Atari Homage

[+cvga]

I spent a few days in Phoenix last week. When I returned I found out that my cousin (who is only 2 years older than me) was sick, went to the hospital and became unresponsive. Unfortunately he passed away tonight. I was introduced to the Atari by Tim and spent lots of hours playing it with him when we were kids. Once we talked a salesman at Sears into opening a Grand Prix game and letting us play it so we could try it before deciding if we wanted to buy it. I'm positive I wouldn't be anywhere near as interested in Atari today if it weren't for Tim. He had been battling health issues for awhile but this came as a total surprise. We just spent some time chatting recently about the great times we had as kids.

 

I'm going to dedicate some time this week playing games that I enjoyed playing with Tim. It won't be the same but will bring back some great memories.

[+Charlie Cat]

Sorry for your loss. My God bless him up in Heaven!

 

Anthony...

[BigO]

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

I know what you mean about playing in remembrance. Every time I play Atari now I think of my friend Pat, now deceased, who I played so much Atari with back in the late 70's. Though, I still can't stand that stupid Superman game that he liked so much. I can still see the brown shag carpet and the beanbag chairs and smell the wood stove in the family room of his house where the Atari lived.

 

I'm glad you have similar memories with your cousin.

[bobotech]

Very sorry for your loss.

[Metal Ghost]

I'm so sorry for your loss....God bless.

[SoulBlazer]

Sorry for your loss and great idea with the memorial that you have planned for him! We all honor the dead in our own unique ways. Which games are you going to be playing mostly?

[Goochman]

Great way to remember Tim and carry his memory forward.

[akator]

Playing Atari is the best way to remember your friend. Plus, maybe you get to have fun in the process. He would want that... wouldn't he?

[karokoenig]

A good way to keep the memory alive. Invite some other people to play the games with you.

[+cvga]

Thanks for your support.

 

Sorry for your loss and great idea with the memorial that you have planned for him! We all honor the dead in our own unique ways. Which games are you going to be playing mostly?

 

Last night I played Grand Prix. Tim and I were at the mall during what I think was probably the summer of 1982 because it was the first time we saw Grand Prix. Sears had a kiosk set up where you could play some pre-determined games. Grand Prix wasn't one of them but Tim talked the sales guy into opening one and letting us play so we could decide if we wanted to buy it. We liked it and I bought it with vacation money I had saved. Malls seemed a lot better back then. We would spent time at the arcade (Aladdin's Castle), look through all of the albums at National Record Mart and the other 2 music stores who have names that I can't recall, get pizza at Sbarro's, etc.

 

I liked Grand Prix a great deal when I was younger but it hasn't aged as well as I'd hoped. I'm sure my strategy is poor as my best times occurred when I simply drove as quickly as I could and tried to avoid hitting other cars. I attempted to play a few games where I would drive at less than the maximum speed and/or utilize the brake but I still hit cars and it cost me too much time. I know I was trying to break 40 seconds on Game 1 but only managed to get to 40.19. It was still fun to play and brought back a bunch of memories.

 

Tonight I'm planning on playing some Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Very sorry to hear this, thank you for sharing though. A wonderful way to remember him and if I may say I am impressed how you choose to handle this unfortunate situation.

[+cvga]

Very sorry to hear this, thank you for sharing though. A wonderful way to remember him and if I may say I am impressed how you choose to handle this unfortunate situation.

Thank you. I played Star Wars: TESB tonight. I only played one game and scored around 3,500 points. This game is a real button masher! It's ok but is repetitive and gets boring pretty quickly. That's ok though. It served it's purpose tonight and for that I'm thankful.

 

Tomorrow night's game is Adventure.

[Dripfree]

This is one of those stories that brings a tear to my eye and a smile to my face. Sorry for your loss.

[thegamezmaster]

Very sorry to read this and hear about it. Try to just remember the good times and memories of him. God bless you both.

[ntcmpjg]

Sorry for you loss I was just sitting down playing that game with my daughter yesterday she loves playing Atari more then Wii U

[4ever2600]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It's nice to see that you continue to keep him in your thoughts. God bless...

[Gregory DG]

Man, I hate stories like this...So sorry that happened! I hope you and your family remember the good times and heal quickly.

[+cvga]

A quick thank you for all the support. I finished up by playing some Adventure, Homerun, Football, Space Invaders and Asteroids. I also had an opportunity last weekend to attend a service in his name (he never liked attention and made my aunt and uncle promise to not have a funeral). Afterward, I went to some of the places we used to hang out when we were kids. The last place I stopped was the mall. I haven't been there in years. I recognized the old entrance to Aladdin's Castle but it's now a front for a company that conducts mall surveys.

 

If anyone's wondering, I think this is a great way to remember someone. It was a little odd playing some of the games by myself at first but it brought back a bunch of great memories. I know Memorial Day is a day to honor those that have passed but I'm going to try and play a game in Tim's memory each March 31st.