On Christmas Day, 1982, I unwrapped my very first video game console, an Atari 2600. Although it was released in 1977, it was new to me, and I'm pretty sure the reason my parents got it for me was because of a 2600 game released around that time: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. My parents knew I was obsessed with the movie, a transformative film that I almost missed because I was so scared to watch it.
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I was ecstatic. At 7 years old, with my gigantic brown glasses atop my nose and wearing a red E.T. shirt, I had one of the best Christmases ever. Despite my love for the movie, I didn't get far in the game, which left me frustrated and confused. I had no idea it wasn't because I was unskilled, but because it was bad. Even today, people find the game overly complex and impenetrable to play.
(How bad? Copies of the game were literally buried for decades because it sold so poorly.)
The Atari 2600 came bundled with Combat and two controllers. I played it for years, starting down the road of becoming a dedicated gamer like millions of other kids of the era. If you had asked me a few months ago how many games I remembered from the 2600 or its subsequent successors, the Atari 5200 and 7800, I would have had a hard time answering. I could have named maybe a dozen titles at most.
CNET contributor Omar Gallaga, big fan of E.T., was 7 years old when the video game adaptation of the movie was released for the Atari 2600. Omar Gallaga/CNET
So, when Atari lent me a Gamestation Go handheld gaming console to try out, I was shocked that dozens of titles came rushing back to me. The moment I saw their cover art, animated screenshots, or just their titles, memories flooded back quickly. I played so many of these.
And the ones I didn't get to own or try, I pined over, pointing at them at the store or poring over whatever game magazines I could get my hands on.
Asteroids and Berserk and Centipede and Night Driver and Yar's Revenge -- so, so many games.
Old games, new console
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