My Video Game Rant

[GGKoul]

I was just watching some old Atari commericals.  And I am truly amazed how far the gaming industry has come in the past 20 years.  

I'm now 30 years old.  And like many others on this board.  I grew up playing many of the "State of the Art" systems of the times.

I remember opening my Atari 2600 Christmas present that was under the tree early and playing with it when my parents went out.  Then re-wrapping it like it wasn't open.  Because I couldn't wait untill Christmas day to see the amazing graphics of the 2600.  

From the 2600, I moved on to the other classic systems of the day. I had an NES, Sega (32x, CD) Commodore 64 and my friends had the other major systems out during these times.  ColecoVision, Intellivision, Atari 7800.   So I was exposed to many of the best gaming systems of the time.  (I probably spend at least a total of 2 years of my life in front of a monitor playing video games)

Back in the 80's, nobody could have ever predited that in 2004 all of those great Atari games of 80's would fit in a 10mb file.  And we would be playing these classic games on a Mame cabinet that we personally built.  Along with many other gaming systems.

Truly amazing.  

And everytime I find one of those classic games that I forgot the name too that I used to play everyday in the 80's.  I am reminded of my youth and of simpler times.  When all that mattered was getting that extra life or beating all my buddies in Sega.

I can't wait too see what "State of the Art" games I'll be playing in the during the NEXT 20 years.

My "Thanks" goes out to everyone involed in the EMU scene!!  Keep up the amazing work.



 

[APFelon]

Here, here.

[Xphile]

<sniff >

That's beautiful, man...
 

[dommer]

Just imagine how good games are going to be in 20 years.  I predict massive addiction problems...

[Spaced Invader]

I remember opening my Atari 2600 Christmas present that was under the tree early and playing with it when my parents went out.  Then re-wrapping it like it wasn't open.  Because I couldn't wait untill Christmas day to see the amazing graphics of the 2600.

I thought I was the only one who did that. My parents never even suspected.  

[mugwump]

I unwrapped my C64 before christmas, typed in a complete game in BASIC that I copied out of Compute magazine (didn't even have a tape or disk drive to save it on), played it for a few hours, then rewrapped the package and put it back under my parents bed.  I needed my gaming fix bad!

[Stingray]

I got my Atari 2600 as a Christmas gift too, but it was surprise to me. I knew that my parent's knew I wanted one, but I didn't expect to really get one. I thought I had about the same chance of getting a Ferarri as I did of getting an Atari (to my pre-teen mind they seemed to be in about the same price range). I probably only got about two hours of sleep per night for the next month. Ah, good times.  

-S

[tonyarcade]

Still have my old Atari hooked up downstairs...amazing to see my own kid's take on it...

-Tony

[jr76]

10mb's? Man, I would have killed for a 10mb drive back in the days of my IBM PC Jr. I remember playing my all time favorite, King's Quest. Walk 10 steps, "Insert disk 2" Walk 10 more steps, "Insert disk 3" Ahhhh, the good ol' days!

[AlexC]

Also loved playing with the Apple IIe s at school.
Sneaking in your "homemade" games to show off to your friends  
Ahh the memories....

[Stingray]

I still have a working Apple ][. Mine's all souped up with 4 MB of ram, and a SCSI card with attached 20 MB hard drive. Try finding a SCSI card for an Apple ][ sometime.  

-S

[colopioneers]

The two happiest days of my life:

1.  Christmas Day, 1987, I unwrapped a shiny new Atari 7800, with Pole Position II and Xevious!!

2.  Christmas Day, 1988, I unwrapped a beautiful new Amiga 500.  And as you all know, the Amiga is and was the best computer ever made!!!!!!!  

You'll be happy to know, they are both still treasured items in my home.  Even my wife likes the 7800.

Oh, yeah, anyone remember playing the Oregon Trail on the Apples in school?  Man I loved that game!

[Stingray]

I set up some old Macs in my wife's classroom. Despite the fact that Oregon Trail can in no way compete with modern video games graphics-wise, I'm happy to report that it's still a favorite with the kids.

YOU HAVE DIED OF CHOLERA.

-S

[colopioneers]

YOU HAVE DIED OF CHOLERA.

-S

Yup, I remember that.  Happened to me quite often.  You see, I was one of the worst players in my class.

Good to see that the kids appreciate that game!!!  God bless you and your wife for passing on the torch...

[pointdablame]

I'm a bit younger than most on this board (turning 20 on sunday) but I wholeheartedly agree. While I didn't get them the day they came out obviously, I too grew up on Atari and Colecovision, as well as the Sega Master System, NES, et al.

It's amazing the strides they've taken and I am in the same boat as everyone else.... imagine what it will be like in 20 years.  Think of the day when kids will ask us how we ever played Halo with its horrible graphics, or how we ACTUALLY used controllers attached with cords.

[colopioneers]

You young whippersnapper...you make me feel old.  Happy Birthday!  

I have wireless controllers for my 2600.  No cords!  Of course, they were absolutely terrible.  I think the batteries went out about every week or so.  They're sitting in the closet now.

I remember news for the Atari Mindlink.  It wasn't released, but my memory was jogged by visiting the Atari Museum (really cool site by the way!).  There was a small video game store in my hometown that was bragging to us all how they were going to get "a device that would allow you to control games with ESP"!!  Well, that never materialized, but it was a neat idea anyway.

[BLACK KNIGHT]

I'm 31 and can totally relate!!  My brother had the Atari 2600 and we still have a bunch of the cartridges for it and I still have my Commodore 64 which I bought when I was 16 yrs old with money I had earned during the summer!  It's in a box in my shed now...dunno if it still works but it did when I boxed it up.  I was in D.C. a few years ago at the American History museum and they have a Commodore 64 on display in there!  Boy, did that make me feel OLD!!!
 

I was just watching some old Atari commericals.  And I am truly amazed how far the gaming industry has come in the past 20 years.  

I'm now 30 years old.  And like many others on this board.  I grew up playing many of the "State of the Art" systems of the times.

I remember opening my Atari 2600 Christmas present that was under the tree early and playing with it when my parents went out.  Then re-wrapping it like it wasn't open.  Because I couldn't wait untill Christmas day to see the amazing graphics of the 2600.  

From the 2600, I moved on to the other classic systems of the day. I had an NES, Sega (32x, CD) Commodore 64 and my friends had the other major systems out during these times.  ColecoVision, Intellivision, Atari 7800.   So I was exposed to many of the best gaming systems of the time.  (I probably spend at least a total of 2 years of my life in front of a monitor playing video games)

Back in the 80's, nobody could have ever predited that in 2004 all of those great Atari games of 80's would fit in a 10mb file.  And we would be playing these classic games on a Mame cabinet that we personally built.  Along with many other gaming systems.

Truly amazing.  

And everytime I find one of those classic games that I forgot the name too that I used to play everyday in the 80's.  I am reminded of my youth and of simpler times.  When all that mattered was getting that extra life or beating all my buddies in Sega.

I can't wait too see what "State of the Art" games I'll be playing in the during the NEXT 20 years.

My "Thanks" goes out to everyone involed in the EMU scene!!  Keep up the amazing work.



 

[greywolf22]

I hear lots of Commodore 64 people out there? What no CoCo people on this board  

[isugoat]

Oh, yeah, anyone remember ying the Oregon Trail on the Apples in school?  Man I loved that game!

Oregon Trail, Odell Lake, Carmen Sandiego, Number/Vowel Munchers  used to play those all in grade school...about to graduate from college now.  those were definitely good times.  if you could only explain to kids how good they have it before they grow up...

damn nostalgia!

[Rocky]

I hear lots of Commodore 64 people out there? What no CoCo people on this board  

I have a CoCo2 and CoCo3 in storage. I used to live on that machine: BBS's, typed in games, word processor that I wrote myself in basic.

I got the CoCo2 when I graduated from Penn State (yeah I'm a geezer)


Rocky

[Tailgunner]

I started on an Apple ][+, moved up to a ][c, a Woz edition ][gs, then onto PCs with a 286. I've added some other obsolete computers to my collection, ranging from a TRS-80 up to an IBM S/36 minicomputer.

I have a CoCo3 as well, it came out of my uncle's office along with a wide carriage dot matrix printer that you need hearing protection to use.

[greywolf22]

Ahh the good old dot matrix printers...when I was a kid my dad actually had an old Daisy Wheel printer...not something you wanted to print with while everyone in the house was sleeping  

[Harakiri]

*Speechless*


I think in the everything else forum should be a sticky topic called "My videogames life" !

  -> For "the times"

  -> For every people contributing for the scene!

[Stingray]

Oregon Trail, Odell Lake, Carmen Sandiego, Number/Vowel Munchers

[PacManFan]

Jeez, this is all a trip down memory lane!

I remeber my first computer.

a Timex Sinclair 1k,
 Then I graduated to a TI-99-4a,
I was never lucky enough to have an Apple or Commadore

I did have an Atari 2600,
Wow, I was amazed at the graphics at the time.

-PMF

[greywolf22]

Actually, tieing everything back into the emulation scene...is anyone emulating Atari 2600 games on their cabs?

[Luxury]

Actually, tieing everything back into the emulation scene...is anyone emulating Atari 2600 games on their cabs?

I am.  Although admittedly I never get to any of the games down the list past Adventure.  Sucks that that game starts with "A".  

[RecycledPast]

For those PC geeks who would like to relive the past, I suggest a book called
Extra Life: Coming of Age in Cyberspace
by David S. Bennahum

[colopioneers]

Actually, tieing everything back into the emulation scene...is anyone emulating Atari 2600 games on their cabs?

I am too.  Good times!  Works great, and feels funny to play those with my control panel instead of the good ol joystick.  

[Stingray]

Actually, tieing everything back into the emulation scene...is anyone emulating Atari 2600 games on their cabs?

You bet! Since greywolf happened to mention "adventure" I think I may go give that a whirl!

-S

[greywolf22]

Hehe. me too, I can't wait to see how those Atari 2600 games look on my cab (when I finish it of course)  , I first got an atari 2600 cartridge, BEFORE I got my atari 2600.  My sister worked for Mcdonalds at the time and won one in an employee Christmas party...unfortunately the 2600's were delayed and wouldn't be shipped for 8 weeks...So on christmas morning, not knowing any of this, I open one of my presents and lo' and behold it was Pac man for the Atari 2600...looking perplexed my parents told me the story...of course now I had a game and nothing to play it on...Talk about torcher  

[Stingray]

I ended up playing Adventure for about an hour last night on my cab. Spectacular!

-S

[greywolf22]

Such fond memories of that game, I think it's time to at least fire it up on my PC (but would prefer getting it going on my cab)  

[creatine28]

Hahaha Atari 2600!   Kaboom, Demon Attack, Laser Blast!  Oh man I can go on and on!   Loved those games!


Also, loved my C-64!  Use to trade games over seas!  Still got a bunch on Floppies!

Remember the groups?  Radwar, Dynamic Duo, Triad

[Stingray]

I still have boxes of Atari 2600 carts and Apple ][ floppies (5.25 inch). I know I'll never use this stuff again, but I can't bear to part with it.

-S

[greywolf22]

Yup know EXACTLY what you mean. Have boxes of old Atari Carts, Coco games (carts and disks), not to mention my old Coco, Commodore 64, and various other computer oddities lieing around.  My girlfriend doesn't understand why I don't just get rid of them (of course my answer to that is...I just can't)...not that I've plugged any of them in over the past 10 years or so  

[BillyJack]

I built my brother a cabinet for xmas.  He found the Atari emulator (he's 21) and asked "what's that game we used to play with the two "letter M's" or "H's" that shot at each other?"

So I fired up combat.  He and my youngest brother (18) played it for 2 hours.  I went to my own house after about 20 minutes, however.  


Best xmas gift i ever gave.



BillyJack

[Chris]

I remember when I was 9 or so getting a Christmas present, tearing off the corner and seeing the Atari logo, and running screaming around the room.... Even my mother would play Pac-Man, Missile Command, Dragonstomper, and Warlords for hours...

I have got to get an Atari emulator back into my cabinet.  I had Stella in there when the cabinet was DOS based.  MESS crashes every time I exit a cartridge... anyone know of a good 2600 emulator with configurable keys that's compatible with both Win98 and WinXP?

--Chris

[greywolf22]

I'm currently running Stella on my Win XP system, but alas, don't know how well it will work with my arcade controls as I haven't got my cabinet up and running at this point.  But this is a good question, is someone running a good Atari 2600 emulator that works well in their cab?  

[Chris]

The problem with Stella is that its controls aren't configurable.  I tried to hack it to make them configurable, but I did something wrong...