Talk:Atari 2600/Archive 2

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Archive 1

Archive 2

Wood?

It's not explained anywhere in the article why wood was used in it's construction?

What was the reason for this, and what was the effect on RFI emissions? 24.51.217.118 (talk) 18:15, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

It's fake plastic wood, not real wood. --Junkyardsparkle (talk) 00:42, 28 April 2016 (UTC)

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console?

for the past ten years ive noticed people all of a sudden started calling videogame systems "consoles". how and why did this happen? a quick glance into any box of a system (or manual) will quickly tell you its not a console, its a system.

i strongly suggest the article switch console for system whenever. i mean, the system is called video computer system, how the bloody hell can it be a console and a system at the same time? one or the other, choose (pss, the right choice is right in the title)KRISHANKO (talk) 22:25, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

They've been known as "consoles" in Western English-speaking countries for a lot longer than that. Ubcule (talk) 13:30, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Atari VCS redirect pointed back to Atari 2600

Following the name change of the proposed new Atari console from "Ataribox" to "Atari VCS" (i.e. the same name as the 1977 original Atari VCS, AKA 2600), @Masem: made Atari VCS the article for the new 2018 console and merely included a hatnote for Atari 2600.

I've re-pointed it back to Atari 2600 and moved the new console to Atari VCS (2018 console). (#)

My main problem with this was that it was moved without fixing- and hence broke- countless existing links that assumed Atari VCS pointed to the original console (via a redirect, as is accepted practice). A hatnote was included, but that's still not really satisfactory (especially as- I assume- many existing links may have used subsection anchors).

I'd also dispute that the new console should be the main owner of the "Atari VCS" article/title. The original is still known- and looked up under that name- 40 years later.

The new (proposed) console hasn't even been launched yet. It's not clear they've even got a working prototype for demonstration! It's also changed its name once, so it might (conceivably) launch under a new name- if it launches at all. Given that it's obviously piggybacking on nostalgia for the original to promote itself- which reinforces the latter's importance- there's no guarantee it won't be seen as just another nostalgia-exploiting exercise in a few years time.

tl;dr version- I restored Atari VCS to redirecting to Atari 2600 rather than being the article for what is now Atari VCS (2018 console) (#) because (i) Moving the page (but doing nothing else) broke numerous existing links and (ii) I disagree that something not yet available, let alone having proven its relative importance or longevity, warrants forcing this rearrangement or change in importance of existing pages.

(#) Not much bothered if that page name's changed, just so long as it's clear it doesn't refer to the original.

Ubcule (talk) 13:08, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

The Atari 2600 was known as the "Atari Video Console System", which everyone abbreviated to "Atari VCS" for short, but that wasn't its official/marketed name, just a shortcut (just as the NES wasn't sold as "NES" but "Nintendo Entertainment System"). For the Ataribox rename, Atari is specifically using "Atari VCS" (not expanded). Technically, unless one is specifically talking about how the Atari 2600 was talked prior to its rename, people should not be using "Atari VCS" but "Atari Video Entertainment System" (avoiding the undefined abbreviation in text), and spot checks of where "Atari VCS" is used does shown problematic linkages and prose. I know "Atari VCS" is well known to be that, but informal names should not have preference over actual marketed names for products. --Masem (t) 13:40, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Atari VCS is a widely used and well known alternative name for the console, I think turning it into a dab page is the appropriate action and WP:OTHERNAMES appears to agree with that. - X201 (talk) 14:15, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

"VCS" may have been an acronym rather than the actual name of the original console, but just like "NES", it was a common name used to refer to the console. I agree with X201- having Atari VCS point at one instead of the other is going to be confusing to at least some sizable minority of people, and this is therefore exactly the situation that disambig pages are made for. Lets make Atari VCS a disambig page for the 2600/remake, leave the remake as Atari VCS (2018 console), and fix any section links that are pointing to VCS but mean 2600. --Pres N 14:29, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

I'm not against this, but Ubcule does have a point that "Atari VCS" is on many pages as a direct link which really needs to be fixed first (at minimum, making it a piped link from Atari 2600, but better would be to spell out Video Console System). --Masem (t) 14:35, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

@Masem: I've fixed the bulk by changing the link in two navboxes. Will now check the remainder. - X201 (talk) 14:52, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

I've tweaked that template link, as it was meant to link to the new console, not back to 2600. -- ferret (talk) 15:01, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

There's still a few pages like Tennis (1981 video game) that using "Atari VCS" for the link. Some of these are in quotes, so we can't change that text, but we can pipe them. --Masem (t) 15:07, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Will get AWB on the job in a mo...If people will stop breaking things at work ;-) - X201 (talk) 15:23, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

@PresN:; I disagree that Atari VCS should even be a dab page at present. The original is long-established and well-known under that name (official or not (#2)). We'd be forcing a very high percentage of people searching for it under its original name to waste time going via a dab page... simply because of an unlaunched console of undetermined importance.

One that had only changed its intended name (from Ataribox) three days ago and has still only been publicly-previewed in mock-up form!

Until- if!- the new console is launched, and has proven itself to be of anywhere near as much importance as the original (rather than a short-lived and/or abortive exercise in nostalgia-exploiting ephemera), I think it's preferable to have its existence noted via a {{redirect}} headnote in the Atari 2600 article.

(#2) (@Masem: "Official" status of names isn't always the deciding factor you think it is, in cases there's a more commonly-accepted one. But this is beside the point- Atari VCS is a *redirect* to Atari 2600, not the official page name).

Ubcule (talk) 15:19, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

I still disagree with you on point 2 but respect that others agree with you on that, and as we're only talking two article conflicts, not worth much more discussion at this point. But I do agree that, taking point #2, that "Atari VCS" should be directly to the 2600 page, we have no idea how much foothold the new Ataribox concept will have. If it does become a major player (which we likely won't know for a year or so), then we can come back to talk about disambiguation. We'll just need the hatnote at the 2600 page to point to the Ataribox page. --Masem (t) 15:25, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

@X201, Masem, PresN, and Ferret:; Yes, that's my problem- the "Ataribox" VCS isn't even out yet, and might never be. It's notable enough to warrant the {{redirect}} hatnote in Atari 2600, but my problem was with the serious knock-on to existing established article structures, simply for something of unclear importance.

Given that this discussion only started little over two hours ago(!), I think it would be preferable for us to wait before carrying out any further rearrangements until those who might wish to contribute have had the time and chance to do so. That way we can consider any issues more fully and get a clearer idea of the consensus. Ubcule (talk) 15:42, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

@Ubcule: Your original assessment is correct, and redoing Atari VCS to be the new vaporware was a kneejerk act of WP:RECENTISM. This alleged product is vaporware so far, and its article and most of its junk WP:FANCRUFT WP:NOTNEWS content shouldn't exist. About 5% of it should be a subsection of the "Legacy" section in Atari VCS. And finally no we don't create a whole disambiguation page for two targets; we do what you already did and put a hatnote at the top of the most notable and correct one. In this case, WP:COMMON clearly wins. This whole conversation is fairly moot. So thank you. — Smuckola (talk) 21:47, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Release date

I have a few sources for the release date of the Atari VCS:

https://retroconsoles.fandom.com/wiki/Atari_2600

https://www.lifewire.com/atari-2600-console-729665

http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/9400/Atari-2600-VCS/

http://www.atari-computermuseum.de/2600.htm Maxeto0910 (talk) 05:03, 17 June 2019 (UTC)

Featured picture scheduled for POTD

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The Atari 2600, originally branded as the Atari Video Computer System, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari. Released in September 1977, it popularized the use of microprocessor-based hardware and of games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F the year before. The VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge – initially Combat and later Pac-Man.

Photograph credit: Evan Amos

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