4 ms·

I would characterize them more as "foundational" and "genre-creating" -- modern games build on top of their gameplay. Some classics (often played on cell phones

I would characterize them more as "foundational" and "genre-creating" -- modern games build on top of their gameplay. Some classics (often played on cell phones today): space invaders, asteroids, pitfall (side-scroller), and numerous procedurally-generated games which form the basis of roguelikes! I would keep in mind that much of the fun was the controllers, which are all essentially obsolete today (paddle controllers and stiff joysticks). Most atari games feature a "high score" goal due to the limitations of the architecture, which makes you replay the same level over and over -- modern games can have more variety. And, many atari games are _solely_ designed for multiplayer (aka someone sitting next to you!).

TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
Adventure does not meet many of the criteria you mention, and yet is one of the best games for the 2600. It also happens to date from the 1970s!
Zagill 4y ago
The 2600 is undoubtedly a pivotal console in the history of video games, but you're right that it's a foundation more than anything. Few people would want to drive a Model T to work every day but skip forward a few decades and you have the type of classic car that most people would want in their garage. For a lot of us the 2600 is something to be admired from a distance, I suppose
- bullen 4y ago
  The model-T is an amazing car even today. It had no oil/water-pump that could fail. This is the reason you go back to simpler things, everything today is over engineered. That said the C64 is a better device to learn for since it matches the NES in more domains and is a real computer with a keyboard! And now it's easy to connect it to the internet for multiplayer games! If you really need to go Atari then 7800 is the way.
morelisp 4y ago
The versions of Space Invaders and Asteroids people remember nostalgically are not the 2600 versions, for good reason. Neither are the 2600 versions the original.
- vikingerik 4y ago
  I think Space Invaders actually is most known and played on the 2600, at least in the US. It didn't quite have the same reach in arcades outside of Japan, compared to the biggest titles like Missile Command, Galaga, [Ms.] Pac-man. It was the big system-selling killer app for the 2600 before Pac-man came out. I wrote a more arcade-accurate Space Invaders port for the 2600 (in 1997, when homebrew games were getting started): https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=283 https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=283
  - morelisp 4y ago
    The tell for me is that when asked to describe the first/preferred version they played, most people will eventually mention multicolored invaders. So either they're falsely projecting today's images back (possible but I think unlikely if they don't regularly see it still today) or they're remembering an arcade version with an overlay.
    - vikingerik 4y ago
      This may be true, but think about Asteroids, which is the converse. Most people will also mention multicolored asteroids, which was true on the 2600 but not the arcade. They will remember whichever version is more vivid, even if it wasn't what they experienced more.
    - ofrzeta 4y ago
      Right. For decades I thought I had played Space Invaders on the Arcade machine while I discovered later it was Space Invaders Part II (Taito). Also, with a similar color palette, Space Panic.
  - MegaDeKay 4y ago

TedDoesntTalk 4y ago

Adventure does not meet many of the criteria you mention, and yet is one of the best games for the 2600. It also happens to date from the 1970s!

Zagill 4y ago

The 2600 is undoubtedly a pivotal console in the history of video games, but you're right that it's a foundation more than anything. Few people would want to drive a Model T to work every day but skip forward a few decades and you have the type of classic car that most people would want in their garage. For a lot of us the 2600 is something to be admired from a distance, I suppose

bullen 4y ago
The model-T is an amazing car even today. It had no oil/water-pump that could fail. This is the reason you go back to simpler things, everything today is over engineered. That said the C64 is a better device to learn for since it matches the NES in more domains and is a real computer with a keyboard! And now it's easy to connect it to the internet for multiplayer games! If you really need to go Atari then 7800 is the way.

morelisp 4y ago

The versions of Space Invaders and Asteroids people remember nostalgically are not the 2600 versions, for good reason. Neither are the 2600 versions the original.

vikingerik 4y ago
I think Space Invaders actually is most known and played on the 2600, at least in the US. It didn't quite have the same reach in arcades outside of Japan, compared to the biggest titles like Missile Command, Galaga, [Ms.] Pac-man. It was the big system-selling killer app for the 2600 before Pac-man came out. I wrote a more arcade-accurate Space Invaders port for the 2600 (in 1997, when homebrew games were getting started): https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=283 https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=283
- morelisp 4y ago
  The tell for me is that when asked to describe the first/preferred version they played, most people will eventually mention multicolored invaders. So either they're falsely projecting today's images back (possible but I think unlikely if they don't regularly see it still today) or they're remembering an arcade version with an overlay.
  - vikingerik 4y ago
    This may be true, but think about Asteroids, which is the converse. Most people will also mention multicolored asteroids, which was true on the 2600 but not the arcade. They will remember whichever version is more vivid, even if it wasn't what they experienced more.
  - ofrzeta 4y ago
    Right. For decades I thought I had played Space Invaders on the Arcade machine while I discovered later it was Space Invaders Part II (Taito). Also, with a similar color palette, Space Panic.
- MegaDeKay 4y ago