A Pac Question

[Glutton Boy]

Hey all!

 

As an adult, I've been interested in the release dates of the video games I grew up with. I guess it's because it helps with the timeline of what I was concerned with at a given time as a kid. I distinctly recall newspaper ads in the weeks/days leading up to the release of Pac Man for the 2600. One of them was of a picture of Pac Man with the tagline "Guess who's coming to dinner?" I just happened to come across this site with what looks to be one of the ads I remeber from back in the day. Does anyone here remember if the Saturday, April 3rd, 1982 date given in the ad is correct? Some years ago, I tried to find those ads at the library using their archives of our local paper to no avail.

 

Here's the webpage (I'm not sure how to hyperlink, I hope it works)

Pac Man Day

(If someone knows how to take the image and post it to the thread, please do with my thanks!)

 

Also, since I'm on the topic of Pac Man... where did you get your original copy? For the younger collectors, was it a garage sale score or part of an eBay lot? For those who were there during the initial Pac Mania, what about you? Mine was a reserve copy at Child World (y'know... Peter Panda and all that?!). I still remember going down there with my mother to pick up our copy. Child World had this what must've been 2" by 5" rubber stamp that they'd smack the game box with that read "TAKEN". Ah, pointless memories.

 

Anyway, does anyone have any input on the release date or their Pac Memories? I'd love to read your replies.

[Miss 2600]

This link says March 1982 (but some stores didn't get it until April so the date in that ad appears to be accurate):

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-history-1982.html#march

 

I got my copy free with my Tele-games Sears four-switch. My mom ordered it for me from the Wish Book catalog. I wish I remembered the year. It came with a free Pac-Man and Asteroids.

Edited July 4, 2011 by Miss 2600

[Schizophretard]

I was born in 81. I remember the day my little brother was born when I was three in 84. My grandfather died before he was born. I think it was at the end of me being 2 so it was probably around 3 to 6 months before my brother was born that he died. Even though I was 2 almost 3 I have many memories of him. He and grandma lived in Ohio and we live in Indiana. We only visited them and they only visited us on holidays, birthdays, and stuff like that. Since I have many memories of seeing him then I must have memories all the way back to my birth. I remember having an Atari for years before my older bother got the NES when it came out for Christmas of 85. So I think my father bought the Atari and Pacman in 82 when it came out. He opened up the box, showed me the Atari, and said in a very excited tone,"This is the new Atari! They call it the Dark Vader!" I was amazed. It looked futuristic and I thought it really had something to do with Star Wars. Because of that memory I thought Darth Vader's name was Dark Vader all the way up until junior high. He played Pacman on it. I think it may have been the pack in game. The memory of the Vader and Pacman feels like a new release. My father's controller was the Gemstick. What year was that released? That might narrow things down more.

[Jr. Pac]

I got it on Ebay for 41.25 plus shipping. I love hearing stories about Ataris and cartridges in their lifetimes.

[+20ohm20]

I don't remember exactly when I got Pac-Man for the 2600, but it was probably within a couple months of it being released and my dad bought it for me from Toys R Us (that and Sears is where 90%+ of my 2600 carts came from BITD). I still have my original copy, plus many others that I've accumulated in lots over the years.

[Dauber]

Where did I get mine? Came with the 2600 my brother and I got for Christmas in 1982. Actually, that's not 100% true - it wasn't a pack-in yet, though; my parents bought it and included it with the 2600.

[radiohead]

We had the heavy six-er and it came with Combat. We used to get our games either at Kmart or at a local deli named "Independent Meat Market" which was walking distance from our house (that's right, a grocery deli that had a glass display cabinet at the checkout register with about a dozen Atari 2600 games back in the day!)

 

We eventually got Pac-Man, but not when it first came out. I remember my friends having it first, and playing it at their houses. Funny, between the 4 friends I used to play Atari with (30 years later, we're all still friends and our families get together), we all had the SAME cartridges. We all had Comabt, Pac-Man, Defender, Asteroids, Missile Command, Pitfall, River Raid, Space Invaders, etc. It was never a question of what game to play, but at who's house you wanted to play it. (Don't recall ever bringing a game over to a friend's house since we all had the same exact games!)

 

My original Atari and games are long since gone, but I have the FB2 and play the games on the Wii via HBC. I occassionally will hear sampled Pac-Man Atari 2600 sound effects (the distinctive opening 4 note chime and the death sfx) pop up on the online games or videos my kids play today.

[Glutton Boy]

This link says March 1982 (but some stores didn't get it until April so the date in that ad appears to be accurate):

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-history-1982.html#march

 

I got my copy free with my Tele-games Sears four-switch. My mom ordered it for me from the Wish Book catalog. I wish I remembered the year. It came with a free Pac-Man and Asteroids.

 

Hey, thanks for the link to the site! That really helps put a few things into their time persepctive. Looks like '82 was a good year for Atari titles... I remember getting my copy of Haunted House, as well as Star Raiders, and played the heck out of those. I'd constantly get the 'cook' (I think it was cook) ranking on Star Raiders. For me, Star Raiders was a lot like baseball... I loved the game, but in the final appraisal I sucked. Even those 1980's PSA's about trying your best making you a winner would've snickered.

[Pureisuteshon Tsu]

I got my copy two years ago at a flea market. I remember thinking "Pac-Man!? ON ATARI!? . . . OF COURSE.". Then I bought it. And loved it.

[Glutton Boy]

We had the heavy six-er and it came with Combat. We used to get our games either at Kmart or at a local deli named "Independent Meat Market" which was walking distance from our house (that's right, a grocery deli that had a glass display cabinet at the checkout register with about a dozen Atari 2600 games back in the day!)

 

 

I love the idea of games at the local deli! It seems like back in the day, anyone who could get video games would stock them. It wasn't a weird place to get games, but you reminded me of a weird 'promotion' one of our local sellers had. It was Cousins Video or Dr. Video (our neighborhood had both, but I forget which was which), and it was a mom n' pop sort of place that sold video cassettes and 2600 games. Behind the register on the wall he had about 20 different letter-sized pictures of old aircraft. His gimmick was for every game you bought he'd let you pick a picture. Where he got them and what they had to do with anything I don't know... but it was an extra tool to use to try to get my mother back to the video game store. You'd think I was planning a career in aeronautics the way I'd carry on!

[Glutton Boy]

I was born in 81. I remember the day my little brother was born when I was three in 84. My grandfather died before he was born. I think it was at the end of me being 2 so it was probably around 3 to 6 months before my brother was born that he died. Even though I was 2 almost 3 I have many memories of him. He and grandma lived in Ohio and we live in Indiana. We only visited them and they only visited us on holidays, birthdays, and stuff like that. Since I have many memories of seeing him then I must have memories all the way back to my birth. I remember having an Atari for years before my older bother got the NES when it came out for Christmas of 85. So I think my father bought the Atari and Pacman in 82 when it came out. He opened up the box, showed me the Atari, and said in a very excited tone,"This is the new Atari! They call it the Dark Vader!" I was amazed. It looked futuristic and I thought it really had something to do with Star Wars. Because of that memory I thought Darth Vader's name was Dark Vader all the way up until junior high. He played Pacman on it. I think it may have been the pack in game. The memory of the Vader and Pacman feels like a new release. My father's controller was the Gemstick. What year was that released? That might narrow things down more.

 

I tried to find reference to the Gemstick in the Sears Wishbook catalogs and didn't find it. I'm not sure when it was released. My joystick of choice was the Point Master, the abnormally-long joystick for over-compensators (j/k). It's cool that you have memories that distinct going that far back. I still have fond memories of my parents and grandparents through the 2600 as well. It was probably the one thing in the house that offered something for everyone.

[Schizophretard]

I was born in 81. I remember the day my little brother was born when I was three in 84. My grandfather died before he was born. I think it was at the end of me being 2 so it was probably around 3 to 6 months before my brother was born that he died. Even though I was 2 almost 3 I have many memories of him. He and grandma lived in Ohio and we live in Indiana. We only visited them and they only visited us on holidays, birthdays, and stuff like that. Since I have many memories of seeing him then I must have memories all the way back to my birth. I remember having an Atari for years before my older bother got the NES when it came out for Christmas of 85. So I think my father bought the Atari and Pacman in 82 when it came out. He opened up the box, showed me the Atari, and said in a very excited tone,"This is the new Atari! They call it the Dark Vader!" I was amazed. It looked futuristic and I thought it really had something to do with Star Wars. Because of that memory I thought Darth Vader's name was Dark Vader all the way up until junior high. He played Pacman on it. I think it may have been the pack in game. The memory of the Vader and Pacman feels like a new release. My father's controller was the Gemstick. What year was that released? That might narrow things down more.

 

I tried to find reference to the Gemstick in the Sears Wishbook catalogs and didn't find it. I'm not sure when it was released. My joystick of choice was the Point Master, the abnormally-long joystick for over-compensators (j/k). It's cool that you have memories that distinct going that far back. I still have fond memories of my parents and grandparents through the 2600 as well. It was probably the one thing in the house that offered something for everyone.

 

The one that looks like an ash tray with a stick in the middle and the only button is on top?

[retrorussell]

I 'won' it when my grades/attendance/etc. were good enough. It was somewhere in early/mid 1982. I had my Atari since 1980. My sis and I actually enjoyed Pac-Man for the 2600 quite a bit. Because we got really good it was mandated that we had to play on the hardest level each time so the other sibling would get to play sooner. I was only allowed one hour in the am and one hour at night. But I managed to sneak in more time than that.

[jhd]

I got my original Atari console back in 1982, but I never had Pac Man. (I did, however, have Asteroids, Bezerk, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, etc.)

 

I first played it at a friend's place at some point in 1982. I remember how very disappointing it was and I was amazed that my friend could clear the rest of the screen and then get the energizers all at once.

 

I eventually got a copy for myself when I got back into collecting in the early 1990s. Pac Man was almost always part of a large lot of cartridges found at a garage sale or flea market.

[mbd30]

Also, since I'm on the topic of Pac Man... where did you get your original copy?

 

I was born in 1976. When I was around 8-ish, my dad bought an Atari 2600 that came bundled with it. But I've long since gotten rid of my old 2600 games. I no longer own a 2600 or 7800 and don't collect those games.