[announcer] "Discover Atari."
[chorus] "Atari!"
[announcer] "And discover how far you can go."
The very name brings such heavy waves of nostalgia.
Really, one could drown quite easily just thinking about it.
It defined the dawn of video games. It really is that simple.
Before Nintendo, there was Atari.
Sure, Intellivision and Coleco also had their bit of fame,
and Magnavox may have technically kicked off the home console market,
but Atari stands out as being the number one console of the era.
Now, why review such an iconic and almost flawless console?
Well, because I love it and I'm bored.
The first thing to know is there are quite a few types of Atari systems that could be called "2600."
The very first system is the Sunnyvale "Heavy Sixer" model, which came out in 1977.
It should have a Sunnyvale, CA sticker on the bottom, have six chrome switches,
and weigh a bit more than later revisions.
Of course, the easiest way to tell if you have a true Sixer is to just look at the sides here.
The true Sixer has thicker and more rounded edging, and also a bit little more to the sides
compared to the 1978 six-switch model, which had a bit of an angle to the curvation on the front here
and slightly different edging. A little bit thinner.
Now, there was also a four-switch model with difficulty switches moved to the back
which came a couple years later.
Now, these earlier systems weren't actually known as the "2600" until a couple years later.
They were actually called the "Atari Video Computer System," or "VCS."
The very first one known as a 2600 was the so-called "Darth Vader" systems
for their black look and slight resemblance to the Dark Lord himself.
Hmm...wonder if Vader had been woodgrain? If they'd have called...
Nope! Nevermind.
Now, there were also systems made under license by Sears
known as "Tele-Games Video Arcade" systems.
They're still an Atari, and they still came in four- and six-switch versions.
But they're really about the same system; there's just some cosmetic differences.
And finally, later on in around 1986, there was yet another re-released 2600
sometimes called the "Jr."
It's really just a new case of a four-switch model, slightly higher failure rate than the originals,
at least in my experience.
I bought my 1978 six-switch VCS on eBay for about $25.
Now here's the kicker:
It came with all this crap, too.
Yeah, it's really not uncommon to find one
pretty good condition, working Atari
along with a bunch of games and accessories for less than 30 bucks.
You're basically guaranteed the standard games like Asteroids and Pac-Man,
E.T.
Air Sea Battle
Combat
If you want more games -- and trust me, you will
you can usually get around thirty or so games in a pack for about $20.
I honestly wouldn't pay more than $3 for any game, unless it's slightly rare
and the majority simply are not. So,
just buy a bunch of packs,
pick and choose and sell the stuff you don't want, whatever.
Do try and get some paddles, too
because probably a third of the games require a set.
I'd avoid any third-party controllers because they suck.
There's also some weird freaking contraptions that'll probably come with any system,
like this RF box.
Eh, screw it.
Probably corroded and infected with some 30-year-old plague anyways.
All you really need is this little thing.
Plug it into the cord that comes out of the Atari,
and you're set to hook it up to any TV with a coaxial connection.
And also, before you start it up,
just clean your freaking games!
I won't begin to tell you the atrocities I've come across when buying games.
I mean, they're usually full of oxidized piss and maggots
and evil killer dust bunnies.
Just get something to open the cartridges,
use a Q-Tip and some alcohol.
Nope. Some alcohol--
Rubbing alcohol!
And it'll be fine. It's well worth it to keep your machine from killing itself.
The games are what you'd expect and
that's awesome.
They're simple, fun, addictive
well,
a good few of them, at least.
Some of my personal favorites would definitely be Fishing Derby,
Kaboom!
Seaquest
Dragster
Chopper Command
Pretty much anything made by Activision.
They honestly owned the Atari scene.
Of course, there's my personal favorite, Circus Atari
Nothing like bouncing a dude into blocky balloon things
and watching his crack open when he falls.
It's classic.
I could go on and on. I mean, there's tons of great games.
Oh, and Fast Food!
[high-pitched computer voice] "You're getting fatter!"
How many other games remind you of that?
There's plenty of mind-numbing games and moronic games, of course.
Uh, see. There's Spiderman and
Laser Blast
Raiders of the Lost Ark
E.T.
Pac-Man
Pelé's Soccer
Journey Escape
I mean, most anything made after 1981, really.
Avoid them. For your sanity and for the sake of all that is right in games.
The controllers themselves are great.
Tight and responsive and suprisingly fitting to your hand
even though they look kind of boxy.
You may need to clean the insides out a bit,
especially the paddle and driving controllers
but it's really not that hard if you follow intructions like those at
[announcer voice] Atariguide.com
Now, in my other reviews,
I always comment on the ease of playing
[clears throat] backups on the system.
Surely with Atari, that's not really an issue, right?
I mean, piracy, 1979.
Ok, well...
There's this thing called the Supercharger by Arcadia.
This allows your Atari to play cassette tape games,
such as Communist Mutants from Space,
and gave the Atari a bit of a memory boost, which allowed for better graphics.
As an example here, compare the cartridge version of Frogger
to the cassette tape version.
There's no comparison.
Now it did this by reducing all the games to signals and noise. Like this.
[high-pitched static]
Really, all you need to do to get these games is the Supercharger and something that outputs through a headphone jack.
Like a computer.
You can download ROMs, covert them over with MakeWav,
play them and it will load the game.
It's awesome. I mean, it doesn't work with all of them,
but most 4K and 8K games I've tried work fine.
Now, these things tend to go for around $40
but it's worth it if you can find one.
I mean, playing prototypes like Bloody Human Freeway in their original form is just priceless.
The 2600 epitomizes old-school gaming.
Sure, it may have had, like, only four years of goodness before Warner
fully killed off everything good about them and
the Video Game Crash of '83 killed off what little remained,
but you really can't help but love it.
I mean, seriously. Get one.
No, go. And do it. Right now. Okay.
Ding! *frig*