The Atari 2600 is a bad system

**muk** · 10-25-2014, 04:30 PM

I don't see how anyone was gamer when the Atari 2600 was out, It looks terrible and the games are bad. There's a whole list.
Pac-Man (Atari 2600)
I Want My Mommy
Mr. Do’s Castle
3D Tic-Tac-Toe
Fire Fighter
Space Jockey
Flag Capture
Bugs
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (video game)

**CrispyChicken** · 10-25-2014, 04:33 PM

For the time it was really good and cool. You can't compare it to games nowadays. Remember this is a system that came out in 1977.

**Kugyince** · 10-25-2014, 05:19 PM

Saying E.T. is a bad game is fighting words on this forum.

**Wolf** · 10-25-2014, 05:19 PM

remember also at time the only way you really played games was at the arcade due to not many options at home

**Dudebro** · 10-25-2014, 06:06 PM

Without it you wouldn't be playing the games you like now days.

**Mareeps** · 10-25-2014, 07:55 PM

The main problem with ET wasn't the game itself, it was the fact more carts were made than ataris that existed

**QAOP Spaceman** · 10-25-2014, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muk

It looks terrible

It looked great in 1977. Some might say it even still looks great. And without it, there wouldn't be any consoles that don't look 'terrible'.

Quote:

and the games are bad

Some of the several hundred games for the system no doubt are bad.

Quote:

3D Tic-Tac-Toe

Ye gods. If 3D Tic-Tac-Toe doesn't get your motor running, I don't know what will. 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, ferchrissakes!

**Krendall** · 10-25-2014, 10:21 PM

The system was released in 1977 and it was only the second machine to use a microprocessor and ROM-based cartridges. Just what were you expecting?

And just for some perspective, it was less than ten years earlier than most computers took up an entire room.

**Slime Slayer** · 10-25-2014, 11:03 PM

You know what really sucks? Spacewar.

**RU Joe** · 10-26-2014, 06:54 PM

Atari 2600 was my first console {my parents were nice enough to buy for me}, and back then it was magic - since I simply didn't know any better.
I was thrilled to be playing anything at all, and that's just how it was.
Yes there were the Coin-Op games but at 25C per game ..

But I can see how it may seem odd nowadays that people would show interest in what {when compared to today's standards} may seem like poorly - made games.
Even so, I would like to point out that there were comparatively poor games made long after the Atari 2600 = some people were just out to make a quick buck, and they didn't seem to care about quality control or testing.

**catchaserguns** · 12-13-2014, 06:14 AM

The Atari was one of the first with interchangeable cartridges and for the time it had great graphics. Anything that had better graphics at the time were the stand up arcade machines. It had a lot of power for such a little thing back then. It might have started the video game crash in 1984 but There was a good possibility that the Nes could have failed here in the US. Have you seen the graphics for the Odyssey 2. They were worse than the Atari. So don't gripe about the Atari.

**Kugyince** · 12-13-2014, 06:31 AM

Also, Atari is only partially to blame for the crash of '83. Lock out chips weren't a thing yet so anyone in a garage with an Apple IIc could make an Atari game and legally sell it on store shelves. The market was absolutely saturated with shovelware from unchecked independent developers that Atari couldn't stop if they wanted to. Also, the home computer boom had begun (especially in Europe where the Spectrum was a thing) which ate away at the market heavily.

**George Riley** · 12-13-2014, 01:08 PM

Some games for the Atari 2600 were really bad because basically anyone with some knowhow could produce, and commercially sell for the system. Having said that though, there really were some great games for the system. Try playing Yars' Revenge, Megamania, Pitfall II, H.E.R.O., and even the port of Space Invaders before making your decision.
Plus Atari 2600 had some really fun 2 player games. Invite some friends over, and have them play Air Sea Battle, Video Olympics, and Combat. You'll be surprised at how much of a good time they'll have.

**D.B. Cooper** · 12-16-2014, 01:18 PM

How many arcade games were there in 1977 when the 2600 came out? I was playing my Atari at least a year before I ever even saw an arcade cabinet and at least two years before there was ever an arcade in my neighborhood. I have very fond memories of playing these games with my friends as a kid. Like George just mentioned, they had some pretty cool multi player games and back then games were about kicking the crap out of your friends more than it was about getting a high score.