Atari 2600 Redux -

June 7, 2003 10:39 AM

The Atari 2600 redux This time Jakks TV Games has put 10 old Atari games into the old Atari joystick form factor fo $20US. That's $2 a game. Sure, they're not all terrific games, but hey it's easier than trying to do this yourself. Don't like the 2600? It's OK, they also make Activision and Namco versions.
posted by plinth (22 comments total)

Pardon the self link, but I bought one and posted a review with pictures a while ago.

Lots of fun and an amazing way to see the progress in video games in the last 20 years.
posted by Argyle at 10:47 AM on June 7, 2003

Like the pictures of your little girls Argyle, I saw some little kids playing with the Atari joystick at the store the other day and they seemed absolutely mesmerized by it. It's not supposed to be that way! They should be playing on a $300 system with $70 games dammit.

Anyways, I was quite struck by the attention these simple games (that were cutting edge when we were their age) get from the 4-7 YO set. I assume they don't have the built in "revulsion" for the "stupidity" of Atari's simplicity because they have nothing to base their graphical prejudices on. Them like us were taken in just fine by these games because they are fun to play. But of course, we didn't have a choice when we were that age.
posted by crasspastor at 11:25 AM on June 7, 2003

The presence of Yar's Revenge in the collection of games makes it all worth it. Finest 2600 game ever -- I must have wasted hundreds of hours of my youth playing that one.

Too bad it has Breakout instead of Warlords. Then again, it's a joystick and not a paddle...
posted by badzen at 11:28 AM on June 7, 2003

I got one for christmas from my sister, and I love it. I just happened to have it in my bag when I went to a party over the holidays. I plugged it in and it was played continuously until the sun came up. People seemed to go for the Yar's Revenge and the Asteroids first, but all the games got played at some time or another. Nothing like geeking out with a little Atari.
posted by sp dinsmoor at 11:51 AM on June 7, 2003

Here's the Atari 10-in-1 game thread from a few months back.
posted by gluechunk at 12:07 PM on June 7, 2003

Good thing this was posted on MetaFilter--now I don't have to open my e-mail and read the spamvertisements I get for this thing four times a day.
posted by vraxoin at 12:09 PM on June 7, 2003

The original Atari joystick was the best joystick I've ever used. I wish I had one to plug into my PC to play the latest and greates games out there. The joysticks today suck.

I do want to get one of these 10x1s because I love those original games.

I think it is great Argyle is bringing his kids up right with those games. The old games required skill, but also required imagination. Games today require less imagination -- there's a realistic dragon in games now versus the 8x8 sprite dragon that kind of looked like a duck that I grew up on.
posted by birdherder at 1:23 PM on June 7, 2003

ha! i have yet to get spam for this. YET.
posted by folktrash at 1:26 PM on June 7, 2003

Strange, at least two of these games required a paddlewheel, not a joystick, on the original console. Should have included good ol' Tank Plus. (Combat to you folks who had an actual 2600 instead of the Sears Tele-Games Video Arcade.)
posted by delapohl at 1:48 PM on June 7, 2003

I still have my old Atrari 2600 and paddles and joysticks, yay.

That joystick hurt if you used it too much - although it did strengthen my hands, I will admit.

I remember devices like this aaages back in Bangladesh and China. Probably not official, but then again nothing there is..
posted by Mossy at 1:54 PM on June 7, 2003

Does anybody know if Adventure still has it's Easter Egg in this Joystick?

Are the games emulated or recreations?
posted by LMG at 3:08 PM on June 7, 2003

I will never forget the blisters I got from playing Decathalon with my brothers. Good times, good times.
posted by emoeby at 4:05 PM on June 7, 2003

Oh. My. God. I MUST get one today.
posted by monkeymike at 4:40 PM on June 7, 2003

I've always loved the really old games. Zelda rocks beyond all comprehesion. When I was a kid, it was Nintendo, Genesis, and Super Nintendo. I can't play the 64 and later ones. For some reason, I'd have dreams with the Zelda 64 graphics. While this wouldn't be so bad normally, I'm not a good player. It's bad enough to keep dying when you're awake, but while you're asleep is a bit much.
posted by stoneegg21 at 4:40 PM on June 7, 2003

This sounded great until I realized this set-up is just one controller. In fact I couldn't find an accessory second controller. Does it have a port for a second old Atari controller? Can you wire two of these things together?

I guess most of my fond Atarti 2600 memories involved head-to-head gaming and as cool as this thing is, it just misses out on being "i must buy this now" cool.
posted by skallas at 6:08 PM on June 7, 2003

I've been away from gaming for a while, but a Commodore 64 emulator brought me swooping back in. Last Ninja II is *still* my all-time favourite game. That swooping SID bass in the loading sequence? oohhhh. But fighting in it (forward punch, back kick repeat repeat repeat) finally busted my Atari joystick.

I replaced it with the coolest joystick in the world. I can't remember its name, but you held it like a gun, with the fire button as the trigger, and the stick itself was a little knubby thing where the chamber would be. God, it's was great. (oh, it's coming back. It was a version of the "Bug", I think)

Why am I up this late posting? Because I've played Advance Wars on my new Gameboy for three hours, and my mind is bleeding. *that's addiction*
posted by bonaldi at 6:12 PM on June 7, 2003

I replaced it with the coolest joystick in the world. I can't remember its name, but you held it like a gun, with the fire button as the trigger, and the stick itself was a little knubby thing where the chamber would be. God, it's was great.

Was it the Zircon Video Command? Because that was exactly how that one worked, and it was easily my favorite joystick for the 2600. I went through plenty to try and find one that was just right. The standard Atari controller caused handaches after after marathon gaming, and sometimes the stick's black plastic cover would come off during an especially tense game.

The funny thing is, I got that Zircon for free as part of a bundled promotion with a game called "No Escape." That stick was sweeet -- it gave such great control, and it was sturdy as hell.
posted by Dirjy at 8:52 PM on June 7, 2003

No ... but that looks very cool indeed. On my travels to find it, I rediscovered the Zip Stick which my friend had and was my all-time favourite stick. But mine was the (drumroll) Konix Navigator. Ahhhh.
posted by bonaldi at 4:27 AM on June 8, 2003

Hmm, I only played with my own stick, sounds like I might have missed out on something.
posted by pekar wood at 6:18 AM on June 8, 2003

Does it have a port for a second old Atari controller?

No, unfortunately.
posted by MegoSteve at 8:32 AM on June 8, 2003

Does it have a port for a second old Atari controller?

No, unfortunately.

You can still do all that with your favorite 2600 emulator. And then you can play the really good games, like Target Fun / Air-Sea Battle (depending on whether you had the cool-as-shit bad-ass Sears version, or the ordinary lame-o wussy non-Sears plain vanilla Atari machine), and Pitfall 2, and the best game ever, Strawberry Shortcake. I can still sing the songs for Huckleberry Pie and the Purple Pieman because my little sister played it *that* much, when she wasn't watching _Grease 2_ or _Annie_.

What I want is an emulator that's aware of the weird things you could do with the system, like if you flicked the power off and on in _Space Invaders_ you could get into this weird mode where you could shoot ***2*** bullets at once. WOOO!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:10 AM on June 8, 2003

(eyes mist) that screen image on the jakks site of the single player pong is the saddest thing i've ever seen.
posted by Peter H at 12:33 PM on June 9, 2003