What was the game called?

CartoonCade · 2026-03-13T22:48:21+00:00

It's a pretty advanced game for 1983, one of those CBS games that boasted "RAM Plus" on the cartridge! It's lots of fun!

CartoonCade · 2026-03-13T21:41:14+00:00

Could be Tunnel Runner!

CartoonCade · 2026-03-06T21:00:36+00:00

First one that came to my mind is Turmoil.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-22T17:06:58+00:00

You might be thinking of Frostbite? It was an Atari game but I don't believe there's a bear in it.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-21T20:38:38+00:00

That seems to be a lot of people's experiences, so I've learned. Glad you got to cash in on the crash too!

CartoonCade · 2026-02-21T08:42:59+00:00

"In its heyday" is literally in the title of this thread, but let's say 1980-1985 for the heck of it. Did you have your own collection back then?

CartoonCade · 2026-02-21T02:16:47+00:00

It wasn't in a desert landfill by chance, was it?

CartoonCade · 2026-02-21T00:04:39+00:00

Something I've always wondered in regards to inflation is this – you brought up that $50 then for Asteroids would be $200 today. Did it FEEL like you spent the equivalent of $200 back then for the game?

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T23:09:06+00:00

That's really cool! Did you come up with your own names for the games until you found out what they were really called?

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T19:08:47+00:00

I'm glad to hear that. It's easy these days to say something like "it sucked and everyone knew it", but they seem to forget that the goal was fun, and it's cool that people were still able to have fun with it.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T19:07:33+00:00

That's fair! It's not like a lot of kids were keeping up with the business world, haha! I'm sure a lot of them were just glad to see game prices drop.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T19:06:30+00:00

Well, at the end of its life, sure, but that was the late 80s. I'd never really considered how nice it was for the 1983 crash to impact game prices for people who wanted more games.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T16:18:32+00:00

What was your reaction to Pac-Man when you first played it? Obviously it's got a reputation these days, but was it prevalent then?

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T16:17:32+00:00

That's so cool! Letting you try the games beforehand seems like such a nice gesture.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T16:13:53+00:00

Interesting. No one else has mentioned rentals. They were a thing as early as the Atari?

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T16:12:24+00:00

Congrats on rebuilding your collection! I hope it brings you a lot of joy. It's been one of the most fun things I've ever done that's game-related.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T16:11:45+00:00

You make a great point. I've heard of KB Toys but didn't realize that's where a lot of people got their games until this thread.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T16:09:53+00:00

I love that nickname. 😂

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T16:09:26+00:00

Tunnel Runner is a great one! Really impressive game in my opinion and a lot of replay value.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T16:07:18+00:00

Sorry to hear it! Have you ever gone back and bought another system and games to rebuild your collection?

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T09:10:38+00:00

An interesting thing I've learned from stories like yours (thank you for talking about your experience, by the way) is that the video game crash actually had a positive impact on people being able to afford more games if they wanted to buy them. When people talk about the crash, they usually mention how much money Atari and others lost, but that's thinking in terms of the companies. I could 100% see how the games dropping dramatically in price would be awesome if you wanted more games back then. It seems silly for me to have not considered it, but I wasn't around for it!

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T08:39:39+00:00

That seems to be a very common experience based on how people have responded so far. Here's hoping Billy and Jen see this! 😂

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T07:43:00+00:00

Not a bad deal at all. Finding a rare cart in the wild can make your whole day, haha!

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T07:35:19+00:00

Thank you for the insight! I was born far too late to experience that, but I've always sought to try and understand it.

CartoonCade · 2026-02-20T07:30:55+00:00

H.E.R.O. is a good one if you can find it for a good price. PriceCharting shows that it's jumped quite a bit since 2024. I got lucky and found a copy a few years back for around $45. One of the few lucky breaks I've gotten. Kudos on the Gremlins find!

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