If I had one message for my younger self, it wouldn’t be about eating well or going to the doctor more often. Those are good bits of advice but I wouldn’t have taken them. I would have told my younger self to keep all those toys I had in good condition, and keep the boxes they came in, Because, inexplicably, they would end up being in massive demand decades later.
It seemed impossible
In the late 1970s, the popular gift — in many ways the only gift — that made its way into homes was the Atari video computer system. The VCS, which would only later be called the 2600, was so massively popular that it created its own social circles. The console cost as much as a car payment for a mid-sized sedan, with games costing about $200 in today’s money. This meant whole neighborhoods of kids began to organize to trade games. It created opportunities to get to know your neighbors you might not have had before.
I personally had Sears’ Tele-Games system. This was identical to the first Atari console (referred to today by enthusiasts as the “heavy sixer.”) Sears was a retail powerhouse back then and they had the exclusive rights to earlier Atari hardware. Today, this console is considered highly collectible because of its relative rarity.
By today’s standards, indeed even by the standards of the mid-1980s, this console was painfully, painfully simple. Its games were simple blocks with beeps and boops. But they were addictive, much as today’s casual games are. And, as I said, there was a whole social circle that you could join, to have more than just the one game cartridge.
I presume that my Tele-Games console was eventually sent to the recycler or put in the trash, as things were in those days. After all, I outgrew it and left it behind. So did millions of other people. That meant that as we all aged and grew nostalgic, there were few of them to be found.
The retro experience
There are several different ways to re-experience the joy of simple gaming. You can look for any of the devices labeled “Atari Flashback” which will give you the original games in a format that looks like the old consoles. If you have a modern gaming console, you can buy the Atari 50 game. I’m told it’s an excellent way to really understand the history of this device. I don’t have a modern gaming console myself. I’m just taking other people’s word for it.
But, if you really want to experience retro gaming, you should do it on a retro console. There are folks out there who are salvaging old Ataris and returning them to playable condition. They’re selling for more now than they did then, especially if you have the original box.
I found myself sucked into this video:
It shows a vintage Atari, a little newer than my old Tele-Games unit. It’s clearly lived a hard life. By the looks of it, it may have been in a flood. But, these devices had two advantages that today’s electronics don’t have. First, they were by today’s standards incredibly well made. There were large, thick circuit boards encased in lead boxes. There were real metal switches. This means that it’s possible to restore them in many cases.
The other advantage that this old retro gear has over today’s stuff is that it was originally assembled by humans. Today’s electronics are made by robots, in super-clean facilities. This means they can be smaller and ultimately more reliable. It also means no human could ever truly hope to repair one.
Watching this old console go from trash to treasure is ultimately very satisfying. The games themselves may be hopelessly outdated, but the sense of nostalgia will linger forever. It just makes me wonder what piece of gear I have today will one day fetch millions at auction.
