Am I alone in thinking the red label games are completely unappealing?

[cobracon]

I think the red labels look fine. I just wish the boxes and manuals were of better quality.

[zylon]

 

Must have been a super early variation? My Midnight Magic doesn't have that dust cover. I wonder what other red label games came with them?

 

I've seen the spring-loaded dust cover on Midnight Magic, Jr Pacman, and Solaris so far. I may have others, but would have to really look for them.

[Lentzquest]

The red borders were a great way to categorize the platform when Atari had several competing game systems in the stores at the same time. They look great all shelved up with the silver bordered 7800 games and blue bordered XEGS games.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Sign of the times. No different than how early "black box" NES had the unique sprite art. Red label variants are not that ugly IMO. The red label 2600 carts were released during the same era as the silver label 7800 games. This convention made it very easy for customers to differentiate 2600 and 7800 titles, whether boxed or loose. It's no different than Nintendo releasing Wii-U games in blue cases to help differentiate them from white-cased Wii titles.

 

My biggest gripe, albeit a minor one, is that VCS games from different eras had different label designs, text, black picture, silver picture, red color label, red grayscale label, etc. Not every game is available in all variants, so if you're going for a consistent look between all game carts, you're not gonna achieve parity. Regardless, I only collect red label for late release games. Most earlier pre-crash games, the "standard" label designs are far more common, especially 3rd party stuff like Coleco Donkey Kong and DK Jr. Interesting to note, some 3rd party manufacturers like iMagic followed Atari's footsteps, ie with stylized text and photo variations as well.

[sloth-machine]

The red borders were a great way to categorize the platform when Atari had several competing game systems in the stores at the same time. They look great all shelved up with the silver bordered 7800 games and blue bordered XEGS games.

 

Ah, yeah, that's a good point. I guess they were trying to distinguish the 2600 on store shelves other the silver box era with 7800's blue text and the 2600's red text.

[Rhomaios]

 

Ah, yeah, that's a good point. I guess they were trying to distinguish the 2600 on store shelves other the silver box era with 7800's blue text and the 2600's red text.

 

But it ended up looking like Wii's Greatest Hits covers next to Wii U's blue covers. The red is just not as attractive as the pristine white, same with PS2 and green with PS1. I even keep NSMBWii separate from the rest of my games for that reason.

[freewheel]

My biggest gripe, albeit a minor one, is that VCS games from different eras had different label designs, text, black picture, silver picture, red color label, red grayscale label, etc. Not every game is available in all variants, so if you're going for a consistent look between all game carts, you're not gonna achieve parity.

 

This is probably my favourite thing about collecting 2600, actually. I collect unboxed for the most part (to me, it's about the games and not the collectability) Most systems have way too much consistency - even NES with the Tengen and unlicensed stuff, is just really boring overall. 2600, when arranged alphabetically, is a testament to unbridled competition (and the insanity of the early 80s videogame scene). When you add in the various Atari variants over the years, it's a work of art - to my eyes, anyway.

 

It does make purists and OCD types crazy though. I know several people who organize by label type, which perplexes me, but *shrug* - to each their own.

[Lentzquest]

 

This is probably my favourite thing about collecting 2600, actually. I collect unboxed for the most part (to me, it's about the games and not the collectability) Most systems have way too much consistency - even NES with the Tengen and unlicensed stuff, is just really boring overall. 2600, when arranged alphabetically, is a testament to unbridled competition (and the insanity of the early 80s videogame scene). When you add in the various Atari variants over the years, it's a work of art - to my eyes, anyway.

 

It does make purists and OCD types crazy though. I know several people who organize by label type, which perplexes me, but *shrug* - to each their own.

I agree with you about loving all the different cartridge designs of the 2600. As for organizing by label type; yep, I'm one of 'em

[gilsaluki]

This is Sammy Hagar. Love the Red...man. Red Rock, out!