2600 Reimagined?

[SlowCoder]

If you worked for Atari, and were given the opportunity to design the 2600 chassis (case), what would it look like? It would still have to function like the 2600 already does, with a way to turn on/off power, change color/bw, difficulty for both players, select and reset. You can also change what the cartridges would look like.

[Rex Dart]

Are we pretending it's 2011 or 1980?

[disjaukifa]

We have several members that are very artistic, this is a thread I'm definitely going to watch. Since I have no artistic talent what-so-ever, I won't submit a mock up but I'm always wanted to see the 2600 redesigned into a sphere and have the cartridges be more rounded . . .

[SlowCoder]

Are we pretending it's 2011 or 1980?

Use your imagination.

[pimpmaul69]

oh i am already making one.. one day soon you will see my new atari 2600 design i am doing.

[Schizophretard]

It's hard to top the Heavy Sixer, so it would still be one of those. I would have just made some changes.

 

It would be about as big as a 5200 because it would be designed to be upgraded and extra space would be needed. There would have never been a 5200 or 7800. Those would have been upgrades for the VCS. If you're a new Atari customer then the Atari you buy would have all the current upgrades. If you're an old customer you could either send your Atari to an Atari Service Center or trade it in stores to get a discount on a new upgraded model. If you send it to an Atari Service Center then it will get completely refurbished for free if you purchase an upgrade. Ataris would have a life time warrantee. You can send it in to be completely refurbished once a year. The only things you would have to pay for are upgrades or damage caused by abuse like spilling drinks on it and dropping it but things being worn out from normal use would be free. No parts would be wasted. Ataris that are traded in for a discount and parts taken off during refurbishing would be used to make Ataris that are sold at a discount. That way even the poor would get to enjoy Ataris. The only differences would be that the refurbished discounted models would only be sold in Atari Service Centers and when they get them refurbished once a year it would be with used parts unless used parts can't be found. Going to an Atari Service Center wouldn't be a problem because they would be everywhere and be like a Game Stop. You go there to get things fixed and to buy and trade used games and hardware.

 

The Fuji would be partially transparent for a power LED that would be white. It would be white because people could purchase overlays that go over the wood grain and there would be different colored plastic over the Fuji. There would also be overlays that go over the switches and overlays that snap into the black ridges. They would be like the overlays for Space Shuttle but not made out of cardboard but plastic and made to last. Some would be just to give the Atari a different appearance and others would be for specific games letting you know what each switch does and be like a mini manual with game variations listed, scoring,... You could buy a case that has a spot for all the different overlays and you store all your overlays in it. The case would slide into the bottom of the Atari Storage Center like a drawer.

 

The Atari Storage Center would have a similar bottom to it with the rectangle of it being smaller than the rest of it because it can connect on top of cubes that are for storing the CIB games, controllers,... The top of it wouldn't be that partially transparent brown. It would be clear and dome shaped. The center section where the wood grain is now would also be clear and shaped to complete the dome but with a rectangular bottom. So, closing the whole unit would look like a dome. When you stack it on the cubes it would look like a mini sky scraper with a dome on top. Both the storage center and the cubes would be made of tote like plastic. The storage center would be a clear dome but the cubes would be partially transparent and colored. You choose the colors. A partially transparent black would be the standard color though.

 

The cubes would be designed to connect when stacked and connect side by side. You could either get them with drawers or without. The drawers would be for storing hardware and the front is clear. You can also store hardware in another storage center dome next to the one containing the Atari to put them on display in a different way than the clear drawers because the rectangular frame inside the center to hold the Atari is removable.

 

The cubes without the drawer would be for storing the game cases. The game cases would be shaped like vinyl record cases but thicker than a cartridge. They are also made out of a clear plastic. When they are lined up in the cubes they all fit perfectly. You can see the laminated title through the plastic. To get them out they have notches in them that fit a finger.

 

When you take them out and look at the front, back, and side laminated artwork you would see them through the case. Within the case there would be spots for all the overlays like the storage center drawer. Most people would keep the game overlays in the cases and put the overlays that just give the Atari a different appearance in the storage center drawer. There would also be overlays for the controllers because every controller would be designed for overlays. The manuals would also be laminated because everything is designed to last. On the back of the manuals it would have pictures of the programmers like Activision does because Atari would treat their programmers as artists, third party companies would have never happened, the video game crash would have never happened, and today Atari would still be the leader in the video game and computer market. You would be reading this right now with a computer running Atari Windows. There would be spots for patches earned, stickers, pins, and comic books. There would be a spot for the cartridge.

 

The cartridges would be shaped like they are now and have the same texture. They would be a partially clear black plastic. They wouldn't have the sliding dust covers but they wouldn't have the notches in the corners that make holes in the labels either. The main and end labels would be a text label that is within the plastic but there would be room over each label to snap on different labels. Label variations would be something that is planned out and they all are within the vinyl record like case. They are laminated plastic overlays like everything else. You can snap them on over the generic text label to pick the appearance you like the most.

 

The Atari itself would be made out of a partially transparent plastic. Like already said it would have an LED behind the Fuji, spots for overlays, design of a Heavy Sixer, and be about as big as the 5200. On the back there would be many controller ports because games can use a keyboard controller for the switch functions(it obviously has overlays also) ,so being near the Atari isn't required, and you can hook in an actual keyboard, tape players, disc drives... It would be that way because it would be the Atari computers and the video game consoles in one. Someone could by a computer package and add things on to make it also a video game package and the same for someone buying a video game package. The speakers would have been built in and there would be slots on the overlays for the speakers. There would be headphone jacks. As technology progresses the Atari Service Centers would do upgrades and even AV mods. They would know ahead of time what upgrades will be needed, how technology will progress, and even invent most of it because as the time traveling trillionaire CEO of the Atari Monopoly I would bring all this information with me.

 

If you were to go to the section of this forum where members are showing off there collections you would see walls filled with the cubes and domes. You would even see the domes surrounded with cubes which wouldn't be a problem for opening the domes because they are divided into four triangular sections and the sections of the domes slide down into the Atari Storage Center. There would even be room for TV's, stereos, Atari-ray players,... surrounded by the cubes and in the cubes. It would all fit perfectly and match because Atari Technologies and Robotics Inc. makes everything for home entertainment. You could even stream Atariflix movies through the Atarinet onto your VCS or schedule a trip to the Moon Base Atari Headquarters and Museum with you iFuji.

 

That's all I can think of right now. I hope it is creative enough for you.

[FalconPunch]

The only thongs I would a done differently is real wood instead of a veneer, a power light behind a semi-transparent Fuji (smoked maybe?), and straps to put your hands through on the bottom of the joystick controllers

[A_Locomotive]

The only thongs I would a done differently....

 

Did you have something else on your mind when you posted?

[Schizophretard]

The only thongs I would a done differently is real wood instead of a veneer, a power light behind a semi-transparent Fuji (smoked maybe?), and straps to put your hands through on the bottom of the joystick controllers

 

That's a good idea for a mod. Get a thin elastic strap that is wide enough to cover the bottom, open the controller, put it inside the top of the controller, wrap it under the controller, put the other end inside the bottom of the controller, and then close it. Then you could slide you four fingers into it like a glove.

[TwentySixHundred]

What about an Atari power glove!! haha. I do think it could be really fun with the 2600 tho as some them paddle games and Adventure ect......If designed well of course ,however i do not know how the legal side of things would work.

[Vic George 2K3]

I thought the wing design Atari used for the 5200, the 7800, and the 2600 successor mockups was perfect for the early 1980s, so I wouldn't necessarily change that. It would have been great, though, if a gamepad with design aspects like a Jaguar controller with a thumbstick instead of a D-pad was introduced back then, but have the keypad more like the Video Touch Pad or the Atari 5200 controller keypad. That would be more for like a successor system than for the 2600 itself, as I can't really imagine the 2600 being saddled with anything other than the standard model joystick controller that came with the original system.