Unexpected Surprise

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I would like to share a bit of a story with you guys that just happened not even an hour ago.  

 

 

Long story short, my wife's helper had to bring her two girls with her today because there was no babysitter available.  We don't mind and usually have lots of things to do with kids just for this reason.  The oldest one, who is 7, asks me if she could play the game I was playing.  I had just finished rebuilding the controller and was taking it for a test run.  When she asked I handed her the controller.  The best test in the world is letting a child use it, right?

 

What impressed me the most is here is a child, never played an Atari before but has a Wii and plays XBOX, plays Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man on the 5200 and as soon as the game screen appeared she is going, "Wow!!  That looks cool!"  She plays for about an hour total and I'm watching her on the screen and how she is using the controller.  All is going good, no problems, and she is not having any issues with the controller.

 

What was said next really shocked me..."I really like this machine."  Just as calm and collective as possible.  So, for me, that tells me that the 5200 is really not a bad system after all if a child, who has never played one before, says something like that their first time of using it.  

 

I had to share this because I thought it was cool to experience.

 

Reason for edit:  I had originally posted a picture.  Since this child is not mine, and for the child's safety, I thought it best to ask her parent's permission to post the picture first on this site.  I got permission so the picture has returned. 

Edited December 23, 2016 by kamakazi20012

[RickR]

Very cool indeed!

[greenween]

That's awesome! I remember thinking the 5200 was the greatest thing ever! I was 12 and  the controller wasn't a concern until I bought my own almost 30 years later. It's still worth dealing with the non centering just for the greatness of the system!

[RickR]

My earliest 5200 memory is one of my friends getting one.  I'd go to his house, and we'd play RealSports Football.  It was a kick -- so many plays to choose from.  The controllers were a little different, but definitely Atari.

[AlamoAtari]

5200 pacman was what got me to want one. The kids up the street had one and we would play that all the time. I think that if Atari had just spent a little more on the quality of the controller, it would have been a slam dunk.

[Cousin Mike]

thats an awesome story. see, this is what retro games are all about!

[Atari 5200 Guy]

thats an awesome story. see, this is what retro games are all about!

 

Not trying to give a "SOB" story but I've never been blessed with kids of my own.  As much as I would have liked to have them so I can share the things, including video games, that I enjoyed when I was a kid I pretty much accepted the fact that it was not meant for me to have them for whatever reason.  But...my wife and I have had friends with kids.  One of them asked if the controller in the floor was an Atari controller.  The controller in question was the iconic 2600 joystick.  And then to have this 7 year old having a blast with the same machine I grew up and had a blast with ... yea, it made me wish I a kid of my own even more.  

 

I was shocked to hear her say those things because it is something I would not have expected.  I mean, kids today have tablets and phones they can play games on simply by touching a screen, game consoles that have graphic abilities far beyond what I would have imagined when I was anticipating the next Atari game release.  This now 34 (?) year old machine, older than her by far (Luke...I am your father!), primitive compared to more modern game consoles, tablets, and cellphones, just captured and held a 7 year old in an entertainment world that she didn't want to put down.  The only reason she put it down was because they had to go home.  

 

It's possible they may be back again today...the kids I mean.  I'm curious to see if she will want to play the Atari again.  So...I may have sequel on my hands.  I showed her all the games I have and she kept eyeing the Atari games.  I'm curious how she would take to the 7800?  Then again I don't want to be the cause of her hands being deformed later on.  Maybe we'll stick with the 2600 and 5200 systems.  Maybe some Atari 800XL games, too.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

5200 pacman was what got me to want one. The kids up the street had one and we would play that all the time. I think that if Atari had just spent a little more on the quality of the controller, it would have been a slam dunk.

Give me a chance to do my video series on the 5200 and you may see a different side to those controllers.  If you have one just make sure you use the thing at least once a week for about a half-hour or so.  Sometimes a jittery, flaky controller can come back to life just by using it more.  Give it a work out and see.

[Atari 5200 Guy]

We had visitors again today and the first thing she wanted to play was Pac-Man.  So Pac-Man was played on the little TV while the classic animation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was being played on the HDTV.  Classic.  

 

Downfall:  The little TV in the picture has decided to act up.  The image starts with half a screen, then as it "warms" up the image fixes itself for a bit, and then the bottom half of the screen gets all garbled.  I'm going to have to look into this because this little TV had a feature I did not know about until last night.  Anything connected to this TV it will convert to composite video and audio.  This TV has video and stereo audio outs for some reason.  I was able to patch the same signal from the little TV, through out VCR, to the HDTV on top.  And it didn't matter that the signal being received was RF.  The little TV is a digital TV.  

[MaximumRD]

What a great story, thanks for sharing, I love hearing stuff like this! When kids have an open mind and not prejudiced or  influenced by others on what is cool or fun and they try these things I am not surprised they enjoy it. It is almost like it is coming around full circle back to the basics and playing for the fun of it. 

[Keatah]

I feel the modern gaming industry has lost its way with so many flavors of screwups and vain attempts at capturing the real spirit retrogaming.

 

I'm also pleased to report that I've observed this situation time and again at neighbor's houses as well.

[Atari Creep]

Love this!!! What a great story. Thanks so much for sharing!

[Cousin Mike]

Not trying to give a "SOB" story but I've never been blessed with kids of my own.  As much as I would have liked to have them so I can share the things, including video games, that I enjoyed when I was a kid I pretty much accepted the fact that it was not meant for me to have them for whatever reason.  But...my wife and I have had friends with kids.  One of them asked if the controller in the floor was an Atari controller.  The controller in question was the iconic 2600 joystick.  And then to have this 7 year old having a blast with the same machine I grew up and had a blast with ... yea, it made me wish I a kid of my own even more.  

 

I was shocked to hear her say those things because it is something I would not have expected.  I mean, kids today have tablets and phones they can play games on simply by touching a screen, game consoles that have graphic abilities far beyond what I would have imagined when I was anticipating the next Atari game release.  This now 34 (?) year old machine, older than her by far (Luke...I am your father!), primitive compared to more modern game consoles, tablets, and cellphones, just captured and held a 7 year old in an entertainment world that she didn't want to put down.  The only reason she put it down was because they had to go home.  

 

It's possible they may be back again today...the kids I mean.  I'm curious to see if she will want to play the Atari again.  So...I may have sequel on my hands.  I showed her all the games I have and she kept eyeing the Atari games.  I'm curious how she would take to the 7800?  Then again I don't want to be the cause of her hands being deformed later on.  Maybe we'll stick with the 2600 and 5200 systems.  Maybe some Atari 800XL games, too.

 

i remember my first atari 2600 system, the first game that i played was Enduro. (i think that is how it is spelled) Man!!! i played that game for hours and each time that i played it, i fell in love with it more and more. we accept the reality that we are brought into as kids, if its the xbox 360 or the xbox one we start out on, then we accept that and it seems normal to us at that age, but if it is the 2600 and that is all of video games that we know, we accept that as being the coolist thing out there. its all about the perspective that we have as kids.

 

you see, back then, when i was about ten years old, i knew that the 2600 brought me into a different world and that i was free to move about that other world as i wished, and that the decisions i made there affected the outcome of what happened in that world. In a lot of ways I had more control in the video game world than i had in the real world.

 

Its the same for kids today as it was back then, whether its moving a giant robot around on xbox 360 or moving pac-man around on the 2600, the result is still the same: having full control in a brand new world, that is why she loved playing the 5200 so much. Those games are still as fascinating to these kids as they were to us, just as long as they are the first examples of video games they see.

[The Professor]

i remember my first atari 2600 system, the first game that i played was Enduro. (i think that is how it is spelled) Man!!! i played that game for hours and each time that i played it, i fell in love with it more and more. we accept the reality that we are brought into as kids, if its the xbox 360 or the xbox one we start out on, then we accept that and it seems normal to us at that age, but if it is the 2600 and that is all of video games that we know, we accept that as being the coolist thing out there. its all about the perspective that we have as kids.

 

you see, back then, when i was about ten years old, i knew that the 2600 brought me into a different world and that i was free to move about that other world as i wished, and that the decisions i made there affected the outcome of what happened in that world. In a lot of ways I had more control in the video game world than i had in the real world.

 

Its the same for kids today as it was back then, whether its moving a giant robot around on xbox 360 or moving pac-man around on the 2600, the result is still the same: having full control in a brand new world, that is why she loved playing the 5200 so much. Those games are still as fascinating to these kids as they were to us, just as long as they are the first examples of video games they see.

 

 

Welcome to the forums Mike! 

 

It goes without saying that most of these children have never been exposed to classic video games that go back as far as Atari. First impressions make a huge impact on persuading them to pick up the joystick and play.

 

I think if their first exposure to classic video games is with a game that holds up well, one of the best video games on a given system (as Ms. Pac-Man is on Atari 5200) it's bound to make a positive impression and be fun for the whole family  Other games may not have held up as well and may not make as strong a first impression, but they may still prove to be fun to discover once they've opened the door with a game like Ms. Pac-Man.

[Cousin Mike]

Welcome to the forums Mike! 

 

It goes without saying that most of these children have never been exposed to classic video games that go back as far as Atari. First impressions make a huge impact on persuading them to pick up the joystick and play.

 

I think if their first exposure to classic video games is with a game that holds up well, one of the best video games on a given system (as Ms. Pac-Man is on Atari 5200) it's bound to make a positive impression and be fun for the whole family  Other games may not have held up as well and may not make as strong a first impression, but they may still prove to be fun to discover once they've opened the door with a game like Ms. Pac-Man.

that is so true, think of it this way, when i first played pit fall on the 2600, i was hooked on the game, because it was so much fun to play, if at the time there were big top dollar game systems out there just like there are now, but i had never seen one of those games being played, i still would have loved the game pit fall and after i saw the new games systems out there and saw some of the games that they have now, i would still have a place in my heart for pit fall just the same.