Today we have a guest post from Repentant Soul, dredging up his own 8 Bit Memories.

Pishaw, you want 8-bit memories, let’s dig into the time capsule and see what we can really dredge up. I suddenly have a mental image of Wayne and Garth and their “deedlie-deedlie-deedlie” motions. Back when the time was young, and dinosaurs ruled the earth, oh wait, not quite that far back. But let’s return to near the end of 1977, when the Atari VCS (Video Game Console) was released in October, but was subsequently named the Atari 2600 for sounding more space-age. This console was ‘the beast’ of the time. It revolutionized the industry with the advent of the cartridge and brought to life (in horrendous graphics by today’s standards) such amazing titles as, Pong, Combat, and Air-Sea Battle.

Now, I know what you’re saying, “Dude, that thing is lame.” And yes, I would tend to agree with you, however, remember, we’re taking end of the 70s here. When computers still occupied an entire room and required the cooling of a 767 turbine engine. This was the beginning of the ‘modern’ age of gaming consoles. Renovations and upgrades were made on the console, and games became more and more advanced with titles like Alien, Pac-Man, Warlords (Allowing multi-player), Space Invaders, Amidar, Airlock, and many others.

Then along came Activision, the first third party game developer for the Atari and brought titles such as Pitfall, Frogger, Robot Tank, Barnstorming, and the ever popular, Freeway. Oh c’mon, how many of you actually stood the chicken in the middle of the road and laughed as it was splattered. Egads, such a gruesome bunch, y’all should be ashamed!

But I digress, you want a waste of time, this was the way to do it. I remember using the joystick controllers for HOURS on end. Enough to rub blisters on my thumb and make my mother scream as the chores and homework were neglected over and over again.

Originally boasting a price of $199, which gave you everything you needed, console, two joystick controllers, a set of paddle controllers, and Combat (subsequently replaced by Pac-Man, and blamed for the crash of the video game arcade monopoly), now can only be found at flea markets, garage sales, and ebay. However, on the positive, it’ll only cost you about $11 bucks or so for game system and games from people who just want this thing out of their home.

So, load up the kids in the way back machine, and transport yourself into game console history. The Atari 2600 will let you relive your childhood, in its entire 8-bit splendor!