atari_envy

Am I the only person on the planet who likes DataAge's "Journey"? It is a unique concept, has actual Journey music on Atari 2600 (ok a little off key, but a decent effort), and solid gameplay. But maybe I am the crazy one, b/c every review says it sucks. Frankenstein's Monster is DataAge's best. That is an outstanding game. Flag Capture, Slot Racers, and Maze Craze: 2 players=lots of fun. 1 player=lame.

I always thought that was Complete In Box. Hmmm. If it's "Cartridge Instructions Box" what would "NIB" be? Possibly a case of: You say po-TAE-toe, I say po-TAH-toe. I am really TRYING to like Circus Atari. Help me out. Is there a particular game number that is better or is there a trick? I get frustrated by always splatting right next to the trampoline. I do like the game sounds and watching the little Atari dude fly through the air. However, as it stands right now, given the choice of similar games, I prefer Super Breakout.

lol. I was watching the same game when I saw this commercial for the first time. Ohhhh yeah. The feeling of getting the best gift ever for Christmas, especially an Atari 2600. Never got the Atari for Christmas *sniff* but I dreamed of it many times. I didn't notice the 6 to 4 switch change-up. My thoughts were "Wow, they got a heavy sixer for the commercial. Someone knows their stuff!" But then he was playing Centipede, so then I thought, "No way, Centipede wasn't released yet." I frankly choose to believe that man in the commercial realized/or-will-realize that ultimately the Atari was the best gift.

A well-worn Scotch-Brite pad is a bit less abrasive and has worked well for me. I clip a small piece into a hemostat to be able to reach in to the recess with it. I treat the cleaned surface with Deoxit. Haven't had to reclean any of them. We'll see how they do in 25 or 30 more years. (Don't read if you are faint of heart). I use a little more brute force. I take a razor blade and scrape the contacts. It is very common to have crude flake off especially if the cart was stored loose. I have also noticed that sometimes the board where the contacts are seated has expanded, especially right at the end. In that case, I scrape the board to help level it with the contacts. Afterward, I wipe firmly with 90% alcohol and a Q-tip, then buff with a cotton rag. The result is nice and shiny contacts. I know some of you might might be recoiling in horror at treating a cart this way. But I have found that these old carts are amazingly tough. I have never had a cart that was working stop working after I cleaned it. On the contrary, I have raised many carts from the dead using this method. I recently got a Pitfall II 5200 cart that was DOA ("CIB. Excellent shape. Works!" according to the eBay seller. He failed to mention the water damage at the bottom of the box and the mold growing inside -- I kid you not). After about 15 minutes of progressively aggressive scraping, cleaning and testing, the cart did indeed work. EDIT: How ironic. I typed this before seeing the above post. Obviously two diametrically opposed points of view. Your cart, your decision.

It won't. Unless you considering 'working' to mean making a more godawful mess of the video than RF does on its own already. Agreed. They work, but the interference is terrible. I tried it and went to a switchbox from home depot. You can pick them up at other places too.

There's a forum for programming my VCR? Awesome! I need that. 12:00 *blink* 12:00 *blink* 12:00 *blink* .....

I double-checked my e-bay receipts. I had my date wrong for this. I bought the sealed Dragonstomper on Sept 19, 2006 from islandnerd for $24.95. So we are talking 2 years ago, not 8 months. That more recent purchase was for a different supercharger game to replace a damaged sealed copy I had. dragonstomp_rct.pdf

Gotta be ESB. Wow, loved that as a kid and still do. But I would be interested in throwing Starfire into the mix. That is an awesome Star Wars variant.

Just today I won an eBay auction on a sealed one for $31. So it looks like $25-35 would be a reasonable price. Now if I could just get a good deal on a Tank Command.....

I don't need any convincing by a video. If I could pick only one game system to own, past or present, it would be the 2600.

I paid $25 for a CIB sealed about 8 months ago on an eBay auction. Previously, I had bid on several other copies and got outbid, so I considered that a good price. I have collected supercharger games 1 through 7 sealed in box in the past year+, and found that Dragonstomper was the hardest to get my hands on. I would agree that $10-20 is a fair price for the supercharger games, but up to $30 for Dragonstomper CIB is not unreasonable. I would not pay more than $40. You'll need to be patient to get a sub $30 copy that is in excellent shape. As stated, the best way to play these games is from a CD, keeping the cassette as a collectible. And as a side note, I have noticed a recent trend on eBay related to this thread. A lot of rarer games seem to be spiking in price, while the prices for mid-level and common game prices seemed to have dropped through the floor. In several cases it appears that new buyers are bidding up the price instead of being patient. Just my 1/50th of a dollar.

Real men don't collect label vars or pirates. I'm pushing 390 actually different NTSC games myself now. +1. 305 unique: 232 CIB, 65 with manual, 8 cart only. Good fun. Based on my experience, 390 is pretty impressive. I am slowing down, mainly just upgrading the condition of my current games. I will probably top out around 350. To get more than that would mean acquiring games I really don't want. Instead I will concetrate on my INTV, 5200, and 7800 collections.

If you can get $200+ at the "right place" then take it. Sorry to rain on your parade, but I bought the exact same thing (cart, manuals, and literature) for $125 on eBay about 5 months ago. This wasn't a BIN, but an auction. However, it is a rare item, and as stated by others, the price for such fluctuates. I just saw a CIB Spy Hunter go for $270 on eBay. Just a few months earlier, this exact same item did not sell with a BIN/Make-Offer of $150.

StarFire. Play it all the time.

"little" my aunt. I am envious. Very nice.

Well said. I think if my wife knew how much I loved my 2600, she would file for divorce. My mistress, though, is the Intellivsion. As a kid, I fell in love with that system, too. Gawd, how I loved (love) playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons on the INTV. Maybe I have a fetish for faux wood trim. Come to think of it, maybe the lack of it is the reason I never dated the CV.

Glad to see that I am not the only one in the AA universe that prefers the 7800 version. However, we are back to the comments of this being a favorite of the ladies. http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=133767 Interesting. I wonder what Frued would have to say about it (and which would be his favorite version).

Room of Doom.

Strangely, back in the day, I hated it. But now that I am older (wiser?), I love it. Tank pong with a complex maze is fun with the kids -- you never know where the next shot will end up. And I love the rumbling sound of the tank -- classic Atari.

To each their own. I like it, it's a good challenge with a good variety of game elements. Great game? No. But lousy? Nah. You could do a LOT worse. Try Airlock for an example of a lousy game. I paid $45 for a BIN on eBay, but that included the manual and was in excellent shape. I am a manual junkie and that one is pretty hard to find. Generally you'll pay a little more with BIN.

I am with you on this. 584 minutes!!??!! 8.5 HOURS!?!?? Wow, suddenly I feel like second-hand fan. I played Pitfall for 40 minutes last night (i.e. played twice until time ran out) and thought, "Whew, that is plenty."

lol. Well, according to your criteria, the 2600 wins by a landslide selling over 40 million units. And if the numbers in Wikipedia are to be trusted, similar to the INTV, half of 2600's sales were before the crash and half after the crash. Back to the original question: Atari should have released the 7800 in '84. The fact the 7800 even had some limited success despite its late release, Atari's poor marketing/chanel problems, and the brutal competition tells me it would have fared better than the 5200. It was a good system that deserved the opportunity to compete for market share. It makes business sense to try a new product when the current one is not performing. But instead Atari shelved the 7800 and put their resources into their computer line. This didn't work out very well for them because of people like me -- I just kept playing my 2600 and bought an Apple IIe instead. Just as you think it was rotten to "dump" the 5200 after 1 1/2 years, I feel it was rotten to let 7800 gather dust on the shelves for 2 years before releasing it.

Well, I know what to get you for Christmas Unfortunately, I could not find any more breakout designs except for the scarf and hat. I think it would look FABULOUS with the vest.