If one was to begin learning basic/programming

[jeremysart]

-Atari 2600

-Intellivision

-Colecovision

-Atari 7800

-Atari 5200

 

Which of these system is best for a beginner,

Which is hardest to learn?

 

Are there any user friendly programs that make it easier to pull/ grab and edit sprites/ graphics for doing hacks without a lot of programming?

 

Please give opinions and reasons.

Any references, books, or websites that would be helpful are appreciated!

Thanks.

[CGQuarterly]

Are you saying that you want to learn to program in BASIC, or that you want to learn some basic programming? If it is the former, then you want a classic computer and not a game system (Apple II, 8-bit Atari, etc). If you have never programmed before, then trying to program a game for one of the systems you mentioned is probably not the way to start.

 

Now that I think about it, there is batari BASIC, which you might have fun with. Check it out here:

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories.html

 

Chris

[Jess Ragan]

I'd probably recommend the Atari 2600 out of the five systems listed. Neither the Intellivision or ColecoVision have BASIC compilers available (although I certainly wish they did), and I never had much luck with the Atari 5200 compiler, so the 2600 is your best bet. It'll let you dip your toe in the water with a simple game, then when you feel more confident, you can move on to languages and systems of greater substance.

 

I would like to recommend Dragon BASIC for the GameBoy Advance, but it was a stone cold bitch trying to understand how the system's tile-based graphics worked. It took me the better part of two weeks getting those to work properly. It's a lot of fun designing once you get over that hurdle, though!

[accousticguitar]

I found this tutorial a must read for batari Basic.

 

http://bataribasic.com/tutorial.html

[jeremysart]

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions.

Discovering Visual Bb was great as I am largely a visual learner (hence the fact I am an artist). I think i'll be doing a lot of reading over the next few months.