Days 87-30: Atari 2600 Cartridges

Just when you thought it was safe to read the bava, I got fifty-seven more entries as an attempt to catch up on my 110 Toys to Xmas series, this post should serve three functions:

1) Catch me up, so I can wave to all the haterz that questioned whether this series would survive;
2) reacquaint you with all that groovy packaging art for the Atari 2600 cartridges that in many ways defined their appeal;
3) provide all you Atari 2600 junkies with some great nostalgia, even better each image and title links to the actual rom for each of these games, which can be played with the Stella Emulator (which has both Mac and PC versions).


Image credit: Wishbook’s “1983.xx.xx Sears Christmas Catalog P600”


Image credit: Wishbook’s “1983.xx.xx Sears Christmas Catalog P599”

So here we go, but before I start my list, it must be noted that come 1978/1979 the Sears Xmas Catalogs were literally taken over by video games, in many ways the toy section of these catalogs were indelibly changed with the advent of mass consumer video games, because the toy market itself was forever changed. Alongside VCRs and cable, the advent of video games was without question a defining cultural trend of my childhood, and I would argue all three defined me in some real way, as they did the culture of capital. Take a look at the markets surrounding video games and cable, and while the VHS went the way of the dodo bird, it in many ways may be the most important in terms of business models and devastating impacts on the transformation of movie culture to a more personal, insular experience, while at the same time making popular independent film all the more accessible. But, I digress, this post is gonna be long enough 🙂

Below are 57 cartridges I acquired between 1978 and 1986, aside from the Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre cartridges by Wizard Games which I discovered much later, as well as the Ikari Warriors cartridge which came out in 1990. And while I’ll be posting about the actual Atari 2600 console in the coming weeks—that’s a whole ‘nother story, and by far one of the greatest single toys of all time—the following games represent literally 100s, if not 1000s, of hours of play from my adolescent years, and while I have my favorites like Adventure, Haunted House, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pitfall!, Night Driver, and Joust, and a few more, I tried to list as many games here as possible, though I must admit there were more. So, it’s official 1102xmas is back in effect!

87) Adventure

86) Air-Sea Battle

85) Alien

84) Asteroids

83) Barnstorming

82) Berzerk

81) Bowling

80) Boxing

79) Buck Rogers

78) Canyon Bomber

77) Centipede

76) Chopper Command

75) Combat

74) Congo Bongo

73) Crackpots

72) Crazy Climber

71) Crystal Castles

70) Defender

69) Dig Dug

68) Donkey Kong

67) Elevator Action

66) E.T.

65) Freeway

64) Frogger

63) Gauntlet

62) Halloween

61) Haunted House

60) Ikari Warriors

59) Journey Escape

58) Joust

57) Jungle Hunt

56) Kaboom!

55) Kangaroo

54) King Kong

53) Maze Craze

52) Missile Command

51) Mouse Trap

50) Mr. Do!

49) Ms. Pac-Man

48) Night Driver

47) Pengo

46) Phoenix

45) Pitfall!

44) Pleiades

43) Pole Position

42) Q-bert

41) Raiders of the Lost Ark

40) River Raid

39) Roc ‘n Rope

38) Smurfs Rescue in Gargamel’s Castle

37)Swordquest: Earthworld


36) Space Invaders

35) Spider-Man

34) Superman

33) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

32) Venture

31) Warlords

30) Yars’ Revenge

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7 Responses to Days 87-30: Atari 2600 Cartridges

  1. Not one comment? You clearly left the blogosphere speechless … beautiful post and images.

  2. Ted Major says:

    Thanks, Jim. That’s one of the wonderful things about having kids: always an excuse to plays games & indulge in nostalgia.

  3. Mikhail says:

    Brilliant. Makes me want to reinstall Stella.I’ve got a whole mess of 2600 ROMs somewhere.

    Where did you get those images?

  4. Reverend says:

    @Philipp,
    All the haterz have nothing to say cause they know the bava always delivers. Got that Cogdog and Jerry?

    @Ted,
    I couldn’t agree with you more, and it’s why I am having yet another, figure I could squeeze another 18 years out of this at least. Plus I will be sure to shape this last one far more precisely than the first two. I have learned some thing 🙂

    @Mikhail,
    Stella rocks, and the box scans are from the great Atari Age site: http://www.atariage.com/system_items.html?SystemID=2600&ItemTypeID=BOX

  5. Pingback: Summer of Love: Dragonfire | bavatuesdays

  6. I love it that the ROM collections that you can get for Stella include some (all?) of the forbidden ROMS (Custer’s Revenge, etc.). Early example of some primordial Rule 34?

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