RickR

I've got an extra Dreamcast.  And a TI-99/4A. 

Good to know there are old pros at this to help us along on this journey. I feel like I got the wooden sword from the old sage in legend of Zelda.

In my defense, it took a LOOOOOOOONG time to collect all this. 
 
Atari
2600 4 switch woody
2600 4 switch Vader
2600 Sunnyvale light sixer
2600 Jr (two of them)
5200
7800
400
800
800XL (two of them)
Lynx
 
Mattel
Intellivision (Sears Telegames version)
 
Coleco
Colecovision
 
Magnavox
Odyssey 2
 
Nintendo
NES
Gameboy Advance SP
DS
Virtual Boy
Wii
 
Sega
Genesis Model 2
Game Gear
Dreamcast
 
Milton Bradley
Vectrex
 
Commodore
VIC 20
C64 (C64C)
 
Sony
PS1
PS2
 
Microsoft
XBOX
 
Systems my kids have
PS3
PS4
XBox 360
WiiU
SNES
Sega CD/32X
 
Largest collection:  2600, 246 carts

I am in AWE of all of your collections.
 
Anyway...
 
ATARI
2600 - 4 switch woody (two, one works fine, the other is a little wonky) - 150 games
 
NINTENDO
NES (two) - 105 games
N64 - 7 games 
DS Lite
 
SEGA
Genesis (two) - 44 games
Dreamcast
 
SONY
PS1
PS3
 
MICROSOFT
Xbox
Xbox 360 (R2D2 & Elite) - about 125 games
Xbox One - 10 games

In my defense, it took a LOOOOOOOONG time to collect all this. 
 
Atari
2600 4 switch woody
2600 4 switch Vader
2600 Sunnyvale light sixer
2600 Jr (two of them)
5200
7800
400
800
800XL (two of them)
Lynx
 
Mattel
Intellivision (Sears Telegames version)
 
Coleco
Colecovision
 
Magnavox
Odyssey 2
 
Nintendo
NES
Gameboy Advance SP
DS
Virtual Boy
Wii
 
Sega
Genesis Model 2
Game Gear
Dreamcast
 
Milton Bradley
Vectrex
 
Commodore
VIC 20
C64 (C64C)
 
Sony
PS1
PS2
 
Microsoft
XBOX
 
Systems my kids have
PS3
PS4
XBox 360
WiiU
SNES
Sega CD/32X
 
Largest collection:  2600, 246 carts

The best part of this story is the marketing guy who pushed to not release it.  A few small changes would have made the game a lot better.  Black background, blue maze, for example.  And remove the eye on Pac-Man.  They do mention that a lot of other programmers thought it was a tremendous accomplishment on the 2600, and it is.  Especially when you consider it was Tod Frye's first game!  But that's the frustrating part....just a few small changes.....
 
One part I still don't understand is the lack of oversight at Atari.  It always seemed like the programmer didn't have to listen to any input from other developers or a supervisor.  The decisions they made went unchallenged.  I'm not sure if that's entirely accurate, but it seems to be implied in a lot of stories like this. 
 
This was a good read, and thanks for posting it. 

In my defense, it took a LOOOOOOOONG time to collect all this. 
 
Atari
2600 4 switch woody
2600 4 switch Vader
2600 Sunnyvale light sixer
2600 Jr (two of them)
5200
7800
400
800
800XL (two of them)
Lynx
 
Mattel
Intellivision (Sears Telegames version)
 
Coleco
Colecovision
 
Magnavox
Odyssey 2
 
Nintendo
NES
Gameboy Advance SP
DS
Virtual Boy
Wii
 
Sega
Genesis Model 2
Game Gear
Dreamcast
 
Milton Bradley
Vectrex
 
Commodore
VIC 20
C64 (C64C)
 
Sony
PS1
PS2
 
Microsoft
XBOX
 
Systems my kids have
PS3
PS4
XBox 360
WiiU
SNES
Sega CD/32X
 
Largest collection:  2600, 246 carts

In my defense, it took a LOOOOOOOONG time to collect all this. 
 
Atari
2600 4 switch woody
2600 4 switch Vader
2600 Sunnyvale light sixer
2600 Jr (two of them)
5200
7800
400
800
800XL (two of them)
Lynx
 
Mattel
Intellivision (Sears Telegames version)
 
Coleco
Colecovision
 
Magnavox
Odyssey 2
 
Nintendo
NES
Gameboy Advance SP
DS
Virtual Boy
Wii
 
Sega
Genesis Model 2
Game Gear
Dreamcast
 
Milton Bradley
Vectrex
 
Commodore
VIC 20
C64 (C64C)
 
Sony
PS1
PS2
 
Microsoft
XBOX
 
Systems my kids have
PS3
PS4
XBox 360
WiiU
SNES
Sega CD/32X
 
Largest collection:  2600, 246 carts

What's in your collection? Here's what's in mine:
 
 
ATARI
Atari 2600 (light sixer)
Atari 2600 (JR)
Atari 5200 (4 Port glossy)
Atari 7800 (ProSystem)
Atari XE
Atari Jaguar
 
NINTENDO
Nintendo AV Famicom
Nintendo Emtertainment System
Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo 64
Nintendo Wii U
 
SEGA
Sega Master System
Sega Genesis (mark 1)
 
CLASSIC GAMING GENERAL
Intellivision
ColecoVision
Telegames Dyna
TurboGrafx-16
PC Engine
Retron 5
 
MODERN GAMING
PlayStation
PlayStation 3 (dead)
PlayStation 4
Xbox 360 (dead)
 
LARGEST COLLECTION: Nintendo NES (85 games)

I'd like to add any Atari posters to my list, now that this wonderful place has shown me the way to hang posters on cement walls!

ESPECIALLY this one:
 

I haven't been able to do lot of audio recording lately, but I did get a few moments to record this video.
In it I summarize how the Retro VGS became a mess and 5 steps on how it can win gamers like myself back.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfZwNCLC0tU

AstroBlast (2600)
Video Olympics (2600)
Circus Atari (2600)

A Tale of Two Touch Me's
 
I received two broken Atari Touch Me's from Ebay, and they were both in really rough shape.  I was able to cobble parts together from both to make one working unit.  And it works great!  Buttons all cleaned and restored.  Electronics touched up.  Replaced speaker.  Replaced 9V battery connector. 
 
The other is forever broken, but makes a nice shelf display. 
 
The good, working, darker one is now up for trade if anyone is interested!
 

 

It is interesting.  I may take a video of Touch Me so you can see it in action.  The problems I see that Simon seemed to fix:
The  name.  "Simon" is a perfect name for this game.  "Touch Me" is creepy, and not even descriptive of the game action. Buttons - they are tiny on Touch Me.  Much larger on Simon. Color - The lights on Touch Me are all red.  Simon used light up colored buttons instead.  Sound - Not very pleasing on Touch Me.  Almost musical on Simon. What Atari got right:
Size.  Touch Me is totally portable.  It fits in a pocket easily.  Simon is huge. Timing.  Touch me came out years earlier than Simon. Engineering - Touch Me is really well made considering it was Atari's first handheld.  Simple design, small size, reliable components. 

Good video No Swear Gamer and Leo, I agree that Retro VGS isn't going succeed at prices for $300+ for a system.
If it was $150 maybe.
I can't afford $300 for system I will pledge 10.00 at least for my support.
 
In the future, when posting about this please call it Retro VGS, a lot of people call it VGS and most people out there think its connected with my show
and it not. no offense to those who don't. but it does get confusing.

Hey Leo, your videos are getting better with time. I like it when you wear the Afro. Keep up the good work.

Also, I used to confuse Touch Me with TI's Little Professor, they were in the same aisle at Sears.

Man, I'd really like to learn more about this. I've always been intrigues by the idea of Atari handhelds and the lack thereof. I want to know why so many Atari handhelds were cancelled, and why Touch Me didn't become as known as Simon. Also the name, I wonder who came up with "Touch Me" and who in the marketing department thought that was a good name for a kids game.

I was thinking the same.  My first one in post #1 is the same "orange".  There are slight differences throughout...circuit board, label, plastic thickness all a little different.  I'd guess the yellow is newer/cheaper. 

That's interesting that one is more orange than the other one. I wonder if they were manufactured in different countries, or if one of these is "the Heavy-Sixer of the Touch-Me's"

YES!  And it is SPECTACULAR.  You'll look at the Intellivision version with disdain once you try it.  Take THAT George Pimple-ton. 

YES!  And it is SPECTACULAR.  You'll look at the Intellivision version with disdain once you try it.  Take THAT George Pimple-ton. 

Good job StormSurge!!  I knew you could.  And nice pictures. 
 
I don't know if you have "AstroBlast", but if you do, try that one with paddles. 

The best part of this story is the marketing guy who pushed to not release it.  A few small changes would have made the game a lot better.  Black background, blue maze, for example.  And remove the eye on Pac-Man.  They do mention that a lot of other programmers thought it was a tremendous accomplishment on the 2600, and it is.  Especially when you consider it was Tod Frye's first game!  But that's the frustrating part....just a few small changes.....
 
One part I still don't understand is the lack of oversight at Atari.  It always seemed like the programmer didn't have to listen to any input from other developers or a supervisor.  The decisions they made went unchallenged.  I'm not sure if that's entirely accurate, but it seems to be implied in a lot of stories like this. 
 
This was a good read, and thanks for posting it. 

YES!  And it is SPECTACULAR.  You'll look at the Intellivision version with disdain once you try it.  Take THAT George Pimple-ton.