Justin Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 On September 22, 2000 I soft-launched this website as Atari7800.com. It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since this all began. The site was rich in content with lots of pictures and in-depth articles that told Atari’s history. A web store sold brand new Atari games and systems. We offered repair service where Atari no longer provided support and accepted PayPal when most vendors did not. Our Refurbished Atari systems were second to none, remanufactured with the highest-quality parts, new joysticks and bulletproof 3-year warranties. The 5200 and 7800 systems even received factory-replacement metal nameplates. That first year we were very busy with the new site. Blogs weren't really a thing yet (unless you counted GeoCities, TheGlobe.com, and AOL Hometown sites as blogs) though I was regularly posting what amounted to blog articles about Atari. One popular post was called "Raiders of the Lost Carts", which was probably the first of the sardonic Photoshopped Atari cart label collections. Another favorite article from November, 2000 gave a tour of Toys R Us store 7046 in Sugar Land, TX and looked at the influence Atari-era video games still had on what could be found in the store. At the time, the Internet still felt like a new thing and most Atari-related websites were sparse with minimal graphics and basic facts. Some sites were pretty cool and had lots of detailed product specs and names of engineers who had once worked on this project or that. But there wasn't much to evoke the good-natured spirit of fun and simplicity that embodied how most people remember playing Atari games, or anything very exciting to spark a nostalgic fire in their belly to bring them back to the World of Atari. In the summer of 2000 I set out to change all that. At every level I tried to raise the standard of what was being done. Whether I succeeded or not is up to you. The site during soft launch, Fall 2000 In early 2014 I began rebuilding the website from scratch. I wanted a modern responsive site to showcase Atari products in a way that was on par with Apple or Google. I wanted to create a blog where I could publish articles that were deep and interesting, that told a story and made you think. I wanted to build a new community that was new and different from anything that had become before. I wanted to create a place that would be really special. Most of my arcade friends are really into other game systems. When they talk about what they love - Dreamcast, Game Cube, even Pokémon - it's always about their love for these games and how much fun they have playing them. Yet it’s nearly impossible to talk about our love of Atari without first hearing “what sucked about Atari" or "ET is the worst video game ever made", or having to preface sharing your love for the 5200 or Jaguar with "I know the controllers sucked, but..." We don't need to apologize for what we enjoy. We should be free to share our love for classic gaming and nostalgia with other friendly like-minded nostalgia gamers without ridicule or scorn. One of the foremost objectives of this site has been to create a new kind of community where we can really get to know each other away from all of the arguments, drama and scams. Atari was always meant to be fun. We've tried to create a space not just to talk about classic gaming, but to share personal stories of nostalgia and take part in activities and events that were meant to be fun and foster new friendships in the community. I think it's helped us attract a member base that is just insanely awesome. Earlier in the Summer we celebrated the first anniversary of the new website and Atari I/O Forums. In such a short amount of time our little website has matured into a thriving community of new friends sharing old memories and a lifetime of nostalgia. I think today would be a good opportunity to recognize all of the people who have made this such a special place to spend our time. There's a lot of care that goes into the site. OUR MOST ACTIVE MEMBERS RickR arenafoot greenween Rowsdower70 Mrs. Rowsdower Atari Creep Yo-Yo nosweargamer Video 61 leolinden Dan Iacovelli StormSurge LeeJ07 Fire_In_The_Valley Atari Adventure Square atarilbc RadioPoultry RetroVideoGameNerd AtariBrian Clint Thompson RetroX extendedplayarcade correagonzalez KidA0723 Willie! BlackCatz40 Atari Today Jimbronie Greyfox Shark69 RetroTech kjmann an ox Arcade Dude 44 Weird Paul OUR MODERATING TEAM & SITE CONTRIBUTORS MaximumRD The Professor btbfilms76 DeLorean Silhouette Doctor Octagon Zontar Museum Matt Atari Joe Emily Grace Detering AND THOSE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS OF THE SITE Gene N. Landrum, Ph.D. Regan Cheng Emily Grace Detering Lance Ringquist Charles "Chuckernaut” Goddeeris Jenny Levasseur Tevan Whiting Jeff Minter Daniel McMillan Lost Ark Video Games Vic Sage The Retroist Karl Morris Julie Wade David Newman George Reese Geraldene, and everybody else back at Atari Borregas who was always so helpful and so inspirational for so many years. It meant a lot to me then and it means so much more to me now. Thank you guys so much for making those rainy days after school so much fun.
Arenafoot Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 Thank You Justin! Brian Matherne - owner/curator of "The MOST comprehensive list of Atari VCS/2600 homebrews ever compiled." http://tiny.cc/Atari2600Homebrew author of "The Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion" book series available on Amazon! www.amazon.com/author/brianmatherne
Dan Iacovelli Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 thats awesome and what timing same day I get my 7800 back up AVC Online:atari-video.club VGS website: http://videogamesummit.net
leolinden Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 Wow. Had no idea this site was that old. Sounds a lot like what Atari Age is now. Is there any plans to bring back some of the features that were there when the site started? Retro obsessed dude
StormSurge Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 Congratulations Justin! The hard work that goes into the site doesn't go unnoticed and is appreciated. Here's to 15 more years!!
RickR Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 CHEERS! To 15 years!It's a great site with great people. Thanks!
Sabertooth Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 Congratulations and thanks to Justin and all the mods, contributors and members who make this my favorite Atari site on the interwebs.
AtariBrian Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 I do love this site, thanks for doing such a good job.
Rowsdower70 Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 Party time!Here's to 15 more. "For you - Rowsdower from the 70 - have been appointed Omnivisioner of the Game Grid." ~ Atari Adventure Square
nosweargamer Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 Congrats! Some interesting history there. I didn't know you ran a store. Neat! Fun Fact: My YouTube show and your new site are almost the same age 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
Atari Adventure Square Posted September 23, 2015 Report Posted September 23, 2015 Congrats Justin! There are indeed few spots on the web where like-minded folks can have civilized, positive discussions on things pertaining to the gaming world. The appreciation of Atari's golden age nonetheless converges with today's sarcastic, self-involved approach to twit-talk dominating modern game tech. Cuz it's games. Nowadays, seems everything blends the distinct colors of viewpoints into the mud-brown of trash-talk and trolling. But, in those early days of cart games I reverted to a gentler, childlike mindset, a wonderment where the imagination needed to fill in the visual and storytelling gaps grew as we played and this led to an appreciation of all things, in their basic nature, as something that could mean so much more than what is shown. I dunno if it's coming through, but I mean to say that as we used our imagination on a daily basis to game ourselves into a merry stupor, we became kinder, gentler in a way, or simply more open to the idea that there is so much more out there. Today's gaming realm of confrontational co-op with strangers, overwhelming number of bloodlust experiences, focus on equipment over storylines - all this feels like my adolescence, where the hormonal howling at the moon overtook that child-in-me to go further as a physical being and leave everything (and every game) that made me a thinker behind, as I lept face forward into darkness. Well, all this to say that as an adult gamer, I was all too glad to get back that sense of comfort in being a thinker, a now-mature discusser of things of all nature...but mostly retro life as its wonderment never lost its shine. And the many areas to chat about this seemed littered with younger folks borne into the word-bash generation. It's not a generalization - lotsa cool folks of all ages are everywhere. Just made it kinda hard to get back some of what I thought was lost - that impression of coolness in retro - cuz the web seemed a modern place where old fogeys like myself just don't hang out. Well, thanks to this long-running site, and my other favorite haunt: The Retroist, we have somewhere to be, to express, to share, to re-live and make new friends over old ideas. You are all the coolest bunch of people. Folks who I've no doubt I'd make efforts to make friends with, in everyday neighbourly life. So, you are the people in my neighborhood. (and anybody who can sing the rest of this, proves my point) Thanks all
Yo-Yo Posted September 24, 2015 Report Posted September 24, 2015 Happy Birthday Atari7800.com/Atari.io
Jimbronie Posted September 24, 2015 Report Posted September 24, 2015 Congrats! Keep up the good work!
MaximumRD Posted September 24, 2015 Report Posted September 24, 2015 WOO HOO AWESOME! Congrats and here is to 15 more for a truly different and special site. It has truly evolved and become something unlike any other site. Congrats to all the team, members, admins, mods who make this a special place to be, my own issues, life, obligations keep me from being here as often as I would like believe me but I know when I do stop by there is always a vibe, a warm feeling of community that has been achieved here. Cheers to JUSTIN who is always committed and has done a great job pioneering and evolving the site to the high standard it has today! Classic Games, Good Times, Good Feelings and reliving it all here, escape the negativity and pressures of other so called classic gaming communities! If I may just add, I have known Justin for sometime now meeting on-line through a mutual love of hobby, gaming, atari etc. And he has helped me tremendously in public and private chats, messages, videos through many issues and problems with advice or sometimes just a compassionate ear. I don't speak of such things much but he has been kind, generous, honest and never to busy to help so I take this special post to take a moment and say THANKS JUSTIN for everything. I am Rob aka MaximumRD aka OldSchoolRetroGamer and THIS is my world http://about.me/maximumrd "For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday." - M. Bison
Justin Posted September 25, 2015 Author Report Posted September 25, 2015 Thanks everybody for the best wishes! Classic Games, Good Times, Good Feelings and reliving it all here, escape the negativity and pressures of other so called classic gaming communities! You know it! If I may just add, I have known Justin for sometime now meeting on-line through a mutual love of hobby, gaming, atari etc. And he has helped me tremendously in public and private chats, messages, videos through many issues and problems with advice or sometimes just a compassionate ear. I don't speak of such things much but he has been kind, generous, honest and never to busy to help so I take this special post to take a moment and say THANKS JUSTIN for everything. Thanks for the warm words, MaximumRD. Your gratitude means a lot, but your continued friendship means even more. I'm sure you know that. Glad you're such a great part of this site
Doctor Octagon Posted September 28, 2015 Report Posted September 28, 2015 Man, that's taking it back. Good memories of Philly Classic 3!
Justin Posted October 4, 2015 Author Report Posted October 4, 2015 He's a screenshot of what the forums looked like under construction. This was taken on June 21, 2014. DeLorean and I were the only two registered members at that time, though MaximumRD had known for almost two years that I was creating a new site.
Doctor Octagon Posted October 5, 2015 Report Posted October 5, 2015 I like how there's a store in the nav menu at the top.
DeLorean Posted October 12, 2015 Report Posted October 12, 2015 Here's a picture I have from almost two years ago when the new homepage was under construction. It had a Tron image and still said Atari7800.com
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