Why wasnt Atari 2600 as Popular in the late 70s?

[wombombs]

Hey!

 

I read somewhere the Atari 2600 was released in 1977.

 

If so y did it take so long to be popular. Was it too expensive ?

Or werent the Games too good.

 

I used to think Space Invaders was one of Atari 2600s First Games.

 

Almost everyone in Australia had a copy of Space Invaders because it came in the box with the Atari 2600 when u brought it.

Well i never got my Atari 2600 until 1984. It certainly gave me a lot of Fun that year !

[rolenta]

Hey!

 

I read somewhere the Atari 2600 was released in 1977.

 

If so y did it take so long to be popular. Was it too expensive ?

Or werent the Games too good.

 

I used to think Space Invaders was one of Atari 2600s First Games.

 

Almost everyone in Australia had a copy of Space Invaders because it came in the box with the Atari 2600 when u brought it.  

Well i never got my Atari 2600 until 1984. It certainly gave me a lot of Fun that year !

 

It was Space Invaders, which was released in 1980, that put the VCS on everybody's want list.

[MikeMika]

Leonard is right. Before that, it just seemed like a fancy Pong machine. Consumers did not understand that the system would be anything more than Combat, etc. And why not? None of the other similar devices were. Space Invaders came out, and it was actually a pretty good port, and the game was huge at Drive-Ins, Theaters, Arcades, Bars and Laundromats. Suddenly the VCS made a whole lot of sense after Space Invaders. If it could do that game, it could do other arcade games, too. And it wasn't as blocky as the other games, to boot!

 

Mike

[wombombs]

Leonard is right. Before that, it just seemed like a fancy Pong machine. Consumers did not understand that the system would be anything more than Combat, etc. And why not? None of the other similar devices were. Space Invaders came out, and it was actually a pretty good port, and the game was huge at Drive-Ins, Theaters, Arcades, Bars and Laundromats. Suddenly the VCS made a whole lot of sense after Space Invaders. If it could do that game, it could do other arcade games, too. And it wasn't as blocky as the other games, to boot!

 

Mike

 

Wow! Then the Atari 2600 must of been the first machine that could takes Cartridges.

 

BTW . What were the first 3 or so Games for Atari 2600 ?

[Tempest]

Wow! Then the Atari 2600 must of been the first machine that could takes Cartridges.

 

Nope. That would be the Fairchild Channel F which was released a few months before the 2600.

 

 

 

 

What were the first 3 or so Games for Atari 2600 ?

 

The 2600 had nine titles available at launch:

 

Combat (the pack-in title)

Air-Sea Battle

Star Ship

Indy 500

Street Racer

Video Olympics

Surround

Blackjack

Basic Math

 

 

Tempest

[Chris++]

And I gotta tell ya, I'm still surprised that Basic Math didn't propel the console to great fame and renown back in '78.

 

 

CF

[NoahsMyBro]

The RCA Studio II didn't beat both of those C consoles to the punch?

[Inky]

And I gotta tell ya, I'm still surprised that Basic Math didn't propel the console to great fame and renown back in '78.

 

 

CF

 

Grrr.. Don't get me started on Basic Math...

[Chris++]

LOL...sorry, Inky, didn't mean to bring you angst. But what would the proto of Basic Math offer? Like, all the numbers up to 3, and that's it?

 

 

 

CF

- F

---

C

[Inky]

LOL...sorry, Inky, didn't mean to bring you angst. But what would the proto of Basic Math offer? Like, all the numbers up to 3, and that's it?

 

 

 

 

CF

- F

---

C

 

Just imagine a 'Basic Algebra' cart or 'Fun with Calculus'

[Rob Mitchell]

The 2600 had nine titles available at launch

 

The first nine from the Sears lineup:

 

Target Fun (Pack-in Game)

Tank Plus

Surround

Pong Sports

Race

Math

Outer Space

Speedway II

Blackjack

 

We had all these titles in fall 1977 as they became available (except Math!)

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[DuckandCover]

Y'know...one of these days I'm going to have to get my hands on a Basic Math cart and give it a try, just so I can experience how horrible it is first hand. (Kinda like everyone needing to see Plan 9 from Outer Space at least once... )

[Inky]

Y'know...one of these days I'm going to have to get my hands on a Basic Math cart and give it a try, just so I can experience how horrible it is first hand. (Kinda like everyone needing to see Plan 9 from Outer Space at least once... )

 

Plan 9 gets a.. wel.. rap for being the worst film ever made, but try Glen or Glenda...

[wombombs]

Wow! Then the Atari 2600 must of been the first machine that could takes Cartridges.

 

Nope. That would be the Fairchild Channel F which was released a few months before the 2600.

 

 

 

 

What were the first 3 or so Games for Atari 2600 ?

 

The 2600 had nine titles available at launch:

 

Combat (the pack-in title)

Air-Sea Battle

Star Ship

Indy 500

Street Racer

Video Olympics

Surround

Blackjack

Basic Math

 

 

Tempest

 

Were all those games original Titles or were most clones from other machines.

 

And i love the game Surrond i might go play that rite now since ya mentioned it!

[AtariKen64]

i always thought too that, since games were still relatively new, most people didnt get the chance to interact with them from day one,

 

tv was first introduced in the early 40's but didnt really catch alot of steam till the mid 50s

 

same time gap from introduction to true success can be gauged with anything from cars to dvd players

[Rob Mitchell]

Y'know...one of these days I'm going to have to get my hands on a Basic Math cart and give it a try, just so I can experience how horrible it is first hand.

 

You know .. the program isn't bad .. the crime is that it uses the joystick .. If only they had waited until 1978 and made it work with the keyboards (1978).

[Rob Mitchell]

The first three carts (via Sears) were:

 

Target Fun, Tank Plus, Outer Space.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Stella'sGhost]

Leonard is right. Before that, it just seemed like a fancy Pong machine. Consumers did not understand that the system would be anything more than Combat, etc. And why not? None of the other similar devices were. Space Invaders came out, and it was actually a pretty good port, and the game was huge at Drive-Ins, Theaters, Arcades, Bars and Laundromats. Suddenly the VCS made a whole lot of sense after Space Invaders. If it could do that game, it could do other arcade games, too. And it wasn't as blocky as the other games, to boot!

 

Mike

 

I think Leonard and Mike are right on the money here. Was there any game before Space Invaders that would have sold more 2600's? I'm not sure, but I don't think so. I remember the buzz around Space Invaders and being totally consumed by it at the arcade, this one game opend the world of video games to me, and to just about everyone else.

 

I also think Activision gave new life to the system, after seeing some Activision games for the first time I was surprised that the graphics had improved so much, yet the system was the same.....

 

I also think that people had a hard time believing that the new cartridge based home video game systems like the Channel F, the VCS and the Odyssey were anything more than just fancy PONG machines. It took a while for people to come around I would guess....as with any new technology....

[gulag picture radio]

The first I remember kids getting them was '82 or so. Kids just generically called them "atari"... I had no idea that the "2600" designation wasn't introduced 'til later.

 

In my neighborhood, cost was definitely the big factor- but as a few folks have said already it was hard to know what the system was really capable of. Lots of my friends already had a pong-type machine. Of course, my family didn't get color TV until 1983 or so... funny thing being broiught up by foreigners...

 

Oh, and people who say that "Plan 9 from Outer Space" is the worst movie ever made haven't seen enough movies...

[Stella'sGhost]

Where did the Plan Nine reference come from? Hmmm, a topic I like just as much as Atari, movies!

 

Plan Nine from Outer Space may not be the very worst movie ever, however it probably is the most well known worst movie ever made. I love it , but it is so full of errors on every level that it takes the cake.

 

As well as just seeing movies for fun, I actually have a degree in Film Studies from univerisity and I saw movies from every country and every time since the very first movie ever made. I have seen a hell of alot of movies! One things certain, Ed Wood consistantly made horrible movies, so bad they are legendary in American cinema and as a result most are unintentionally funny as hell.....