> Few games for the 2600 were dictated by the hardware. Getting a stable
> display was a struggle. Nothing was every made easy on the 2600.
That sounds like more of an argument for saying that nearly every game
for the 2600 was dictated by hardware.
> What makes the 2600 such a cool system (and unfortunately I am just an
> observer of the process) is how the choices that each programmer makes to
> squeeze the game design into the 2600 all contribute to the individual
> "signature" of the game that would not happen nearly as much if all of the
> machine's capabilities were instantly and easily accessible at all times
> (like the Atari 400/800 for instance).
Well, that's kind of exaggerating... There's still a significant amount
of work involved in setting up the DLIs and custom interlaced display
modes on the computers... Plus the standard modes that were left out of
the OS, although obviously none of that was as much of a challenge as
2600 development.
>
> There is no single right or wrong way to write a 2600 game.
I'd go further and say that's true of any system, and failure to realize
that is part of why so many current games are so tedious. I love Mortal
Kombat II, Tekken II, and a few others for their refined play, but
creativity is truly lacking from most newer games. Oh, well--that seems
to be true of nearly any maturing entertainment industry.
> Yet the upside is that it's the smaller games that tend to have more
> individual character, as they deliver only a limited subset of the 2600's
> features, whereas the larger games tend to have more of a sameness in the
> way they tend to pull every trick in the book at once.
Hadn't thought about that, but I have to agree.
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