Time to start a 2600 collection
Last weekend, as planned, I attended the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. And tonight, I found out that I won the survey raffle. The prize? A "Darth Vader" Atari 2600 and some games (for those who don't know, it's an all-black 2600 that was given that nickname due to its appearance). I haven't been told what games I'm getting, but I like the element of surprise.
It's not your father, but your father might have played one.
So you may be wondering, why don't I own an Atari 2600 already? Well, while I have an appreciation for the system, I never owned one as a kid, nor did I know any friends who had one. All I knew about the Atari back then was that it was an old system that was released before the NES, and a bag or two of Atari games wasn't an uncommon sight at Value Village. My first system was the NES, and then as I got older, the SNES. I also spent a good amount of time with my brother's Genesis. Therefore, those were the systems I was nostalgic for and games for those systems are the main focus of my retro collecting.
Despite that, there were times when I thought about getting a 2600, but obviously, that never happened. However, my collection isn't entirely devoid of 2600 games. I do have three retro compilations with several 2600 games on each one: Atari Anthology for the PS2, and Activision Anthology for the PS2 and GBA. Sure, I'm missing out on the best stuff that wasn't developed by Atari or Activision, but the compilations were there when I wanted a pre-NES fix.
However, winning this survey raffle changes things. Once I get my Vader, it's time to get a collection going for one of the best systems (if not the best system) that I don't have one for. I'm even willing to add crap like Pac-Man, Journey Escape, and E.T. to the collection for lulz (but they'll have to be dirt cheap).
And before I forget, Jeff, Donnie, Chris, Kenny and I wound up taking that day trip out to Seaside on the 26th. We hung out on the beach, played some games at the arcade (including a few rounds of air hockey - none of which I won), played a round of mini golf at the place across the street from the arcade (I won by two points, and took a pencil with me like I did when Jeff, Donnie, and I went to Seaside last September), checked out a couple more things, and then hung out at the beach again before going back to Portland. On our way back to the city, we had dinner at the Sonic in Hillsboro. It was a great day.
It's not your father, but your father might have played one.
So you may be wondering, why don't I own an Atari 2600 already? Well, while I have an appreciation for the system, I never owned one as a kid, nor did I know any friends who had one. All I knew about the Atari back then was that it was an old system that was released before the NES, and a bag or two of Atari games wasn't an uncommon sight at Value Village. My first system was the NES, and then as I got older, the SNES. I also spent a good amount of time with my brother's Genesis. Therefore, those were the systems I was nostalgic for and games for those systems are the main focus of my retro collecting.
Despite that, there were times when I thought about getting a 2600, but obviously, that never happened. However, my collection isn't entirely devoid of 2600 games. I do have three retro compilations with several 2600 games on each one: Atari Anthology for the PS2, and Activision Anthology for the PS2 and GBA. Sure, I'm missing out on the best stuff that wasn't developed by Atari or Activision, but the compilations were there when I wanted a pre-NES fix.
However, winning this survey raffle changes things. Once I get my Vader, it's time to get a collection going for one of the best systems (if not the best system) that I don't have one for. I'm even willing to add crap like Pac-Man, Journey Escape, and E.T. to the collection for lulz (but they'll have to be dirt cheap).
And before I forget, Jeff, Donnie, Chris, Kenny and I wound up taking that day trip out to Seaside on the 26th. We hung out on the beach, played some games at the arcade (including a few rounds of air hockey - none of which I won), played a round of mini golf at the place across the street from the arcade (I won by two points, and took a pencil with me like I did when Jeff, Donnie, and I went to Seaside last September), checked out a couple more things, and then hung out at the beach again before going back to Portland. On our way back to the city, we had dinner at the Sonic in Hillsboro. It was a great day.