Television Switch Box Adapter

Hooking up video game systems used to be so easy...I think. Since TVs only had one input back in the days of antennas, you had to interrupt that signal with the video game signal by means of a switch box. Then came the hay day of cable, and you still needed to interrupt that cable signal with a switch box. Of course, the TV had to be on channel 3 (or channel 2 for those weirdos) or all you would get is white static. No one gets static anymore, since set-top boxes display the "channel not available" also known as the "you are too cheap to get this channel, loser." I think I would still be able to hook up this thing to a TV, as long as it was "cable ready." What a great term; all of the other TVs were 

Channel Two or Three Gaming Switch

Ah the mystery channel 2 or 3 switch. Why the choice was given on all of these RF switches, I'll never know, because not gonna look it up. When I was growing up, HBO was channel 3, which led to some interesting lead-ins while preparing to play video games (my favorite was Dream On; learned a bunch about women from that show). No one I knew had this set to channel 2. Still, somehow this thing would get changed and you would be trying to figure out why you couldn't see your new crap game on the TV. Let them henceforth be known as switch elves.

Atari Advantage Poster with Mario Bros.

It is kind of funny to see Mario Bros on an Atari Advantage poster since they double-handily put the nail in Atari's coffin when the NES came out. The back of this poster has about 40 games pictured and you were supposed to buy the game, attach the UPC and send it back to Atari when you had bough 5, 15, or 25 of the games. 5 got you a t-shirt that said "I am suker," 15 got you a free game called "Suk," and 25 got you a discount on a new Atari system and chance to write an essay for a 7-day expense-paid trip to Atari HQ. The essay had to be 25 words or less on why you like Atari video games. Mine would have been "suk suk suk suk." As you can see, I toed the company line by only using the letter k when a ck should be used. Clearly, I would have won.

Epyx winter 1984 Software Catalog

My personal favorites based solely on title having never played any of these game:

1. Star Warrior - The character looks like he is holding his you know what and it is an award winner, whatever award that is/was.
2. Silicon Warrior - Was excited until I discovered it is not a game about battling women who have had cosmetic surgery.
3. Impossible Mission - What better way to avoid trademark infringment than to just reverse two words.
4. Lunar Outpost - Says it has exciting 3-D graphics...
5. Breakdance - Because people were literally clamoring for a breakdance video game.

Hell if I know if this is copyrighted. Epyx isn't around anymore, but if someone wants me to take this down, I'll play you in a game of The World's Greatest Baseball Game.

Atari Joystick Collection

None of these joysticks were originally mine, but have now found their way into Atari week here at the B&WE. Let me introduce you to the family. On the top left is Archer who, according to the stamp on the bottom, was custom manufactured for Radio Shack. On the top left is Boss who apparently was precision engineered so that you could twist the joystick as well as move it back and forth (not sure what purpose that served). On the bottom right is the Mindscape Power Player, an early adopter of the trigger that I foolishly did not capture in the below photo. Finally, my favorite, on the bottom left is the Slik Stik, a stark example of how Atari manufactures loved to use the letter "k" in place of a "c" or "ck." Ironically, the Slik Stik is anything but slick, requiring excessive force to move it around. Well, at least it was made in the USA like many Atari paraphernalia.   

Atari Controller

OK, so this isn't an actual Atari controller; it is one of those systems you can just plug into your TV and play games that have been pre-loaded. Hence the extra buttons and on/off switch on the front. Nevertheless, the original Atari joystick got the job done and is a classic plastic piece of art.

Atari 800XL Disk Drive

Nearly forgot about my previous post on floppy disks, specifically the 5 inch variety. Using the 1050 disk drive for the Atari apparently gave you access to a crap-load of other games not on cartridge format. Take for instance, the awesome cover-art of Kikstart on the top of this unit. Elektraglide is also seen poking out of the drive slot. What is with the people who made Atari games not being able to spell correctly?   

Atari Game Collection

Only because in this collection, there is no Indian Jones and that damn Raiders of the Lost Ark game (ET is too easy to pick on). I should really be thanking Dr. Jones since the first marathon gaming sessions I had with friends were trying to find that stupid ark. Perhaps we were so bad because we didn't realize you needed to use both controllers. Well, reading the directions was never a priority as a child. The black cartridge below is Alf and the something something; in other words, I didn't forget to flip it over. I don't know why there are two basic programming cartridges, or word processor ones for that matter. Nevertheless, Atari week is still going strong, though it is soon to become "retro gaming week" if I don't find some non copyright Atari stuff to take pictures of soon.  

Atari Game on Tape Casette

Truth be told, I've never used the cassette attachment to play a game on the Atari. Still, I am fairly confident in stating that this didn't work well and besides, it is Atari week here at B&WE. After searching for a very very short time on the internet, I can't even figure out how the cassette games used to work. Well, I have Tank Arkade (sic) from 1982, but no cassette drive that would work with yon Atari. Plus, there are a whole lot of Acronyms on this little cassette. Perhaps I can throw this in my car tape player and see if it does anything (though last time I did that with a VCR tape I found in the woods when I was little and though it might be an adult film ended up fouling the VCR, but not to worry as I found out how to clean the heads using paper and isopropyl alcohol; the rents were none the wiser).

Atari Paddles

Full disclosure: I loved the game Warlords, no matter how much that game cheated. Obviously, you needed the paddles to play Warlords and everyone's favorite classic, Breakout. Even that balloon popping game with the dudes on the seesaw brings back some vivid memories of playing with friends, and the fact you could plug two controllers in with one port; that was nice. Honestly though, these paddles were the epitome of the 2D world - back and forth with one button thrown in for kicks. Yes, there were major processing constraints at the time, but if I was a developer, of course I would of produce a game that required as little work as possible and then dump it on the market.

Atari 800XL System circa 1983

In honor of B&WE's 500th post (or thereabouts), we are going with our first theme week: Atari week! Though my original Atari 2600 has gone to the wayside, a colleague was cleaning out his house and asked if I wanted this bad boy Atari 800XL. He had originally used it to write his PhD thesis.  Prior to this, I had no idea that Atari's had keyboards, although I was perfectly aware a Commodore 64 had them. Despite the spouse's protests, it found a home in our basement, where it was proudly on display until it was overrun by children's toys. Nevertheless, the Atari blazed in all it's 64K RAM glory for a little while, working like 'twas just out of the box. Here's hoping it survives the next 30 years as it did the first 30.