Atari 2600+ Console & Joystick

Soo much fun to be able to play my old cartridges and not having issues with converting signals. And having DIP switches on the 10 in 1 game cartridge was master class to use old elec needs!

I picked up the Atari 2600+ expecting a nostalgia hit, and it delivered — but it’s also become one of the more interesting pieces of hardware on my desk as a software engineer. First, the vibe: this is the console every 90s kid grew up hearing about. Plugging in a cartridge, flipping the power switch, seeing those chunky pixels on a modern TV — it’s a kind of joy that a PS5 just doesn’t scratch. It’s simple, immediate, and physical. But the real surprise is how much of a learning tool it is. If you’re curious about how computers actually work underneath the abstractions — CPU cycles, memory constraints, bit-banging graphics — the 2600 ecosystem is gold. Studying 6507 assembly and the quirks of the TIA chip teaches you more about low-level systems than a year of high-level coding. Retro fun and an engineering rabbit hole in one box. Highly recommended.

Bringing back my childhood memories is priceless. My parents spent so much on my Atari cartridges. But I kept them in the box in perfect shape for almost 50 years.