(Pre-LGR) Atari 2600 Game Console Review
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- A review from the perspective of a cheap, casual collector of video games: is the Atari 2600 VCS worth it? A quick run-down of the history, pros and cons of the games and system.
I apologize for the huff-puff voicing caused by my crappy headset mic.
Predecessor to my Lazy Game Reviews
Dude. This was one of the first video on CZcams that I watched. I remember trying to find stuff about the 2600. Christmas 1979, I was the first kid on the block to get one. Great stuff.
Sounds like he recorded this in the 90s
lol ikr
2008 is basically the 90s for youtube.
He used analog camcorders in early videos.
It was 2008, 9 years earlier and he would be recording it in the 90s
1979
Funny thing..most of the games you mentioned as your favorite were my least-favorite. especially dragster. That game was soooo boring.
Dragster is horrendously boring playing alone, but playing against a friend is great! Shifting quickly and efficiently to get the better time, down to a split second :)
+Lazy Game Reviews Try breaking a 6-sec run... Near-impossible! And that world-record 5.41 run? DOUBT IT!
+Lazy Game Reviews do you have california games for your 2600???
I paid $25 for it used when I was about 10 and it was my favorite game...I had over 50 games for it when I gave it to my sister, who needs atari when you have sega master system...
OMG tech overload
The 8-Bit Guy Hi David you are mi favourite CZcamsr, I have got some questions so how could contact you ?
I second the opinion that LGR should revisit the mighty Atari 2600 console in HD. Maybe a tenth anniversary update in August 2018? :)
Welp. He's got 4 days to make that a reality! Hahahaha.
Well, it's almost 2020 and nothing.
PCGamer77 yeah
It’s 2022 and still waiting. 😆
2024...
Woodgrain addiction comes from a long time
oh hello 2008 LGR
how are you doing
@@uku4171 gey
@@uku4171
I agree :0
Wow.. can't get those prices anymore..
KLanD Tine Cant find a wood one under €100 even without games...
Tom Jacobs
Really? They aren't that expensive around here. Although some sellers are wanting $7.50 for common games.. which is way way too much.
KLanD Tine wow, common games around here are still 99 cents. i feel lucky.
cKreepy Jones I've got my spots, but a lot of retro dealers are trying to cash in on the growing popularity.
+KLanD Tine The retro video game market is so overvalued that I don't even know if waiting will help the prices any.
25 bucks for a 2600.... Sweet baby jesus, where is my time machine?
you can still find them for that price, especially at yard sales. just picked up a 4 switch and 32 games for $20. all but one game work (couldn't get Asteroid to work). the system itself took a little fiddling to get it to wake up from who knows how many years in slumber. its a little stubborn but it does work (it probably just needs a refresh kit).
Youd have loved the mid to late 90s. Atari 2600s were soo cheap. Console with like 100 games numerous controllers and what not would cost $5 to $10 bucks at a garage sale
Sometimes in the council hard waste collection id find games and things. Moreso commodore 64 and atari 400s though. Wish i had have known what the spectrum was back then. Saw sooo many in 1998-2004 laying around disguarded... i thought it was a piece of a computer so i never picked one up. Lol
I got an old wood grain one today, for $35. Didn’t really pay anything for it, traded in some old DVD and Blu Ray discs (kept the digital copies). 👍🏻
''Because I love it and I'm bored'' XD
I can't stop re-watching your videos such as this, over and over again. Your videos are just that awesome, and they make me want more games and systems. =)
I must watch this hardware playlist about four times a year, really enjoy them. I also come running here before deciding on whether or not to buy a console. Big thanks man
Dude you're the best! Really, I just found your lazy reviews channel and I really like it so far. Always interesting and just casual enough. Great job! Thanks for sharing!
I found my older sisters original 1970's Atari 2600 in my Parents basement as a teenager in the late 90's. I cleaned it up and packaged it up in plastic and hid it from them in my closet.
For years they always talked about how much they loved that console and that they wish they knew what happened to it, I bet they are going to kill me if they find out that I had it for 2 decades lol.
I played some Atari 2600 games through ports and emulation and I have to say that the system had some pretty interesting games.
I've watched a bunch of Atari 2600 videos and this is the first time I've heard about the tape thing. It makes the system more interesting to me.
Wow. LGR has changed a LOT over the years. Still this was highly entertaining!
I'm so glad your video had instructions on how to hook up my 4K HD smart TV to the Atari .
Man I wish these prices were still the case. I got an Atari bundle that had the system, two normal controllers and 4 paddle controllers, the star raiders pad along with the instructions and game, two Atari game binders filled with 16 games, and all the cables for $120. Looking at some of the prices online nowadays, I would’ve had to spend even more online compared to all the stuff I got here at my local antique shop.
i love your reviews. hope you make more :)
omg you channel gotten so much better then this. It weird to go back and see your old videos. you got amazingly better
I am very glad you updated your microphone since then :)
I found this video because I was looking for more information about the Arcadia Supercharger. And I got what I needed and more! Awesome video.
I am loving Thrust at the moment, it's amazing how playable these games still are.
Fabulous video! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you!
had one when i was a kid back in 83. my brother and inused to set our lunch on it while we played. it was great for keeping a grilled cheeze sandwich warm.
that system was love.
uroborous01 i still own my heavy sixer whew thank goodness i its still runs and my mother didnt throw it out☺
it seems like all of these youtube retrogaming channels have really driven up prices since 2008
I was building this Atari 50 anniversary Lego today, while watching you building 2 processor PC from the 90s. And once I finished with Lego I decided to watch about this console and here we are on this channel again 😂
Review is great.
It's like going back in time.My kids seemed kinda interested.
Dec 25th, 1978. Santa brought us an Atari 2600. I was suddenly the most popular kid on the block. Next major buy was a TRS-80 CoCo that used Cassette tapes to load games/programs...wonderful days.
Damn....$25 Atari. 10 years ago was certainly different. Impossible to find one below $100 currently.
That's what i was thinking, really wanted to get one and collect some games
I still own the 1978 Panasonic Portable TV me and my brothers used to play Atari on when we were kids (and it still works)! I also recently bought a 40 inch Element Electronics flat-screen TV (actually made in the USA, yes really), and it actually has a composite analog video input that actually works (I connected my 1995 Pioneer Laserdisc player to it and it actually has a pretty darn good picture). THEN I connected my Atari Joystick all-in-one game to it and it worked great; the controller itself actually compares favorably to the Atari original, which really surprised me! All I need now is some way to connect an original Atari 2600 to my big-screen.
We were given an Atari 5200 by my in-laws back when my spouse and I were newlyweds (probably as a Christmas present). I remember the trips we'd make to Toys 'R Us for a few years afterwards, looking for cartridges for it. Mostly my husband played the games on it, but I tried a few of the arcade-type titles we had for it too. Didn't get our first proper computer until a few years later (a C64c at an after-Christmas sale in 1987, mostly motivated by the Epyx "5 free games" promotion being run at that time. (It was a good thing we bought games for the C64, too, as the Epyx freebies were all sports titles we weren't interested in playing.) We didn't have another videogame console in the house until we bought a Playstation 2 a couple of decades later (it was a way to both play games on the TV and play DVDs, and was our first DVD player that wasn't part of one of our computers).
I consider the Fairchild Channel F to be the first TRUE home video game console. The Magnavox Odyssey had pre-hardwired games that were accessed via jumpers in the different "cartridges." The Fairchild Channel F was the first system to have true programmed ROM cartridges not dependent on pre-wired games on the system. I used to have a Fairchild in its box still. Wish I hadn't sold it.
I have the 4 switch VCS. Far as I know it still works. Haven't fired it up in many, many years.
It's always weird and funny for me, as a Latin American, to hear about the catastrophic 1983 crash. We were playing the original Atari as late as 1990 like there was no tomorrow. Importing electronic goods in Brazil was as good as impossible back then, and we only had access to the Atari thanks to clones produced in Brazil. When the doors were finally opened, we pretty much jumped straight into the Master System, and shortly into the SNES and the Mega Drive (or the Genesis as you weird Americans call it). There was absolutely *no* 1983 crash at all here.
I think the 2600 still holds up today because of its completely esoteric look and feel. It's so striking and unique, direct and to the point, no bullshit, no cheesy mascots and no princess in another castle. It's just straightforward gaming.
Discover Atari.
ATARIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
M Douglas lol 😂😂
As I recall, the Supercharger only worked with games up to 6K. The reason that some games don't work, even though they're under the size limit is that they were never designed to be run from RAM and bad coding ends up corrupting the game's code. There was a fairly simple mod you could do that would add a toggle switch to write-protect the Supercharger's memory. There were also some "cheats" posted that would fix some of the ROM images to be SC compatible.
Also, some good games came out later in the 2600's life, like Tunnel Runner (1983), Solaris (1986) and Midnight Magic (1987).
I found that it can be fun for all the family to join in. I was often competing against my brothers to win and it brought us closer together as a family. I enjoyed mine and since it came with a range of games, there was something for everyone.
Wow, quality video for 12 years ago!
"Now, why review such an iconic and almost flawless console? Well, because I love it and I'm bored"
~Clint Basinger, 2008
I had a first gen model, sadly it stop working after 90 days. My dad was going to repair it, but the cost was almost as much as the machine. Thank god when the two Steve's came along they changed the standard warranty from 90 days to one year. Great machine and review.
Thank you for your video, the converter non-compatiblity had me in despair of ever playing with it again. Now I'll get that adapter, prolly from MicroCenter- the home of all old computer adapters and cables.
So I've been watching a lot of recent LGR videos and this one popped up so I said I'd give it a whirl.
Just a few observations... the switches on the woodies look like chrome, but they were actually cast aluminium with a milled surface for grip. They get very dull over the years, but they polish up very nicely with metal polish like Autosol.
And why do some many CZcamsrs say that the slim design re-released Atari 2600 Jr. is "sometimes referred to as the Junior" or "unofficially known as". This video looks like an early start to that trend.
The sticker on the underneath literally says "MODEL NO. CX-2600 JR." at least on my one it does. It says stuff like this on Wikipedia so that's probably where the misinformation comes from. If Atari themeselves call it this the model number, how is this somehow a "nickname"?
Also I don't think it's entirely fair to write off much of the Atari 2600 library after a cutoff point of say 1982/83. There are some later games beyond that which are really great. Millipede and Jr. Pac-Man from 1984 and Solaris from 1986 are stand out titles to me.
Solaris is hands-down one of the best games for the Atari. Massive too, weighing in at a whopping 16K.
Your cassette secret blew my mind!
You know, you call your videos "Lazy Game Reviews" but they go more in depth than any other review I've seen.
Whoa, this is some LGR "from back in the day" for sure
Who's watching this in 2018
2019 yay
BRUH I'm from the future this is 2020 now and I still have atari
2021-
I used to have this system, but still a great console, and still a champion among other consoles like the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, PS1, PS2, PS3, and many more.
And speaking of the VCS, Atari announced a new console called the Atari VCS. Originally planned as the Ataribox, this new console will have all new features than the older game do. The new VCS will come out soon.
i cant believe those atari controler are still working. My spectrum joystick didnt last 1 year of my childhood. :)
The 2600 is the first and only gaming system that I ever had. AWESOME!!!
LOL the ending, ding!
Ah, nostalgia. The 2600 was the very first video game system I ever played. My parents had bought one before I was born, and they let me play it. I believe we had one of the six switch Tele-Games version.
I killed so many hours with Berserk and Star Wars. I've recently become fond of Adventure and Yar's Revenge since then.
Awesome system.
I had the junior!
I don't know what you mean by "Higher failure rate than the original". *Mine* worked just fine... it couldn't play Berserk, but other than that... it played all the other games I had, and still have.
I ended up getting the Jr. model from my town market for around £15, also came with Wizard of Wor, Dodge 'em and a couple other games.
Pretty sweet though the joystick are those old contact ones... long since past its prime, may have to look into buying one with micro switches if I ever start properly collecting for it, there's just something about having a games console that's older then you are that makes it feel like a relic of the past, where I can turn to my parents and say ''hey remember this?'' and see the knowing look on their faces.
Wow, never heard of that tape convertion thingy. It's amazing!
Jesus Christ Clint has been on CZcams for 10 years
I miss the closing logo, even though I didn't start watching these until after he dropped it.
DING!
"Frick..."
I wish there was a part two where its taken apart and explained maybe an episode to the birth life and death? love these review's
picked up a 4 switch, and 32 games for $20. all but one game work (Asteroid just would not load regardless what i did). picked up a supercharger for $40 (it was listed as untested on ebay but works flawlessly), as well as that cable adapter, a new retro-bit PSU (the original PSU was totally huffed), and a refreshed joystick.
i do wish i still had my childhood 2600 (a 6 switch) as i do like the 6 switch a bit more than the 4 switch, especially with those few games that use the difficulty setting switches to control some of the game functions,
My Atari 2600 Jr. still works great after 25 years. I played Enduro for about an hour, one of the best games on Atari, and had zero glitching unlike my NES.
great review dude
Hands up for holding a paddle controller correctly. I seen plenty of people hold them in the right hand using their left to toggle the dial. I thought I was the only one who held the controller in the left hand and I am left handed.
But seriously there are not that many games that use the paddles. There are only about a dozen or so that use them. The vast majority of games for the system use the joysticks. Mind you I think there are plenty of those games that could have been adapted for the paddles. Games like Air-Sea Battle and Space Invaders could have easily been made for the paddles. In both of these games you can only move left and right. I don't know why bother with a controller(that was included in the box up to 1982) if you are not going to make games for them?
There are only about 13 games made for the paddles. They were:
Backgammon
Breakout
Super Breakout
Warlords
Circus Atari
Demons to Diamonds
Blackjack
Casino
Steeplechase
Video Olympics
Night Driver
Canyon Bomber
Kaboom
I know there were more but I am only counting Atari and Activision here.
My light sixer workds great. I have a half a dozen still in the original box with instructinos and about 36 or so loose. Great system and well worth the cheaper prices to purchase. For any old-school game collector.
OH THE HUGE MANATEE! (i laughed till i started to cry)
Why was this in my recommended videos to watch? Well anyways, I watched and I'm glad I did.
Sweet! This, your Commodore and your SEGA CD reviews were some of the best reviews I've seen on CZcams. =D
My dad worked at Sears so we had a Sears Super Arcade II. This is the one that had the infamous combo joystick/paddle. I picked another one up in the box from Ebay last year for $50.00.
EDIT: Forgot to mention some of my favorite games: Yar's Revenge, Indiana Jones, Space Invaders, Combat, Dragonfire, Cosmic Ark and Atlantis. Man, I loved me some Imagic games. :)
Your reviews are actually very entertaining while still very different in style from avgn and other reviewers. Good work!
Your content has changed a lot haha!
Just a few days ago I bought Atari Greatest Hits for the Nintendo DS in the price of 9.95€.
I had Atari Anthology on PS2, but this was cheap, so why not.
Atari games are indeed fun, even after all these years.
I had some quite enjoyable moments with these games.
Swordquest trilogy is really interesting experience, although it's pretty difficult game for me.
I love these classic game collections very much. I wish there would be more of them.
The Atari 2600 was the very first video game console that I played when I was young, more to the point it was the Sunnyvale heavy sixer model (with the wood grain), man that gives me memories.
Great video. However, I must defend Spider Man on the 2600. It is actually a pretty cool game. It's definitely old school but it is innovative and I dig it.
Awesome review on a great retro console! Dude I used to live in Sunnyvale California years ago before I moved to New Jersey. We used to drive by the old Atari building when my dad and I whent to go rent videogames at Hollywood Videos. Man those were some good times. Some of the games I own came from that video store and they still work great including Gunstar Heroes.
Looking at the connection you showed. I was lazy one weekend and wanted to play my (I guess more appropriately my parents, but they never use it, so....) Intellivision 2 and didn't have that kind of connector, but my dad has a bunch of electrical supplies, so I just spliced the two together. It works beautifully. (The RF box is total junk, I have one as well, but it never really worked.)
know whats weird phreakindee? even though i usually dont give two craps about really old hardware, YOU make it FASCINATING...like in your commodore vic-20 and 64 reviews....EXCELLENT
As this video doesn't contain the word 'greetings', you should do a remake of this review of this awesome videoconsole 🙂
I like to Informative Style of your Reviews :/ They quite simply rock.
pitfall, pitfall2, video Olympics, donkey Kong and Spider-Man where my favorite games.
I've never seen 2600 games for sale... good thing I still have mine
Every young kid in my school had or wanted a 2600, suddenly one day, my awesome mom surprised us with a 5200. Those were simple yet incredible times, indeed.
Love you mom!
Wasn't the 5200 garbage?
About the 3rd Party controllers... Wico made some damn fine controllers. it's just very hard to find one in good shape these days.
I have one and it was great... until I could no longer move right with it. At first my C64 couldn't detect it but my Jr. could, then neither could.
I love the Atari 2600 i have the Atari flashback in my video game collection
I used to play that system at night durring the early 2010s at night
I absolutely Loved my ATARI 2600!
Believe it or not, I actually still have it!
Kevin Turner me too 😬
Kevin Turner me too 😬
The TAC-2 3rd party controller doesn't suck at all. In fact, I'd say it's the finest 9-pin joystick there is. I use it on ALL my classic systems and computers that can use a 9-pin. Way more comfortable than the stock stick, if you ask me.
***** I like using the Sega Genesis controllers.
Holy crap this video almost 10 years old!
Lol hello I'm binging a mega Playlist of your videos I love your channel man I was in 7th grade when this came out lol
ha sorry i was commenting on your sega cd review , i guess the video switched while i was commenting on it. do you have snatcher by the way? anyway good videos man, keep'em coming
perhaps he was watching this via the playlist and the previous video was the Sega Genesis CD review and didn't notice it changed? The transition was pretty quick.
I paid $ 38.00 for mine with like 12 games 2 controllers. I later found the paddles in the box for $6.00 and also now have about 80 games and pairs about $1.00 each from a game store at the Flea Market I go to.
Chopper Command is compltetely badass. Circus Atari is pretty sweet too. Pitfall is also amazing.
Happy Birthday Atari 2600!
On October 15, 1977, the Atari VCS started hitting store shelves. And the rest, as they say, is history.
I just found out my version was called the Vader a few years ago. I always wondered why mine was solid black instead of wood grain 😂😂😂
Over here, it's pretty much impossible to find an atari 2600 and if you do, be prepared to pay out of the ass. Seen systems with the cables and one joystick (no games) go for about 150 USD.
I got mine for $40 at some random store in New York City in 2015. It came with both joysticks and a set of paddles, without games.
Turai12 I got my 7800 for 10 dollars. Just needed cleaning.
Should have pointed out that you can plug a Sega Genesis controller in and use it. D-pad to move and B button to fire. I find it a lot easier to play with than the old joysticks.
My grandpa bought the Atari 2600 back in 1980 my parents grew up in the 70's and 80's and they grew up with the 2600 I grew up with the GameCube, PS2, and Original Xbox and still play all 3 of those to this day one day I was talking about those systems to my mom and she told me "the games that you grew up with when you were little, all of those are technology" I didn't know my old consoles are technology until my mom told me
Best game as far as effort put in goes to f14 tomcat (or whatever it was called overseas) but my favourites to play are: river raid 1 and 2, chopper command, commando, seaquest, adventure, grand prix (for the skids), bump and jump, and battlezone.
As a 4/5yo adventure and haunted mansion used to freak me the hell out.. Haha
(11 years after LGR uploads)
CZcams Algorithm: IT'S TIME.
i grew up with a sears video arcade II. i really like its futuristic 80s styling beyond all others :O the controllers that came with it attempted combine the paddle and joystick into one and ended up with a potentiometer on a stick that was awful though. the original joysticks kind of hurt my hands now too, but they have such simplistic wiring anyone can make their own atari controller
@Dant2142 maybe i was wrong about the alcohol thing, but this waas back in 90 or 91, so the NES was not that old, plus it worked before the cleaning. After the alcohol treatment, it only worked for a few days. Whatever killed it, doesn't matter now. But it didn't just die, becaues the Nes was robust, just had to use some lung power once in a while.
My favorite game is still Frostbite. Then Barnstorming... & Keystone Kapers.... Frog Pond... Moon Patrol... okay, I'll stop now.
I just bought one, thank you for the suggestion =D