Is it a sin to love classic gaming but not like the 2600

[+RangerG]

I have been thinking for some time now about selling my 2600 collection (or just going to unique titles) and concentrating on the 5200 and Colecovision. I reached what seems to be the threshold for the 2600 in terms of finds in the wild about 4 to 5 months ago. I spent about a year and a half and found almost 200 games for the 2600 (includes major label variations), but everything seems to be duplicates now. I really think 200 is the mark where wild finds becomes really scarce. Anyways, people love to see my 2600 when they come over and they like to see the 2600 carts, but I personally seldom play the 2600. I much prefer the 5200 and Colecovision. These are easily my favorite systems and I'd like to concentrate my collecting on them as I start to take the next step in the classic gaming hobby (going to conventions -- hello Philly Classic :wink: ). The 2600 is somewhat depressing in that I realize how much money it would take to continue the collection and I would never have a complete collection. Whereas, with the 5200 and Colecovision I can see myself someday having a complete collection of carts with great lables and a gaming library with games I would love to play. Anyone on the board had similar experiences? I'm overstating any dislike for the 2600, but you get the gist . . .

 

-- RG

[Inky]

YES! IT IS A SIN! DROP AND GIVE ME 20 HAIL MARY'S!!!

 

I don't think it's a sin. We all have prefrences..

 

And I'll take your games..

[Snider-man]

<<Sniderman points at Ranger and screeches like Donald Sutherland at the end of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers">>

[Godzilla]

classic gaming IS the 2600. It is the godfather. You will love and respect it, or it'll kneecap you with it's big baseballl bat.

 

You may love other systems, but you shall put none before the 2600, sinner! It is the one true classic system, that died for your sins!

 

:-)

 

Z

[Marco(2)]

YES

[+RangerG]

WOW -- I'm off to church now Thankfully, you all are not close enough to get together a tar and feathering rally :wink:

 

-- RG

[Chris++]

Ranger,

 

Nobody knows except you -- so don't let anyone try to make you think THEIR opinion is relevant to YOUR enjoyment! Would you let others tell you what kind of music to listen to?

 

If you don't have fun playing the games, there's no point. Nothing is a "sin" -- we all have different tastes. Get rid of your 2600 stuff if it brings you no enjoyment. It's silly spending money on a collection of STUFF if you're not going to use it!

 

Everyone should feel free to play the games they actually like without catching shit from anybody else. You can be a classic gaming aficionado without liking the 2600 -- you stick to what YOU damn well enjoy. Nobody can tell you any different; the whole point is to have FUN.

 

 

CF

[+RangerG]

Thanks Chris --

 

I really wouldn't get rid of the 2600 (it is just too symbolic of an era sitting on my table), but I might just go to unique titles and I am going to direct my meager hobby resources toward the 5200 and Colecovision. I think for me (and probably many others) a lot of classic enjoyment comes from memories. I never had a 2600 so it doesn't hold that exalted position of first console. My cousin had a 2600 which we have many good memories of, but he got the 5200 when it first came out (spoiled kid also got an IBM PC JR when it first came out -- no jealousy here ) . We both loved the 5200 and played it to death, so my classic memories revolve around it. I also loved the arcades as a kid (having no system at home made them more unique) and I think the 5200 and Colecovision match these memories well (or maybe I should start collecting coin-ups -- my wife will love that .

 

Take care,

RG

[maximebeauvais]

I think for me (and probably many others) a lot of classic enjoyment comes from memories.

 

This was the main raison why I have started to collect atari 2600 around 3-4 years ago.

 

However, now, I have around 600 atari 2600 games and to be honest, I think that the last time that I found a game in the wild that I did not have in my collection was 1 year ago (maybe more).

 

So I have started to collect intellivision because there are only 125 games it is very to get all those game (in the wild and ebay ) Now I'm missing only 8 games to complete it.

 

And yes something I will like to sell all my video game.....

[MegaManFan]

I've run up on it at 300+ carts, and all I usually find these days are label variations; so now and then I buy a few games off eBay I don't have to keep my interest strong. If you want to unload yours though, I'm sure there are plenty of people (myself included) who'd want to know what all you have.

 

BTW I asked myself the same question a few years ago before I started collecting Atari on RGVC. What I was told at the time was that I hadn't found the right games, I needed to play some really fun ones, and then I would get my interest back. They were right. Jr. Pac-Man, Missile Command, and Stargate helped turn the tide.

[Sleep]

i got two words for you buddy....yars revenge

[AtariLeaf]

Of course its not a sin but you're going through what I call the 2600 funk. You've collected all that you think you can for the system so now there's nothing to look forward to. It happens to just about everyone. The best solution is to sell your entire collection and start over again!

Just kidding, I would never recommend that.

 

The bottom line though, is that when you collect anything, once you reach what appears to be an end, you're interest may wane a bit but when it happens to me I fire up a game of Circus Atari or Ms. Pac Man and my love of the 2600 is once again re-affirmed.

[King Atari]

You have to collect what you really like. I didn't have a 2600 as my first system, and yet I play it pretty much more than any other console (probably a tie with the NES).

[The Night Phantom]

Is it a sin to love classic gaming but not like the 2600

It’s not so much a moral sin as it is a sin of stupidity.

 

Just kidding. As Ilovecircusatari points out, you may be in a VCS funk right now; considering how much time, money, and energy you have invested in acquiring your VCS collection, you may want to wait a while longer before taking any drastic steps. Perhaps you should keep the collection as is while observing a moratorium on new acquisitions (unless something fabulous just happens to jump out at you). You could even go ahead and reduce your collection to unique titles during this moratorium. But I caution against getting rid of the entire collection until you are quite sure that that is the thing to do.

 

Perhaps you haven’t played the right games, as MegaManFan suggests; perhaps you haven’t really spent time with your own collection. Maybe you need to sit down and try some games, read the manuals, chat with fellow AtariAgers, etc. and develop a deeper appreciation of the ol’ VCS. I did have one as a kid and enjoyed it, but a lot of the old games I enjoy now are ones I never played—in some cases, never even heard of—back in the day. Learning a little about the programming limitations, the corporate politics, the development histories, etc. has helped me appreciate the world of the 2600 all the more.

 

And who knows? Perhaps you’ll get to forge new memories along the way. Warlords is a neat game, but it’s neater now that I get to play it with an enthusiastic ten-year-old now and then.

[Rob Mitchell]

I hit a wall at 226 total cart titles about 3 years ago .. and I needed to thin out the collection because of space and a marriage .. so this is what I did: I auctioned off the common and uncommon carts in mass (I got $250 for about 100 carts) .. and started collecting those carts again .. it brings back the excitement when I'm picking up common/uncommon carts to fill back the collection ..

 

I've always passed on 5200 and Colecovision carts though .. never got into it ... I may regret that ..

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[AtariLeaf]

I hit a wall at 226 total cart titles about 3 years ago .. and I needed to thin out the collection because of space and a marriage .. so this is what I did:  I auctioned off the common and uncommon carts in mass (I got $250 for about 100 carts) .. and started collecting those carts again .. it brings back the excitement when I'm picking up common/uncommon carts to fill back the collection ..

 

I've always passed on 5200 and Colecovision carts though .. never got into it ... I may regret that ..

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

 

It is a mistake to pass up carts for systems you don't have. I did the same once, passed up on a bunch of Colecovision and 5200 carts now I have the systems but no games. My way of thinking is, if you find a good deal on a game, system, etc and you can afford it, even if you can't or don't use it now, you may in the future.

[Witchfynde]

No, it's not a sin, as we all have our tastes: people who grew up on Intellivision may worship only that console while a narrow-minded person would dismiss Intellivision because they tried out only one game but denounced it because they didn't like the controller.

 

Just as long as you don't get rid of ALL of your games, and like a few others have said on here, something might whet your appetite back in a few years from now of neglect: I never really thought too much about the Sonic CD for the Sega CD player; it seemed just like regular Sonic to me, but the u. f. o. "bonus" (bonus my ass!) screen was so hard and the last couple of rounds of the game so amazingly frustrating that I've meant to get rid of or trade that game sometime when I'm in the market to start getting my video game collection up to snuff.

 

Well, my sister's kid recently became addicted to my Genesis, and I started playing the game again, and now for some reason I've decided to keep it after all. So there you go.

[DeV0]

Its very easy to go through fazes of not wanting to play a machine, We all do it time and time again and most regret getting rid of the machine. I regret getting rid of my original 2600 however i really hate the atari joysticks. I didnt really get into it until the euro pads came out.

 

At the moment im sick to death of the PS2, however in the back of my mind i know not to get rid of it on the basis that i will probably re-collect at a more costly proce later.

 

It's not a sin but more of an expensive idea to get rid of it, You may very well regret it.

[Stella'sGhost]

don't sell them. 20 years from now you are going to wake up one day and suddenly pine for those old useless games and where on earth are you going to find them then eh????

[AtariDude]

I understand that the Atari 5200 was your first system so it holds a more special place in your heart than the 2600 ( I never owned a 5200 so for me it is the 2600). While I would not consider it a sin, I would consider it to be a mistake on a biblical scale to do anything to that collection besides to take care of it and maintain it.

 

I would continue to do what you are doing and focus on the 5200 and look occasionally to see if there is a new 2600 game that you don't have already in your collection.

 

Best of luck

[Marco(2)]

Ranger,

 

Nobody knows except you -- so don't let anyone try to make you think THEIR opinion is relevant to YOUR enjoyment! Would you let others tell you what kind of music to listen to?

 

If you don't have fun playing the games, there's no point. Nothing is a "sin" -- we all have different tastes.

 

Don't listen to him! Of course, he is absolutely right about opinions.

In general, that is.

But when it comes to the King of Consoles...The Almighty Atari 2600...

 

 

YES

 

not to love it!

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Marco

[MaxSpeed]

If you sell it, you take a high risk that a year or so later you would start collecting for it again ! I have learned only sell a collection if you must have the money ! You put a lot of time in this and it still is the first VCS that offered a decent variety of games. Sure when we play a newer box, we see how far things have come, when we play the 2600 I often see how creative programmers were with limited resources. Ooops - getting off topic. Cheers !

[SS]

i really hate the atari joysticks.

 

 

[Vic George 2K3]

Being a born-again Christian, the only sin I would think best relates to classic gaming is making anything -- even an Atari 2600 -- into an idol of worship. As Jehovah God says, "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." (from Exo. 20:3-6)

 

Forget about the Hail Marys -- the mother of Jesus isn't going to hear them, and you can't pray to her, anyway!!!

 

Then again, we all have preferences as far as what we like and dislike about classic gaming. That doesn't make any of us better or worse than any other gamer. So what if a person doesn't like the 2600? Aren't there classic games and/or systems that you don't like? If you want to get religious about your classic gaming, a little piece of Christian advice from Jesus Himself: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Matt. 7:1,2)

[Teenage Dirtbag]

Being a born-again Christian,

 

Mom, is that you? I told you, I'm not going to church!