gloriousconnor Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 (edited) I just got my 2600 a month or so ago and I love it. Games like Adventure, Defender and Pac Man have already rocked my world and have shown me, flat out, what a real game is. THOSE are games. But every time I turn it on I get very disappointed that I wasn't alive to see the system in its glory days; nostalgic for a time period I've never lived in would be the best way to put it I guess. It's not only Atari; INTV, Coleco, Vectrex, Fairchild.. all amazing, plus many others of course I also wish I could have gone to the Arcades and played the greats; the games that defined genres and showed what video games were really capable of, how far they could push the boundaries of the real world. The games that were more than simply games. And now what? Bit rot and dead carts? The icing on the cake. I couldn't be a part of the history, and now that history can't even be preserved. Any other young guys on here feel the same way? Edited August 9, 2009 by gloriousconnor 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The #5 Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I am only 13, and I feel the same way... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbomb Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I'm 39, and am thankful that I was able to experience the beginning of all of it. One regret that I do have is that I don't have all of the original gear that I had purchased. Now that I look back on it, I'm really not sure what happened to my 1977 Atari 2600 and 1982 Colecovision. I had to have sold them off but don't remember. Never had an Intellivision. I think that I had to make the decision to get one but not both. I do remember being jealous of some of the Intellivision games. I also was one of the first on the block to get a Commodore 64. Either way, great memories that get re-activated every time that I look at the top of my closet. Good to see that there are some younger players that appreciate the start of it all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemeni Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 im happy I grew up in the 16-bit era now those were games 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlightSuit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I am also 39, and I do feel very lucky to have experienced the 1970s and 1980s, not just for the games, but also for the toys (Shogun Warriors, Stretch Armstrong, Bulletman The Human Bullet, Micronauts), the movies (Star Wars, Alien, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Altered States, Scanners, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Cheech & Chong), the comic books (Marvel's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Heavy Metal, the Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine, Rip-Off Press), the TV shows (Battlestar Galactica, Captain Cosmic, Creature Features, Night Flight) and the music (KISS, The Dead Kennedys, Run DMC) and on and on... To all you youngsters who missed all that, look at the bright side: Long after us old-timers have died, you'll still be around, and you'll get to experience things like affordable space tourism, and maybe watching humans land on Mars, and perhaps even the advent of a truly self-aware machine. And imagine what the graphics will look like on a gaming console thirty or forty years from now! There are also, of course, a ton of innovations that we can't even predict right now, 'cause nobody's thought of them yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuppicide Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Hey.. I'm not too far from Jackson. My friend used to race remote control cars there out on Route 70. My Uncle flies airplanes somewhere there. I too am fortunate to have grown up when it all began as well. I am fortunate to have known what an "arcade" is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDW Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I am also 39, and I do feel very lucky to have experienced the 1970s and 1980s, not just for the games, but also for the toys (Shogun Warriors, Stretch Armstrong, Bulletman The Human Bullet, Micronauts), the movies (Star Wars, Alien, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Altered States, Scanners, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Cheech & Chong), the comic books (Marvel's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Heavy Metal, the Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine, Rip-Off Press), the TV shows (Battlestar Galactica, Captain Cosmic, Creature Features, Night Flight) and the music (KISS, The Dead Kennedys, Run DMC) and on and on... To all you youngsters who missed all that, look at the bright side: Long after us old-timers have died, you'll still be around, and you'll get to experience things like affordable space tourism, and maybe watching humans land on Mars, and perhaps even the advent of a truly self-aware machine. And imagine what the graphics will look like on a gaming console thirty or forty years from now! There are also, of course, a ton of innovations that we can't even predict right now, 'cause nobody's thought of them yet. While I am jealous of the 2nd gamer generation gamers, I do like hearing your predictions of my awesome future. I have no idea whether to ridicule you for being old, or praise you for making me feel better. I'm making Chickybaby's nightmares come true, one step at a time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlightSuit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Hah, hah! I'm old. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlightSuit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 When you think about it, we're all currently living in somebody's future. I grew up watching movies and TV shows with names like, "Class of 1984," "Space: 1999" and "2001: A Space Odyssey." They had names like that because those dates were considered to be so far in the future. Similarly, a lot of sci-fi took place "in the 21st century," which was regarded as being so far in the future that if you were writing sci-fi, you could pretty much postulate any kind of crazy technology, 'cause it's not like anybody reading your story was gonna still be around to find out you were wrong. And yet... Here we are! Living in the 21st century! That just blows my mind. We're way behind schedule when it comes to conquering space and colonizing other planets and all, but the capabilities of our cars are pretty amazing, even if they're a lot uglier than their low-tech predecessors. And if you're into RC helicopters and planes like I am, the stuff that's available now would have been unheard of and impossible back in the day. I do, however, think cell phone technology is the biggest load of crap imaginable. Land lines and CB radios had better sound quality and better connections than these damned mobile phones. And don't even get me started on the subject of the entertainment industry. Totally un-interesting, computer-generated special effects are supposed to be an improvement over miniature models and stop-motion animation? Really? And unscripted "reality TV" that's totally not real, and just exists to drag people down and let emotionally immature idiots make spectacles of themselves? That's something I should want to watch? Really? But, I digress. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gloriousconnor Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 I am also 39, and I do feel very lucky to have experienced the 1970s and 1980s, not just for the games, but also for the toys (Shogun Warriors, Stretch Armstrong, Bulletman The Human Bullet, Micronauts), the movies (Star Wars, Alien, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Altered States, Scanners, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Cheech & Chong), the comic books (Marvel's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Heavy Metal, the Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine, Rip-Off Press), the TV shows (Battlestar Galactica, Captain Cosmic, Creature Features, Night Flight) and the music (KISS, The Dead Kennedys, Run DMC) and on and on... To all you youngsters who missed all that, look at the bright side: Long after us old-timers have died, you'll still be around, and you'll get to experience things like affordable space tourism, and maybe watching humans land on Mars, and perhaps even the advent of a truly self-aware machine. And imagine what the graphics will look like on a gaming console thirty or forty years from now! There are also, of course, a ton of innovations that we can't even predict right now, 'cause nobody's thought of them yet. While most of what you said is true, there's nooo way better graphics can make for better games. Worse most likely. Less focus on the gameplay and storyline, more on the graphics.... Hey.. I'm not too far from Jackson. My friend used to race remote control cars there out on Route 70. My Uncle flies airplanes somewhere there. I too am fortunate to have grown up when it all began as well. I am fortunate to have known what an "arcade" is. Cool! Maybe we can get together sometime and trade games or something 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gloriousconnor Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 When you think about it, we're all currently living in somebody's future. I grew up watching movies and TV shows with names like, "Class of 1984," "Space: 1999" and "2001: A Space Odyssey." They had names like that because those dates were considered to be so far in the future. Similarly, a lot of sci-fi took place "in the 21st century," which was regarded as being so far in the future that if you were writing sci-fi, you could pretty much postulate any kind of crazy technology, 'cause it's not like anybody reading your story was gonna still be around to find out you were wrong. And yet... Here we are! Living in the 21st century! That just blows my mind. We're way behind schedule when it comes to conquering space and colonizing other planets and all, but the capabilities of our cars are pretty amazing, even if they're a lot uglier than their low-tech predecessors. And if you're into RC helicopters and planes like I am, the stuff that's available now would have been unheard of and impossible back in the day. I do, however, think cell phone technology is the biggest load of crap imaginable. Land lines and CB radios had better sound quality and better connections than these damned mobile phones. And don't even get me started on the subject of the entertainment industry. Totally un-interesting, computer-generated special effects are supposed to be an improvement over miniature models and stop-motion animation? Really? And unscripted "reality TV" that's totally not real, and just exists to drag people down and let emotionally immature idiots make spectacles of themselves? That's something I should want to watch? Really? But, I digress. You have absolutely no idea how much I agree with you. As for the entertainment industry, look at my avatar; greatest movie ever made 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I grew up with classic games. They were great, but I spent well over $300 and only owned ten cartridges. For that same amount of money now you could probably own at least 100 cartridges. This is the best time to get into classic games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ_Maine_Man Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 (edited) I'm 38 and loved growing up with video games. my best Christmases I had ever was when I got the Atari 2600 and then when I got my Colecovision those where the best time for me for sure. My father would take me to the local toystore (Child World in saugas mass) and let me pick out 1 thing that I really wanted and I used to love looking up and down the Video game isle all the 2600 and colecovision games were always my focus. By the time the big crash had started I had moved on to my Apple 2c computer and that became my main gaming machine, I did continue to play my Coleco and Atari for a few more years so action games were just better played on the consoles. ahhh and the classic arcade's those were the best just about every mall had one. My mother would give me 5 bucks every weekend and I would walk the railroad tracks with a friend to get to the local arcade ,,,, The Pallidin on the Lynnway in lynn mass Donkey kong,Asteroids(I could turn it over easy,Space invaders then games like Karate Champ with its one on one fighting action was great. funny how things just seemed better back then Edited August 10, 2009 by AJ_Maine_Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Very glad I got to live the 70's and 80's. I never got to go to too many arcades, we were pretty poor growing up. Flightsuit, I totally hear ya about celphones and what could have been-- while it's neat that we do have comm devices that are available and easily used, they way it has been implemented is totally bogus. My old CB that I no longer have sounded better and you could even upgrade it. Stop motion? I love Robot Chicken. RC vehicles back in the day were VERY expensive and a specialized hobby, now I can go down and buy a basic whatever for $20 at a discount store. Oh yeah, steel Tonka Trucks. Never gonna see those again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlightSuit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I still have my steel Tonka from when I was a kid, but its roof is all smashed. More recently, I acquired one of these, as somebody was just giving it away for free: Still plenty of metal parts on that one! Other faves from my childhood were the Corgi Batmobile and the Cylon Raider, both of which were capable of firing tiny little missiles that a kid could choke to death on. The Batmobile also had a sharp little circular saw on the front for cutting through roadblocks! Those were the days! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmountainslim Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I grew up with classic games. They were great, but I spent well over $300 and only owned ten cartridges. For that same amount of money now you could probably own at least 100 cartridges. This is the best time to get into classic games. I dig your rap! Back in the early eighties I had my Vader and around 15 games.....nowadays I still have my Vader and over 300 games!! Wp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlightSuit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Is a "Vader" a type of game console? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lynxer2007 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 im happy I grew up in the 16-bit era now those were games Indeed they were. SNES all the way. Mario Kart, Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Star Fox. I can go on and on 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmountainslim Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Is a "Vader" a type of game console? Yeah, "Vader" is the name for the all black 4 Switcher 2600 .....Woodgrain free! Lol! Wp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I'm jealous of the original 2600 programmers. Getting paid to program the 2600 would be my dream job 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlightSuit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 You talk to those programmers and they don't always make it sound like all that much fun: Impossible deadlines, promises made by the marketing department that the hardware can't deliver, and on and on... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlightSuit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Is a "Vader" a type of game console? Yeah, "Vader" is the name for the all black 4 Switcher 2600 .....Woodgrain free! Lol! Wp OK, I remember reading about that somewhere. Those are nice-looking consoles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 If the programmers back the had HALF the stuff for the ST that we have now, 2600 games would have been very different. You can program 2600 games on the ST from what I understand (never tried myself). @flightsuit, the vader is a cool looking console, it gets a lot of bad press though for some reason. I like it and want another one (have a woody 4-banger now) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I'm jealous of the original 2600 programmers. Getting paid to program the 2600 would be my dream job Actually, game programming back then was more work and less rewarding than it might seem. Most game programmers I knew were overworked and underpaid. And the work was often frustrating and often unrecognized. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamera809 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I just got my 2600 a month or so ago and I love it. Games like Adventure, Defender and Pac Man have already rocked my world and have shown me, flat out, what a real game is. THOSE are games. But every time I turn it on I get very disappointed that I wasn't alive to see the system in its glory days; nostalgic for a time period I've never lived in would be the best way to put it I guess. It's not only Atari; INTV, Coleco, Vectrex, Fairchild.. all amazing, plus many others of course I also wish I could have gone to the Arcades and played the greats; the games that defined genres and showed what video games were really capable of, how far they could push the boundaries of the real world. The games that were more than simply games. And now what? Bit rot and dead carts? The icing on the cake. I couldn't be a part of the history, and now that history can't even be preserved. Any other young guys on here feel the same way? I'm 19 and I feel your pain. My first home console was a PS1. My Mom had the Atari hooked up to the TV ever since I was born and she never let me play it. Why? Because she thought it was unplugged and didn't wanna move the TV to plug it in. Nostalgia for a time period I never lived in is exactly how I describe it. I get that way with the 50's sometimes, beautiful music and great movies ^^ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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