AtariKid81

I took the key parts of what you stated and would like to comment. Backwards compatability was a must. I agree that most 2600 games sucked(ducks), but there were some good/clever games too. And most everyday/average Atari owners would have been greatly attracted by the backwards-compatability feature. Never forget who was purchasing these systems/games - it wasn't kids - it was Mom's and Dad's. Mom's and Dad's found Atari 2600 games to be as mind blowing and fun as your average 12 year-old felt about games available at the local Arcade. Advanced 5200 games, played with a TWO BUTTON, DIGITAL (CX-40 STYLE) JOYSTICK, would have gently attracted parents to "the next level". Analog joysticks were the answer to the question that nobody asked! Next point: The system that would follow the 5200, needed to leave the 2600 & 5200 legacy behind. It needed to be a cutting-edge system that paved its own course. Finally, you are 100% correct to state that Warner/Atari(exec's) ultimately didn't give a rats ass about Atari's reputation. Everyone (starting with Nolan Bushnell imo) was looking to milk Atari for all it was worth. In their defense though, the purpose of owning a business is to make the most you can, while you can. If I was in any of "their" shoes, I may find myself making many of the same decisions!

The Atari "Business is War" Cover is Excellent!! "Business is Fun", on the other hand, is waaay too busy. Keep it simple - you can't include everything and everyone and still convey a message. Follow the expression that good graphic artists live by: "All display is no display". I would only include the following pics: Nolan Bushnell, A Warner symbol with Steve Ross and Ray Kasar, the word "Pong", an Atari VCS with joystick and an Atari 800. Add a pic of 2600 Pac-man, and Star Raiders and an Asteroids arcade machine. Place these images on top of a large somewhat faded Atari symbol. At one glance this will clearly convey what the book is about.

The Atari "Business is War" Cover is Excellent!! "Business is Fun", on the other hand, is waaay too busy. Keep it simple - you can't include everything and everyone and still convey a message. Follow the expression that good Graphic artists live by: "all display is no display". I would only include the following pics: Nolan Bushnell, A Warner Symbol with Steve Ross and Ray Kasar, the word "Pong", an Atari VCS with joystick and an Atari 800. Add a pic of 2600 Pac-man, And Star Raiders and an Asteroids Arcade machine. Place these images on top of a large somewhat faded Atari symbol. At one glance this will clearly convey what the book is about.

You are correct. I am not worthy! Atarikid81 signing off!

It depends what you may consider a title screen? To my knowledge, the first game to offer title "info" was "Asteroids". On power up, the T.V. displays, "copy write symbol", 1981 Atari, Inc. I believe Asteroid was actually programmed and manufactured in 1981 too, unlike many, including "Defender", for example, which was programmed in 1981, but not sold until June of 1982. "Later" production runs of Asteroids omitted the 1981 copy write info. Funny thing though, I received Asteroids, Christmas of 1981 - sold as a Sears Telegames version - it did not include the title screen. I wonder how many copies of Asteroids, Atari actually produced, with the copy write info, before they switched? Anyway, I am almost positive "Star Raiders" offered the first legitimate title screen with the name of the game and copy write info. E.T. offered the first title screen with a graphic. I will look through my collection and see if there's a third party game that will prove us all wrong!

Every year, when school begins, I get a case of, "Atari Fall Fever". The condition starts around Labor Day and peaks on Halloween. It is the time of year, that I mentally regress to middle school age and my Atari passion is at its peak. It may be the sound of the high school band or the cool crisp Fall air that triggers it. Commercials for, "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", send my fascination in overdrive. I am not kidding either - I honestly have frequent flashbacks to Atari's heyday - 1981 - 1983. Strong memories of my friends and I catching up on all things Atari possesses me. I am 46 and this still occurs like clockwork. My 2600 gets heavy use this time of year and I seem to enjoy the games more than usual. My question is, do any of you come down with "Atari Fall Fever"?

When Disco died, nobody said, WOW! These are great times for the consumer! Let's pick-up some great albums for a fraction of what they once went for, and build our collection!! The record companies couldn't give disco records away. The same pretty much applies to Atari 2600 games. No one over age 11(in mid to late '83) wanted them. Why? Because (the arcade ports) weren't even close to the arcade version. As far as the original games go, there were some good ones, i.e. "Pitfall I & II, HERO, River Raid, - - o.k. Activision games were pretty decent. But the rest, with just a few exceptions, wouldn't hold your interest long. Some made you sick to your stomach. I placed most of my trust in Atari, to make games more faithful to the arcade. It is their system - I figured, they would, at some point, make a better cartridge, which was capable of playing games closer to their arcade counterpart. It was obvious, the technology they were currently using, wasn't very advanced, as Activision, kicked Atari's butt at every turn. I held my breath and prayed, that Atari would release "Pac-man" on a cartridge with greater "computer power", as I envisioned ROM an RAM back then. Of course, what the world got wasn't even remotely close to what the Arcade offered. In fact, it's as-if Atari wanted the game to be terrible. Pac-man shook the faith of most Atari fans. I realized, Atari had no interest in improving their games, so I quit buying. I mean, anyone willing to screw up Pac-man, sooo badly, had no interest in ever improving games for the system. The phrase "Atari sucks" soon followed and sales declined rapidly. Anyway, the third-party games were flowing like a river and everyone bought because they were cheap, compared to Atari and Activision games - $7.99 - $12.99 each. By mid '83 the cheap games were so bad, I walked away from my 2600. I didn't even want to check out Activision games anymore. The 2600 was so tarnished at this point - kinda like those Disco records. The world agreed and the bargain bins followed. Time to move on with sports...... Let me go a different route with this... Most kids love Taylor Swift(insert vomit here). What if, your daughter could ONLY see her in concert, at several thousand bucks a ticket. But you could buy a knock-off version CD, for your home system, for $39.99. Add to the market, Taylor Swift "knock-offs" who knock-off the knock-off! This is kinda what Atari 2600 games were like. Imagine how disappointed your daughter would be! It was all about the arcade....Atari was fun for a bit - but the arcade is what really sparkled!

In my mind, I still vividly remember the first time Activision games, specifically, "Laser Blast", appeared on store shelves. I felt like a bug hypnotized by the mesmerizing blue light of a bug zapper. At the time, the concept of another company making games for Atari, was sooooo bizarre, yet strangely cool! Upon seeing "Laser Blast" in action, I realized just how bizarre this game really was! Instead of defending your planet or base or whatever, you were now an invading alien spaceship! In late '81 or early '82, breaking from the well-patterned formula, of serving as a planetary defender, was crazy talk! What I liked the most, was the style of laser David Crane selected. I don't believe I recall, any other game utilizing such an effect. Add to this, the ability to crash into the ground defenses, once shot from the sky. This was definitely a first in the home arena. I will agree, by todays(heck 1983) standards, "Laser Blast" is repetitive and tiresome. Once in a blue moon though, "Laser Blast", combined with those initial memories, make a great evening!

Coleco manufactured amazing products of incredible quality. Anyone receiving a Coleco product for their birthday, or Christmas, would jump for joy. I remember, Christmas 1979 or 1980, receiving Coleco "Head-to-Head Electronic Football". My Brother and I played the crap out of it. I believe Mattel created the original electronic handheld football game, but Coleco perfected it. This was their niche - perfecting products previously done by someone else; or at least, that's my memory. Therefore, it was no surprise, when Coleco unseated Atari, as video game champion, with its awesome "Colecovision" and accompanying library of arcade-reminiscent games. I am of the generation that grew up with the arcade and subsequent home video game scene. I love Atari more than anything. I must admit though, that Colecovision created the greatest console of the era. Nintendo should count its lucky stars, for the video game crash coupled with Coleco, essentially bankrupting itself, with the fatally flawed "ADAM" computer. If Coleco had released their projected "Super Game Module", the remaining 80's video game scene might have been very different.

I could never figure Atari out!? How could they screw up something they previously perfected? Games cartridges install effortlessly and perfectly in the 2600 and the VCS cartridge adapter, for the 5200 - but the 7800 "Pro System" - forget it! I purchased a 7800 cartridge guide from the Syzygy Company site, for around $5. The guide is a definite improvement over the original. Unfortunately, Imagic and most Activision games still fail to insert easily, if at all.

If only life could be so simple again - wait, hold that thought a moment.....about to break 10,000 points on "Berzerk". I'll be back in a sec...

Awesomeness!! Thanks for sharing!!

Not crazy about the name, "Time Salvo". Should call it "Robotron II"! 👍

Welcome back Pac-ManPlus!! I am so glad, you pay attention to "B" list titles, such as "Astro Fighter", "Astro Blaster" and "Rip Off"(to name a few). Almost forgotten, arcade games, such as these, seem a natural fit for the 7800. If this comes out in cart form - I'm on it!

Beautiful work!! Sell this in cart form and I'm all over it!

My favorite Pac-man is what us kids called "Chinese Pac-man". I think it's actually an unlicensed hack, titled "Hangly-man". Anyway, the maze flashes and disappears all-together, under different conditions. It was an awesome "sequel" of the original, back-in-the-day.

Someone at Atari should've been smart enough to select "Food Fight" as the pack-in. What a great family-fun game! In addition, it would've helped if Atari actually advertised the 7800 and placed demonstration units in stores. No one knew it existed!

Crazy Climber - I would survive - still fairly fit and trim at age 45. Besides, I would cheat, by breaking a window, entering, and using the elevator!

I am surprised by such low numbers - really surprised! I guess I figured, with all the games sold on Atari Age, and at conventions, the numbers would be higher. Then again, the ROM's are free to download. If this was not the case, would it be reasonable to believe the numbers would be higher?

Yes, Atari did hit a home run with the CX-40! I have tried about everything else - both old school and new - and spent tons of $$$ in the process. Nothing else compares. I must admit to being somewhat of a "purist" too. But if the CX-40 sucked, I would be using something else. I have wondered,for some time, why Atari created the CX-23 Proline controller. They could've saved a lot of time and trouble by simply adding a second fire button to the CX-40. I figure, most would've been more-than-happy with this configuration. I do like the CX-23 for some games. It could've been a pretty good joystick - seems like Atari went cheap on the internal part quality and design.

I made it to Christmas and then some. I don't want to spoil the fun of discovering what happens in "Toyshop Trouble". All I can say is, the game is deeper than I ever expected.

During the heyday of Atari, games which sold 1 million copies, or more, were generally recognized in game advertisements and news articles. One million was the benchmark for video game success. Therefore, may I suggest, recognizing sales success, for Homebrew's sold at Atariage. I have no idea what the benchmark number would be...1000? 2500? 5,000 sold?? No clue! An icon of this success could be placed in the advertisement of the game. The icon could be anything, from a blue ribbon to a "space invader" or even "Pac-man" - whatever. This would be a quick way to identify the most-beloved, high-selling games. In addition, this recognition will help us all understand the size and popularity of the Atari Homebrew scene.

7800 "Frenzy" is "stoopid" fun! It is a strategic shooter with plenty to discover as you advance through the levels. Another recommendation is "Crazy Brix". I am grateful it was not available in the 80's. I would still be living in my mom's basement, playing away! Finally, "Toyshop Trouble" - avoid at all costs if you don't want to put your marriage in peril. I played this game every free second, for weeks, until I beat it. My grass grew about a foot. Good luck!

Use a good-ol CX-40 for your maze type games. The Proline controllers are far to sloppy internally. They work ok in the early stages of a game. Once the action heats up and the ghosts are hot on Ms. Pac-man's heels - as they say on New York, "forget about it!"

"Crazy Climber" - I just "won" it from an eBay auction. So far, pretty cool game. Hopefully this weekend, I will receive Imagic's "Shooting Gallery" in the mail - another eBay win. I know this is the 2600 section, but I'm hooked on Bob Decrescenzo's "Frenzy" again!