donjn Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Okay I have a nice setup. A Commodore 1702 monitor with a Commodore 64, Ultimate II and Atari 800xl with UnoCart all connected to the back via s-video (chroma/luma) with a switch box to choose what system you are playing on and the switcher for audio to the speakers. I got the urge so I purchased an s-video modded Atari 2600 to connect to that switch box as well. While I truly love my 8-bit computers I am thinking the 2600 was a nostalgic purchase. Almost every game can be played on the C64 or 800 and better. Sure there are a handful of games that are only on the 2600 that I like but Stella emulation on the PC has almost no response time delay. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Yes, nice setup and similar to mine, very similar (love my 1541 Ultimate + which the Atari AVG cart is getting to be a close match ish) I personally never had a 2600, I sold them but it never felt like I needed it and my Atari 800 could do lots of stuff BUT now I'm older I've noticed some stuff on it that is very nice, simplistic looking but great gameplay and that is what counts. Also its a damn hard machine to emulate because of the beam racing tech but they have done very well but as always having the actual hardware means you get the best possible play. And yes, we all have made nostalgic purchases but usually there's enough attachment to merit the buy, personally I'm not a huge fan of collecting disks or carts, I prefer it all to be digital so I'd say get one of those 2600 Everdrive type things and just have a whale of a time. Paul. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibstov Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 3 hours ago, donjn said: Okay I have a nice setup. A Commodore 1702 monitor with a Commodore 64, Ultimate II and Atari 800xl with UnoCart all connected to the back via s-video (chroma/luma) with a switch box to choose what system you are playing on and the switcher for audio to the speakers. I got the urge so I purchased an s-video modded Atari 2600 to connect to that switch box as well. While I truly love my 8-bit computers I am thinking the 2600 was a nostalgic purchase. Almost every game can be played on the C64 or 800 and better. Sure there are a handful of games that are only on the 2600 that I like but Stella emulation on the PC has almost no response time delay. Thoughts? Nah I think you did alright. Though you should've bought an Atari 7800. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Yep, 7800 would be better. Though no idea what the prices are doing but you're talking a more expensive machine with rarity of ~ 4 million vs over 30 million. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Never saw a reason for the 7800 and 5200, just an Atari bid to grab the console market which the NES had cornered by then, the 2600 did its job superbly and sold like hot cakes but both the 5200 and 7800 were luke warm at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilsaluki Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 I too never had a 2600 when they came out. They were beyond our means back then (expensive toy that mom couldn't justify). Then I got grown and mom bought me a 800XL for my 23rd B-Day. It was much later that I found a used 7800 with 75 carts (2600 & 7800 titles) all bundled for $75 at a pawn shop. Didn't need it at the time, but as the salesman said, "Machine and 75 games, dude". I was sold. I now have several 2600 machines. I love the format. The games are just fun. Graphics, so what, the games are pure fun. Easy to learn, not so easy to master at times. I would say, enjoy it. If you tire of it, you can always sell it to someone that will appreciate it. The prices are going up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 7800 was too late and should have had better sound from stock. But it rolls back to the same story - the 2600 was relied on as the cash-cow to the detriment of everything else that was either in production or in development or concept phase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 3 hours ago, donjn said: Okay I have a nice setup. A Commodore 1702 monitor with a Commodore 64, Ultimate II and Atari 800xl with UnoCart all connected to the back via s-video (chroma/luma) with a switch box to choose what system you are playing on and the switcher for audio to the speakers. I got the urge so I purchased an s-video modded Atari 2600 to connect to that switch box as well. While I truly love my 8-bit computers I am thinking the 2600 was a nostalgic purchase. Almost every game can be played on the C64 or 800 and better. Sure there are a handful of games that are only on the 2600 that I like but Stella emulation on the PC has almost no response time delay. Thoughts? It's subjective. The 2600 is such an iconic system of that era, and many of the 2600 games are classic, even if they are better implemented on Atari 8bit/C64 There's also a number of great 2600 games that never appeared on other platforms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Not a waste of money. Get yourself a flash cart and use it for those games that are unique or at least unique ports for the system. There are tons of homebrews and many games that are just easy to pick up and play. Many of the system‘s classics can be had for a buck a pop. Try Space Invaders Yar‘s Revenge Defender II Haunted House Adventure The 7800 is more versatile but if you have a classic VCS the looks make up for part of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Mclaneinc said: Never saw a reason for the 7800 and 5200, just an Atari bid to grab the console market which the NES had cornered by then, the 2600 did its job superbly and sold like hot cakes but both the 5200 and 7800 were luke warm at best. The salient point is that the 7800 can play 2600 games. Edited July 1, 2020 by MrFish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Ah, did not know that...We didn't even stock them... Ta for that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TapperP Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 (edited) Not a waste. I actually just bought a heavy sixer 2600 today (chose it for pure nostalgia since it's what I had as a kid many years ago), and I already have 2 Atari computers. 2600 plays a lot of fun games that are not available on the computers. None of us are getting any younger, we're in the midst of difficult times, and Atari stuff helps me feel less depressed. It's not like these things cost massive amounts of money, so go for it. Edited July 1, 2020 by TapperP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Not only that... but if buy a Harmony Cart you can keep everything on that cartridge including home brews and enhanced games.... Really makes a nice little system. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TapperP Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 5 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: Not only that... but if buy a Harmony Cart you can keep everything on that cartridge including home brews and enhanced games.... Really makes a nice little system. Oh yes, I will be getting one for sure! ? Switching out carts is so 1977. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivop Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 IMHO H.E.R.O. on the 2600 is fantastic and enough reason to own one 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 3 hours ago, Mclaneinc said: Never saw a reason for the 7800 and 5200, just an Atari bid to grab the console market which the NES had cornered by then, the 2600 did its job superbly and sold like hot cakes but both the 5200 and 7800 were luke warm at best. Both the 5200 and 7800 predate the NES. Atari early on saw that the 2600 tech would be obsolete in a few years, so they started developing the tech that was first released as the 400/800 in 1979, and eventually got turned into a console in 1982 with the 5200 when it became cheap enough I suppose The 7800 came about because Atari was disappointed in 5200 sales, they wanted a Colecovision killer and also wanted an answer for the criticism that 5200 wasn't backwards compatible. It was first shown in 1984 and was supposed to be released the same year. Then the sale to Tramiel happened, the 7800 got tied up in red tape, and by the time it released, it was going against the NES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 30 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said: Ah, did not know that...We didn't even stock them... Ta for that... 2 minutes ago, zzip said: ...and also wanted an answer for the criticism that 5200 wasn't backwards compatible. Yes, people were disappointed that the 5200 couldn't play 2600 games. That's why they eventually released a 2600 adapter for the 5200. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 I'm having a nightmare Atari day, got the timings of when the 5200 and 7800 were out and had no clue about the 7800 playing 2600 games..Losing it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivop Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 5 minutes ago, MrFish said: That's why they eventually released a 2600 adapter for the 5200. I suppose that's just a 2600 in a box on top of your 5200? I have a GameBoy adapter for my SNES. Very funny, although the sound is crap. Lots of noise. So I play all my GameBoy games on emulation Super Mario Land and Wario are great in 4 shades of grey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Just now, ivop said: I suppose that's just a 2600 in a box on top of your 5200? Yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Really liked the gameboy even though I wasn't one for pocket games, Zelda was just so damn good on it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGB1718 Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, Mclaneinc said: Never saw a reason for the 7800 and 5200, I never even knew they existed (nor the XEGS) until I came to this forum in stpite of only ever buying Atari. I did own a 2600, was my first games console, had tons of games, my only regret is that I didn't keep it, can't even remember when/where I got rid of it. Still have every Atari machine (8 bit and ST) and peripherals that I ever bought all still working Edited July 1, 2020 by TGB1718 Spelling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 I regret selling my Sears heavy sixer, my pal heavy sixes and my Sears video arcade II, but I really only used my 7800. 7800 is worth having for the fantastic homebrew games by packmanplus 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 I have an Atari 2600 and an Atari 7800. Atari 2600 games look better on my Atari 2600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donjn Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 Yes I have the UnoCart for Atari 2600 as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.