 of the Imagic games, they came highly recommended. Glad I'm getting manuals with everything, sounds like with some of them I would be a bit lost otherwise. Thank you for this list! I can sometimes be a bit of a lazy gamer aka I don't feel like reading instructions lol so this list will come in handy. I'm actually expecting some titles on this list, so awesome! I can't wait to play some Intellivision and see what it's all about.

Just wanted to announce that I've taken the plunge, expecting my Intellivision and a few games soon. So psyched! Looking forward to exploring the Intellivision world.

Happy to hear!!! ?

This is such an awesome time to be a 2600 gamer. I love what all the homebrew programmers have done with our beloved console.

Awesome thread, I'm considering taking the plunge as well. ?