is the atari fad ending?

[atari70s]

seems like the more people i talk to that have/had big atari game collections or played atari seem to be getting tired of it and getting out of it. dont tell me this is the end of atari as we know it ( again) . why are people getting out of this hobby?

[maibock]

I sure hope so = more carts available

[moycon]

Yep it's over my friend.

All those carts you now own are practically worthless.

Sad I know.

I will make you feel better.

Send me all your carts and I will pay you a fair price... Between .1 and .50 apiece for them!!!

 

Good deal hu? I mean at this point they are doing nothing but taking up room.

[HawgWyld]

seems like the more people i talk to that have/had big atari game collections or played atari seem to be getting tired of it and getting out of it. dont tell me this is the end of atari as we know it ( again) . why are people getting out of this hobby?

 

That Atari "fad" ended about 20 years ago. Think about it. Even though the 2600 is allegedly gaining in popularity, how many people do you know who actually collect for the system?

 

We're still few and far between, to be sure.

[NE146]

"fad"? I've just always played my Atari games I bought in the 70's and 80's. That's all

 

..unless you're talking about "collectors" aka guys who buy the majority of their stuff retroactively. I don't know much about those circles.

[Adrian M]

The fad is over.

Today's gamers can only withstand so many versions of "Atari Anniversary" released on all the latest platforms.

[Blackjack]

Collectors come and go from every area of collecting. YOU just happen to see more leaving than coming. I just started "collecting" Atari a few months ago and I'm on FIRE! I just found my first R9 cart and I'm hopelessly enthusiastic about my collecting, and it's snowballing...... I just got my first Jaguar last week.

 

Actually I believe that this is only the dawn of the Atari collecting. Most of us that fondly remember it from our childhood are in our mid 30's. It seems that when people get to their mid 40's they REALLY start to show an interest in their favorite childhood memories, plus they have a lot more cash to indulge themselves!

 

*Note* I say I just started collecting a few months ago - I've been into classic arcade gaming/emulation for years, and was a lurker on these boards for quite a while. My general interest in classic gaming ( and having to start over from scratch due to losing everything I've ever owned in a fire last March) has led me to the Atari 2600 - my first ever home video game (if you don't include pong, but who collects pong).

 

Have NO FEAR.... It's alive and well and growing every day. Of course I would also like to offer you a "reasonable" price for your collection if you see it otherwise

[joeybastard]

is the atari fad ending?

 

Yes, and the next fad is collecting all of the Mary Kate and Ashly games for various platforms, so you'd proabaly want to get a head start today.

 

 

 

[Lemmi]

is the atari fad ending?

 

Yes, and the next fad is collecting all of the Mary Kate and Ashly games for various platforms, so you'd proabaly want to get a head start today.

 

 

 

 

shhhh dont tell everyone, thats what im doing

[Blackjack]

I'm still upset about the whole Pokemon thing going away

[maibock]

I'm still upset about the whole Pokemon thing going away    

 

Pokemon hasn't gone away

 

Sure it has in the maibock house, as both my kids got sick of it a few years ago. My neices are heavily into it, since they visit Japan once a year. I think they're up to version 7 or 8 in the movies. Whenever we go over their house, there's a boatload of Pokemon crap all over the place..

[figgler]

Yeah Pokemon's not even close to gone. The preorder numbers for LEaf Green and Fire Red alone were completely ridiculous

[Blackjack]

Yeah Pokemon's not even close to gone.  The preorder numbers for LEaf Green and Fire Red alone were completely ridiculous

 

Damn..... I must have dreamed it

[Radio F Software]

I hope Pokemon has a impressive (and impusive) swing back into popularity and collecting. I have SO MUCH CRAP from the days of Pokemon a LOT of it can bring in a sh*tload of $$$. Example: 1st Edition rares from the ORIGINAL set.

[christianscott27]

anybody who collects games hoping to cash out for a big profit is in for a letdown. theres a great tradition of being cheap in this hobby, it goes back to the thrift store roots of pre-ebay game hunting when all fad followers leave we'll still be here, if you never invested a big hunk of money in games its no biggie when the bubble bursts. gimme [email protected] games at a thrift and i'm a happy kid.

[sega saturn x]

Is the fad over? no i dont think so i never knew one ever started. Collecting isint really a fad more of a hobby and i guess you can get sick of it after so long.

[Classic Pac]

Hey, I just need the cash. If someone offered me a working Dreamcast, Gamecube, XBOX, or PS2 they could have the pick of collection now.

[Mr_8bit_16bit]

Now that People who cut their teeth on Atari have come of age and began to reminisce, Atari has reclaimed it's "it's cool to be a geek and nothing is geekier than Atari" clout. And that wont really go away until people who are old enough to remember are too old to be remembered. Atari isn't becoming unpopular again, it's just that Atari, for the past several years had dominated the "retro gaming is cool" field, and now they will have to share the stage with Nintendo and the Sega Genesis, and one day, probably, the PS1. So, it's not the only one hogging the limelight, but it's still on-stage and will be. Especially, in this age of everything retro, nothing retro that's in is gonna go out, only things coming back in. I'm certainly more cognisant of the retro gaming movement in 2004 than I was in 1998-1999, if anything, the movement as a whole is getting stronger, and Atari will always be the one that started it all. However, since the NES, Genesis, SNES etc era was my favorite, this evolution of retro is one that I personally like a lot.

[Mr_8bit_16bit]

yeah, I should add that I'm neither a trend-hopper on this, nor am I a collector, per se. I'm not in it for the collecting... I'm in it for the gaming. I don't buy to have, I buy to play. Though, being a full-time employee, part time college student, husband and owner of two dogs, lately I've had so little time to play, that it has been more a matter of have then play, but play is always my motivation. I'm a gamer with a respectable collection, I'm not a collector... if I'm collecting anything, it's memories, and devices required to unlock and relive them.

[Mr Egg]

most of young impulse buying collectors were to young to have experienced atari so they get into it by bying the collection disks or jakks joysticks and are quiclky bored by the primitive graphics and simple gameplay so it was a fad for some but as a hobby it will never go away due to the millions who do have fond atari memories of their childhoods. its just like people who are into volkswagen bettles . they will shell top dollar for ancient cars with low power and no A/C. its very much driven by nostalgia and for the love

[atari70s]

the people ive talked to said they are getting out. lookign for other hobbies. i agree when the bubble bursts and people dump carts cause they have no real $ value to them and they cant cash in . ill be there with an open hand saying please recycle carts here.im both gamer and collector( not for money) but if i see seomthign i think this might be rare. looks like a stupid game but what the hell ill toss it in the collection bin and maybe ill play it one day when my other games get boring. they make good subs . i got that karamary domcincy game on PS2 where you roll junk up and shoot it to space. its kinda retarded sounding game but like a bad accident you cant look away. i look foward to when people give up and the real handful of gamers remain. i was here in 96 pre ebay pre $$$ price tags for games. back when thrift shops were king. and guess what 40 yrs ill still be looking for atari games. sad i know but im sure ill find something 40 yrs form now.

[Raijin Z]

I collect to see what I missed out on when it was all still new, and to save it from the landfills. Once it goes there, it's gone.

[Cootster]

The NES will pick up collecting steam, then the SNES?Genesis, then the early 3d systems . .

 

Personally, I'm snagging all the N64/PS1 stuff I can while it's still cheap. . .

[AtariDude]

Everything in life goes through cycles. The interest level might be a bit low at this point (and that is debateable) but eventually there will be a greater interest.

 

By the way, if you wish to get out of the collecting Atari items fad, I be more than happy to take items off your hands

[Mr_8bit_16bit]

Still, I haven't observed a decline in general pop-culture reverie for the system or it's contemporaries. It used to be way back in the day that if you said Atari or Nintendo in public, people labled you a dork. You were uncool. Now, if you utter Atari or Nintendo in public, people still think you are a dork. But to quote something I read "Geek is Chic". Anyway, I would think that if the Atari revival is waning, so would pop-culture reverie, and I haven't observed that.