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[Smashing Drive]

I was 10 so pretty much full time gamer at the time. There was no crash for me What happened was C64 had the best games so everyone was playing that instead of consoles.

All the kids got their parents to buy one because it was a "computer" not a video game!

 

[Bobby Roberts]

If, in 1983, you were anywhere between 6-10 years old, the video game crash was great. You had your console, you had cheap games, you had no idea that the people making the games were all going bankrupt, and you didn't care, because the games were cheap, and plentiful, and nagging mom & dad to get you some was way easier. Hell, it's entirely possible the first thing you bought with the first allowance you ever got was a cheap 2600 cartridge thanks to the crash that you likely didn't even know about.

And in about 3 to 4 years, Nintendo showed up, and made the Atari/Colecovision/Intellivision look like SHIT in comparison. And the explosion was huge, and you were at the correct age to really, REALLY understand what it was like to want something that wasn't easy to get, which only made getting one that much more satisfying.

It was only later, as you hit 13-14, and you started to get a sense of the history of your hobby (a hobby that you were one of the first generations to actually grow up with) that you realized how bad "The crash" was. But even then, you were probably too caught up playing your SNES or Genesis, and going to arcades, which were still very much alive and eating quarters, to care.

 

[Parch]

I was 24 in 1984 and had a career to deal with, so I skipped a generation. I just kept playing my Intellivision backlog and the sports games. Going from Intellivision to Genesis seemed like such an enormous jump.

 

[Megatron]

What the hell ever happened to QBert? Now that we have analog sticks standard, they ought to be able to make a decent home remake of that.

 

[Stiflers Mom]

Actually here in Germany, I didn't really notice it. Was 9 years old at the time, and the crash arrived in Germany a year later, in 1984.

By that time, homecomputers like the C64, Spectrum 48K, Amstrad CPC and Atari XL were already taking over, so it was a very smooth and naturally feeling transition to something better at the time.

I didn't even know about the crash until maybe 2000, then reading about it in the internet.

 

[Eusis]

What the hell ever happened to QBert? Now that we have analog sticks standard, they ought to be able to make a decent home remake of that.

There is/was a PSN release, maybe it's still there? It was one of the first games I got, thanks to individual accounts and wanting to stuff games on my brother's PS3.

Are there any good lists of Atari 2600 games with covers? I want to try to figure out how many I had as a toddler, and in a few cases figure out their names. And man, I love seeing pictures of stores from the 70s and 80s, probably because it taps into a very base level of nostalgia for something I can't fully or accurately recall. I think trying to imagine most of the stores then would be mixed with how stores look today actually.

 

[GDGF]

If, in 1983, you were anywhere between 6-10 years old, the video game crash was great. You had your console, you had cheap games, you had no idea that the people making the games were all going bankrupt, and you didn't care, because the games were cheap, and plentiful, and nagging mom & dad to get you some was way easier. Hell, it's entirely possible the first thing you bought with the first allowance you ever got was a cheap 2600 cartridge thanks to the crash that you likely didn't even know about.

And in about 3 to 4 years, Nintendo showed up, and made the Atari/Colecovision/Intellivision look like SHIT in comparison. And the explosion was huge, and you were at the correct age to really, REALLY understand what it was like to want something that wasn't easy to get, which only made getting one that much more satisfying.

It was only later, as you hit 13-14, and you started to get a sense of the history of your hobby (a hobby that you were one of the first generations to actually grow up with) that you realized how bad "The crash" was. But even then, you were probably too caught up playing your SNES or Genesis, and going to arcades, which were still very much alive and eating quarters, to care.

Awesome post.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

I was 14 and very rapidly losing interest in video games. For me, it was a matter of hitting puberty and losing interest in pretty much whatever I was into as a kid. Getting up early to watch Saturday morning cartoons, Star Wars action figures, video games, whatever. No doubt about it, they *were* childrens' toys back then. I was totally unaware of a crash or the market being flooded or whatever. All I knew was that suddenly all I wanted to do was play guitar, and I started saving my allowance to buy Devo and Ramones albums instead of blowing it at The Dragon's Dungeon playing Sinistar.

Almost exactly me except I was buying Led Zeppelin and Queen albums. Didn't start gaming again until the mid 90's on PC. I missed all of that Sega, Nintendo, Sony stuff. My first console was an Xbox.

 

[michaelb3600]

I was very, very young at the time, but I think is still a fun story:

I would have been 2 during the actual crash (born Fall of '81), so I only really can recall the fallout. When I was 5, I won 3rd place in Nickelodeon's Christmas in July contest. If you're my age, I'm sure you remember the commercial with the kid emptying an entire Toys R Us into his cart after winning a $10,000 shopping spree.

3rd place got me a $100 gift certificate and a box of the new (at the time) Crayola crayons that were shaped like pencils. I bought an Atari 7800 after playing Pole Position II at a friends house and having my mind BLOWN. Previously, my younger brother and I had only played a Pong machine my grandparents won at a company picnic. So, this was quite a step up.

On Thanksgiving holiday we went to the great-aunt's farm near Morgantown WV. They had a Big Lots store, which we did not at the time around Pittsburgh. We were wandering around and saw a crate for of Atari 2600 games. And they were 50 cents each. Valhalla. We got so much goodness. Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, Super Mario Bros. It was heavenly. Still, to this day, the best single game pickup day of my life rivaling only the Dreamcast Clearance at EB games

 

[giggas]

Another thing I remember after the crash was just how easy it was to obtain Atari/whatever else games for virtually nothing. I don't remember if we had our NES yet, but I remember going to a large yard sale and finding a ton of Atari games. I can specifically remember buying Adventure for a quarter. I somehow lost that one over the years, which sucks, it's one of my favorites.

I remember another time when my friend found a Colecovision in the garbage with a shit ton of games. We played the absolute shit out of Keystone Capers and Mr. Do. Those were some good times.

These days people are a bit smarter to the value of old games. I feel like it's virtually impossible to come across scores like that these days.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

Great thread!

I have a lot of conflicting views about the crash. I agree with those who said they didn't really notice the crash. I was 14 at the time and while I was aware of it, I was moving into computer gaming. At the time, and even now, it didn't seem much different than the usual generational shift. I somehow went from an Atari and an Intellivision right to a Coleco Adam. Back then I didn't care. There was a wealth of cheap games available and I continued expanding my basic programming skills. Looking back, the best part of the system was the printer and built in word processing. My school reports and homework from then on letter quality typed. The printer was kind of a clunky bear. It would shake and move across the table as it printed. Since the power cable for the whole system was loosely plugged into the printer, it often powered off while printing out a long report. Amazingly, I didn't have any issues with with the hardware except for the power cord coming loose from time to time. I was lucky that the wonky tape drives never failed. Most of my favorite gaming experiences with the Adam cam from the vast library of arcade ports on Colecovision cartridges. Mr Do, Spy Hunter, Turbo, Time Pilot, Cosmic Avenger, Frenzy, Looping Lady Bug, Q-Bert, Zaxxon, and many others. As a consumer, I have fond memories of the crash, looking back, I realize it was a terrible event, but maybe a necessary one. Then in the summer of 1985 I went from "Wow, look at all these cheap video games" to driving to Bazaar of All Nations mall to even find a video game for sale.

Then towards the end of 1986 I had a NES, SMS, and Tandy 1000 ex. The gaming buffet hasn't stopped yet.

 

[snkryo]

I remember going to Sarye and seeing all these atari games for $2. I had no systems so didn't purchase any and I was just four.

 

[Muffdraul]

Almost exactly me except I was buying Led Zeppelin and Queen albums. Didn't start gaming again until the mid 90's on PC. I missed all of that Sega, Nintendo, Sony stuff. My first console was an Xbox.

Nice. I used to sneak into my older sister's room to listen to her Zeppelin and Queen records. And Elton John, and the Beatles...

 

[Riggs]

Wow cool thread, I didn't even know there was a video game crash of 83. I was born in 1984 .... very rare that I feel young on gaf.

 

[BocoDragon]

This thread makes me feel.... Young! Thats nice for a change.

^ ha. Beaten. I'm 1984 too.

 

[Muffdraul]

I think we need Stumpokapow to come back and do another wipe down...