Do you remember the crash?

[fmctm1sw]

I remember going to Kaybee (I think) Toys and finding games that once sold for $30 and $40 in a small bins in front of the store. All marked down big time. I remember picking up Airlock and thinking I got great deal. What a horrible game. Anyone else have spcific memories?

[classicgamingguy]

Yeah, I have similar memories of games that I once payed through the nose for (as a kid, getting that much money was rather hard. But by 1983 I was 16) were available for a fraction of the cost. The rumor was the video game industry was dead for all time. I'm glad that didn't come true. I was traumatized enough when coin op arcades went out for good. *sniff*

[AtariDude]

I got into computer games at the time that the crash occured. I had switched to an Atari 800XL and once I got my first modem, I began to go to BBSes and download a lot of games that were fun.

 

I did notice however that the prices of some games had gone down and there did not seem to be as many games for the 2600 as before.

[+cvga]

I was transitioning from the Atari 2600 to the Commodore 64 during the crash so it didn't have a big impact on me at the time. I do remember seeing tables full of games with prices slashed to $5 and below at Kay-bee and Children's Palace. Even at incredibly low prices, I didn't buy much as too many things were competing for my limited funds (computer games, music, etc.)

[Emehr]

I don't remember anything about a crash. Didn't even know there *was* a crash until much much later (circa 1999 or so via the online community). I was 8 in 1983 so I wasn't too concerned with much. I was happy with the 9 games we had at the time! I do remember cleaning out either KayBee or Circus World in 1988-89 when Atari games were $2.50 a pop. Must've scored almost 20 games back then. Ahh, Solaris...

 

-Jason

[iguana]

I did not know it was a "crash" but I do remember the cheap games. I remember my freind and I rode like 20 miles each way to a store that had them for $1. I picked up tons of games

[Foxsolo2000]

I didn't know about the crash until 99 when I first got on the internet. In 1985 the shops in the Uk, once so plentiful with 2600, Intellivision and Colecovision consoles and games were suddenly devoid of anything but computers. I remember the Vectrex being sold off cheaply in my local Woolworths department store in the summer of 84 and couldn't understand why and for a long time I had no idea why the Atari and the other consoles had vanished. It wasn't until 88 that I noticed a new wave of game system interest in the form of the NES, Maser system and Mega Drive. It seems that the Great Crash went largely unexplained in the UK, either that or we just accepted that computers were the next logical step.

[txsizzler]

I was 11 years old in 1983, and was shocked to see everything marked down so much. Then, hearing that the video game industry may no longer get revived, I began to beg my folks for a computer setup, which of course I did not get until the late 1980's. My first computer, unfortunately, was a Commodore Plus/4, that my grandparents recieved for free for staying at some hotel that was giving them away when you stayed a weekend with them. Shortly after that, I bought a Commodore Colt computer (and IBM XT clone), and rapidly upgraded to a 386SX, then in 1992 to a 486 DX 50mhz (note.. not a DX2.. but an actual DX)... Ultima Underworld never looked so good!!!

[yuppicide]

I don't really remember it in 1983. I was 10 years old. I did a lot more activities back then. I do remember Lionel Kiddie City going out of business and they had a crapload of 2600 games in bins for under $10 each. I should have picked everyone up.. even if they were mostly Solaris and stuff like Desert Falcon.

[moycon]

Yep I'm with the majority here.

I was aware that Atari games were suddenly appearing on tables out on the floor, as opposed to being locked up in a case somewhere and the prices were cheap, cheap. I remember getting some as cheap as .99. I had no clue about any crash. I just knew one day the videogame mag I had subscribed to, stopped publishing, they sent a letter saying that it was my last issue and started sending me some "Video" mag (As in VHS) I was disappointed in that.... and some mags changed their name to appeal to more computer users.

So yes I remember the crash very well....but didnt know there was a crash... I was patiently awaiting the Atari 7800 at that time. I just knew it was going to be the end all of consoles.

[Esper Wizard]

I remember seeing (and buying) many games for very low prices. I don't know if I was aware it was a "crash" at the time, though.

[Jess Ragan]

I was alive at the time (about ten years old), but to be honest... no! I wasn't even aware that there WAS a crash. I mean, heck, I was still playing video games, and loving every minute of it. I guess I should have been suspicious of all those great prices at the local retail stores, but I was a kid, not a business analyst!

 

I've got more about my experiences during the crash on the 2600 section of my web site, which you'll find here:

 

http://grblitz.overclocked.org/26hunter.htm

 

JR

[Cobra Commander]

I dont remember it as a crash per say, however I do remember my friends were not playing games any more. I do remember the atari commercials when nintendo came out "under 40 bucks".

[SteveW]

I kind of knew at the time that the market was crumbling. Target stores used to have massive loads of 2600 games, just dozens of boxloads, all at 3 for $10. My mom took me and I ended up with some halfway okay games, since they weren't selling anything fantastic or anything. I got a Texas Instruments Home Computer in late 1983, just a month before TI dropped out of the computer market. Everyone I knew was picking up home computers, for good reason. If you're bored playing Space Jockey, now you can pick up a home computer that will let you make your own games! That's what I wanted to do. I stopped playing 2600 games and started programming my own stuff, spending all my time typing in games from computer magazines and such. I still picked up some Atari games after the crash, though, like an Arcadia/Starpath Supercharger for $9.99, and a few games for $3.49. But mostly, I only picked up 2600 games when I didn't find any good TI games in the store. It was obvious to me around 1985 that the game console market had collapsed. Eventually, Nintendo came out with the NES, I picked up one in late 1986 with one of my first paychecks, and the market seemed to slowly come back to life.

Edited June 5, 2005 by SteveW

[SumerNivek]

Hell, I was 4 at the time of the crash in '83 and even I remember the cheap prices (one of my first memories). But, it wsan't until years later that I found out why they were so cheap. I had mom buy me many games one day because of the cheapness of them all, and she didn't mind at all...kept me occupied.

[Mindfield]

I remember the crash, but not for what it was. Back around the summer of '84 my father and I moved into a new place. My game systems -- a Colecovision and a Gemini -- got packed in green garbage bags as we ran out of boxes, and ultimately got mistaken for actual garbage and thrown out. All I had to do that summer was spend my weekly allowance of $10 at a semi-local mall. In going to the mall however I always passed a Toys "R" Us and always told myself I should go in there one day. Cut to the fall of '84; my birthday rolls around and I'm given a 2600 with more than 30 games as a gift from a neighbour whose kids had outgrown it. I was pretty stoked -- and it gave me a reason to finally check out Toys "R" Us. In doing so I was very pleased to find that there were quite a lot of games going for under $10 -- which meant I had a new weekend ritual. Every weekend thereafter -- 'til the summer of '85 when I got a computer anyway -- I bought a new game for my 2600.

 

I had no idea there was some kind of crash going on -- what I do remember was the 2600 games were cheap and all of the arcades I used to go to before I had a game system were gone, and I didn't know why.

 

It wasn't 'til around '92 or '93 or so, when I first got on the Internet, that I started learning about the history 'n stuff.

[Mayhem]

I was transitioning from the Atari 2600 to the Commodore 64 during the crash so it didn't have a big impact on me at the time.

 

Likewise, but I do recall many places here in the UK selling games at £10 or under. We did get quite a few in the months before the 2600 was finally sold and I got a C64.

[+SpiceWare]

I got into computers at school in '80 on a Commodore PET. In '81 I got a VIC 20, in 83 a C= 64. Never noticed the video game crash as I was too busy coding, BBSing(I ran one on my VIC) and gaming on the Commodores.

 

 

As for the disappearence of arcades - I think what happened there was the games were no longer better than what you could play at home. I think if they'd moved on to higher resolutions(like HDTV quality in the early 90s) they'd still be around.

Edited June 5, 2005 by SpiceWare

[Zwackery]

Like others have said, I don't remember it as a "crash" so much as a time when Atari games became very cheap, although by this time I had been more into Colecovision for the past couple of years and then had switched to computers in 1984. I remember walking by Kaybee Toys in the mall and seeing all these brand new $4 carts and thinking how quaint. In retrospect I should have bought them all! Oh well, another chapter in my long affiliation with Atari.

[mitsubachi]

I was transitioning from the Atari 2600 to the Commodore 64 during the crash so it didn't have a big impact on me at the time.

 

I'm in the same boat... typical kid, my attention was drawn else where with alarming ease.

 

But it is the atari games I love and remember best now. And I just won an auction with a bundle of 14 games, including my much longed for Asterix. I don't think I'd ever get quite this excited about a c64 game... except maybe boulderdash, but I've got that in my c64 emu stuff.

[themrfreeze]

Two specific memories of the crash (I was 14-15 at the time):

 

The local Kiddie City toy store was arranged such that when you walked through the door, you were at the beginning of the video game aisle. On the left was the video game counter, behind which the computers/consoles/hot games were stored. On the right was the very long rack where regular video games were hung. At the time of the crash, the racks were FILLED with software with big orange discount price tags on them. It was a VERY cool time...too bad I didn't have more cash.

 

The other memory was getting a brand new Intellivision 2 at Gold Circle for $20, and an Intellivoice for $10.

[graywest]

Like others have posted, I didn't really know what was happening at the time of the crash. I do remember seeing the tables of deeply discounted 2600 games (I remember my parents buying one of them for me - it was an E.T. cart.)

 

My girlfriend found a boxed 5200 at a garage sale a few weeks ago. Inside was a newspaper rebate flyer from June 1984. This image pretty much sums up the crash for me:

 

(the image is large so it can be read - sorry)

Atari 2600 / 5200 rebate discount flyer

 

I mean, wasn't the 5200 selling for $200 just a year before?

[yuppicide]

I used to take the orange Toys R Us clearance stickers and put them on other things.

 

This one I got legit, tho.. I ended up getting a great Rocky & Bullwinkle board game for 99 cents and it had hand puppets you had to wear of the characters.

[NE146]

'Course I do. But I experienced it as a long drawn out period where I didn't know anything was "crashing".. I just noticed games were hardly being sold anymore. Hardly any new games coming out, and most telling at least to me... the gaming magazines started dissapearing and soon all you could find were computing magazines. Where were the games?

 

I didn't sweat it too much though. I had just started high school and that of course took most of my attention anyway while the 5200 & 2600 were stored under my bed

[Agent X]

I was transitioning from the Atari 2600 to the Commodore 64 during the crash so it didn't have a big impact on me at the time. I do remember seeing tables full of games with prices slashed to $5 and below at Kay-bee and Children's Palace. Even at incredibly low prices, I didn't buy much as too many things were competing for my limited funds (computer games, music, etc.)

868280[/snapback]

 

That's how it was with me, also. Even though I was 11 years old at the time, I was aware of the crash, but it didn't really bother me too much since I had just gotten the Commodore 64 and was giving most of my attention to that machine.