Atari 2600 or the Nintendo NES?

[ls650]

but I'm sure there are people out there that prefer the NES to a PS3.

Not sure why you are rolling your eyes - I for one definitely prefer old school systems to any console of the last ten or twelve years!

[PsychoKittyNet]

Love them both but I prefer the NES, grew up with that and a SNES.

[Deteacher]

While the NES may have better graphics and sound, the Atari was not only the first system, but it was built much better. I'd bet there are a lot more working Atari VCS systems out there than NES systems. Atari gets my vote!

[littleman jack]

Atari's gaining some steam.

[pixelated]

I'm gonna hafta say NES. I suppose I have a bias with that system, since it was my very first home console. For me, the NES is kinda at the center of my nostalgia for classic gaming. However, I must say that ever since I got my Atari 2600 back in 2008, I've been so swept up with it in a way that I haven't been since probably the SNES back in '91. But still, on other reason I won't put the 2600 as the best of the '80s, is because I never played it in the '80s. The VCS was essentially over around the time I turned 5 or so, so I was a little to young to get it and to my knowledge, we never had one. I don't think I ever played 2600 until 1991!

 

I love both consoles very dearly, enjoy playing the hell out of them, but to me NES is just a little bit better. Plus, the NES houses what it probably my #1 favorite game of all time - Super Mario Bros. 3.

[SlowCoder]

These machines catered to a different TYPE of gaming. Atari games were typically about getting the highest score,$ but typically there was not an end to the game itself.

 

NES games were more about game completion.

[BrianC]

These machines catered to a different TYPE of gaming. Atari games were typically about getting the highest score,$ but typically there was not an end to the game itself.

 

NES games were more about game completion.

 

This is only partially true. NES has many arcade style games like Pac-Man, Xevious, Donkey Kong, Popeye, and Mario Bros that are about score and 2600 has games like Adventure, Solaris, Pitfall II, Space Battle, and Star Raiders that have a definite end. Even some of the games with endings aren't only about completion (a few of them, especially games with instant respawn, are much more fun to play when you aren't only playing to see the ending). Not to mention that, while they didn't have an ending, plenty of older, Atari-era games, lock up or glitch after a certain point.

 

I prefer the NES, mainly becuase it has more complex games like RPGs, as well as some arcade style games (though it's too bad Dig Dug was Famicom only), though I also love the 2600.

Edited August 29, 2011 by BrianC

[bomberpunk]

this is a silly argument. it's like saying, which do you prefer, the Xbox 360 or the NES? you can't. they're from different eras. but I'm sure there are people out there that prefer the NES to a PS3.

 

i'm one of those guys who prefer the NES over PS3. realistic graphics and voice acting do not win me over. gameplay does. it's not a mistake that so many developers have retro throwback titles. the formula is proven.

 

modern gamers

 

 

[Reaperman]

I'm not an atari 2600 fan, and never have been. I grew up with the A8, and generally look at 2600 as an inferior way to play the same games. I still own several 2600's, but it's been *years* since I've played one.

 

NES was a different beast that I like quite a bit. It's got some great versions of classic computer games I enjoyed from A8/c64, it offers some excellent early arcade ports too, and the newer gameplay styles that NES popularized also resonated with me. I like the added complexity and variety that it regularly brought to the table.

[BydoEmpire]

but I'm sure there are people out there that prefer the NES to a PS3.

Not sure why you are rolling your eyes - I for one definitely prefer old school systems to any console of the last ten or twelve years!

Same here, I haven't played a game on my 360 in ages, but my 2600 (and all my 8-bit systems) get regular use.

 

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled thread...

 

I voted 2600, but looking back over the NES library I could definitely see going the other way. There are a few NES arcade ports I really like (DK Classics, Popeye, etc), but a lot of them just don't play real well. Definitely more variety in genres on the NES. Hm...

Edited August 29, 2011 by BydoEmpire

[BrianC]

I don't have PS3, but I have been playing more games on older systems than on my Wii, lately. Mostly, I have been using my Wii for Netflix.

[pixelated]

I don't have PS3, but I have been playing more games on older systems than on my Wii, lately. Mostly, I have been using my Wii for Netflix.

 

Same here! I've haven't really played any Xbox 360 in months, except for Call of Duty: Black Ops a little, about a week ago. Mainly I've been playing my 2600 a lot as well as some emu stuff..

[+FujiSkunk]

Neither. Or rather, both.

 

The Atari 2600 created the market. The NES saved it from extinction.

 

Both were the birthplace of indisputable, genre-defining classics.

 

Both are a hacker's paradise, and those hackers have demonstrated both systems are far more capable than their designers thought possible.

 

Products like the Flashback 2 and the umpteen zillion NES clones prove that both have not been forgotten, long after they left the market.

 

If I absolutely had to pick one over the other, I would pick the Atari 2600, partly because that was the system of my childhood, but also partly because Nintendo played a lot dirtier than they needed to, trying to strong-arm third-party companies into playing ball only with them. Then again, given Atari's relations with Activision shortly after the latter company's creation, I'm sure Atari would have done the same thing if they'd had the foresight.

[mondor1]

The ATARI 2600 Hands Down! Not that I don't like the Nes But the ATARI you had no problem with the carts like cleaning the connectors or having a dirty game flashing on and off.

[AlvinKarpis]

If you put a 2600 and a NES in front of me when I was 12 I would reach for the NES every time

 

If you put a 2600 and a NES in front of me today I would reach for the 2600 75% of the time

 

Its such a tough call because I grew up playing the 2600 but as soon as my family got a NES the 2600 was put in the attic

 

I have fond memories of both, but the reason I picked the NES is because all my friends on the block had one and we would trade and borrow games everyday (or trade for Garbage Pail Kids, Baseball Cards and the like)

 

And me and my friends spent so much time trying to beat the NES games

 

I remember vividly 8-10 of my friends over at my house when we (taking turns between myself and my buddy Joe) finally beat SMB2 and everyone in the house going ape shit

 

Its memories like those that make me look and cherish the NES more then the 2600

Edited September 9, 2011 by AlvinKarpis

[Cybergoth]

C64 > NES > 2600

 

But I love all three of them!