Atari turns 40 Fondest Memories?

[indieseoul]

Atari is 40 years old. Boy time really flies! The first video game I ever played was one of those Atari Pong TV games. My brother recently reminded me that at the age of five I was kicking his ass from the moment I had a controller in my hand. I didn't have a 2600 when I was growing up but I do have fond memories of playing at my cousin's house when I had the chance. These days I play my Atari more than I play more modern games. Just last weekend a buddy of mine came over and we spent the night drunkenly battling to the death in Combat. We could have popped in any number of more modern games but the incredible simplicity and fun factor of the 2600 (and a ton of booze) was all that we needed.

So what are your fondest memories of Atari?

[focusrs]

Making the initial tear of the wrapping paper Christmas morning 1978 to find a Atari 2600 (which I still own today!!) then playing breakout the rest of the day with a few games of Combat. Of all my gaming, my classic Atari gets about 40 percent of my attention. Have a small but nice collection of carts for it, mainly all my favorites with Crazy Climber being my rarest that I enjoy playing.

[retroshaun]

I didn't own a 2600 either so I guess my memory is probably the first time I played Asteroids in an arcade (OK it was a restaurant / take away but you get the idea). I probably pumped at least 50% of my lunch money into that game over the next year or so!

[SubaruBrat]

For me, walking around the corner at auction and seeing a Pong in top shape and knowing I would own Atari's first game that day. And when going through it at home I found it was an early production model likely hand built with Al, Ted, and Nolan still working on the production line.

[wongojack]

Christmas morning 1981. We have a family pic of me, my borther, and sister around the newly opened 2600. I still have that original unit and after some minor repairs its going strong to this day. I was only 5 years old at the time, but I learned how to work the switches and levers on the machine enough to choose my favorite modes of SI, Asteroids, Combat, PacMan, and Soccer.

[Elviticus]

Getting one for Christmas in 1982 and hooking it up to the B&W TV with my brother.... Then playing Defender on it the rest of the day- I was in heaven!

[BydoEmpire73]

I think the first time I really wanted a 2600 I had to go with my brother to one of his friend's house to play D&D (parents didn't want me to stay home alone or something). I was 5 years younger, so they didn't really want me playing D&D with them, but the guy had a 2600 in his bedroom so I played Adventure and other games all night. Also awesome.

I got my 2600 by trading a stack of pirated Apple ][ disks to a friend who didn't want his anymore because their family just got the computer! I fondly remember playing Vanguard, Adventure and a few other games on the 2600 hooked up to a black and white TV. Good times. Also, going to Kay Bee toys during the crash and seeing all the 2600 games on a table for super cheap.

In the late 80s & early 90s I started going to garage sales and picking up boxes of 2600 stuff for cheap. it's how I got most of my collection.

Playing 7800 Asteroids my senior year of college, and one of my roommates thought it was pretty funny I was sitting alone in my room playing Atari.

Finding a 5200 at Flea World about 5-6 years ago, and I've been loving the console ever since. Never owned one back in the day but it's been my most played 8-bitter since.

[SubaruBrat]

Also, going to Kay Bee toys during the crash and seeing all the 2600 games on a table for super cheap.

We had one where I lived and twice I had the chance to buy piles of games cheap. During the crash there were Adams for $40 and Coleco games at $1 a piece. Atari games were about a buck a piece but there were no consoles. Then during the reluanch with the under $50 campaign in 1990 or so I bought piles of 2600 carts for $1 a piece and the 2600s were either $10 or $20 depending on the week.

Playing 7800 Asteroids my senior year of college, and one of my roommates thought it was pretty funny I was sitting alone in my room playing Atari.

Same here, but it was during tech school in the Army, I had a 19" TV and a 2600 stuffed into my wall locker and I would go back during lunch and play 2600 games.

[BydoEmpire73]

Same here, but it was during tech school in the Army, I had a 19" TV and a 2600 stuffed into my wall locker and I would go back during lunch and play 2600 games.

Wish I could have gotten some of my roommates to get in on a little co-op 7800 Asteroids. Would've been fun.

[Nurmix]

There are many fond Atari-related memories for me, and not all of them video game related...

1. The first time I played the VCS (2600) at a friend's house. The game that sticks in my mind the most is Superman. I remember being astounded at the complexity - the multiple screens, objects, etc. Another friend got one shortly after that, and I can remember playing Space Invaders and Maze Chase for days at his place. I got my own VCS a few months later, and I remember being most into Night Driver and (Activision's) Laser Blast.

2. My childhood friend who lived across the street got an Atari 400 and cassette drive for Christmas - must have been 1982. Playing Star Raiders on his TV in the living room was just too cool for words.

3. Finally getting my own Atari 800XL around 1983/1984 and playing Exodus Ultima III for hours on end with one of my best friends. I still have that 800XL, as well as the folder full of notes and maps my friend and I made while playing. They mean more to me now because that friend was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1987.

4. Getting into the BBS scene with my 800XL (and 130XE), downloading tons of games and demos.

5. Getting my Atari 520STE and the Glendale Atari Fair (used to be an annual Atari computer show in Glendale California) and a 120MB hard drive (wow!) and using it with Cubase as my electronic music interest was really taking off.

6. Getting my Atari Falcon030 - at about the time Atari was stopping production on them. Most stores were still asking retail, which was around $1,200. But I found one at the Hollywood, CA Guitar Center, new, for 1/2 that price. With that I moved up to Cubase Audio for my studio setup (16 tracks of digital audio + MIDI - amazing at the time). That Falcon also got me onto the emerging World Wide Web, and I even taught myself HTML on it.

7. I did get a Jaguar when it was released too. I remember briefly thinking how great it was that Atari were finally releasing a mass market modern console, and HOPING that years of marketing blunders and mistakes would all be over now. Imagining the Jaguar would be a huge success, and Atari would put more money into their computer line to finally be able to keep up with Microsoft and Apple. Unfortunately, it became apparent very quickly this was not going to be the case.

8. Finding 2 prototype 2600 cartridges in an LA thrift store in the early 2000s (Frankenstein's Monster and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and paying $2 each for them.