July 24, 1982. (Photo: Denver Post)
(Via Argenta Images/eBay)
Archive for the 'Atari' Category
This is What Not Being Able to Save Your Game Looked Like
Published April 22, 2013 Atari , Home Consoles , Video Games 6 CommentsAnd You Shall Know the Atari 400 by the Awkwardness of Its Keyboard
Published April 10, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , Atari , Personal Computers Leave a Comment
December 26, 1983. (Photo: Denver Post)
Nice ferns?
By the way, true story, there was actually something called a fern bar in the late ’70s and early ’80s: “an upscale or preppy (or yuppie) bar or tavern catering to singles usually decorated with ferns or other `fussy’ plants, as well as such decor as fake Tiffany lamps.”
(Photo via Lexibell/eBay)
Toy Aisle Zen (1983): Atari
Published March 29, 2013 Atari , Toy Stores/Toy Aisles/Toy Departments Leave a Comment
Toys “R” Us, Miami, 1983. I don’t have any background, but the young lady is obviously the winner of a shopping spree, and she is damn well making the most of it. If you look on the right side of the top box, you’ll see that it’s an Atari 800 home computer system. I think the bottom box is an Atari 400. The look on her face tells all: this is the dream of every kid who has ever been in a toy store.
(Photo via the Seattle Washington Archive/eBay)
Toy Aisle Zen (1983): Atari
Published February 20, 2013 Atari , Home Consoles , Personal Computers , Toy Stores/Toy Aisles/Toy Departments , Video Games 3 Comments
Toys “R” Us, Sunnyvale, CA, 1983. The 5200 is listed at $160.00. The Atari 800 (back shelf, far right) is $500 (it was $1000 in 1980). A snapshot of the crash.
(Images via Computer History Museum)
Computer Labs (1982, 1985): The Atari 800
Published February 6, 2013 Atari , Computer Labs , Personal Computers 3 Comments
North Beach Elementary School, Miami, Florida, 1982. (Photo: The Miami Herald)
1985 (Photo: The Miami Herald)
There’s some masking tape on the computer in the first photo. I can make out “Do Not,” but that’s it.
Lots more Atari 800’s in the second photo. Yes, kids, those were our monitors. We have the hernias to prove it.
(Images via Vintage Photos 2012)
This is my last post of the year, everybody. I’ll be back on January 2nd. I leave you with an Atari Christmas commercial from 1981 (via MySaturdayMornings/YouTube).
Oh, and speaking of Atari, don’t forget that we’re passing an Atari 7800 around. It’s not too late to participate.
Atari Christmas Ads (1983): We Want Software and Hardware, Not Underwear
Published December 18, 2012 Ads , Atari , Video Games Leave a Comment
Clever, although our parents already knew how desperately we wanted an Atari and all the games we could play. It reminds me of the scene in A Christmas Story where Ralphie puts the Red Ryder ad in the middle of his mom’s magazine.
This VCS (Video Computer System) Cartridge Adapter sounds interesting. According to the back of the box, “just insert the Adaptor into your 5200 SuperSystem console, plug in your 2600 cartridge and 2600 controllers, and you’re ready to go!” If you had 2600 carts and controllers, wouldn’t you also have the 2600 itself?
We’ve also got some game reviews from the same TV Guide. Frostbite gets a 5, but Moon Patrol “is proof that space is becoming a creative vacuum in the video-game industry.” I was terrible at Time Pilot, but it had a great concept and I loved flying around in that infinite sky.
A $30 cartridge, according to my handy inflation calculator, comes out to about $70 today.
(Images via eBay/Randy Rodman)
Atari Christmas Commercial (1983): Santa in Space!
Published December 12, 2012 Atari , Commercials , Home Consoles , Video Games Leave a CommentThe combination of space, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” and video games is genius, and it must have cost a pretty penny to make back in the day. The spaceship looks great, and I love how everything is cold (how about those miserable but sleek-looking sleeping quarters?) and drab until Santa shows up and starts playing all those beautiful games.
This is the first and longest version of the spot. The second version is here, and the third version is here. All of them are from ’83.
(All videos via MYSATURDAYMORNINGS/YouTube)
Christmas Morning, 1982: D&D and Lego Space
Published December 6, 2012 Atari , Christmas , Christmas Morning , D&D , Lego , Lego Space 4 Comments
Okay, first off, he’s holding the Tomb of Horrors module, written by the great Gary Gygax. (I’ll post it in my module series next year.)
Next, we’ve got two Lego Space sets: the Mobile Rocket Transport (6950) and the Surface Explorer (6880). (Images are via Brickipedia.)
Top Secret was a spy vs. spy RPG released by TSR in 1980. Rubik’s Revenge was a more difficult version of the Rubik’s Cube (I so hated those cubes). And of course that Pitfall is the original Atari 2600 version, released in 1982.
And You Shall Know the Atari 400 by the Awkwardness of Its Keyboard: Special Christmas Home Video Edition
Published December 4, 2012 Atari , Home Consoles , Video Games Leave a CommentChristmas, 1980. Short but classic video via Earl J. Woods/YouTube. Watch for the stuffed E.T. at the end.
2 Warps to Neptune 