socrates63 Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 Hello, everyone. I've come here via @nosweargamer's August give-away video. It's great to learn of another vibrant Atari community! I live in the suburb of Seattle with my two sons and wife. I've worked my entire career in the tech industry (Microsoft --> Amazon --> HBO / WarnerMedia) as a program manager. The 4-switch VCS (as it was known then) was my first console back in the early 80s. I think I was in 4th or 5th grade when I got it. At the time, my weekly allowance was $3 and the price of the VCS at Toys R Us was $120. I made a proposal to my dad that if he bought me the console, I would forego a year's worth of allowance. "You'd save $36," said I to my dad. A few days later, we went to Toys R Us and bought the VCS, but he kept giving me my weekly allowance 🙂 Thank goodness that he did. Otherwise, I'd have been playing Combat by myself for a year, and that's not much fun for a kid with no brothers or sisters. In middle school, I fell in love with computers. I hung around the computer lab for a year as a sixth grader since programming class and access to computers (Commodore PET) were only open to seventh and eighth graders. I got an Atari 800 with the cassette drive in seventh grade and for several years until I got the 520ST, the Atari 8-bit was my BFF. I can't remember what happened to my VCS. Fast forward almost 40 years to 2020, and I've been re-united with the 2600. Last year, out of nostalgia, I bought a Retron77, but I never opened the box. I discovered AtariAge earlier this year and got a 7800 four months ago. I recently found out that it has compatibility issues with some homebrews and that prompted me to get a light 6-switch 2600 last month. Two weeks after that, I jumped on a nice deal for a fixed up and upgraded 5200. The past month and a half has been a blast reconnecting with the Atari consoles from my childhood and discovering for the first time so many console games that I passed up because I was busy with my Atari 800. I even picked up a CRT TV recently to complete the full retro setup. In case you're wondering, last year I picked up an Atari 800 and 800XL. I also got the devices to load programs from SD card but I haven't set them up yet. After storing them in boxes for many years, I threw away all my Atari computers, peripherals, and software when we moved nearly 20 years ago. Let's not talk about it. This is my Atari story. I don't know much, but I'm a gamer at heart (although I suck at most games) and a life long Atari fanboy. I'm glad to be here and look forward to get to know the community better. Thanks for reading. Marco1019, Justin, HDN and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDN Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 Welcome! I'm new as well and also came because of @nosweargamer! It's quite nice here. Good luck on your Atari crusade! socrates63, Justin and nosweargamer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 Thanks @HDN. Welcome to us newcomers. If nothing else, at least the forum structure here isn’t as daunting as AA. nosweargamer and Justin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosweargamer Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 Welcome @socrates63! That some cool Atari history you got! Justin and socrates63 2 Quote The No Swear Gamer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChtJuo040EOCTVziObIgVcg Host of The Atari 7800 Game by Game Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and YouTube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 WELCOME to the forums @socrates63‼️ It's great to have you here, the legendary @nosweargamer has introduced a lot of wonderful people to Atari I/O. Thank you for sharing your Atari history with us, it sounds like the past year has been an adventurous one, it's fantastic that you have access to 2600, 5200 and 7800 now. We have a warm, welcoming community here, everybody is very nice and engaging, like a small town. If you have any questions or need anything feel free to PM me whenever, I'm always around to help. Best wishes! socrates63 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 WELCOME! I'm down in Portland, but I have a son that goes to school in Seattle. socrates63 and Justin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 3 hours ago, Justin said: WELCOME to the forums @socrates63‼️ It's great to have you here, the legendary @nosweargamer has introduced a lot of wonderful people to Atari I/O. Thank you for sharing your Atari history with us, it sounds like the past year has been an adventurous one, it's fantastic that you have access to 2600, 5200 and 7800 now. We have a warm, welcoming community here, everybody is very nice and engaging, like a small town. If you have any questions or need anything feel free to PM me whenever, I'm always around to help. Best wishes! Thanks, @Justin! Yes, the past year has been an adventurous one. My Atari re-connecting got its start three years ago at PRGE 2017. I attended PRGE for the first time because it was the 40th Atari anniversary celebration, and when I found out that David Crane and Garry Kitchen were hosting a panel, I had to go. I was already pumped to meet my childhood heroes but when I saw a massive booth filled with Atari 8-bit and 2600 setups, I was an emotional mess. I hadn't seen a fully working Atari 800 setup since my own in the 80s. With trembling fingers and butterflies in my stomach, I approach an 800 and -gasp- touched it. When I returned home from that trip, I told my wife that I'd wish I could have the 800 again. I really didn't think that two years later, I'd have one in my possession. Seeing the white block cursor on the blue screen when I fired up the 800XL brought back a lot of memories. Justin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 1 hour ago, RickR said: WELCOME! I'm down in Portland, but I have a son that goes to school in Seattle. Thanks, Rick! Which school is your son attending? My oldest son will be a sophomore at UW Bothell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 4 hours ago, nosweargamer said: Welcome @socrates63! That some cool Atari history you got! Thanks for the welcome and spreading the word about this place! 👍 I'm sure everyone here has an Atari history more interesting 🙂 While all my friends went to the Commodore 64 camp, I stuck with the Atari brand. I mean, it was just natural. Since I loved the 2600, why would I get anything else other than an Atari computer? I did say that I'm a fanboy 🙂 I briefly owned both the C64 and 800, but I returned C64 as I found the hardware to be inferior to the 800. nosweargamer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 Seattle U (he'll be a senior). socrates63 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 That's my alma mater! Great school. I studied biology and philosophy. RickR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 He likes it, and it's been a good fit. And not too far from his folks! Senior year during a pandemic is going to be weird and I feel bad for all kids/people in school during this mess. I'm hoping the job market is good once he's done. socrates63 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted August 15, 2020 Report Share Posted August 15, 2020 Hello and welcome to the I/O! socrates63 1 Quote 🖖 Going to the final frontier, gaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 4 hours ago, RickR said: Senior year during a pandemic is going to be weird and I feel bad for all kids/people in school during this mess. I'm hoping the job market is good once he's done. 🤞here's hoping for a more stable 2021. What's he studying? 4 hours ago, TrekMD said: Hello and welcome to the I/O! Thanks, Dr. Trek! Yours is a name I've seen frequently (AA, ZPH streams) and I feel we're already acquainted although we're not 🙂 TrekMD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 16, 2020 Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 Computer Engineering. socrates63 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 That’s great! Is he leaning towards hardware or software? I can’t imagine he will have too much difficulty securing a job in Seattle 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickR Posted August 16, 2020 Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 I think he's leaning hardware. I hope you're right. So much uncertainty these days. We hope for the best. socrates63 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 @RickR while I'm on the software side of things, if your son needs help with job searching or wants to talk to someone in Seattle high tech, feel free to hit me up. RickR and Justin 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gianna Posted August 16, 2020 Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 Welcome! socrates63 and Justin 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socrates63 Posted August 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2020 Thanks @Gianna! Gianna 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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