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Whilst combing through eBay this evening I happened to come across this Atari 2600 Beauty. A Wooden Handheld!
Featuring:
* CNC-machined and yacht varnished wooden case with CNC artwork,
* 7.4v li-ion battery inside,
* Pause function to pause the game whenever needed,
* Dip-switch settings to switch the built-in controller between P1 and P2(some 2600 games are played via the right joystick),
* Difficulty swithces for P1 and P2,
* Low battery indicator LED active at 20 minutes of battery life left,
* Clean composite video and mono headphone out,
* Digital volume and brightness controlls
* PS1 analog joystick converted to play as D-pad with extra trigger function when pressed at the top,
* 3.5″ TFT screen,
* 700mAh power consumption with 3 hours of battery life,
* 600gr. of weight and 200mmX135mmX40mm(x, y, z) of dimensions
Throw in Pitfall and Space Invaders and you’ll be good to go. To break from the usual format, I thought I’d take the time to give you a little background info for those of you in the post 2600 era. Maybe it’ll come in handy next time you’re on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or are stuck playing Trivial Pursuit with your best mate’s younger brother. You’ll thank me later.
Did you know that the Atari 2600 video game console was first released in October 1977? It is considered to be largely responsible for making popular the microprocessor-based hardware as well as the use of ROM cartridges which contain the game code. Previouslynon-microprocessor dedicated hardware which would contain all the games (think Pong).
The first cartridge game to be bundled with the console was Combat, but then later on changed to the ever popular Pac-Man.
In 2007, Atari 2600 took its place proudly in the National Toy Hall of Fame at in Rochester, New York. It was also awarded the title of the second greatest video console of all time by Imagine Games Network. It’s one of the most brutally hard systems to complete, as for every Adventure, Breakout and Yars’ Revenge you have an Air Raid, Atlantis II and Red Sea Crossing.
At the time, the Atari 2600 brought excitement home and offered the average Joe the opportunity to feel the thrill of winning – in very much the same way that we experience online gambling today. Granted there was no exchange of money, but a win is still a win. Today millions of people still pursue the basic desire to be the gaming victor which Atari 2600 set in motion in the mid-seventies. Online casinos are so accessible these days that even someone using a mobile phone can be part of the action. Those in search of the best casino bonus S.Africa will continue to hunt for the best casino games as gamers did even in the 70’s, swapping their cartridge games with friends hoping that the next game would provide an even bigger challenge and leave them with even a greater sense of euphoria.
So while games continue to evolve it’s always good, as we do, to remember where it all started and pay tribute to the creative and technical minds who set the ball in motion.
