The price of Atari Retro

[bluespikey]

Following @PeterJ 's post about Argos having a page of Retro goodies :

https://www.argos.co.uk/browse/technolo ... s/c:62256/

Its worth looking back at the Atari 2600 in 1980. That would be £99 to you (£523 today) with the games clocking in at £20+ (£105 today!). These days Argos sell an entire cartridge of video games for £14.99. Kids these days complain about house prices. They don't know how bad we had it.

https://issuu.com/retromash/docs/argos- ... tumnwinter on page 230.

Over the page is a Speak And spell for £39.99 (£211 today) and then a Big Track for £26.99 (£142 today).

[PeterJ]

@bluespikey,

I would love to have a Big Track. I never had one as a kid

[Turtle_Quality]

Just had a weekend away with some old schoolfriends and we used an Atari Flashback with some original Atari paddles to play 4 player warlords. My ribs are still hurting from all the laughter. Combat and Maze Craze were also popular

We tried to get Dynablaster going on the Amiga but despite the fact that it was all tested and working before I left Finland, it wouldn't detect joysticks. Bombermaan for the PC was a decent substitute

Two guys brought playstations but they remained ignored in their boxes in the corner. (The two Playstations, not the two guys)

Playability > Graphics

[5MinuteRetro]

It’s worth looking back at the Atari 2600 in 1980. That would be £99 to you (£523 today) with the games clocking in at £20+ (£105 today!).

While your essential point is sound the inflation calculations seem a little overblown. The Bank of England reckons £99 is about £406 today — so I imagine the rest of your figures are similarly off.

[stupidget]

I'm thinking of getting an Atari 2600+ which is new a console with HDMI out but still plays all the old carts and it's only £99. My wife and I have an Atari night every so often [using an original 2600 'Woody' with Composite mod] and playing classics such as Galaxian, Frostbite and Frogger is just brilliant fun.

BITD my neighbour had an Atari 2600 when they were first released in the UK and we spent many a happy hour playing Adventure, Night Driver & Pitfall. To be honest I was in awe of my neighbours as they were the first people to have the following:

- A trim-phone
- A microwave oven
- A Betamax video recorder
- A Tamiya radio controlled car
- Said Atari 2600
- Real Butter ALL THE TIME RATHER THAN ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS!!!!!
- A Raleigh Chopper
- A holiday to America in 1979!!

Basically they had a massive back garden and they sold half of it to a property developer which resulted in then being able to have REAL BUTTER ALL THE TIME!!!!

[XTM]

Its worth looking back at the Atari 2600 in 1980. That would be £99 to you (£523 today) with the games clocking in at £20+ (£105 today!). These days Argos sell an entire cartridge of video games for £14.99. Kids these days complain about house prices. They don't know how bad we had it.

I'm sure it's such a relief for a young family who can't find any reasonably priced housing that at least they can play some outdated games on the cheap. Some other place populated by said kids you'd probably have gotten the "OK Boomer" response

[PeterJ]

There is a review of the 2600+ here:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/11/ ... plus-sign/

[stupidget]

There is a review of the 2600+ here:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/11/ ... plus-sign/

So this guy basically want's an emulator

As much I love using an original 2600, there's the faff of having to use an RGB > HDMI converter [which requires power] and you end up with loads of cables everywhere, plus the 40yr old joysticks aren't what they used to be.

When my wife and I have an Atari night, we play like we used to when we were kids to the point where we've got a notebook with our scores written down I've just realised how sad that sounds

[Vampyre]

Its worth looking back at the Atari 2600 in 1980. That would be £99 to you (£523 today) with the games clocking in at £20+ (£105 today!). These days Argos sell an entire cartridge of video games for £14.99. Kids these days complain about house prices. They don't know how bad we had it.

This is pretty much a constant whinge on HotUKDeals. Moaning that the price the price of new PS5/XB software is around the £55-60 mark for AAA titles. So I always mention that I paid £70 for Street Fighter 2 on the SNES back in 1992/93. Which would be the equivalent of around £120+ today. I sometimes flick through my old Edge magazines and am startled at the cost of some PC titles. The 7th Guest was £70 back then too. Floppy disk games were between £40 and £50. Prices came down dramatically once PC gaming gained major traction.

Videogames are one item that's held their price really well over the years.

[Turtle_Quality]

I think a Flashback is the better and cheaper option, provided you find one with the games you want on - the later models have loads of games. HDMI input, possibly with wireless joysticks depending on your model. They support the original paddles and any standard 9 pin joysticks.

Emulation is cheaper still but paddle support needs very specific USB adapters that (to my knowledge) only work on Windows with Stella

Still I might try buying a pair of the new Atari paddles through Amazon to see how they perform.

[Gooeyblob]

Yes the Flashback 2 is better as it is 'real' hardware and can be modded to accept cartridges whereas this 2600 plus is running Linux/Stella emulator. Supposed to be made in the same factory that made TheC64,500 mini etc