Three Atari 2600 consoles (+games) rescued from the trash!

[irving]

I went out thrifting today, and as I was dropping off some donations, I noticed a bin with some old clothes and a few Atari 2600 cartridges peeking out. I mentioned to one of the volunteers how uncommon it was to see retro games at thrift stores these days, and they let me know that the entire bin was destined for the trash! In their defense, the games were pretty crusty. Covered in dirt, grime, dust, and cobwebs, as if they'd spent the last 40 years or so in a shed with a leaky roof, or maybe buried underground.

"Free" was a price I could agree with, so I went digging, and there were three Atari consoles in there too! A four-switch 2600 (from around 1980), a 2600 Jr. (released 1986), and an Atari Flashback (probably from around 2004). There were also a bunch of controllers, and altogether, 30 unique games (there were two copies of E.T. The Extraterrestrial... clearly the previous owner had taste).

The power adapters are all in rough shape; two of them held together with electrical tape, but I decided to give one a try while I wait for a replacement to arrive in the mail. I used isopropyl alcohol to clean some corrosion off of the connectors, and made a makeshift RCA-coaxial adapter using alligator clips (the 2600 outputs RF over an RCA plug).

Surprisingly, the thing just worked!! Most of the games I've tried so far work as well, with a few that'll probably bounce back after a detailed cleaning.

I've always been aware of the Atari library, but never spent much one-on-one time with it (we were always a Nintendo house growing up). My take so far is that there's a lot of fun to be had here, but many of the games are cryptic and alien. 

Without the manuals they shipped with, they're like primitive cave paintings, and figuring out what the ancients were trying to convey is half of the (new) fun.

Do you have any favorite Atari games? Are there any hidden gems in my collection? And most importantly, do you have any ideas for a fun Atari 2600 homebrew game? 

[Magic16]

holy hell, the screen damage is kinda a vibe ngl

[irving]

I really like it too! In person, it's this kind of rainbow river that flows back and forth. 
My guess is that at least part of it is caused by my supremely janky homemade video adapter. I just ordered a legit one, along with a new AC adapter, but if neither of those fix it, I might end up cracking the console open to knock some of the dirt out.

[Magic16]

nah man, ya gotta keep it homemade, it's part of da vibe now

[TheFrugalGamer]

What a great find! Why would anyone throw out a whole Atari? I'm so glad you could save it. I love mine!

Atari games were much simpler than ones we're used to, but honestly I really like them for that. They have a simple game loop and are satisfying to play (once you know how), and they kind of feel like mobile games for me, only there are no annoying ads or monetization.

My favorite is probably the Atari version of Galaxian, as I always have to throw that one in when I'm taking mine for a spin. Berserk is also a good one--basically any shooter is pretty fun. I also have a few homebrew games that are really well made--I got them through AtariAge.com. JumpVCS (endless runner), Flappy (Flappy bird clone), Okie Dokie (a Lights-out clone), and a Sonic clone that was discontinued for copyright reasons are the ones I have and enjoy.