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You THEN vs. You NOW


JayAre

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Then for sure. I could and did play Atari 2600 a lot back when I was a kid. Every day I'd play and could play games until the scored flipped in some cases. I could still do that now, but most games don't hold my interest. I like to play every now and again for nostalgia, but other than that the newer games get my daily attention.

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In terms of skill, in general, I'd say I'm better now for sure. It's a combination of experience and analytical ability, and my reflexes are still pretty good.

That said, there are way, WAY more games to play now, so it's rare I devote the time to master a single one, to wrap the score or whatever like I did as a kid. Hard to keep interest in some of the more simple VCS games for hours upon hours. Modern games have replaced the marathon sessions. The retro stuff tends to be the daily 'quick fix' or late night before bed kinda thing, while marathon sessions of games are generally only occasionally when a game (usually your Skyrim/Fallout/Dark Souls kinda deals) really grabs me.

A lot of the 'my reflexes are still pretty good' is due, I think, to my wife an I choosing not to have kids (WAY more free time than most adults and we're free to pursue our interests), and the fact that I've never stopped playing regularly. Some studies have shown that gaming keeps your reflexes in decent shape as you get older, which is also an excellent excuse as to why I didn't get to the dishes. 'Sorry honey, I'm just keeping my reflexes sharp as I age!"

Then I usually have to dodge a throw pillow, which also helps keep them in good shape. :grin:




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I hope we are all better at classic games now class than we were bitd. We have more overall knowledge of the workings of each game, strategies, walkthroughs, years of forum discussions, and YT videos. But perhaps most importantly: Genesis controllers with D-pads!

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I have to agree with those who say patience comes into play more today than back then. As a kid, I rarely kept score and would lose interest quickly and want to try another game. Today, I can sit and play 2600 Asteroids (Game1) until the score turns over and be perfectly content. I don't know that my reflexes are much worse today but attention span and dedication to the joy of playing has definitely improved.

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At the same games, I'm better now. I still play modern games and I feel like the complexity of games has progressed to the point where if you can play a modern game (like, I dunno, Eve Online or Elite: Dangerous), you can play a game like Combat on the Atari 2600 with your eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back. I used to think of games on the 2600 as somewhat challenging, but in hindsight that's mostly because I just wasn't used to video games in general at that time - no one was. Nowadays I just get bored before I really start losing... unless a game is cheap and "cheats", as many of them did back then in single player mode. But then I just get bored for a different reason.

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I'm much better at games now, but they don't hold my interest as long now. Partly because I'm just older, but I think some of it has to do with my hands hurting after a while. I just wish I had at least one friend who was willing to play Combat with me. I managed to get my father to play it a couple of times, but he doesn't like any type of game, at all. Never has, never will. My friends refuse to play anything that isn't PS3 or newer. I really need to find better friends. LOL

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Wasn't trolling about the Genesis controller, but yes, I'm a second-tier Atarian. Shun me, scorn me, I don't care. ;) I love playing 2600 games with the Genesis controller. Once I realized they would work on the Atari, I've never looked back. They allow me to actually play the games, rather than fight against hand cramps, and I get much better scores than I ever got in the 80's. I paid my dues on the CX40's back in the day, so I have no regrets! Those joysticks are just horrible. Iconic, but horrible.

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Wasn't trolling about the Genesis controller, but yes, I'm a second-tier Atarian. Shun me, scorn me, I don't care. ;) I love playing 2600 games with the Genesis controller. Once I realized they would work on the Atari, I've never looked back. They allow me to actually play the games, rather than fight against hand cramps, and I get much better scores than I ever got in the 80's. I paid my dues on the CX40's back in the day, so I have no regrets! Those joysticks are just horrible. Iconic, but horrible.

I've been playing/collecting Atari since the beginning, and I use a Genesis Ascii Powerclutch stick on ALL my ataris. Seriously, a nice genesis arcade stick and an edladding adaptor make the 7800 actually playable, and I get way better scores on 2600 stuff like HERO, River Raid etc.

 

Atari made some great hardware. Their controllers were, to a one, primitive, unreliable, and painful to use. I see no reason to use them now. Before genesis controllers were a thing, I liked slik sticks and Tac-2s. I've never like Atari's controllers, and none of the kids on my block did either. We all had 3rd party.

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THEN-

 

when i was walking down the street 5 yrs ago and saw a box that said free atari with a free atari inside, i started buying the original carts, but none of the games worked for a while cause i couldnt find a good joystick for a long while

 

NOW-

 

HARMONY CART HOMBREWZ + SEGA GENESIS CONTROLLER

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Much better player now. It's why I don't actually tend to play retro games much, because they all seem to be a lot easier now than they used to be. I sucked at games in the early 80s, except on a few 2600 games ... and also being able to hit a million on Minestorm and Dropzone. But that was pretty much it.

 

Today, I view something like the 2600 as a machine to introduce younger gamers to video games. I'd like to set one of mine up for grandkids to play. There are some great games on there I would like to play again.

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