Racket's Atari 2600 Journal

[racketboy]

As some of you know, I recently bought a cleaned-up Atari 2600 and a stack of games so I could get an authentic experience for a series of 2600 I will be working on:
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... =6&t=28207

Since I haven't played a real Atari 2600 in a long time and I either haven't played some of these games in a really long time or ever, I thought it would be fun to capture some of my thoughts and impressions of my journey with the console.

Feel free to post responses, but I'll keep posting with more thoughts as I go along.

------

Since the last couple of weeks were really crazy with work, I didn't really get a solid moment to hook the thing up. I finally hooked it up today and, of course it was so simple, I'm not sure why I waited so long.

I did find it interesting to see how all the plugs were lined up on the back of the machine --even for the controllers. Oh -- and those little switches for the "difficulty levels". Haha -- I will have to experiment with those...

I popped in my Space Invaders cartridge and I turned the console on before turning on my TV. First thing that caught me off guard is that there weren't any LEDs or anything to show that it was turned on. Wow, I've really been spoiled, huh?

Once I turned my TV on, I had to change it my actually "channel viewing mode" instead of the AV inputs and turn it to channel 3. I haven't done that in forever... yikes, and I run a retro gaming site! Where has my geek cred gone????

Anyway, the next thing that surprised me is that once I got my TV to channel 3, I see Space Invaders running already... what? Is this an attract mode or something? I wiggle the joystick around and see my character moving -- oh! Again, I'm totally spoiled with having title screens at the very least. Once I figured it out, it was actually quite refreshing.

Now, of course Space Invaders on the 2600 wasn't quite the same as the arcade or newer console ports, but it was still fun, challenging, and brought back some faded memories. I know I've enjoyed it more than I did the seemingly-wannabe-abstract-art-piece that goes by the name of Space Invaders Infinity Gene. (does that game get better later, or something?)

I noticed the joystick I played with was a little stiff. I have not idea if that is normal or not and I haven't bothered to try my second one yet. It seemed like for going left or right (especially left) I had to push pretty hard. It added a bit of challenge to dodging and shooting, but I suppose that's part of the fun Again, I'm spoiled by some very modern controllers and arcade sticks. Ah well.

So my first outing was pretty short as I was excited to share my thoughts, but I will be playing more later today once my fiancée shows up this afternoon. I've got a stack of carts we're both looking to try out.

Oh! And to round up my library, I bought a few more carts from my buddies at Trade N Games. After those arrive, I should have all of the top 20 games voted in my recent poll (and a handful of other quality titles:
http://www.racketboy.com/polls/2011/02/ ... -2600.html

[cowgod]

I noticed the joystick I played with was a little stiff. I have not idea if that is normal or not and I haven't bothered to try my second one yet. It seemed like for going left or right (especially left) I had to push pretty hard. It added a bit of challenge to dodging and shooting, but I suppose that's part of the fun Again, I'm spoiled by some very modern controllers and arcade sticks. Ah well.

I haven't played an Atari 2600 recently either (it was my first game console), but I do recall the joystick being very stiff. Also, if you didn't know, you can plug a Sega Genesis controller in and use that instead.

[noiseredux]

Also, if you didn't know, you can plug a Sega Genesis controller in and use that instead.

...so I could get an authentic experience

[J T]

Colecovision controllers also work. I had a Colecovision and my friends had Atari 2600s when I was a kid and we would swap joysticks sometimes.

[racketboy]

Also, if you didn't know, you can plug a Sega Genesis controller in and use that instead.

...so I could get an authentic experience

I did know that, but forgot.
But yeah, authentic experience for now

[jfrost]

It's like that, Racket, you'll have to do an awesome workout to be able to use the 2600 joystick effectively. Biceps, triceps and wrist training required.

[racketboy]

It's like that, Racket, you'll have to do an awesome workout to be able to use the 2600 joystick effectively. Biceps, triceps and wrist training required.

Good to know

[CRTGAMER]

A great read on your first hand analysis on rediscovering the 2600.
Bubble Switch Joysticks, gotta love them.

What was that Joystick injury term used? There was Carpal tunnel syndrome, for the mouse users and Tennis Elbow for sports injuries.

[racketboy]

Ok -- so another quick update.

Jumped into Space Invaders again and getting pretty good, but it seems like when it's game over, it freezes up or whatever -- sometimes it inverts colors on the screen or something, but I have to reset the game to play again. Is that normal?

We also played some Donkey Kong. It's actually not too bad, but you really have to work on hitting up well to climb those ladders. I also can't stop smiling when I see Jumpman/Mario do his jump. It just looks so funny (in a good way). That one seems to need a reset too when the game is over.

Good stuff and looking forward to playing more!

[dsheinem]

Ok -- so another quick update.

Jumped into Space Invaders again and getting pretty good, but it seems like when it's game over, it freezes up or whatever -- sometimes it inverts colors on the screen or something, but I have to reset the game to play again. Is that normal?

Yes. Many 2600 games do this.