BZachLaLonde Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Greetings AtariAge! I just wanted to introduce myself on this wonderful forum. I'm a young collector (college kid) that became fascinated with video games at a young age. I have an older brother that grew up during the 16-bit years, so I spent my personal childhood playing Sega Genesis (Outlander and Zombies Ate My Neighbors! are my favorites) when others were playing PS1, N64, etc. I've always been really good about taking care of my video games, too, which is how I began to recognize my love of collecting. Living in Northern New Hampshire has caused me to be in a sort of gaming limbo: no one up here really games so I've struggled to find people with the passion I have for video games. However, this also means that the Goodwill's, thrift stores, and flea markets in the state are good for finding deals. One day I was cruising Craigslist and found an ad for about 80-90 Atari 2600 games with three 2600's and various manuals, joysticks, and other goodies. I only paid $100. After selling one of the systems and some of the duplicates I pretty much made my money back, so it was an amazing deal. I had always struggled to find that "one system" to collect for; I have many different consoles, from a PS4 and a Wii U all the way back to a Dreamcast, N64, and Genesis with many of the in-betweens. Finally, something about the Atari 2600 stuck with me, and has ever since. To be honest, I don't really know exactly what it is. My best guess is that because the VCS was pretty much the first cartridge-based system that was popular (*cough* Fairchild Channel F *cough*) it's important both as a technology symbol and video game symbol. As a Computer Science student, these things are always fascinating to me anyway. To me, each one of these cartridges represents something so personal in nature. Instead of being programmed by 10, 20, 100 guys, these games were designed by, at most, a handful (usually only one). There's something so amazing about that. I have this urge now to just collect and collect for it because I feel like each cartridge deserves to be played not only by the people who grew up playing the 2600 but by the next generation of gamers, too. I think one cannot truly appreciate what it means to be a passionate gamer without understanding the unique repercussions the system had for everyone who has ever touched a video game in their life. In short, I'm really in love with the Atari 2600. Well, I have gotten way out of hand here. Enough preaching. I'm just excited that I finally feel like I have a place to go to share my passion with other people. Plus, the people on this forum seem amazingly kind and knowledgeable. As of right now, I currently own 442 games for various systems. 91 of them are for the 2600 (no duplicates). I can't wait to be active in this community,build my physical collection as well as personal knowledge, and overall just have a great time. Thanks again! 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambouis de l'Atari Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Greetings and welcome ! It's great to read that kind of text today. I'm looking forward to read more other young guy's perspectives 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalloonFighter Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Welcome! It's always nice to see another fellow college kid around here who enjoys collecting for the Atari consoles. Not too many people my age share the same passion as me when it comes to the pre-NES era. See you around! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombstone Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 This post does my heart good. It can be difficult to hone in on why the 2600 means so much to so many people. It has an incredible history and legacy without a doubt. It is a very personal thing really. For me it certainly began with the fact that I grew up in Palo Alto in the 70's. Palo Alto is maybe 10 miles from Sunnyvale and I vividly remember seeing the Atari 2600 arrive in stores around the Bay Area when I was 9 and could not believe what I was seeing. Add to that the fact that when I was 10 I had an Atari programmer on my paper route. I don't remember his name but I do remember that about every couple of months he would take me and some of my friends to Atari headquarters on a Sunday and we would play the coin-op games they had there.......for free! My family could not afford a 2600 but he gave me one as a Christmas bonus in 1979. I no longer have that specific console but I heavily collect for the 2600 and feel that console is part of my own history and soul. Nothing like it had really existed to that level before and it has led to everything that exists now. I cannot believe what video gaming has become and the progress that has been made. But I do appreciate where it started and experienced it first-hand and I think that is another huge part of my affinity for the 2600. Good luck with your collecting as I think you will find it to be the most rewarding of all the consoles. Sean 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariKid81 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) Sean - you are the luckiest kid on Earth!! Great story!! Edited March 25, 2016 by AtariKid81 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troff Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Welcome! The AtariAge community is amazing, and there is lots of love for the Atari systems and collecting for them here. Just out of curiosity, what model of 2600 did you end up keeping? Have you discovered all the different releases of the 2600, and do you have a favorite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BZachLaLonde Posted March 28, 2016 Author Share Posted March 28, 2016 Welcome! The AtariAge community is amazing, and there is lots of love for the Atari systems and collecting for them here. Just out of curiosity, what model of 2600 did you end up keeping? Have you discovered all the different releases of the 2600, and do you have a favorite? The model I kept was the CX2600 manufactured in Hong Kong. I also have a CX2600A manufactured in Taiwan, though there is bad rust damage to the rf modulator so I'm going to composite mod that one. I have looked into the other releases, and I have to say that while that black 2600 is a close second, I don't think anything can beat the woodgrain of the first couple models. It's just too perfect for the system haha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlasterMaster31 Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 I suppose from reading your story that I would be around your older brothers age. I started with an NES and grew up in the 16 bit era and went forward. I came from a family with not a lot of money and new games for me only happened around birthdays or christmas until I got my own job. That being said I was always able to get used games no problem through places like K-Mart, garage sales, and Goodwill because my family could afford to spend up to $10 on a game. One day I was able to convince my Grandma to get me my first Atari from Goodwill it ended up being a Sears Video Arcade II model (not the best one to start out with as it is a learning experience to operate that one if you dont have an owners manual and all the atari game manuals are geared towards the normal systems). Since then I had a HUGE collection then traded it all in for a ps3..........Not my brightest decision and I have since brought my collection back up. However while I was in college around 2009-2010 I had a friend who was going to bring in his Atari to the game room at The University of Akron, he had mentioned that he thought only he and I would be playing it since everyone was bringing current consoles all the time. I told him that I would bring some of my games and everyone would be playing it non stop..........Well I was right because we had a massive Warlords tournament going on with 15 people crowded around a big screen TV wanting to play, we had sega genesiss extension cables and enough good paddles to go around it was a blast! People old and young can have fun with the older consoles you just have to know what games are best to play. Nice to know I'm not the only "young guy" here. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Welcome to the forum! Awesome you are a comp-sci student The Atari is awesome for retro gaming and even cooler for fun comp-sci studdies; there are two BASIC programming languages available and an Abstract Assembly programming framework for building games in addition to superslow traditional assembly development. If you don't composite mod your system there are more interesting old school programming effects you can play around with for a richer display. The videos on my site illustrate these kind of games, and the BASIC that uses the Poweshell IDE you're probably familiar with is available for download there: http://RelationalFramework.com/vwBASIC.htm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two-in-the-Belfry Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 Welcome to AA - it's great to see another college kid interested in the 2600! The people here are really friendly and helpful, so you should have a good time! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BZachLaLonde Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 Welcome to the forum! Awesome you are a comp-sci student The Atari is awesome for retro gaming and even cooler for fun comp-sci studdies; there are two BASIC programming languages available and an Abstract Assembly programming framework for building games in addition to superslow traditional assembly development. If you don't composite mod your system there are more interesting old school programming effects you can play around with for a richer display. The videos on my site illustrate these kind of games, and the BASIC that uses the Poweshell IDE you're probably familiar with is available for download there: http://RelationalFramework.com/vwBASIC.htm That is one aspect I forgot to mention in my post, but it's very true. I'll probably end up poking around using BASIC and experiment. Thanks for the resources! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BZachLaLonde Posted March 31, 2016 Author Share Posted March 31, 2016 And to everyone else who I haven't directly responded to, it's so cool reading your stories. Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to see all of you around the forum 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercoupe91 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Its awesome to see twenty-somethings and younger interested in the 2600. My family never had much money growing up so even though I wasn't born until '91, the Atari 2600 was the first game console I ever played. I couldn't have been more than a couple years old but I remember it as this is likely when I developed a soft-spot for the system. Then we had a nes up until the late 90s when we got the ps1. That was the only console I have ever owned while it was revelant. One of the ps1 games we played the crap out of was the collection of 30 Activision Atari games. The games are so easy to pick up and play. Just plain and simple fun. Fast forward to more recently when I made the decision to go back to play and collect these games, I ended up buying 2 Sunnyvale heavy sixers at separate occasions. Easily my favorite model 2600. I always tend to favor model 1 consoles but even more so with the 2600 with its heavier construction, wood grain, and being made in the U.S. It just screams "American Classic!" I gave one of the consoles to my mom for Xmas so she could re-live some childhood experiences. I also introduced "Combat" to my younger brothers this year and they absolutely loved it. Its a shame most people start at the nes for retro gaming but I suppose it does help keep prices down anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TwentySixHundred Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Welcome to AA, as everyones sharing their stories i have the itch to share mine aswell. Born in 1983 i almost missed the Artari 2600 boat like many others however i was very lucky to board right before it left the dock. Growing up in Australia the NES was very expensive so most my friends families like my own opted for 286 IBM PC's running DOS ect during the 80's era. DOS games have a special place in my heart too along with the 2600. As my parents split in 85 or something like that, i lived with my father to begin with, who bought a IBM rig around the same time and i loved playing the DOS games my uncle would give us. However when i would visit my mother she had a friend that had a 6 switch woody in the lounge and missile command. Everytime we would go there the adults would party and i would play the Atari all night . Then for my 5th birthday the 2600jr was out fairly cheap and mum picked me up one along with missile command of course. As you can think i was over the moon about having my own 2600 and missile command to play whenever i wanted when visiting my mother. About a year later my mother had a boyfriend that noticed i had a 2600 and he took me to his house where he had like 40 add games for the system, filled a shopping bag with them all and said "here you go mate enjoy". From then on my mother couldnt remove that Atari joystick from my hands , i felt so lucky and had many hours of fun playing all the other "new games" i had acquired. Later down the years when SNES came out my father bought me one and it was great also but i still would swap between the two systems. There was something about the 2600 i just couldnt let go. Even through the playstation years i still kept firing up the 2600. Until oneday i listened to a mate who said "you should sell your old games on this new site called ebay".... I ummed and arred bout it then made the regretful decision of selling my beloved 2600 and games on ebay. What a mistake that was, never forgave myself for that silly mistake. That was mid 2000's and have never bought another one yet, kind of annoys me that around 2008 i wanted it all back badly. Anyway nowadays i just stick to emulation and only use high quality emulators like Stella (done alot of research on emulation) for my nostalgia fix when i need it. Thinking of buying another with a harmony cart as i still love the system so much. Might be able to con the Mrs into it as i have been getting her into oldschool gaming including some 2600 games Well thats my story and sorry if its too long and boring 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDS Games Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 One of the ps1 games we played the crap out of was the collection of 30 Activision Atari games. The games are so easy to pick up and play. Just plain and simple fun. Exactly. This really hit home for me with my kids. Air-Sea Battle was a staple for them around 3-6 years old--you are guaranteed a 2+ minute game, there is no way to die, and if you do nothing but mash the button once in a while you will eventually score some points. Just an excellent, excellent game for the youngest kids who don't quite have the coordination yet. Freeway also is great. I recently showed them Age of Empires, and they really were fascinated by that. But of course all they can do is watch. Just yesterday my 6 year old daughter asks me if I could teach her to play. She doesn't even use a mouse yet. Great thread here. It's easy to see why those of us born in the 70s fell in love with the VCS...but it's heartwarming to know that some younger folks are as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutsy Doodleheimer Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Great intro and welcome aboard!! Great to see a young college student (late teens to early 20's) get into and appreciate the Atari 2600. I was born during it's heyday as I am soon to be 35. I grew up with the 2600, NES, Genesis, SNES, and Turbo Grafx 16. Atari always leaves a soft spot in my heart. I enjoy 5200 and 7800 gaming as well. I hope you pick up some other great systems from the late 70s and 80's to your arsenal and you got thousands of others if you have questions or whatsoever. And are pleased to have you aboard!! By the way. Since you live in New Hampshire, did you ever visit or consider going to Fun Spot? That is perhaps the greatest arcade joint in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BZachLaLonde Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 Well thats my story and sorry if its too long and boring Haha it was a good read, thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BZachLaLonde Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 By the way. Since you live in New Hampshire, did you ever visit or consider going to Fun Spot? That is perhaps the greatest arcade joint in the world. I'm only about an hour and a half away, so I go there about a couple times a year. It is easily one of the coolest spots in the country for video gaming. There's history there for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Nice to see younger guys still going retro. I was disappointed yesterday at the games store the guys there who sell retro systems had trouble saying 5200 and 7800 and never wanted to talk atari only snes and later with their metro buddies. So I bought 6 intellivision games and left. He said the 2600 is a rare system and worth lots of money. Yeah real rare I said sarcastically.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercoupe91 Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 the 2600 is a rare system and worth lots of money. If that's the case, I know of a couple of systems I could sell him. I feel like the 2600 getting overlooked so often is part of what makes it so great to collect for. Its not like you can buy nes or snes games for 1 or 2 dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BZachLaLonde Posted April 1, 2016 Author Share Posted April 1, 2016 the 2600 is a rare system and worth lots of money. If that's the case, I know of a couple of systems I could sell him. I feel like the 2600 getting overlooked so often is part of what makes it so great to collect for. Its not like you can buy nes or snes games for 1 or 2 dollars. I agree. The last time I went to a flea market I spent about 40 bucks and got like 19 or 20 games. Paying around 2, 3 dollars is what keeps collecting from becoming a chore and a drag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codester78 Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Cool to hear that! Goodwill where I live used to be great, I found pretty much most of the systems I have at that place. But now it has been really lacking. Maybe I should try craigslist like you have. Ebay prices are getting higher than ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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