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Atari 2600 VCS Video Games Console, 1977

The Atari VCS wasn’t the first programmable video game system, but it was without question the most successful, with over 30 million of them being sold throughout its 13-year life. It’s the granddaddy of all of video games and although now horribly dated by today’s standards, many of the games are still great fun to play, and highly addictive.

 

The VCS or Video Computer System evolved from a game system called Stella, developed by Semiconductor manufacturers Fairchild in the mid 1970s. In 1976 Atari, then owned by Warner Communications, took over the design and the first models went on sale in the US in autumn 1977, reaching the UK several months later.

 

I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the very first UK test samples for review in Electronics Today International and to say it was an instant hit with everyone who saw it would be a gross understatement! As I recall all work in the ETI editorial offices came to an abrupt halt for three straight days, before the boss decided it was time to get back to work (and then only because he pulled rank and took it home…)

 

Despite Atari’s best attempts to control the game software many third-party companies got in on the act, producing cartridges. Many of these games were complete rubbish, but some companies, like Activision came up with some real classics, increasing the game system’s popularity.

 

It’s a near perfect design, there’s no need to read the instructions, just slap in a cartridge, flip the reset switch, waggle the joystick and stab the fire button. Everything about the VCS was right, from the cheesy mock-wood finish to the virtually destructible joysticks and paddle controllers, I can’t remember ever breaking one, in spite of some fierce abuse.

 

What Happened To It?

The VCS wet through several design changes and continued in production until 1990, but by that time its blocky graphics had become seriously outdated and the market had shifted to faster and more sophisticated machines. However, the dedicated games console was in decline by the late 1980s and struggling against the more versatile personal computer, but what goes around comes around. By the mid nineties the games console was on the rise again, thanks to the success of products like the Sony PlayStation

 

This VCS is a 1981 vintage model, according to a date label inside, and one of the last of the first generation machines as it has the difficulty switches on the front (they moved around the back on later models). I picked it up at a local car boot sale for £12.00. It was a bit of a punt as the chap selling it couldn’t say if it was working or not but since it looked in good condition and came with two joysticks, paddle controllers, power supply, half a dozen games and the original cardboard box I though it was worth a gamble.

 

As it turned out it did have a fault, the solder joints on the on/off switch were intermittent and took all of five minutes to fix, but apart from that it was in perfect working order, and a real bargain. They’re not exactly rare but you can pay £40 to £50 for a pristine example on ebay, so boot sale finds like this one are not that common. The only trouble is once you have one you want more games, so it could turn into an expensive hobby…

 


GIZMO GUIDE

First seen:                         1977

Original Price                   £150

Value Today?                   £30

Features:                          ROM cartridge programmable, 1 or 2 players, 2 difficulty levels, joystick and paddle controllers (optional trackball and steering wheels controllers), UHF aerial output

Power req.                        9-volt mains adaptor

Weight:                             1.7kg

Dimensions:                     350 x 230 x 90mm

Made in:                           Hong Kong

Hen's Teeth (10 rarest):     4


Tomy Electronic Soccer 1980

Also known as Electronic Striker this handheld electronic game from Japanese toy maker Tomy first appeared around 1980, according to several handheld games sites, and I'm not about to argue with the experts. I vaguely remember this game being on the market but due to a lack of interest in the game, real and handheld, it wasn't one that I ever reviewed, let alone owned.

 

The actual game is pretty naff; the console is designed to look like a miniature stadium with three rows of red LEDs, beneath the pitch, representing the ball. The player's job is to direct he ball into the opponents goal, by tapping three direction buttons, and to prevent it reaching their own goal with a fourth Defence button. Scores are shown on a twin 7-segment digital display. Options are one and two player games and Pro 1 and 2 levels, which alter the speed. The game is accompanied by typically tinkly tunes and sound effects, which you can't switch off.

 

Build quality is pretty good, it was meant to take a fair amount of abuse and I guess fun for kids of 10 and under to play. I found this one in Brighton Station Market recently for £1.50. The case was okay but the batteries had been left in too long and there were signs of corrosion. Fortunately it wasn't too deep seated and I was able to remove it, and once the contacts were cleaned up it fired up straight away.

 

What Happened to it?

Like all handheld games of the late 70s and early 80s they provided a brief diversion for those who couldn't afford video games, but as soon as the prices stated to fall, in the mid 80s, single game consoles like this one vanished almost overnight. Of course handheld games did survive but only thanks to better LCD screens and cartridge programmability, which meant that you didn't have to get bored playing one game over and again.  

 

Although the game seems tame and slow by today's standards these little boxes of tricks are great fun to collect and I predict they will become much sought after in the next few years. They represent a real milestone in the history of electronic entertainment. Not many will have survived but those that do often sell for next to nothing, but probably not for much longer...

 


GIZMO GUIDE

First seen:                        1980

Original Price                   £15

Value Today?                   £25

Features:                          1 or 2 players, Pro 1 & 2 speed levels, twin 7-segment score display, sound effects

Power req.                       3 x AA & 1 x PP3

Weight:                            0.3g

Dimensions:                     220 x 150 x 40mm

Made in:                          Japan

Hen's Teeth (10 rarest):     6


Vanity Fair Electron Blaster 1979

Hand-held ‘video’ games were all the rage in the late 1970s and early 80s for the simple reason that real video games were still eye-wateringly expensive, and not very portable. The Electron Blaster, made by the Taiwanese company Vanity Fair was a typical example, based on the incredibly popular Taito Space Invaders game that had appeared on arcades video games only a year earlier. Electron Blaster game was one of several identical games, other popular variants were CGL’s Galaxy Invader, Gakken Invader and Fire Away, which was sold exclusively in Radio Shack stores.

 

The game was housed in a futuristic looking case, dominated by the narrow green fluorescent display. It was simple to play, aliens dropped down the screen, accompanied by some cheesy sound effects and your job was to shoot them, before they shot you or made it to the bottom of the screen. The ‘gun’ was aimed using the joystick and fired by pressing the red fire button; there was a choice of three difficulty levels, which altered the speed at which the aliens moved. Extra points could be gained by shooting a spaceship, which flew across the top of the screen, and the object of the game was to destroy as many aliens as possible, without loosing any lives, and score the maximum 199 points in as short a time as possible. At the time these games kept us amused for hours, though now, with the benefit of hindsight and a highly-trained fire button thumb it seems absurdly easy to beat.   

 

What Happened to It?

Hand held games never really went away though basic single-game, single player devices like Electron Blaster declined in popularity throughout the 80s and were eventually blown away by programmable games ‘consoles’, like the classic Nintendo Gameboy, which first appeared in 1989. This one still works and is in pretty good shape for its age. I picked it up at a market in Brighton a couple of years ago for 50 pence. This type of gadget has been overlooked for far too long and I suspect they could become sought after. Definitely a future collectible and pristine examples can still be found, sometimes with their original boxes for very little money.


GIZMO GUIDE

First seen:                         1979

Original Price                   £19.99

Value Today?                   £3

Features:                          Flourescent display, three difficulty levels, on/off reset switch, external DC connector  
Power req.                        4 x AA cell

Weight:                             0.4kg

Dimensions:                      245 x 125 x 45 mm

Made in:                           Taiwan

Hen’s Teeth (10 rarest):     4

 

 

 

 

 

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