I’ve decided to resurrect the ‘Weird and rare’ series after a long hiatus. And what better game to choose, than something that has only a handful of copies – approximately 10 officially released and a few given out to helpers according to the author? And one that is considered theContinue Reading
Most gamers have heard the stories of Atari’s burial of it’s stock of ET The Extra-Terrestrial cartridges in the desert landfill of Alamogordo. What no-one knew is exactly what they would find there. This 66 minute documentary, produced by Xbox Entertainment Studios and directed by Zak Penn, charts the excavationContinue Reading
Atari 2600 Limitations Every console manufacturer at every generation has had a decision to make on how much memory (RAM) could be put in the console with an eye on production costs. The VCS designers back in the 1970s were severely constrained RAM-wise and could afford to add just 128Continue Reading
Since I have had a complete Atari CX2600 ‘Heavy Sixer’ in my collection, I have been getting asked regularly how you tell a ‘Heavy’ from a ‘Light’ Sixer. At first glance they look pretty similar; six switches, woodgrain, same general shape. But look a little closer and the differences inContinue Reading
Pitfall! was designed by Activision programmer David Crane and originally released for the Atari VCS in 1982. It features Pitfall Harry climbing, falling and swinging his way around the screen in his quest to find all the lost treasures against a 20 minute countdown. It is often credited with givingContinue Reading
If you are at all interested in Atari’s most famous console you have just got to watch this. The history (and much more) of the 2600 in a great video by CCCen.Continue Reading