Front Cover: This cover reminds me of a menu at a cheap Italian
restaurant.
Introduction: "And now there's a network if local ATARI
repair centers to help keep your game in good working order." I
don't recall ever seeing an "ATARI repair center" but I lived
in the middle of
nowhere in 1982. I think this says a lot about how much console
prices have fallen. If my Gamecube broke I wouldn't bother trying to
find someone to fix it.
Skill Gallery: The skill gallery section seems to be the
catch-all for titles that didn't fit into another category.
Demons to Diamonds: The first time I played this game was in the
mid-90s on an emulator. At the time I thought it was awful, after
reading this I now realize that it's meant for "young
sharpshooters ages six through ten".
Breakout, Circus Atari, Human Cannonball, Maze Craze, Pac-Man, Sky
Diver: So why didn't Atari give a whole page to their home version
of Pac-Man? It was a huge deal to get that Pac-Man license, you'd think
they'd want to show off the fine work they did on the home
translation.
Super Breakout, Video Pinball, Classics Corner:I'm not writing
these poignant comments in order. I kept putting this page off because
nothing about it strikes me as noteworthy.
Backgammon, Casino, Othello, Tic-Tac-Toe, Checkers, Chess: I've
done a pretty good amount of work with artificial intelligence
programming. I'd love to know how they coded a chess algorithm on the
limited memory of the 2600. I'd also love to know why they decided chess
should be a one-player only game.
Space Station: Hyperbole alert - "these games are packed
with action and imagination that's light years ahead of our time!"
Berzerk: This was a really great acid-trip of a game.
I thought that video
touch pad controller that was bundled with this game would go for a
lot now.. turns out they're about $5 on eBay.
Asteroids, Defender, Missile Command, Space Invaders, Space War, Yars'
Revenge: Asteroids is one of the better arcade ports for the 2600.
Yar's Revenge is still confusing to me, I should read the manual and try again sometime.
Adventure Territory: This artwork is straight out of a first
edition AD&D manual.
Adventure, Haunted House, Superman: Haunted House and Adenture
are two of my favorite 2600 games. Superman, on the other hand, was just
plain confusing. I had no idea what I was supposed to do in that game.
Has there ever been a good Superman video game?
Dodge 'Em, Indy 500, Night Driver, Slot Racers, Street Racer: I
really like racing games even though I'm terrible at them. The 2600 had
a strong racing library at the time even if the graphics weren't so hot.
Sports Arena: There's absolutely nothing that I like about
baseball.
Basketball, Bowling, Football, Golf, Homerun, Pele's Soccer:
Sports games have come a long way since 1982. Although there was a
certain fun-factor to these classics that's missing from some modern
sports titles.
Video Olympics, Combat Zone: I can't figure out which NBA player
they're trying to rip-off with this artwork..
Air-Sea Battle, Canyon Bomber, Combat, Outlaw, Warlords: Outlaw
is one of many games that I played 20+ years ago, liked, and then forgot
what it was called.
Learning Center: Learning games for console systems always
flopped although they weren't all that bad.
Math Gran Prix: I thought it was "Grand" Prix?
Maybe I'm an idiot.
BASIC Programming, Brain Games, Codebreaker, Concentration, Hangman:
I sure hope that's supposed to be a tail in the Hangman screenshot.
Accessories: This is my favorite page of the catalog, I wish I
could find these accessories in good condition. What's polystyrene
anyway?
Coming Attractions!: "At this very moment, our ATARI
engineers are working on challenging and exciting new Game Program
cartridges." This page has a reference to the Combat sequel
that didn't see daylight until 2001.
Back Cover: This is tagged CO16725 Rev. E. From what I
understand there were several different revisions of these catalogs. I
can't tell you the difference though.