RickR

Listen guys, I get it. I understand those games are fun. But I think I should explain the timing of those games. The Colecovision was coming. It had graphics that LOOKED great. The 5200 was coming. It could play a much better version of Defender or Pac Man. The Atari 8-bit computer had much better versions of those games already. Defender was egregious for the fact that your ship disappeared every time you fire. You guys are saying now it's a cool effect. But I'm telling you....in the school yard back then...it was EMBARRASSING. You could have fun with those games, but you didn't tell anyone because they'd laugh. It was like riding a moped to Sturgis. Yes, it gets the job done. But you are out of your league, son. Raiders is an interesting and unique game. But NO ONE could finish that game without a guide. I was there. I bought it. I had the extra guide from Atari. It took me hours to solve it and it was so frustrating. Not fun. ET was fine. It came out at Christmas time. It was fun to learn how to beat it. But almost immediately it had a reputation. Those pits were the pits. Blockbuster movie, but a mediocre game. Disappointing. Pac-Man, Defender, ET, Raiders. These were the games that told you it was time to move on from your beloved 2600 to something new and better. And most kids did.

I think it needs to be pointed out that Atari had a whole string of "disappointing" games that contributed to their downfall. Pac-Man, Defender, ET, Raiders. That's a murderer's row of stinkers IMO. By the time they righted the ship, I and many other gamers had moved on to a different system or computer.

It is not the worst game ever. But given the price Atari paid for the license, it did hurt the company financially. Let's just say it was a disappointment. I remember everyone knowing the game was a dog -- it was common school-yard knowledge. I bought it from the clearance rack at KB Toys. I thought it was fun, and I loved the title screen. "Read the manual" was the advice we all knew.

66,050. I finished the race with only 1 second left on the clock! Skin of teeth, baby!

Pitfall 2 has sold.

I still love the Pac Man Collection! Thank you again for selling it to me.

You did? Well that's cool. You'll have to remind me what I bought. I tinker a lot too. In my experience, "broken" systems somehow fall into my lap, and I've had a pretty good success rate (and a lot of fun) getting them back into working condition. I've given a ton of systems away, or sold them for cheap to what I hope are good homes (people that will keep them to play and enjoy). You are wise to take a lot of pictures. I can assure you, time with family is precious and it goes by way too fast. My children are grown now, and I'm so thankful to have the pictures and videos we took when they were little. Back then, it was all film cameras and 8mm tape for video. Take as much as you can!

Welcome! I gave up golf when I started a family. It's now 25+ years later, and I still haven't golfed. So you're way ahead of me in keeping that light sixer.

Awesome!

Thank you! For me, it helped a lot. I think the Slik Stik is the best for any twitch games. My usual favorite joystick for Atari is a Kraft.

Astroblast Atari 2600 Difficulty: Game 1, Difficulty B-B High Score: 51,345 June 30, 2020

I DID IT! 5.97. Using a trusty "Slik Stik"

You mean this one? 🙂

Good deal on those games.

It's the flex circuit used for the buttons that is a terrible design choice. Oxidation on the flex circuit or the buttons make them stop working over time. I've fixed them using foil dots. Others use "gold" updates from Best Electronics. The sticks are different. Non-self-centering is weird. Using a rubber boot that tears to help self center is cheap. But I've only seen a few sticks that were truly "broken" (meaning that the wire or plastic or potentiometer broke). Mostly those ones were heavily used.

I've got a Wii U and games here that my kids abandoned when they got a Switch. It's all mine to try, but I haven't had time to get into it yet. Same for a PS3. It sucks to be old like me and all I do is work, work, work. That's why I like the old retro games so much -- they allow one to game in short increments of time.

Well I can help you! Pushing left on the joystick engages the clutch, and when you let the joystick go, it shifts up a gear. So you go like this: Hold the joystick to the left until you get a green light. Then let it go and push the button for gas. (you'll be in 1st gear). When the tachometer gets into the red, let off the gas, push left, let go, and push the gas. Repeat until you get to 4th gear. Then you just hold the button until the race is over. You'll only be in 1st, 2nd, 3rd gear for a few seconds at most. It's a timing/twitch thing. The key to not blowing the engine is to let off the gas while you shift. And don't let the tachometer get too far into the red. Once you get the hang of it, you'll start to learn the limits. The longer you hold each gear into the red, the faster you'll go...but if it goes too far....BLOWN!

I think in general, this game is loathed. It's so simple. But I remember the arcade version, and I think it's kind of fun to get the timing just right. You just have to sit close to the console so you can press "reset" over and over and over.

Oh! How interesting. We have antique malls like that here. The Flea Market that I've been to is a bunch of individual booths, manned, with food stands and stuff too.

I don't think so. Most of the dedicated consoles had IC's designed specifically for their purpose.

That's my experience too. I think they expect you to haggle, but if the price is already double of what you think it should be, there will be no bargain for you.

Has anyone here ever attained a "patch" score (< 6.0 seconds) in Dragster? I started to try today, and the best I could do is 6.24. Any tips?

I've only been to a flea market once or twice. It's a good place to browse and get lost, but I've never found anything worth buying.

Here are some pics of the 2600 with composite mod. It has some wear in the "woodgrain", and also a chip in the front left corner. But it works perfectly.

Ninja Golf could have been a killer app. I think a lot of the "non-arcade-port" games on the 7800 were really good. Personal story: I was a huge gamer and Atari fan. In 1984, I was in high school. Yet I never heard of the 7800 until I started collecting retro systems and games in the early 2000's. All the gaming magazines were gone. There was no internet. No one knew about it. The NES came along later, and it was known. Going the "toy" route was smart. And when SMB came out, it took off like a rocket.