And then there was Atari, and the land rejoiced!
Written: Aug 26 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Hundreds of games, good controllers, addicting gameplay
Cons: Rudimentary graphics, poor sound, expensive games (at the time)
|
|
|
| fm_hunter's Full Review: Atari 2600 |
I’ve now written about two home consoles I have owned and enjoyed as a youngster, and now I feel it’s time to introduce the origin of it all. Much like Lucas started with Episode IV and worked back, I started with chapter two, the Colecovision, went on to chapter three, the Vectrex, and now I introduce you to chapter one, the Atari 2600, the paramount home gaming console of all time.
Now, many people think that the 2600 was the first home console, but there were systems that came before. My family did own the ubiquitous Pong game system, which consisted of, you guessed it, Pong and various alteration of the game of Pong, like single player against a wall. This one fun for about 15 minutes a day, and besides, if the Pong image was left on the TV screen for too long, it would burn images of various Pong elements onto the display permanently (this did not make parental units very happy, I might add!)
The 2600 added a new element to the home gaming market, adding the ability to play any number of different games using cartridges. This was an ingenious system, adding diversity for the consumer and a continuing market for Atari. The Atari 2600 came bundled with two simple, yet functional joysticks, and a set (2) of paddle controllers. Also included was a converter to connect the unit to your television and the game cartridge “Combat”.
It’s probably very unnecessary to go into that great of detail about this system, because if you grew up in the late 70’s to the mid 80’s, you most likely owned a 2600. The graphics were for the most part atrocious, but then again, there wasn’t a whole lot to compare it to at the time. For lack of a better word, everything in the games looked “blocky”. The sound wasn’t much better, as the whole system was being run under a machine that had a maximum of 2K of memory.
Still, the Atari 2600 succeeded for two reasons; it was basically the first “expandable” home console (uses cartridges) and there were tons of games available for it. During it’s heyday in the early 80’s, there were probably over 300 different games available made by many different companies. Atari made the lion’s share of the games, but it wasn’t until independent companies got in the race did the games get really good.
A new software company titled “Activision” jumpstarted the Atari 2600 market, creating games that pushed the capabilities of the underpowered machine to its utter limits. Games like “Barn Stormer!”, “River Raid”, and the genre busting “Pitfall” really brought the best graphics and playability to the 2600. “Pitfall” used advanced programming techniques to create an exciting game that boasted sharp graphics and dozens of different screens, something previous Atari games usually lacked.
Another advantage of the 2600 was having two different kinds of controllers to fit different styles of games. The paddle controllers worked well with driving games as well as any game that used a paddle like the popular “Breakout”. Each set of paddles plugged into only one of the joystick ports, so it was possible to connect two sets of paddles so there were four separate paddle controllers. This made some games very fun, allowing four players to play simultaneously, like the frantic paced “Warlords”.
The system cost in the $150 range when it first came out, which was quite expensive for the time, but it didn’t seem to limit the amount sold. It seemed that every kid had an Atari, and those that didn’t always seemed to quickly befriend a person who owned one. The big expense were the games, costing anywhere between $19.99 and $35.99, which could really add up. I remember saving for months to buy a new game, always eager to spend everything I earned.
Looking back, I think most people who owned one of these babies look back with extreme nostalgia. It was the beginning of a technological revolution that rages to this day. Of course, take a child who has grown up with a Nintendo or Playstation, show them an Atari 2600, and I’m sure they would either laugh or yawn. But then again in the next 15 years, I’m sure kids will look at the Sega Dreamcast and snort, “I can’t believe you guys played those archaic consoles!”
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
fm_hunter
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Hunter Paschall
Location: Portland, Oregon
Reviews written: 254
Trusted by: 250 members
About Me:
Denizen of the pacific northwest, purveyor of atypical music, & hacker of golf balls.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.