Maybe I expected too much, but I wanted a 2600 I could plug cartridges into which used HDMI. I like Pac-Man, so this one seemed like what I wanted. But, first cartridge I put in was Adventures of Tron.
It took like 30s or a minute to start up, so it clearly wasn't the normal Atari experience. Then it started on a very high difficulty level and I couldn't change it.
Makes me wonder what the point of it is if it's this bad. Maybe there are HDMI mods for a real Atari I should do instead.
I don't mean to be shitty about it, but I had a 2600 when they first came out and I hated it even then. So I guess I am just curious: what on Earth is the appeal? I see this unit plays 7800 games, which - thank your lucky stars, because 2600 games are really and truly shit - but even if they weren't, all the advances made in consoles, gaming, etc were made for a reason. These joysticks were/are absolutely horrible. I've abandoned lots of consoles I owned over the years, but I miss some of the games, so I have emulators of almost every console I've owned (and also MAME for arcade stuff), but I play them on my modern computer with modern controllers.
It's like the younger folks getting into cassette tapes. What's so fun about this? They were a pain in the ass and they really didn't sound great. I get wanting to own "stuff" - but I mean, CDs are so superior and their liners are even better. At least with vinyl you can say "well it has that analog warmth and the liners were amazing!"
Sorry, showing my crusty age.
No I’m right there with you, 2600 was pretty much just a bunch of squares playing similar games with different themes and great box art.
I was a little younger, so only my older cousins hat ataris, I had NES and still play emulated games from that system with my 8y/o and they hold up well (Super Mario3, and Dr. Mario are specifically hits at the moment).
I do distinctly remember hearing my first CD on a good stereo, no crackling or distortion, and how amazing it was to do things like replay a track, or skip a lame song. Cassettes were only a little better than 8-tracks, I’m not nostalgic for that at all (other than the designs from mixed tapes, but just the aesthetic)