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Here is my score 🙂 223,400

Lola the beagle. Adopted her ten months ago. She's four now.

Congratulations Scott Stilphen! Congratulations @Scott Stilphen! Your Mario Bros. score took top placement in our Final Standings! I hope everybody enjoyed experiencing Mario Bros. on the Atari 2600. This version of the game plays slightly different from other versions mostly due to the 2600's limitations, but I think the game looks really good and is fun to play once you work out the different dynamic if you're used to the other versions. Racking up points can become a bit of a puzzle to put all of the pieces together to make your strategy work, and I think that's a lot of fun. This is a second win in a row for Scott, congratulations to Scott for taking the top spot at the very end with a 1st Place score of 1,002,400 points! I took 2nd with 1,000,200 points, and @atarilbc had consistently good showings in this challenge and ended up placing 3rd with 986,200 points. @RickR, @greenween, @kamakazi20012, @Gianna, @Atari Creep, @RadioPoultry and @TrekMD all had great showings, and in general most all of our scores really improved from what they had been at the beginning of the challenge. Congratulations to everybody on an exciting run, and to everyone who joined in this Squad Challenge and shared a score! I'd like to encourage Scitt to post his new high score on the Scoreboard, and let's make sure this Challenge continues on! NOTE: Our next High Score Squad Challenge will be an Atari 7800 challenge. Be there!

NEW V61 Review!

Hey everyone. I just rolled the score past 1,000,000 points. A video is provided below showing the score roll over. It's a few seconds long, but you can see the score roll and it's the best I could do playing the game with one hand and holding my cellphone in the other, trying to capture the score roll over. I've also put up a picture I took of my game at 925,800 points while I was still playing. Yes, I'm getting Slipice. No, he is not unlimited. He runs out after a while, so you can't go on forever collecting infinity Slipice. Fireballs still kill you, enemies still eat you alive, you're still going to make mistakes and die and the game is still relentless and you still have to be good to get a good score. There are other things going on at the same time that are like different ingredients baked into the "cake" that has become my strategy. I'm going to stick with this score for now. You'll see in the video I had more than six lives built up and I could've kept playing another 30 mins, but I turned the game off after I captured the score rolling over. I feel like I've played enough for tonight and I still have things I need to wrap up before bed. I'd also rather have one of you beat this score. It can be done and I know all of you guys have the skill to put all of the puzzle pieces together. High Score: 1,000,200

I about killed myself doing it...but 100,400. Shhh, don't tell the boss I played during a work break today.

89,400. I'm going to aim for breaking 100k.

The scores in the one are insane!!! man, I am not sure if its encouraging or discouraging! LOL Just playing. Man you folks are great. Keep em coming.

I have two black labs, Winston & Wanda. I’m down to one cat, Poe, & a turtle. 😀 This is Winston. He turned 11 yesterday. We had a nice romp on the beach to celebrate.

My first score for this challenge. I haven't played the 2600 version in forever, I always play 7800 or arcade, or occasionally NES versions. This plays a lot better than I remember it playing. The co-op thing is cool too. Learned a few techniques tonight after watching @Atari Creep's Instagram stream. High Score: 91,200

58400 Using a Retron77 and the Hyperkin Ranger controller, original cartridge. Thanks Justin for taking the screen shot during the stream.

3369 \o/ You could first super glue them bits in to get the "D" back then fill outer cavities with hot-melt glue (or play-doh or epoxy

My goal for today was to break 2,000. 3,041!

Q: How has Classic Gaming changed over the years since you’ve been involved? When I first got into classic gaming it was about collecting and playing these great games. For me that's Square One and that's where I still stand today. Everything I do with the site, and in my personal "classic gaming adventures" is rooted in this idea of the original source, these games we've always had fun with and the experience of playing them with family and friends. When I began this Atari classic gaming journey, the (consumer) internet was brand new and I wouldn't have access to the web for a few more years, so it was just me doing something that I liked to do. I didn't know anyone else was out there doing this. It was a little like being in LOST or The Walking Dead and being alone somewhere setting up a radio transmission to see if anyone else was out there, and finding someone else responding on the radio. By the end of the '90s and early 2000s there was a robust community of classic Atari gamers sprouting up online. It felt indie / hobbyist. There were just a handful of Atari sites out there, and I'm proud to have been one of them. The gaming expos popped up and we started to gather together. Since then it's grown exponentially. The home-brew scene exploded. The advent of YouTube brought about a ton of personalities and more people sharing their love of classic games in new ways. But a lot has changed too. When you'd say "classic gaming" we used to think "CGE" and these days a lot of people think "AVGN". I always enjoyed the original experience of collecting and playing these games and sharing our passion in a small community. As things have changed over the years I've tried to focus Atari I/O on that original experience.

Hi everyone 🙂 Does anyone enjoy traveling? If so, where have you been? What's your favorite place to visit? I have been to various different states, and have been to the Bahamas. I enjoy going to Nashville and taking road trips to Illinois (where I'm from) and love going to different museums in Chicago. I haven't been anywhere too exciting besides typical tourist spots (like Key West). I think it would be nice to visit Hawaii sometime!

Aha! 655,900. I'm with Greenween on this -- it got boring so I died on purpose.

Double review on some excellent V61 products I got recently. Sealed Desert Falcon and the Gripstick controller, perfect combo.

The @TrekMD theme song:

418,400.

305,200

208,300. :)

107,200. I'm done for today...my wrist is killing me.

We love that whole design aesthetic, which is what brought us to the new neighborhood - and every house looks like it’s out of the Jetsons. We will totally keep the feel including furniture that matches, but a walk-through would be a great Idea. Just to give you an idea of what we’re dealing with, the washer and dryer is actually in the kitchen, and it opens up into a breakfast nook. Lots of brick and wood paneling, so we’re very happy.

I remember seeing this at PRGE in the Video Game Museum exhibit. I was very surprised when I saw it.

Son of a diddly! Too close. 97,800

First try.

The 5200 is my top favorite game system of all time. After years of asking Mom for an Atari when I was a kid the 5200 was what I woke up to one Christmas morning. I spent hours on Super Breakout before Mom woke up (I was an only child so...yea...it was all mine I tell you...MINE!! Bwaahaaahaha!!) Oh...excuse me. Where was I? I probably spent a good 30 minutes learning the system and controller before I paid attention to the game itself. I didn't care that it was Super Breakout, it was an Atari. That's all I cared about. There was an Atari in my living room ready to be played. That was in 1982. I was 8. That machine became my best friend almost instantly. 1983 I seen a lot of arcade favorites make into our home but there were some I wanted that I either never found, our area never got, or I simply missed them. Gyruss being one of them. Mom loved Centipede...that was her game. Mine was Pole Position and Vanguard. Those were my two favorites. I liked Pac-Man, Dig Dug, and others but had played them soo much at the arcades that by the time I got home I wanted to play something different. My 5200 stayed with me for almost 7 years. I have another one now that is still going strong and still gets played regularly. The controller is doing everything it can to hang in there but, sadly, has not aged as well as the machine. My last game for the 5200 was in 1985. That's when I got Moon Patrol and when I realized Atari stuff disappeared off store shelves practically overnight. Super Breakout was the only official game to support all four controller ports in a four-player game that I am aware of. Space Dungeon is exclusive to the 5200 and was not officially released on any other console. The same for Countermeasure. The 5200 does have a few exclusives that were fun to play and the system does bring home the arcade experience. There were some really killer games in the works for the 5200 that appeared complete but were finished at a time when Atari was gearing up for the 7800 release and a change of ownership. We all know the rest of that story. Look up Super Pac-Man on the 5200 sometime on Youtube. That was one of the prototypes that were completed. Also look up Millipede and Jr. Pac-Man 5200 prototypes while you are there. Those were done on the 5200, also. Was it a bad system? Nope. Not if what I had lasted as long as did. The controllers were still working well when the system blew a resistor for some reason. Are games on the 5200 identical to what the A8 got and vise versa? Not all of them. Pac-Man on the 5200 is completely different than the Pac-Man on the 400/800. The ghost AI is more arcade accurate on the 5200 version and the 5200 version has the intermissions; the 400/800 version ghosts are not arcade accurate and lacks the intermissions completely. While it would be easier to play the game on the 400/800 using a standard 2600 joystick the 5200 version is the one that is closer to the arcade. Centipede and Tempest (released later) actually use the sounds directly from the arcades since those arcades also used POKEY for the sounds. A no brainer. RickR already answered but it's basically a stripped down 65XE. It's probably the only console/computer hybrid that actually worked right. If only it's technology hadn't aged and Atari supported it better it might have been more successful. As it is the XEGS is a great little console. If one is willing to invest in it the XEGS is a great little computer. And as odd as the cartridge slot is it is easy to get use to. The XEGS is where I first learned Atari BASIC. I put a lot of hours in learning how to program it. I also put a lot of hours in Racing Destruction Set from EA. I played that one often.

90500 tonight live before my thumb gave up on me. (Its in a sling). Retron 77 with a Ranger controller

365,300.

210,300. Something @Atari Creep said is in video resonated with me and I had an "aha moment."

Typical for Atari to get overlooked for their innovations in favor of other companies. Don't forget that video games began with the NES after all.

Yep, it's like, WTF?! You have no time to react!

The Greatest American Hero... I still remember the episode shown in the intro where he just appears in the car. See, if you haven't seen it, the lead character is a history teacher who is given a super suit by aliens. But he loses the instructions, so he never knows exactly how it works. One of the running gags was that he figured out how to fly, but not how to land. So every landing was a crash landing. Anyway, in that episode, he discovered that he could become invisible with the suit, but he didn't know how to turn it on or off. So the whole episode has him randomly popping in and out. With, of course, him trying to sneak around while invisible and hoping he doesn't suddenly become visible...

I think I'm starting to get this game figured out. 198,400

78,200. It's amazing the quality of 2600 game that GCC (whoops!) could produce. This game loses NOTHING gameplay-wise from the arcade version.

They had a 5200 Jr model in development as well but that never panned out. The Atari Museum has a prototype. You can read about it here: The Atari 5100 (Little PAM).

Just a quick game. I can do better than this but it gets us started. 🙂

Well, for starters, I have been hanging around here since about 2014, I believe. So, it has been a while. Almost 1,300 posts later, I am still here. I am an avid collector of Atari games, VHS tapes and DVDs, a Mac-head since 1993, an animation buff, and avid learner of anything. Glad to have been here for the last six years or so. Thanks for having me. 🙂

🎈 Working hard to keep the timeline positive lately. Lots of people feeling uncertain, Atari I/O will always be a positive place to escape to

Congratulations Scott Stilphen! Congratulations @Scott Stilphen! Your Super Breakout score took top placement in our Final Standings! In my opinion games like Super Breakout really shine on the 2600. It was designed to do Tank (Combat) and Pong, and everything else that came out for it was seeing what else the system could do. I thought Super Breakout played like a dream. I was fortunate to be playing with a fresh set of Paddles on original hardware, everything was smooth and I love that analog feel. Some of these early 2600 games are my favorite, they get down to the root of "easy to learn hard to master" games that made Atari so successful. I thought this Squad Challenge was particularly fun, and I was thrilled to see so many people participate. I made a mistake in setting the challenge to end at 11:59 PM PST on the 15th instead of the 14th, new Squad Challenges are always posted on the 1st and 15th of every month and it will continue that way. It should be noted that AtariLBC posted a nice starter score of 888 points, but poor guy, his brittle paddle knobs gave out as he was trying to improve his score. I’m sure we all would’ve loved to see how far Atari LBC could’ve gotten with a fresh set of paddles! Congratulations again to Scott who clenched the top spot at the very end with a 1st Place score of 4,227 points! @chas10e claims 2nd with 3,369 points, and @greenween takes 3rd with 3,041. @RickR, myself, @RadioPoultry and @Gianna all came in very close to each other, and @Kid A @kamakazi20012 @atarilbc @TrekMD and Ms. Greenween all joined in on this one with their best scores, hopefully having fun in the Squad Challenge too! Congratulations to Scott for an exciting run, and to everyone who joined in this Squad Challenge and shared a score! I'd like to encourage Scitt to post his new high score on the Scoreboard, and let's make sure this Challenge continues on! NOTE: Our next High Score Squad Challenge will be an Atari 2600 challenge. Be there!

I completely agree! I found myself most often playing at night, on a 1990's Sony Trinitron that is great for playing these games on original hardware. There's something about the warm glow of the phosphorescence of the screen and the scan-lines, the ball leaves a trail behind it in the dark like a shooting star. It's most noticeable when playing in the dark. That trail really helps point the direction of the ball and where to catch it.

3375

Last one for me now. I am getting good at keeping all three balls in play for a bit but it plays hard on the eyes.

Even through a national pandemic, Atari survives. Bringing the fun and joy of new memories into homes across our great land for almost 50 years. Yars’ Revenge is one of my favorite games on the current Flashback consoles we found today at Sam’s Club. Who remembers The Walking Dead episode with Eugene playing Yars’ Revenge after the zombie apocalypse telling of the Yars’ attempt to exact revenge on the evil Qotile for the destruction of Razak IV?

The best advice I can offer is to try and break the cavity balls out from the TOP of the screen. Because that will give you more time with double scoring.

1864

I also forgot Tennessee! I've been to Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville!

DUDE! Nice

YOU DID IT!!!!!!

I think that the A5200 could have been a better design, but a lot of games still play well on there. I like Super Breakout and Space Dungeon, for instance. Especially Space Dungeon, since the right joystick fires when you move it in the firing direction. It's like Robotron: 2084, in that respect. So, some games still play OK on there. Gyruss, however, could play better. The fire button operates too slow on that game. But, I have heard about someone making new controllers for the A5200 that work better. More responsive. I saw it on YouTube once. I don't have the link to that video at this moment, but there are experiments being conducted right now, leading to a better controller. But, Gianna, you're right. Eighteen months is too short a time for any game system. The A2600 lasted almost fifteen years, for crying out loud! :O)