ATARI

Y'all remember ATARI don't you? Ahhhh, I have fine memories of nostalgic bliss thinking about those old Atari games. I had the very first one, the 2600 Stella, it came with the game "Combat" which sucked balls, but when my brother and I got it for Christmas that year (I think it was 1984) we got 4 games with it, PAC-MAN, SPACE INVADERS, MISSILE COMMAND and YAR'S REVENGE. Before we got one, I used to spend so many hours at my friend's place, his parents thought I had moved in.

For the next week after we got our beloved Atari, my brother and I barely left our room except to eat or get a soda from downstairs. We were glued to the set, always trying to top our last score. I especially liked YAR'S REVENGE. A week or so later, we went to Maine, and picked up a few more games, I think BERZERK, Q-BERT and DONKEY KONG. So we played the shit out of those games.


I guess after a couple months the novelty of it wore off, or maybe I just got Repetitive Stress Injury and had to quit for awhile, but that was the only video game console I ever owned, and it's still at my house in the attic someplace with all the games, I think I have about 30 or so games. I'm not even sure if it still works, but I may dig it our next time I go home.

The Atari 2600 was technically superior to most of the other game systems when it was released. The other big boys at the time, Intellivision and Colecovision had considerably better graphic systems but the Atari 2600 remained the most popular for gamers and climbed to the top and stayed there for most of its existence.

But the Atari 2600's huge popularity became its downfall with too many cartridges flooding the market with too many of them lacking in game play and in graphics. What followed was a huge fallout in the industry which saw almost all small start ups disappear and brought company's like Mattel's Intellivision division, Coleco and any others to their knees and into dusty memories. Atari managed to remain but stayed in the shadows for years.

I just learned that Atari is still around and going strong. For those nostalgic freaks like me, they've released the Atari Flashback 1 and 2, which are only $19.95 and $29.95 respectively, check Atari's site for more info on both of the consoles. You can also buy a CD-ROM with 80 games for PC with all the classic 2600 games, but you can't get it for Mac of course. You can also play a few of the old classic games online if you go to their site.

Another site of interest is the ATARI MUSEUM, which has lotsa info about all the different consoles, pics, and links for all you ATARI enthusiasts out there.

I have rarely been interested in any other game consoles since the Atari 2600. The simplicity of the games themselves, the low 8-bit crappy graphics, the low 8-bit crappy sound, the primitive-looking joystick were all part of the magic that drew me in. The graphics and sound these days are obviously spectacular, but if I have to spend hours (or days) learning a game, I'm just not interested. These days you have to read a fucking 500 page manual on how to play a game. Not for me. I just want to shoot some aliens and save the planet! Sony Playstation??? Baahhh!!! You can have it.

The only video games I have on my computer right now are clone versions of FROGGER, SPACE INVADERS, TETRIS and PAC MAN. I play them from time to time, but I find that if I start playing, I can't stop. As a result I don't get anything else done. I was turned off video games completely for a time because I would visit friends sometimes back in NB to shoot the shit, but all they did the entire time was play fucking video games and completely ignore me which REALLY pisses me off. Video games (and TV) have DESTROYED communication. Sometimes is OK, but if a friend comes over to visit, TURN THE FUCKING THING OFF DUDES!!!