| ASTEROIDS |
  In 1979, Space Invaders was released in arcades, and became a smash hit, so much it caused a Yen shortage in Japan, and a coin shortage in the USA. In 1980, Atari released their licensed port for the 2600, and it really was the title that put the 2600 on the map. Prior to that, the 2600 seems - at least in my view, was not quite as popular as it became in the early 80's, likely due to this game and many other "arcade ports" at the time. Also, the news and parents were sensationalising and becoming very concerned about their kids visiting those "heathen dens" (arcades) full of drugs, creepy people, and evil devil rock'n'roll music. Soon that $150 for an Atari 2600 did not seem so bad, now the kids can stay safe at home while they play those "foolish games", and the adult's dodn't have to worry that Jimmy is doing crack with businessmen at the Arcade listening to Van-Halen and getting involved with questionable women.
Space Invaders is a classisc for the 2600 that even the current generation tends to mess with out of curiosity if they get into classic gaming. It's one of the most common cartridges to find, and it's practically a staple because of this. It's also a bit insane because it has something like 112 variations of the same game....pretty crazy (but a lot of value). It's quite a bit more colorful than the arcade version, and in some ways, holds up pbetter. Rabbits, Toilet Seats, Lobsters, and BBQs - My Experiences Space Invaders was one of those games that was omnipresent if you had a 2600. It jsut seemed, anyone that had one, had a copy of this for it, and it was a fairly common site. For me, I always found this game super hilarious. First off, the sprite work looks hilarious. Your "cannon" looks like a ding dong, and makes fart noises when you die. Then above you you have what look like squat mutant bunnies, weber BBQs, toilet seats, lobsters, and transistors. Meanwhile, the Pepto Bismol blimp flies by every once in awhile. The three styrofoam buoys you call "sheilds" sometimes can be more of a hinderance than a help, and the really immature kid in me humors this looking like the invaders are dropping their bodily wastes on you in rhythm to some drums. Seriously, you could sample this and probably make a song out of it, I'm not kidding. YouTube Videos
Let's Play Space Invaders (actual hardware, 2024)
Let's Play Space Invaders (actual hardware, 2022) |
