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Original VCS (or Odyssey) players? (research project)


sociologist

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Hi everyone,


I'm a sociologist of media doing a project on early game consoles, especially the Odyssey and VCS. If you played those consoles when they came out - or perhaps slightly later versions of them - I'd be really interested to talk to you! I want to understand how these systems impacted people's relationship to consumer technology in general, and television in particular.


Find my previous publications / information here: https://soc.ucla.edu/grads/gary-yeritsian


Thanks!

Gary

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Hi everyone,

 

I'm a sociologist of media doing a project on early game consoles, especially the Odyssey and VCS. If you played those consoles when they came out - or perhaps slightly later versions of them - I'd be really interested to talk to you! I want to understand how these systems impacted people's relationship to consumer technology in general, and television in particular.

 

Find my previous publications / information here: https://soc.ucla.edu/grads/gary-yeritsian

 

Thanks!

Gary

Well, you've come to the right place! Many of us here on the forums were among the first generation of video game players, and as you'll see, we still maintain a collection of those "vintage" games today.

 

Feel free to send me a private message; I'd be glad to answer your questions.

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That would be most of us here. :lol:

 

 

Plenty of us old farts around...

 

 

Well, you've come to the right place! Many of us here on the forums were among the first generation of video game players, and as you'll see, we still maintain a collection of those "vintage" games today.

 

Feel free to send me a private message; I'd be glad to answer your questions.

 

Thanks so much for the replies, and the warm reception. :) :lol:

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You might not find many people here who grew up with the original Odyssey, but many of us had the Atari VCS's prime competitor (until the Intellivision came out), the Odyssey 2. I was one of them, and it was the first consumer electronics product I was obsessed with...

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Feel free to stick around after the project too. :)

 

I just might - thanks! :grin: Not a hardcore gamer myself, but I've always taken an interest in the history of the genre. I certainly played a ton as a kid - in particular I have fond memories of Madden and Fifa 94 on Sega.

 

Also, don't know how many of you have encountered the book Racing the Beam: The Atari VCS, but it's probably the most widely read academic piece on the Atari: https://www.amazon.com/Racing-Beam-Computer-Platform-Studies/dp/026201257X

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sociologist and I spoke over the phone earlier, and it was a fun call. The perspective that he's asking questions from is interesting, and has much more depth to it than the usual, "so what was it like to have one of these back in the day?" projects that crop up from time to time.

 

Definitely looking forward to reading the published paper, and appreciate him taking the time to speak with me.

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sociologist and I spoke over the phone earlier, and it was a fun call. The perspective that he's asking questions from is interesting, and has much more depth to it than the usual, "so what was it like to have one of these back in the day?" projects that crop up from time to time.

 

Definitely looking forward to reading the published paper, and appreciate him taking the time to speak with me.

 

Thanks so much for this post! The encouragement is very heartening. I really appreciated your perspectives on the relationship between video games and early computing! Also, some of the articles in the two volumes of the Video Game Theory Reader may be of interest. I don't know how widely those books are read by nonacademic gamers.

 

I have had a "relationship" with the VCS since 1979, both good and bad. PM if interested.

 

I got my first 2600 (VCS) in 1980...I started early on in this fantastic hobby.

 

Thank you both! At the moment, I'm wrapping up my first round of interviews, and am going to incorporate them into the draft of the article. I may well return in two or three weeks' time for a second round!

 

Gary

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One thing I forgot to mention- Arcade games usually had an 'attract mode' where the games would kind of play themselves - and/or some brief instructions on a side panel. Enough to get you started, but not as much as a good 'backstory' with a videogame cartridge.


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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks again for taking the time to talk, Gary. I enjoyed our conversation and I hope it will be useful to you. I look forward to reading your article!

 

Thank you so much for your time and insight! And sorry for the late reply - have been working on the article :)

 

 

One thing I forgot to mention- Arcade games usually had an 'attract mode' where the games would kind of play themselves - and/or some brief instructions on a side panel. Enough to get you started, but not as much as a good 'backstory' with a videogame cartridge.

 

 

Hmm... didn't know this. Thanks!

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