How Things Work Show....2600 Edition

[Sayton]

I was flipping through the channels tonight and saw a 2600 on tv. Turns out to be that show "How Things Work" or whatever it's called.

 

It looked promising....showing some games in action.

 

But then, they messed up. It was during those little dramatizations they have on history shows and stuff like that that the huge mistakes occured.

 

1) They showed a 2600 with someone standing in the background. Well, the person was supposed to put in a cart...they put it in backwards....END LABEL FIRST!!!! Then they fixed the mistake. My wife questioned this when she saw that...as in how can someone mess up like that?

 

2) Another dramatization...showing someone sitting down "playing" a 2600....they put in a combat cart, "play" the game....yet there was no power cord plugged into the system. I know it's a dramatization....but if you're supposed to pretend to play, at least have a power cord IN THE SYSTEM!!!

 

To me, this was just quite sad. And if I heard right, they were classifying the 2600 as an "80's system". WHY!!!??? Didn't it come out in 1977? I loved watching the games being played on the tv...but man...they could've done a better job IMO.

[rockman_x_2002]

Any clue what channel it's on and if it will be reairing? I'd love to see it for myself.

[dwh]

I believe it was called "80's tech" on history channel;they kept showing milipede being played...

[Scumdogg]

They replayed it again tonight, it was part of their "Modern Marvels" series, and the episode was called "80's Tech".

 

And watching the show from the beginning, you see that they don't classify the 2600 as an 80's console. They don't even really talk about it all that much. It's just used (along with the NES) to show the end result of technology coming home. Computers go from school to business to home. Games go from arcade to home. Movies go from theatres to home. It was kind of a theme. Also, unless i'm forgetting something, i don't think any Atari 2600 footage was new or dramatized, just old stock stuff from commercials and other shows.

 

Overall it was a good show. There's a brief bit about the 2600, but a larger bit about the formation of Apple Computer, touching on the Apple/IBM competition. They cover old brick-sized cellular phones, the Walkman, why Beta failed hard as a video format, the Rubik's Cube, Simon, the Delorean, and a few other things. Check it out, if you can get over the system shock of seeing a kid put in a Combat cart upside down.

[Sayton]

Also, unless i'm forgetting something, i don't think any Atari 2600 footage was new or dramatized, just old stock stuff from commercials and other shows.

 

When I said dramatize, I meant when they showed people "playing" a 2600. They weren't commercials of any sort on what I'm talking about. I don't know how to explain it, but they did show clips while talking about the 2600 of people the show hired or something to pretend to play the system.

 

Anyways, I guess the only way to know what I mean is to see it.

[Video]

I saw the 80's tech episode on History channel last night or sometime. It's a great series, and that's one of the best eppisodes IMO that shows lots of stuff from the 80's, like the Walkman, early computers, games, and the brick cellphone.

 

It showed the Atari, but said little about it.

 

As for the dramatizing playing the game, with out the power cord, there's lots of movies that get me on that.

 

One of the biggest things, they'll show someone playing, an Atari 2600, or perhaps an X-Box, but they are holding a PSX controller. Almost all of the shows that show someone playing a game will have them holding the wrong controller for whatever reason, and I can't stand it.

 

The second biggest thing they'll show in movies, or on TV, is someone playing GAmeBoy, GameGear, or Neogeo pocket, or whatever handheld, acting like they enjoy it, sound, and if their inventive, even lights, but the handheld, NEVER has a cart in it.

 

How hard is it to find the right parts to put a system together, or have a game cart in it? I don't know, it's obviously thought of as unimportant.

 

Oh, and another thing, weather they show the game or not, the sound FX are almost always Pac-man, and Donkey kong.

 

[Scumdogg]

How hard is it to find the right parts to put a system together, or have a game cart in it? I don't know, it's obviously thought of as unimportant.

 

Oh, and another thing, weather they show the game or not, the sound FX are almost always Pac-man, and Donkey kong.

 

 

 

You know, just the other night i was watching a block of "Roseanne" reruns on Nick-at-Nite. There's an episode where they buy DJ a SNES (never referred to by name) for Christmas or his birthday or something. In later episodes, they're playing it, and...get this... There's an SNES on top of the TV. With a matching controller coming out of it. With a cart inside. And here's the kicker. The sounds coming from the game are from SUPER MARIO WORLD! This is one of the only times i can recall such an incident in the history of movies or tv.

 

Usually the mis-matching of such things bothers me... I can always justify that they're MAYBE playing a Pac-Man port on whatever system, maybe even with a rewired controller because they REALLY like using a PS2 controller to play on their Genesis. But who taps the D-Pad like that during Pac-Man? And the buttons don't DO anything, stop hitting them! And they always have to lean way over while they jam the buttons randomly!

[rockman_x_2002]

You know, just the other night i was watching a block of "Roseanne" reruns on Nick-at-Nite. There's an episode where they buy DJ a SNES (never referred to by name) for Christmas or his birthday or something. In later episodes, they're playing it, and...get this... There's an SNES on top of the TV. With a matching controller coming out of it. With a cart inside. And here's the kicker. The sounds coming from the game are from SUPER MARIO WORLD! This is one of the only times i can recall such an incident in the history of movies or tv.

 

What's more, at the end of the show at the credits, they actually reference the game by name. I'd say Nintendo most likely paid for the spot, since I believe that episode was done right around the launch date of the SNES.

 

Far as the show, I caught it myself. They also gave the nod to the Commodore 64 a couple of times, even showing some short screenshots of the C64 running, with the infamous "?SYNTAX ERROR" on screen. Was kinda neat.

 

Oh, and as a side note, by the end of the show I found myself wishing I could afford a DeLorean of my own.

[Scumdogg]

What's more, at the end of the show at the credits, they actually reference the game by name. I'd say Nintendo most likely paid for the spot, since I believe that episode was done right around the launch date of the SNES.

 

Oh, and as a side note, by the end of the show I found myself wishing I could afford a DeLorean of my own.

 

 

Ah, i missed that name drop. Must've been making a sandwich or something.

 

As to the DeLorean, i was actually kinda shocked at HOW affordable they are. Said you could get a good one for around $25k....not too shabby if it's what you really want, and if you had the knowledge to do the maintenance yourself. I am pretty dead-set on owning a DeLorean or a General Lee-modded Charger, either way it's about $25 grand.

[Chris-in-NJ]

I caught bits of this too. Nice to see a 2600 on TV, and to have people playing it too, though I didn't spot the fact that it wasn't plugged in. They probably had an FB2 connected to the TV; how else would they have gotten Quadrun shown?

[mos6507]

I think someone should make new Delorean styled cars, probably an all-electric like the Tesla Roadster which is based on a Lotus frame. The Delorean is a lot like a Lotus Elite, Roger Moore's 007 car. It's a classic design.

[rockman_x_2002]

The Delorean is a lot like a Lotus Elite, Roger Moore's 007 car. It's a classic design.

 

There's actually a possible reason for that. The original DeLorean prototype was going to use an Elastic Reservoir Moulding, which was supposed to make the car lighter and less costly to produce. But, the ERM stood in the way of mass-producing the DMC-12, so the car's original design ended up being re-engineered, and that job was turned over to none other than Colin Chapman, founder and owner of Lotus Cars. Though the body design was apparently kept mostly the same, I'm sure that there was some inspiration from Lotus as well, thus the car somewhat resembling the Lotus Elise.

 

Here's some history on the car (and more) for those interested.