THE Atari 2600 Sound

[+RichG1972]

Awww, you beat me to it!

As much as I don't have any great sentiment for the game itself - the quotile explosion had to be one of the most iconic audiovisual effects for the system.

Ah yes the legendary Quotile destruction whose swirling pattern is KINDA like the Glaive in KRULL, even though Yars' pre-dates KRULL

[+FujiSkunk]

Pac-Man 4-note intro song lol

 

That or the "lost life" sound would get my vote.

[Yoss]

I also have to go with the Pac-Man intro tune. That one takes me back specifically because my mom kept a pair of zebra finches in the living room and the Pac-Man song would really set them to chirping. Now that I think about it though, just about every sound in 2600 Pac-Man really seemed to do it for them. The *bonk* *bonk* *bonk* of dot eating, ghost eating, losing a life. No other game had the same effect.

 

 

.....the "extra ship" sound in Asteroids ("Fries are done!" )

 

Heheh, we used to have a microwave that made that EXACT beep. I don't know how many times I was playing Asteroids only to have my wife ask "Were you cooking something in the microwave?"

[p.opus]

For me it's the pew,pew,pew sound that plays before the beginning of each wave of Missile Command.

[+Random Terrain]

I like the sound of the ship landing in E.T. on a real Atari 2600 on a real TV:

youtu.be/Njvf9L_NxHI?t=33s

 

Sounds like crap with an emulator.

[+DrVenkman]

For me it's the pew,pew,pew sound that plays before the beginning of each wave of Missile Command.

 

Ooh, that's a good one. I should've had that one on my list - yes, I need a list. Too many iconic TIA sounds to limit it to 1!

[Colmino]

The blip-blip-blip of Mario walking in Donkey Kong, primarily because this specific sound (well, sounds from the game in general) pops up in a lot of places where the facsimile of old-school gaming is being used, often sarcastically.

 

For something more specifically emblematic of the 2600, though, I would go with the static white noise, which, uniquely for the 2600, is somehow a 0.5 second loop rather than strictly white noise. Heard 100% of the time in Starmaster, or when a hallway monster makes an appearance in Venture.

 

[Colmino]

I also have to go with the Pac-Man intro tune.

 

Man, that tune. I have to say, when I finally saw Frye in an interview in One Upon Atari, all was made clear. No offense meant, but his visage seemed to be a case-in-point for avoiding mind-altering substances. It's really the only way to explain how the classic Pac-Man intro song got melted down into, well, let's call it "Pleading Insanity In Four Tones, for Television Interface Adaptor (TIA)". Granted, video game ports in those years were so completely assumed to be incapable of living up to the originals that the ports generally came in arbitrarily different clothing (Space Invaders), but there's just no reason for that blatant inaccuracy.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Colmino

[+RichG1972]

I like the sound of the ship landing in E.T. on a real Atari 2600 on a real TV:

 

youtu.be/Njvf9L_NxHI?t=33s

 

Sounds like crap with an emulator.

Amen my friend!

[+frankodragon]

The "Dragnet" sound in Pitfall when your player dies.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mBDS0FsqmI

[Army Of 2600]

Constant pulsing sound in Yars' Revenge, robot lasers in Berzerk and the marching of the invaders in Space Invaders...

[+Random Terrain]

Constant pulsing sound in Yars' Revenge, robot lasers in Berzerk and the marching of the invaders in Space Invaders...

 

That's a nice batch.

[marlowe221]

The firing of the ship's gun in Asteroids does it for me. It's not a great sound effect really, but it takes me right back when I hear it and I would recognize it anywhere.

[rockman_x_2002]

The blaster sound effect from Star Raiders. I'd recognize that in any noisy, crowded room right off.