sloth-machine

For ages I would just use a cheap 'whatever' AV cable with the RF adaptor on my unmodded Atari consoles. These were cables I just accumulated in a junk drawer from various DVD, VHS players, etc. My Atari picture quality was always below average, but I just assumed that how it was with RF hookup. I modded a Vader a few years back and loved it's picture quality. However, at my work shop, an original junior model always gave me a fuzzy picture, one that I would play during breaks. I was walking through Walmart and saw a shielded AV sub-woofer cable and said what the hell. I didn't expect much and was weary of spending 13 bucks for nothing. I replaced the thick, shielded subwoofer AV cable with the cheaply thin one and BAM!. The picture quality looks JUST as good as my AV Modded Vader, no more fuzz what-so-ever!. So for Atari newbies or for long time Atari enthusiasts who just never thought about it (like me). I suggest swapping those cheap AV cables you use with your RF/Coaxial adapters, and get a nice shielded cable. It may make modding an Atari not worth it.

I didn't get to spend much time in the arcades back then so playing arcade ports on my 2600 was all I had, but it was great. My favorite are all the higher quality arcade ports by Atari (the ones by GCC during the silver label era), but they can range in genre so it's hard for me to pinpoint. Some of my top favs are Pole Position, Dig Dug, Jungle Hunt, Battlezone, Moon Patrol, Centipede, Mario Bros. Crystal Castles, Stargate, Kangaroo, Missile Command, Asteroids. All of these play quite differently, So I guess I will just say arcade games. I prefer playing the 2600 versions of arcade games vs Mame due to sheer nostalgia. Secondly I would say adventure games like Pitfall, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, Riddle of the Sphinx, Haunted House, Adventure, Superman, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAe2IvEl9kI Centipede commercial is my all time favorite, never will game commercials be like they use to, hell they rarely even make game commercials anymore. I also dig the already mentioned "The Fly" commercial. It was made from the same company who did the special effects for Tron. All hand drawn animation, made to look like 3D polygons. Pretty awesome and ahead of it's time. Apparently the commercial was shown during the previews of Return of the Jedi. I also like the 2600 Dig Dug commercial, with the grounds caving in, great little commercial for a great little game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K2HTb2-R2M

That trackball can be incredibly quick and precise for this game, where as the joystick is pretty cumbersome for the 2600 version.

Yes, The family VCS was my parents before my brother and I were old enough to take it over. However, they we casual, to me it became a religion.

I forgot to mention Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Many endless hours of taking down mammoth AT-AT Walkers with my brother. Pure fun.

Here here, Dig Dug 2600 is one of the best arcade conversions, IMO. So good!

ET, I loved the movie in the early 80s, so I would play the game lots back then. I forever have a soft spot for it.

My 5 year old loves Haunted House, Adventure, Bowling, Space Invaders, and Jungle Hunt. All games with fairly simple controls and straightforward game play.

Yes, however the general population had more disposable income during this time period and this was before the era of disposable electronics and Chinese production. Once it changed the console was much more affordable.

*seller notices you taking a picture of the cartridge, further pushing his belief of it being a rare game, then quickly doubles the price.*

Well, let's type in 'slam', 'grandma' and 'meme' into google...and... ah, here we go.

Hah, wow that's genius.

Awesome guys, thanks for the tips. I'll admit, I always generally just used cheap cables I have in my junk drawer. But I'll pick up thicker higher quality cables and throw out the gold plated idea.

One thing I've noticed for decades is that the RF picture quality better when my console/cable is touched (mainly on an Atari Jr.). When untouched the fuzz is greater. However the same goes for basically any RF signal. I remember the days prior to digital TV, holding the antenna to get a better signal. Most likely due to the signals, and my body acting as a ground. How do I retain this clarity? Better cables (gold plated)?

I also recommend atgames.com joysticks, they are amazing and high quality. Very smooth joystick and button. Quick shipping too! They work great on a real 2600, in case you were wondering. Pay by paypal right online and boom, done. Best Electronics you're gonna have to call, their site is as primitive as the products they sell...haha. I kid, I kid.

Not to change the subject, but Shenmue wins for worst failed game, at least from what I read. The budget was speculated between 50-70 million, and returned less than 1/4. I remember reading they would have to sell 2 copies to every Dreamcast owner to start turning a profit. Sega in the 90's had 'Atari logic' and it was their downfall.

Like everyone mentioned, Parker Bros went to Atari to port the game, Atari sold them the license. It's a great port too, programmed by a notable developer (an former Atari & Imagic employee) Bob Smith.

Great article written by the man himself. Not to brown nose, but I am glad Howard was the one chosen for E.T. I played that game a lot as a child and have fond memories for it, despite it's reputation. To me the game is just as cherished as the film. Any other developer may have just turned out a Pacman clone at Spielberg's request, but Howard said no. I admire the game's concept for that alone. I like him as a game developer. Yars, RotLA and Saboteur along with ET are still being played by me 30 years later (well saboteur was obviously released decades later). His concepts were very intriguing to me back then.

Turmoil and Beamrider are close enough to Tempest for me.

Pretty cool, I was expecting everyone to say a 50 inch high def tv haha.

Yep, same here. Not a huge difference between my av mod Atari and my RF Atari. It helps a bit for games with smaller thinner pixels, like the bullets in Space Invaders.

Real Atari (A\V mod) and other retro consoles: A very modest 15in LCD TV (but I grew up playing Atari and Nes on a 13 inch TV in my bedroom so I'm use to it, plus the countless hours spent on the postage stamp size gameboy screen). Emulation: 15in laptop and 7in tablet.

There is also Breakout, Super Breakout, Backgammon, Warlords, Night Driver, I'm thinking the more logical reason would be Todd's preference. But it was fun combing through Atari games of the time period to see if the theory has logic.

You sure? Dodge Em, Missile Command, Centipede, Berzerk, Haunted House, Yars', Basketball, Video Pinball, etc.