Comments on: Atari 2600 vs. a modern-day 9 year old

By: Ditmar Van Belle

Ditmar Van Belle — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 01:57:10 +0000

About the same experience here… My six-year old daughter complained these “games were too difficult/fast” and quickly left.

Having planned to teach her BASIC on my aging Atari 800XL, I too felt very disappointed. Is it us or the kids that have changed?

At least, 27 years too late, I managed to complete a few games (5 and counting that I hadn’t been able to tackle back then.

By: Voice of the Red Skull

Voice of the Red Skull — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:24:22 +0000

“We discovered very quickly that the controller’s response wasn’t very good anymore”

Red Skull does not remember Atari controllers EVER being good! Playing for a long time hurts bony hands. Do you not know, American, that the study of ergonomics did not exist, indeed, did not need to exist, before the Atari controller???

Yet, even the controller you now possess must work better than a brand new Intellivision controller.

Red Skull’s favorite part of playing video games is “taking A.I.M.”! (Evil guffaw)

By: twilitezoner

twilitezoner — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:43:00 +0000

Way to go Shag. Remember people, eye candy is nice, but it’s playability that counts!

By: Atari 2600 vs a 2009 9-Year Old

Atari 2600 vs a 2009 9-Year Old — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:45:23 +0000

[...] What happens when the you get a modern kid to play with an old school atari 2600 … Check it ou… [...]

By: Shag

Shag — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:26:42 +0000

Permial – Thanks for the comments. However, I’m pretty sure Ed’s comment was intended to be tongue-in-cheek.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shag

By: Steagus

Steagus — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:17:48 +0000

PS(This was a good post, even though sad on many levels. Thanks for sharing.)

By: Steagus

Steagus — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:17:11 +0000

I find it very interesting that a “modern-day” kid could not enjoy a slow game like Space Invaders or Pac-Man.

At what speed do we need to go to grab children’s attention these days?

Sorry this comment is already too long for most anyway so I’ll close.

By: Permial

Permial — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:07:37 +0000

Sorry, should have read Atardie. See what years of gaming and education do to a young persons mind! And I only have a MS…

By: Permial

Permial — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:06:06 +0000

Ok, Ed is partially right, but dude, lighten up. The Artdie was part of our life. Limited exposure will not harm the child but prolonged use may lead to a life of (gasp) computer science or some other perverted profession. He might even grow up to be a redditor!

By: Ed

Ed — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:38:39 +0000

I think this is complete torture. I’m totally reporting you to Child Services. To see a child of this generation playing a 25 year old game system is unbearable. Get the kid a Playstation 3 or Wii, for crying out loud.
You’re going down, you animal. Expect a knock on your door soon. If you know what’s good for you, you will hide that Atari and never show it to him again.
I’m sorry, I can’t continue. This is heart wrenching. I’m scarred.