Where Did you go from Atari 2600???

[Lynxpro]

My parents bought me my 2600 for Christmas 1980. That started my love for Atari, that and their arcade games I'd already played at the local pizza parlors. Over the next five years, almost every other kid in school also had one up until the NES became popular.

 

My dad wanted an Intellivision but we tried one out at Sears and we both thought the controllers were terrible. I also hated the George Plimpton commercials.

 

After the game crash, a lot of my friends got C64s but I hated Commodore. My dad, being on a school board, wanted an Apple //e but I refused. I wanted an 800XL but Atari's woes were now known and the great 8-bit sell off began. This was when all the time share seminars were going on giving away free computers. My cousins got a TI-99/4A that way. Since my parents wouldn't go, I convinced my grandmother to go but she waited a month so instead of an 800XL, she got a shoddy Plus/4.

 

Early 1986 rolled on and I got a 1040ST as my first computer. The 7800 was re-released and I had to have it and my grandmother bought one. A lot of us on the junior high playground who knew about the breakup of Atari in 84 assumed the arcade division had been re-acquired and that we'd be enjoying Gauntlet and Paperboy on the 7800 soon and that the NES would be toast. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I got a 7800 myself that Christmas and enjoyed it as well as my ST. I pestered the heck out of Atari, writing to them on a weekly basis trying to convince them to get the rights to the Atari Games arcade games as well as other titles like Mania Challenge. I also pestered them to bring back the Atari Club and Atari Age, so I was happy when "The Atarian" was launched. They printed 8 of my tips.

 

Picked up an NES used with the Advantage joystick in 1988. All of my friends now had an NES, even though we were split on computers, so we could at least borrow NES carts as we did with the 2600. But I sold the NES and bought the Lynx as soon as it launched.

 

I had been a kid member of the local Atari Users Group(s) since late 86 so luckily there were lots of members who owned the Lynx so we had plenty of ComLynx matches. Sig Hartmann and Bob Brodie from Atari Corp also came out a few times too.

 

I sold my Lynx to my cousin and bought a Lynx II and patiently awaited the release of the Panther. In 92, I sold my ST to my cousin and upgraded to the Falcon. I had 50 shares in Atari Corp so I could ask questions of the board, which I did for 3 years.

 

I of course bought the Jaguar and when that failed, I quit gaming until the Xbox. In 96, I got a PC and built several more before switching to the Apple side. I won a PS2, had the Game Cube for the Star Wars games, and a PSP. I bought the PS3 to support Blu-ray during that format war but didn't game much on it. Pieced a 360 together cheaply for Halo but that's about it.

 

I'm far more interested in retro gaming than playing an Xbone or a PS4. And that's that!

 

 

Oh, and during my exile from console gaming, I was given a 4-port 5200 for having helped worked at a friend's family's "antique" store. I had always wanted one as a kid.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Lynxpro

[Rex Dart]

I didn't get a VCS-compatible system until 2010. So after the 7800, I went back to Sega Genesis, N64, and PS1.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Rex Dart

[Master Phruby]

Well if we are going to list out every system we ever bought:

 

2600 -> 400 - > Colecovision -> 130XE -> 1040STFM->NES->1040STE->TG-16->Genesis->SNES->SMS->Sega CD->32x->Lynx->Lynx2->Jaguar->Playstation->Playstation2->Dreamcast->7800->Wii->SegCDX->Xbox360->Gamecube->N64->3DO

[+Andrew Davie]

Um, let's see... started with an Atari 2600. Still going with that. Will upgrade when I see something worth upgrading to.

[adamchevy]

Have you ever thought of programming games for other consoles Andrew? Like colecovision for example.

[AtariFriend]

I packed up my Atari in favor of the NES the xmas it came out.

[+Andrew Davie]

Have you ever thought of programming games for other consoles Andrew? Like colecovision for example.

Yep.

[+Gemintronic]

Yep.

 

Is your Bigfoot scrolling technique generalized enough to be ported to other tile based systems like the Coleco?

[+Andrew Davie]

 

Is your Bigfoot scrolling technique generalized enough to be ported to other tile based systems like the Coleco?

It gets around the inability of the NES to adjust the y-scroll mid-screen. It relies on a quirk of the NES related to hardware reset of y-scroll to 0 when the screen base address is reset, and a neat timing trick. Short answer: no.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I started with NES in 2002! Then went to SNES -> N64 -> Game Cube -> Wii -> PS3 -> Genesis -> Atari VCS. Yeah, I know, I'm kinda doing it backwards...

[AtariLeaf]

Too early in the morning and I'm looking through this thread on the first page, wondering why everyone was stopping with systems like xbox, ps2, and gamecube until I realized it was a thread started in 2002

 

Anyway, lets see if i can do this. I'm only including systems when I owned them as part of a current generation - not as part of my collection today.

 

Coleco Telstar

Atari 2600

800XL (for about a week)

Tandy Color Computer

Tandy Color Computer 2

Tandy Color Computer 3

NES

TG-16

Genesis

DOS/Windows PC's (which continues until now)

SNES

PS1

N64

Xbox

PS2

Wii

PS3

[eegad]

I began with a Coleco Telstar in 1976 I think. Then got an RCA Studio II in 1979 (I really wanted an Atari, but my parents said it was too expensive, so that's what I got). Then I finally got my Atari 2600 in 1980. That kept me quite happy for the next couple of years. In 1982 I started getting into computers, and got an Atari 400. After another year I stopped getting new 2600 games because those on the 8-bit computers were better versions (Pacman, Missile Command, Centipede, etc). By the late 80s I was mostly into adventure/rpg type games (like Alternate Reality). My Atari 8-bit obsession stretched til around '91, and by then it was a 256k 800xl. Then I moved to the Mac world with a Mac IIsi and ended up getting into games like SimCity, Myst, Civilization, etc. Around that same '91 time period I picked up a Sega Game Gear so I could play games like Sonic and other platformers of the day. By 2000 I had moved to PC. Got married in 2004 and my wife insisted on getting a Wii when it first came out, Christmastime 2006 I think. Had fun with the Rock Band games, Mario Kart, etc. But mostly I've been doing the PC gaming thing for the past dozen years (Elder Scrolls, Grand Theft Auto, Far Cry, etc.....and of course MAME). And things kind of came full circle 3 years ago when one day I dug out my old Atari 2600, bought a Harmony cart and so now I also occasionally spend time playing the same console I got for my birthday more than 30 years ago.

[NE146]

Suffice to say, that once I got to BUYING age (i.e. college in 1987) I made it a point to have pretty much ever major console that came out (with some exceptions.. e.g. no 3DO, etc.) because I was too scarred from the 5200 vs. Colecovision wars sitting in one camp and wanting the games from the other. That meant I had NES & SMS, then later all 16 bit systems, etc.

 

Coleco Colortron -> 2600-> 5200 -> COLLEGE

[Jinks]

In this order

 

Tandy cc2 free won it

2600jr.

tandy1000sl/2

Ps1

gamecube

Ds

7800

dsixl

Wii

Wii U

360 free won it

[Amstari]

This is what I've owned and played over the years:

 

* - still got it

 

Atari 2600 Vader *

Amstrad CPC464

Sega Master System *

Amstrad 1512 (IBM compatible PC)

Sega Megadrive (Genesis)

Sega MegaCD (Sega CD)

Game Master (hand held)

Sony Playstation *

Sega Dreamcast *

Nintendo Gameboy Advance

Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP

Sony Playstation 2 *

Nintendo Wii *

Amstrad CPC6128 *

Meggy Jr RGB (DIY kit hand held) *

Dingoo A320 (hand held emulator) *

Coleco Gemini *

TV Sports (Pong sports games) *

Hanimex SD 070 Colour *

Atari Lynx 2 *

Atari Jaguar *

Nintendo DS *

Nintendo Wii U *

 

 

 

 

[Mad-Mike]

I started off with the Atari 2600 when I was 8. We had owned several beforehand and the remnants were in a Smith Corona Typewriter box and I Found them snooping around the house. Mom found a friend at work with a 2600 they wanted to part with and that became my big XMAS Present - this would be around 1990 or so.

 

1991-1993 - My Nintendo Years

91 - NES, still have the games, the original console bit the dust though in 95'

92 - Game Boy - Got it for my 10th birthday because a girl on the bus wanted to play tetris with me, and I liked Super Mario Land a lot

93 - Super Nintendo - got this when they had the pre-release freebie deal for Super Mario All-Stars, sadly all my SNES stuff was sold off a few years ago when I was having some hard times financially

All three were gone by 1997...the time between 95 and 97 I really focused on playing guitar.

 

In 1997 I went back to the Atari 2600, got a 2600 Jr. small rainbow, and from there acquired a woody 4-switch, a Heavy Sixer, and a Vader with earrings jammed int he cart slot. I became pretty good at repairing Atari consoles as a teenager, an outgrowth of modding guitars.

 

From there I got another NES at the thrift shop and started buying used games at K-Mart, and overstock from Wal-Mart for $10-20 a pop.

 

In 98 I picked up a Tandy 1000 SX, and that's where my vintage PC obsession began. It was my second oldest sister's old computer from college, still had the original manuals, printer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, I bumped the memory up to 640K from 348K using Radio Shack's outdated catalogs. I owe my IT career to that computer, that's where it all started.

 

In 2000 I got a Sony PlayStation from a classmate for $20.00 because it had a Backstreet Boys sticker on it he could not figure out how to remove, I removed it and bought Activision classics.

 

In 2001, I got my first Windows computer (486 running Windows 3.1), got on the internet, started tampering around with other systems via emulation, did some NES ROM hacking. I also got a Intellivision II from the bassist in my band for my 18th birthday because that's what he grew up with and he thought I'd like it - I still have that one + a good few Boxed games, some even with the overlays, and still play it to this day.

 

I stayed pretty retro until I'd lived in Washington for 2 years and worked for Nintendo (NOA) For awhile. On my first paycheck I bought a GameBoy Advance and a bunch of the retro titles for it, never did find Magnetica. I also got into the Wii around that time as well, though I never owned one until 2012. I also bought my XBOX that year and have it dual boot for a soft-mod and the stock interface so I Can play my stock XBOX games and emulators and other stuff to replace the SNES and Genesis I sold - though the Wii is taking over that job via VC now save for a few titles (Illusion of Gaia, Dragon Quest). Also started getting into more modern PC games during this period - still have my gaming PC from 2008, nothing kills it enough to justify replacing it.

 

Currently, I still collect for the NES and 2600, I own a Tandy 1000 with a VCF IDE controller in it chock full of games, still play a few modern titles here and there, have a Wii in my living room, and still play Intellivision and XBOX, and I'm looking to get a Second Hand 360 sometime in the next year. I also have 2 other vintage computers, a 286, and a 486, for DOS Gaming other stuff old computers are suited for.

[MrMaddog]

During the Crash, I've moved on to home computers like the TRS-80 CoCo and later on the Atari 130XE. But after I got the XE in Jr. high I wanted a Nintendo because that's what everyone else was playing. After graduation I switched to an Atari ST and after college I got a Playstation and later my first PC.

 

It's a pattern I have where I either buy a game console or upgrade my computer while skipping a generation. So here's my history..

 

2600 -> CoCo -> 130XE -> NES -> 1040 STe -> PSX -> Pentium II PC -> Dreamcast -> AMD Athlon PC -> Gamecube -> AMD 64 PC -> Xbox 360 -> Steambox

[RJ]

Began w/ 2600, then to Atari 800XL (but still playing the 2600), then to the 7800. Got a Lynx in '89 & a Jaguar in '93. How's that for maintaining an Atari allegiance? Not until around 2000 did I get a co-worker's PS, then in Oct 2001 stood in line at Best Buy for a Launch PS2 (got the next to last one!)

 

From then on my console collection went crazy- couldnt begin to track when I got what. Some yrs back I started downsizing due to my kids entering the scene & near-total lack of freetime. Still got a 2600 though.

[YANDMAN]

When i was a tiny kid like five years old my parents has an Ingersoll 8x something something pong clone with two controllers and an actual real gun shaped black light gun which was really cool, I nevre had an Atari as a kid in fact i only knew one kid who had one they were super expensive back then in the U.K, I had an Amstrad cpc 464 and then in 89' got my beautiful NES then SNES Then N64, Gamecube, Then a Megadrive, Sega saturn, Dreamcast, Gameboy Advance, XBOX , PS2, Gameboy advance sp, Atari 7800. Atari 2600, Atari xe, Wii, Xbox 360, xbox 360 slim, 8 arcade machines, Neo Geo AES

Edited January 18, 2014 by YANDMAN

[bomberpunk]

throughout the years i did the following: (i excluded many systems that were acquired beyond their actual run)

 

console:

VCS -> NES -> Genny -> Saturn -> PS1 -> PS2/GCN -> 360/Wii -> ...

 

handheld:

GB -> GG -> GBC -> GBA -> PSP -> DS -> 3DS

[Thomas Jentzsch]

My story is pretty short:

 

Pong -> VCS -> C64 -> PC (386SX, AMD DX40, Pentium 100, Athlon 2000+, Core i5-3570K)

[Greg2600]

Not counting systems I've purchased as an adult collector....

 

1984 My father got a used Atari 2600 and some games. Still have it.

1986 My cousin worked at small computer store, and gave me a used Atari 400 computer. Mom eventually threw this away.

1988 NES brand new for my birthday. Still have it.

1990 My sister got a Gameboy brand new, though I played it more often of course! Still have it.

1991 SEGA Genesis for Christmas. Traded this to a classmate years later. Got one again in 2008.

1992 My sister wanted to play Mario games so she got a SNES for Christmas. Guess you took that over? LOL. Still have it.

1997 Bought the N64 with birthday money. Still have it.

2003 Finally got around to buying a new system, the Xbox. Still have it, though it needs repair.

 

This is what I'd call my "collecting phase."

2008 SEGA Genesis CIB system.

2008 Atari 5200 system.

2008 Colecovision system. Note I found one in the trash in the late 1980's but Mom tossed it because I had no games.

2008 Atari 7800 system.

2008 SEGA Nomad CIB.

2008 Sony PS One used. Have played PS1 game discs on PC for years.

2008 Atari Flashback 2 CIB used.

2009 SEGA Game Gear CIB.

2009 Gameboy Color CIB used.

2009 GBA SP-101 CIB, finally got a backlit version I could see!

2009 PS2 slim used CIB.

2010 32X CIB.

2011 Sega Master System 3D version.

2012 Turbografx-16 system.

2012 Nintendo Wii CIB used, have played mainly Mario Kart on that.

2012 GameCube CIB.

2012 Atari Lynx II system.

2012 Sega Dreamcast CIB.

2012 Vectrex system.

2013 Commodore 64 CIB.

2013 Intellivision CIB finally.

2013 Bought an Ouya at Gamestop, mainly for MAME.

 

I have a Nintendo DS, 3DS, Xbox 360 S, PS3 Slim, Saturn probably in the future.

Edited January 18, 2014 by Greg2600

[WolfAmongWolves]

Atari 2600 > Commodore 64 > Amiga 500 > PC

 

I don't think I'll ever get a modern gaming console. I've tried them at friends' houses, but always get annoyed with those dual joystick controllers with the 12 or so buttons. Who needs Call of Duty when you could be playing Turmoil?

[TwinChargers]

This is just the main consoles that I had each generation. I've collected a majority of the other consoles from each generation outside of there life cycles.

 

Atari VCS> Atari 7800> NES> Sega Genesis> Playstation> Playstation 2> Nintendo Wii> Playstation 3

[Falconhood]

Actually, i never owned 2600 exactly.

If memory serves me, my non-computer consoles were:

Odyssey 2

ColecoVision

Atari ADAPTER for CV

Atari 5200

Intellivision 2

the crash

Arcadia 2001 was the last, because I switched-over to computers and was content until stumbling upon an Atari 7800 around 1989-1990 at a Flea Market.

This started a rebirth of the console love for me.

Before 1991 I bought a Nintendo just for the Tetris, and then Gameboy for the same reason. Then Sega Genesis, and TG16...and so on and so forth.

 

so, i think i did hit all of the 2nd generation consoles (not the rare ones like the Bailey thing) but not in order.