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[professor_t]

As already noted, River Raid was amazing. Look at those freaking graphics! They're amazing.

I also was fond of Berzerk. Nearly four decades and thousands of games later, few games inspire as much hand-sweating anxiety as Evil Otto. You knew he was coming, and that he COULD NOT BE STOPPED, but you didn't know when. I think my heart rate is going up just thinking about it.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Happy anniversary

Famicom Dojo uploaded a history video today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gvUMAoGrw4

 

[FnordChan]

Happy birthday, Stella! To dust off the scans I made for her 30th anniversary, here are a couple of pages dedicated to the 2600 from the 1977 Sears Christmas catalog:

The 2600 could have beeen a dedicated Warlords machine and that would have been enough to make it an all-time classic. Other favorites include Adventure, Night Driver, Haunted House, and Kaboom!. Happy 40th birthday to a classy lady.

FnordChan

 

[Lorcain]

The 2600 was my first console too. I can't believe it has been 40 years. Looking back in hindsight, it's amazing to see what the developers of that era did to make enjoyable and entertaining games on a system with so many limitations.

I feel it's important to mention for people that didn't grow up during that time that the best games of that era, by a huge margin, were in the arcades. All of my friends had the 2600, but the gap in quality between arcade games and 2600 games was enormous. The gaming balance of power at the time was still very much in favor of arcade machines. It was hard for us to go from playing arcade Pac-Man to 2600 Pac-Man, or Defender to 2600 Defender.
So while we very much enjoyed being able to play some of the better quality 2600 games like River Raid and Pitfall at home, we went to the arcades to play the best games.

 

[120v]

aside from Yar's Revenge i have virtually no good memories of the thing. that may sound harsh but i had more fun with Hungry Hungry Hippos and He Man figurines so it's kind of funny gaming wound up being such a big part of my life

but it was the proginater. so respect where it's due and all that

 

[MrCunningham]

Happy birthday, Stella! To dust off the scans I made for her 30th anniversary, here are a couple of pages dedicated to the 2600 from the 1977 Sears Christmas catalog:

The 2600 could have beeen a dedicated Warlords machine and that would have been enough to make it an all-time classic. Other favorites include Adventure, Night Driver, Haunted House, and Kaboom!. Happy 40th birthday to a classy lady.

FnordChan

I'm guessing that Sears didn't sell the Atari branded VCS/ 2600 system? They sold their own Tele-Games variant?

The 2600 was a little bit before my time. I was born 5 years after the release of the 2600, and my dad purchased a 2600 jr. in 1986/1987 with a large assortment of games. Back then, Atari 2600 games were so easy to get at discount sales at less than 10 dollars. I remember my dad buying a large shoebox full of 2600 carts from a garage sale for only like $20.

Yeah, the NES was out during this time, but the system didn't really become wide spread until 1988 or so, in Canada. We didn't get a NES until Christmas1988.

The two gaming machines I had before the NES were the 2600 Jr. and a Tandy Colour Computer 3 (that admittedly, I didn't have very many games for.

 

[FnordChan]

I'm guessing that Sears didn't sell the Atari branded VCS/ 2600 system? They sold their own Tele-Games variant?

Yep, that's exactly right. From AtariAge:

Sears purchased the rights to sell the Atari 2600 in their stores, and changed the name and packaging to a Sears brand, as was typical of them. This is their version of the Atari VCS CX2600. This unit also comes in the original "heavy sixer" variety.

FnordChan

 

[Ceallach]

The walnut finish on that Sears model is niiice

 

[cheststrongwell]

How has this beautiful song not been posted!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8LbtuabMuY

 

[Frozone]

My really close friend and I used to always be rivals. He was like Steve Jobs and I was like Bill Gates. He had the 2600 and I had the Intellivision. He went with Atari ST and I picked up the Commodore Amiga. Fun times back then for sure!

 

[Klocker]

I was old enough to have had one new but didn't get it until about 1980. Played that thing for years until NES revived the industry.

Still have great great memories, pifall, ice hockey, tanks Superman. Haha.

Kids today would throw up when they saw the graphics.

 

[TheAngryInternet]

My parents bought one of the early models before I was born. I had a lot of fun with it (I think Asteroids and Pitfall were my faves), then about ten years and three kids later Mom and Dad decided it was time to upgrade. They got... a 7800, because it could play the 2600 games too. This at a time when most of my friends were rocking an NES. To rub salt into the wound, we only ever got two 7800 games (Mario Bros. and Pole Position II). Mario Bros. was fun, but it was a bit hard going back to it after playing SMB2 or 3 at a friend's house.

We also had the Kids Controller and Big Bird's Egg Catch. I don't think we had any of the other supported games, which is funny since the Big Bird game didn't meaningfully utilize the controller at all (all you do in the game is move left and right).

 

[palpabl_purpura]

Man, my first gaming system. Too bad it broke!! Fav games were space invaders and donkey kong!.

 

[Lothars]

Such a great system, Its definitely a system I don't hold much nostalgia for but I definitely respect it.

 

[Catphish]

My most-played 2600 game by quite a bit. Followed by E.T. (shush, I was 7), River Raid, Yars' Revenge, Choplifter, Montezuma's Revenge... and Combat, Outlaw and all those launch window games.

omg Choplifter ❤

 

[Rayderism]

Man! I feel old. I was 9 when the 2600 came out. Could have sworn I was older than that. My friend got it for Christmas the year in came out. I remember hanging at his house every day to play it.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

How has this beautiful song not been posted!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8LbtuabMuY

How about this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PETdc7wjGps

 

[MrCunningham]

How has this beautiful song not been posted!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8LbtuabMuY

Watching this video, Atari sure had some amazing/ weird commercials in the early 1980's before the North American console crash happened...

Atari 2600 - The Fly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCizXxeiaw
Centipede - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h5yypRCrQQ
Mario Bros - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnU-2HRJNO4
Pole Position - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhRIneQFmHA

 

[NervousXtian]

Fuck I'm old.. it's only 2 months older than me.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Everything born on 1977 rules.

Hell yeah! *high five* ow, my wrist.

 

[Vinnk]

My parents bought one of the early models before I was born. I had a lot of fun with it (I think Asteroids and Pitfall were my faves), then about ten years and three kids later Mom and Dad decided it was time to upgrade. They got... a 7800, because it could play the 2600 games too. This at a time when most of my friends were rocking an NES. To rub salt into the wound, we only ever got two 7800 games (Mario Bros. and Pole Position II). Mario Bros. was fun, but it was a bit hard going back to it after playing SMB2 or 3 at a friend's house.

We also had the Kids Controller and Big Bird's Egg Catch. I don't think we had any of the other supported games, which is funny since the Big Bird game didn't meaningfully utilize the controller at all (all you do in the game is move left and right).

I had both of those and yeah, worst use of an add on controller ever.

 

[Arkham]

The thread title is bothering me because it's not true. The Atari VCS is 40 years old today, it wasn't renamed to the 2600 until years later. /oldmanyellingatclouds

This.

 

[ResidentDante]

This 2600 is basically THE gaming console for those who NEED 60 fps on all games. The machine has to display all of its games at that framerate... Or it will just throw up garbage on the screen.

What did all the "but 30fps is more cinematic" people do back then?!

 

[Celine]

As already noted, River Raid was amazing. Look at those freaking graphics! They're amazing.

The conversion of Kung Fu Master for Atari 2600 is also impressive.
Activision was the best publisher on the system by a country mile.

 

[D.Lo]

My first gaming was on Atari (and arcades).

Mid to late 80s - people think as soon as NES was around nobody was playing older stuff, but in reality most people played older stuff for years back then. Pretty sure I never saw a NES until at least 1989.

Units sold: 30 million (With clone units, the number of systems could be high as 100 million

Eh... if you apply this same logic to the Famicom/NES it might have sold 300 million.

The conversion of Kung Fu Master for Atari 2600 is also impressive.
Activision was the best publisher on the system by a country mile.

Yep.

 

[sneas78]

I immigrated to USA in 1985 I was 9. Atari was my first video game experience. I still remember the first time. I went over to some family friends of my father. The kid in this house said " do you want to play " can't remember which game it was.. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I said yes. Honestly I didn't realize I was moving he characters in the game until later on when I got home .. it was such an experience. Happy 40th!!!

 

[Green Yoshi]

Released: September 11, 1977

Funny. My grandmother was born on September 11, 1927 and is still doing fine. Too bad only my grandfather was interested in videogames and he has passed a long time ago.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

A "small" list of my favor games:

Adventure
Asteroids
Astroblast
Berzerk
Centipede
Chopper Command
Communist Mutants from Space
Cosmic Ark
Crazy Climber
Defender
Demon Attack
Dragonstomper
Escape From The Mindmaster
Frog Pond
The Official Frogger (Starpath supercharger version)
H.E.R.O.
Haunted House
Jungle Hunt (Favorite version of that game)
Kaboom!
Laser Gates
Missile Command
Moonsweeper
Pitfall
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
Phoenix
River Raid
Spider-Man
Star Raiders
Superman
Vanguard
Venture
Worm War I

 

[synchronicity]

Good times with my Atari. Some of my favorite games are:

DECATHLON (the controller's destructor)

Oh, man! I loved that game so much. And you are so right about the controller destruction issue. I wrecked our controllers on that game.

I would love to see a gif of someone playing this where the joystick isn't visible, lol.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

Indy 500? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ektRrQtLz2s

Nah, after some searching, I now remember it being Sprit Master
Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Vinnk]

The conversion of Kung Fu Master for Atari 2600 is also impressive.
Activision was the best publisher on the system by a country mile.

There is a port of Double Dragon as well. I never played it but always wondered how it wold work with only one button.

 

[NeoZeedeater]

There is a port of Double Dragon as well. I never played it but always wondered how it wold work with only one button.

You do different moves depending what direction you're holding when pressing the fire button, e.g. if you press the button while holding up, you do a jump kick.

 

[MisterR]

The 2600 was my first console too. I can't believe it has been 40 years. Looking back in hindsight, it's amazing to see what the developers of that era did to make enjoyable and entertaining games on a system with so many limitations.

I feel it's important to mention for people that didn't grow up during that time that the best games of that era, by a huge margin, were in the arcades. All of my friends had the 2600, but the gap in quality between arcade games and 2600 games was enormous. The gaming balance of power at the time was still very much in favor of arcade machines. It was hard for us to go from playing arcade Pac-Man to 2600 Pac-Man, or Defender to 2600 Defender.
So while we very much enjoyed being able to play some of the better quality 2600 games like River Raid and Pitfall at home, we went to the arcades to play the best games.

It was such an awesome time. I remember in grade school if you got good grades you could take your report card to the arcade for free tokens. The whole family would go to the arcade on report card night. First got to play the 2600 when my babysitter had one. She'd bring it over when she was watching me and it's was amazing, and then I finally got one for Christmas. Good times.

 

[hendersonhank]

One of the best things about the Atari days were the catalogs of games with their cartoony art that made them all seem so much more exciting than they were. I remember looking at these at my grandmother's house and having the most elaborate ideas of what these games would be like.

 

[Box of Kittens]

Never had a 2600, but our first console was a 7800 and we did have a number of 2600 games. Off the top of my head, Combat, Mario Bros., Solaris, Adventure. Probably others. I think it's still in a box somewhere in my old closet. Wonder if it still works?

 

[bjork]

Fuck I'm old.. it's only 2 months older than me.

I'm 3 days older than it, so I guess I'm old too now.

Still feel like I'm 8, though

 

[capslock]

About the same age as me and my first console as well. Got it around 86/87. Played tons of Moon Patrol, Adventure, Pac Man and Pitfall. Awesome system.

Edit: and oh yeah, River Raid! River Raid Ruled!

 

[Drewfonse]

Got one as an 8 year old in '77. My parents had no idea what they were creating.

 

[BDGAME]

Oh, man! I loved that game so much. And you are so right about the controller destruction issue. I wrecked our controllers on that game.

I would love to see a gif of someone playing this where the joystick isn't visible, lol.

My dad had a electronic repair center back these days. It had a 1 meter pile full of Atari's broken controllers because of that game.

 

[sphinx]

I always had a problem with the control stick.. it was insanely hard to control as a 5 year old.

the lack of full blown adventures also made me never ask my parents for it, all the software seemed like those 5-minute arcade games (pacman, moon patrol, donkey kong)

 

[Cafeman]

I got mine in 1982, right as the 5200 was about to come out. Many friends had already owned the VCS for over a year or two before I got mine. So, I kind of ignored all the earliest titles,like Space Invaders and Asteroids and Adventure until after 2000 getting back into the Atari. My first games were Combat Pac-Man, Haunted House, and Kaboom!. My favorites are Stampede, River Raid, Kaboom!, Berserk, Reactor, Yars Revenge, Ms Pac-Man, Haunted House , Adventure, Circus Atari, Pitfall (I beat it with a perfect score), Spider-man, Phoenix, and The Empire Strikes Back .... and many others including Homebrews from Atariage. I only owned the 2600 for a year and a half, traded it for a 5200 which was vastly more impressive BITD. When The Great Crash hit, you could buy 2600 and 5200 games from a Hills or Kmart bin for a couple bucks each, and then the Atari consoles seemed to be replaced by the cheap computer lines, from my perspective.

 

[bill0527]

I got mine on my 5th birthday - May 27th, 1979. Mine was the Sears wood grain unit.

2 controller, 2 paddles, Combat, and Space Invaders.

I recently found one at a yard sale. It was a mess of Atari stuff - system, 8 controllers, and about 25 games all in a big box that I paid about 20 bucks for and then threw it in the closet.

I thought maybe I'd clean it all up, the system and controllers and refurbish it as well as I could to factory new condition but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Atari 2600 games just haven't aged all that well. Plus I'm not even sure how I'd hook it up to a modern TV.

 

[neoemonk]

I used to play this game called Frogs and Flies as a kid and I loved the shit out of it. You were a frog on a lily pad and you had to eat flies. Sometimes I needed a break from Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Combat and that was it.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I used to play this game called Frogs and Flies as a kid and I loved the shit out of it. You were a frog on a lily pad and you had to eat flies. Sometimes I needed a break from Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Combat and that was it.

That's a great 2-player simultaneous game too. My dad and I used to play the shit out of that game competing for the most flies before night fell.