Atari is back!

[Triggaaar]

I don't see the point in these old consoles etc. Maybe fun for a 30 minute trek down memory lane, but that's about it. £200 for an old Commodore 128, or an Xbox One S. Mmm, tough choice.

 

[durrington gull]

With the Atari Flashback series up to Flashback 7 now I can't see why you would bother tbh

 

[Dick Swiveller]

I don't see the point in these old consoles etc. Maybe fun for a 30 minute trek down memory lane, but that's about it. £200 for an old Commodore 128, or an Xbox One S. Mmm, tough choice.

Well you don't buy a Commodore 128 for games as they were all for the 64. Like many other hobbies, it is a collector thing and is the train spotter or classic car enthusiast of my generation. Probably some psychological reason that people collect things from their childhood. No real difference from people liking music from their formative years over modern music. Console games mostly take a large investment of time that some of us don't have or want to spend. Mobile gaming shows the demand for so called "twitch" gaming where you pick up and play for a short time. Old computers give you that without the need to feed the meter every 5 minutes for gold bars or tokens if you don't want to wait 2 weeks to get to the next level. For most old computers or systems, £100 - £150 buys you the system and a solution that lets you play every game ever made. Your £200 for an Xbox One S allows you to buy games at £50 a pop.

Very much a collection thing for me although I mean to start playing them more - I just enjoy getting something 30-40 years old back to working order. Luckily I don't have big enough pockets to get the more expensive systems or I would need a new house to store them in.

 

[Wozza]

That was my first guess, but the CEO has said they are using modern PC hardware.
So it looks like they want to compete with the MS/Sony/Nintendo.

And good luck with that.

Who owns the Atari name these days anyway?

 

[StonehamPark]

And good luck with that.

Who owns the Atari name these days anyway?

No idea, haven't followed them for years.

 

[Triggaaar]

Like many other hobbies, it is a collector thing and is the train spotter or classic car enthusiast of my generation.

But driving a classic car around is a very enjoyable experience. Does one keep playing the Commodore?

No real difference from people liking music from their formative years over modern music.

It's very different. Old music is still enjoyable to listen to, and you can quickly play an old song at any time, you don't need to spend £200 on an old console, store the old console, or spend ages trying to load a game.

Console games mostly take a large investment of time that some of us don't have or want to spend. Mobile gaming shows the demand for so called "twitch" gaming where you pick up and play for a short time. Old computers give you that without the need to feed the meter every 5 minutes for gold bars or tokens if you don't want to wait 2 weeks to get to the next level.

Fair enough.

For most old computers or systems, £100 - £150 buys you the system and a solution that lets you play every game ever made.

Oh that's good - what format do the games come in?

Your £200 for an Xbox One S allows you to buy games at £50 a pop.

You don't need to spend £50 on even brand new AAA titles. If you wanted cheaper, I'd be more inclined to go for a PS3 or Xbox 360 with games for a few pounds each, but I can understand the appeal of games that you can put a shorter amount of time in (although I put hours into Commadore games, so I don't know what games you're thinking of.

Very much a collection thing for me although I mean to start playing them more - I just enjoy getting something 30-40 years old back to working order.

What do you have to do to get them working?

 

[Dick Swiveller]

But driving a classic car around is a very enjoyable experience. Does one keep playing the Commodore?

It's very different. Old music is still enjoyable to listen to, and you can quickly play an old song at any time, you don't need to spend £200 on an old console, store the old console, or spend ages trying to load a game.

Fair enough.
Oh that's good - what format do the games come in?
You don't need to spend £50 on even brand new AAA titles. If you wanted cheaper, I'd be more inclined to go for a PS3 or Xbox 360 with games for a few pounds each, but I can understand the appeal of games that you can put a shorter amount of time in (although I put hours into Commadore games, so I don't know what games you're thinking of.

What do you have to do to get them working?

Most systems have an SD card system for loading games. Costs range from £20 for Spectrum and Amiga to over £100 for consoles.

Fixing computers is mostly finding faulty chips and capacitors. One broken donor machine can keep several others going and thorough cleaning and replacement of all Electrolytic capacitors as well as heatsinks helps prolong the life of the machine. Some parts have modern replacements as well such as Spectrum RAM which commonly fails. (Was actually faulty ram from the factory to save costs - only half the memory worked)

A lot of machines can also be adapted to run on modern TVs. My Atari 2600 now has composite output so works on digital only TVs.

Still maintain my analogy holds. Most people would rather drive around in a modern, safer, cheaper to run car than a classic but some people spend a fortune on old bangers - often cars from their childhood. And a lot of people have large vinyl collections of music from their youth. Steam train enthusiasts often remember then fondly as a kid. Maybe a wish to revert or some other psychobabble but collections are often rooted in childhood memories.

Ultimately most people will see no pleasure in retro computing/gaming but the same applies to most collectors/enthusiasts passions. And the growth of retro expos and the success of reboots like the NES mini shows there is a big market out there.



Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

 

[Triggaaar]

Most systems have an SD card system for loading games.

But then that's not using an old system is it?

Some parts have modern replacements as well such as Spectrum RAM which commonly fails. (Was actually faulty ram from the factory to save costs - only half the memory worked)

What? You're saying Spectrums were originally sold with faulty ram? I must have misunderstood that.

Still maintain my analogy holds. Most people would rather drive around in a modern, safer, cheaper to run car than a classic but some people spend a fortune on old bangers - often cars from their childhood.

Yes most would go for a modern car. But if you can afford it, an older car has something newer ones don't. You'll smile each time you take it out and you'll turn a lot of heads. I don't think the same is true when you start up an old computer.

Ultimately most people will see no pleasure in retro computing/gaming but the same applies to most collectors/enthusiasts passions. And the growth of retro expos and the success of reboots like the NES mini shows there is a big market out there.

Fair enough.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

But then that's not using an old system is it?

What? You're saying Spectrums were originally sold with faulty ram? I must have misunderstood that.

Yes most would go for a modern car. But if you can afford it, an older car has something newer ones don't. You'll smile each time you take it out and you'll turn a lot of heads. I don't think the same is true when you start up an old computer.

Fair enough.

That wasn't a mistake - Sinclair used RAM considered faulty and only used half of it.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jg27paw4/yr07/yr07_33.htm

They used faulty 64k chips as 32k chips by only using the upper or lower part that wasn't faulty. Bit like the short lived 3 core Intel/AMD processors that were 4 core with one faulty core. Basically using seconds to lower costs.

The SD cards only replace the media -not the system. And often magnetic media that has failed or will fail. This is a C64 SD2IEC



It is an SD card reader with a Commodore 64 serial interface. You plug it into an actual Commodore 64 and it thinks it is a disk drive. Just a disk drive with 30000 programs on it. I used mine to backup an actual Commodore 64 disk last week - the machine thought both were real drives. Or you can load tapes by playing an mp3 of the cassette noises - even using a tape to CD converter so you are using an original tape deck.

For consoles, there is the Everdrive solution which is more costly. Basically a cartridge that takes an SD card and plugs into an actual console.

http://www.retrotowers.co.uk/flash-carts/everdrives

And your car analogy still doesn't hold up. I could play these games on an emulator on a 50 inch screen but it isn't the same as turning on an original machine on a CRT TV. The feeling people get from driving an old car is the feeling retro fans get from using an actual machine. The fact you don't get that and I don't get the old car feeling is the point - collectors see the experience as the thing when most won't see the point. Vinyl collectors could have their entire collection on an MP3 player but it isn't the same as the original. Although an SD card is involved in most retro computing, it is just replacing the media - not the product. A game that loads from SD card is identical to the game loaded from cassette/disk. It is digital and not analogue.

I don't expect people to get it but I don't feel the need to stand on a bridge for 3 hours to watch a train go by for 2 minutes. Or spend £20000 on a 30 year old car. Or collect Beanie Babies or bus stop signs or model trains. Or dress up as a Viking or Roundhead and have a mock fight. But I understand why others do.

 

[Triggaaar]

That wasn't a mistake - Sinclair used RAM considered faulty and only used half of it.

They used faulty 64k chips as 32k chips by only using the upper or lower part that wasn't faulty.

Oh I see, that makes sense.

It is an SD card reader with a Commodore 64 serial interface. You plug it into an actual Commodore 64 and it thinks it is a disk drive. Just a disk drive with 30000 programs on it.

Cool.

And your car analogy still doesn't hold up. I could play these games on an emulator on a 50 inch screen but it isn't the same as turning on an original machine on a CRT TV. The feeling people get from driving an old car is the feeling retro fans get from using an actual machine. The fact you don't get that and I don't get the old car feeling is the point - collectors see the experience as the thing when most won't see the point.

I think most would see the appeal of driving a classic car. They just wouldn't like the expense that comes with it.

So are you playing on an old CRT TV, or on a newer screen?

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Oh I see, that makes sense.

Cool.

I think most would see the appeal of driving a classic car. They just wouldn't like the expense that comes with it.

So are you playing on an old CRT TV, or on a newer screen?

I have a couple of CRTs but I'm not a purist like some so prefer a modern screen where quality allows. Often CRTs is the way to go though.

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[Kosh]

Whatever.

It's no Megadrive or Amiga 500 with half meg upgrade.

 

[Kosh]

My Megadrive still works and is hooked up to my TV - still love Desert Strike and Road Rash 2.

Right I'm off to play Sonic.