Ransom

Atari 8-bit, Intellivision, Turbografx-16, NES, SNES, Lynx, Jaguar, Playstation 2.

The first one I got for my Apple ][ was Deadline. I did beat that one. Then I got Zork, played it for a little while, and then lost interest in interactive text adventures.

I bought a few games from him. I got them all, but I've never been pleasantly surprised by any of the items I bought from him. The last couple were disappointing, as the damage was hidden by carefully taken photos. Oh, well. Live and learn!

If you're using cartridges, the 8-bits are pretty user friendly. Big ol' Reset, Start, and Option buttons next to the keyboard, standard 2600 joystick/paddle port, and a cartridge port. Many of the cartridge games have a pause feature, but not all do. Space bar is the typical pause "button" on them. Yes, an XEGS or 800XL would be good units to start with. Have fun!

No surprise there. It's amazing how little we -- all of us -- typically know about what came before us, especially when we're young. We always think our music is so special and different, but it's really just a rehash of what's come before. Same with movies and TV shows -- I mean, there are only a few basic stories out there, right? Clothing's the same. The list goes on. But I think video games are even more obscure than most, because while there are "oldies" radio stations a young person might stumble upon, or they might hear their parents' or grandparents' music playing, or see an old movie on Turner Classics while flipping through the stations, it's rare for the average gamer to come into any sort of contact with 20+ year old video games.

A little humor for the weekend.... crazy eBay auction #392,464,419

After a few levels. In CV version,you can play with the archer shooting right away,depends on which skill leval you set the game at,and theres at least 9 skill levels on the CV version IIRC. You're right, of course. I should have said, "At higher levels." That would have covered it more clearly.

Yep, gettin' older. I'll be 40 this year. I may not have played Halo, but I can kick any whippersnapper's hiney in the BEST first person shooter -- Star Raiders!

After a few levels.

Dragonfire is one of my favorite games of all time. Seeing the screenshots of the other versions, I had wished so badly that I had an Intellivision or ColecoVision! But then I did get each of those in turn, and found that I actually liked the game play of the 2600 the best! Plus, to me, the treasures look far better on the 2600 than on either of those other consoles. I do know that the Intellivision and Atari versions were developed simultaneously, so there must have been a decision made that only the Intellivision version would have the archer. As to why that decision was made, or at what point in the process, I don't know.

When I was using the CX40s back in the early 80s, I'd go through about one a year. Either the plastic stick inside it would break, or the little metal contact bubbles would stop working. Then I switched to a Wico bat stick, and I haven't had one go bad on me yet.

Back when they were first released, I had both the ColecoVision and the Atari 5200. I got the 5200 because I liked the VCS, and wanted better graphics. I loved Star Raiders, but the rest of the games initially released were just rehashes and I ended up bored by them. So I sold the 5200 and bought a ColecoVision, which had a bunch of games I'd never played at home. So for me, it wasn't just the pack-in that attracted me to the CV. It was the whole game catalog. (But it wasn't long before I figured out that the games, although new to me, were not that great. I liked Lady Bug and Venture, but otherwise they were pretty mediocre to me at the time. So I ended up selling the CV to buy an Atari 400.)

This year, since picking up the 2600, I've bought most of my stuff from eBay sellers. Why? Because at least there I can see a picture of what I'm buying. I wish the online stores showed pictures of the games. Condition matters to me! If the box is crushed, badly torn, or water damaged, then why would I want it? Show me the product! That said, I have bought some games from Atari2600.com. And my long-time suppliers of all things Atari at Best Electronics and B&C Computervisions have come through for me on a few items. Of course, I can't forget Atari Age. Great home brews!

There must be something addictive about q-tips and rubbing alcohol, because I very much enjoy cleaning up carts, too. Heck, I even like it when I run across one that has a label that's falling off. I pull out the glue stick and make it look like brand new.

Wouldn't it be existing content that matters to most people, not what it's capable of?

Here, here! Well said, Supercat. That post is a keeper.

It normally takes 2-3 months, from what I hear. My order arrived in a little over two months. Don't sweat it; it'll get to ya!

You're so right! People forget that either a game is fun to play or it isn't; the graphics resolution has very little to do with that!

You have at least 2 more steps there than I have. That's one reason I don't collect boxes. Thank you for keeping the price of boxed cartridges lower.

. . . or the greatest video game system? (Apologies to Stephen Colbert.) I'm so glad I decided to get a VCS this year. I'd been playing the games in emulation for the last few years, and while that's fun, there's nothing like the real thing. Actually going to the shelf, pulling down a game, opening the box, getting the cartridge out, and putting it in the Atari sure brings back memories. In addition, it's much easier to read the instructions, adjust the game settings, and so on when everything is physically right there in front of you. Plus, I've been rediscovering how great so many of the VCS games are. Sure, I knew Adventure, Kaboom!, and a few dozen others were solid games, but I'd forgotten how much more fun I had with the VCS versions of Berzerk and Jungle Hunt (just as an example) than I had with other versions of those games. Not to mention great home brews like "Lady Bug" and "Fall Down"! I remember how floored I was by the the Atari 5200 and Colecovision's graphics back in the day, but it does all come down to game play. And so many VCS games have that in spades! Also, the simple controls really help with playability, and most of the games are far more replayable than the typical "beatable" games of the last 20 years. The Atari VCS: Better game play, playability, and replayability than any other system. That's what makes the VCS the greatest video game system, ever.

It was tough to pick one to fill that last spot. There are too many favorites! But... 1- Adventure 2- Dragonfire 3- Kaboom! 4- No Escape! 5- Video Pinball

According to the wikipedia entry, the best selling video game consoles of all time do not include Intellivision, Colecovision, Odyssey 2, Atari 7800, or any of the other classics aside from the 2600. So all those consoles sold less than the 2 million that 3DO sold?! Or are there just no reliable sales figures available?

I keep the XEGM around just because it's different (and I picked it up super cheap, 'way back in 1991, for $5 CIB at a flea market), but I've never really used it beyond making sure that it works. I've found that, for general purposes, a stock 800XL does pretty good.

Other than 8BitDomain, is there anyone currently offering video mod kits for the 2600?

It didn't bother me at all, because I had a VCS and had never owned an Intellivision, so I "knew" that graphics didn't matter; it was game play that did. And I wasn't into sports video games, so all the ads about them didn't matter at all to me. Then I met a guy who had an Intellivision, and we traded systems & games for one summer. Damn, those Intellivision games were good! Yeah, the controllers were not-good, but the games were good. After that, the commercials didn't bother me, because I knew they were right -- the graphics were generally prettier on the Intellivision, and many games were just as fun as those on Atari. Now I own both systems, and I love 'em both (but the VCS will always be #1).