What is the one thing about the VCS that's surprising to you?

[Keatah]

What is the one or more things about the VCS that's surprised you the most over the years. Or just recently?

 

For me it would be the apparent hi-resolution.Some newer games seem to be (more and more nowadays) controlling pixels on individual scanlines. And this is giving the impression of a higher resolution than the traditional first-run games like Surround or Combat or anything from 1977-1979.

 

The Chopper and explosions in Super Cobra Arcade, the Mappy guy in Mappy, are some examples.

 

That.. and the longevity of the system on a whole. Amazing that's it's going for 40+ years. Back then I could not have envisaged in any way shape or form that there would be new games coming out in the 21st century.

 

 

[Flojomojo]

128 bytes of memory!

[NE146]

The one obvious thing is just the quality of the games coming out now.. with such close-to-arcade ports of Warlords (M.M.), Mappy, Bosconian, Scramble/Super Cobra, Ladybug, Pacman, Donkey Kong, Crazy Balloon, Sea Wolf, Asteroids (i.e. space rocks), etc. etc.. It almost makes you think the VCS was really (much to everyone's surprise) the most "powerful" classic console out there.

Edited July 23, 2018 by NE146

[high voltage]

Boulder Dash

[AlecRob]

8 gigabytes of DDR4 ram

[Lord Thag]

The most surprising thing is that, 40 years on, we are still getting the best games ever released for the console.

Who freaking knew the console would still have a library of 50+ new games for sale in 2018?

[+Spriggy]

With the all the new-fangled high level console tech out there now, I still come back to this legendary old bitch ... as well as get the most gaming joy above all else!!

[Mr SQL]

That 1977 architecture is so flexible that new discoveries are still being made, see the parallel research thread on motion blur reduction in my signature; the other researcher was using state of the art equipment and working on emerging technologies when he made the discovery.

[80s_Atari_Guy]

The most amazing thing of a 2600 is that, after 40 years, it's still better than Stella.

[Ranger03]

that they are using the original title for the 2600

[VectorGamer]

That it still works

[mr_me]

The 2600 has a larger colour palette than the NES.

[+Spriggy]

That it still works

+1

 

And expanding on that .. of all my 192 unique 2600 eggs, every single one works. I have not bought a single cart that didn't work. I would say about 40-50% needed a clean to get them working when purchased. That's surprising imo!

[Lord Thag]

+1

 

And expanding on that .. of all my 192 unique 2600 eggs, every single one works. I have not bought a single cart that didn't work. I would say about 40-50% needed a clean to get them working when purchased. That's surprising imo!

I collect a lot of old consoles, and I agree. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is as reliable as a 2600. The genesis is a close second (excluding the CD/32x). In 40 years, I've never found a 2600 that didn't work.

[+frankodragon]

Never needs updates, no DLC's, no RROD's, no worries about bricking the unit.

[BassGuitari]

You could still get brand-new systems and games from companies like Telegames and Radio Shack into the early 2000s.

[Inky]

The longevity and the surprises from a technology and prototype discovery standpoint.

[phoenixdownita]

@keatah

Do you have a 2600/Gemini/7800 or you strictly play it via emulation?

[InactiveX]

No video RAM.

[Keatah]

@keatah

Do you have a 2600/Gemini/7800 or you strictly play it via emulation?

 

We have an un-opened VCS with all the games and controllers as showcased in the 16725B catalog. That's about 40 games give or take. It's the wife's father's console that we keep in storage for him - among other electronic artifacts. He's one of those guys that buys stuff but never uses it.

 

Over the years I've farted around with real hardware consoles but keep coming back to emulation. My childhood VCS has long been disassembled for parts for other projects. But I have some of the chips and could use them to repair or spruce-up an ailing unit.

[Keatah]

That the unit, from a technical point of view, has only 1-line of vertical resolution.

[NE146]

 

We have an un-opened VCS with all the games and controllers as showcased in the 16725B catalog. That's about 40 games give or take. It's the wife's father's console that we keep in storage for him - among other electronic artifacts. He's one of those guys that buys stuff but never uses it.

 

Over the years I've farted around with real hardware consoles but keep coming back to emulation. My childhood VCS has long been disassembled for parts for other projects. But I have some of the chips and could use them to repair or spruce-up an ailing unit.

 

Why even ask.. we all know keatah's primary Atari VCS

 

[Flojomojo]

 

Why even ask.. we all know keatah's primary Atari VCS

 

 

 

I remember those from when everything was in black and white

 

[phoenixdownita]

 

Why even ask.. we all know keatah's primary Atari VCS

 

 

I had a point when I asked ... I think .....

.. oh yes ... if everyone had moved onto emulation by now we would never had found so many quirks and fantastic ways to abuse that little sucker ... think about it.

[and when I say "we" I really mean all the talented people that keep it going and find new tricks all the time]

[Keatah]

Emulator Stella is a (dare I say the) key tool in the development of many modern VCS games. Without it we wouldn't be pushing the envelope as hard as we do. Ask any programmer.