Atari

An Atari 2600 in the National Museum of Scotland. We had to go into town so after we were done with the ‘business’ part of the trip we went to see the ‘Game On’ exhibition, which traces the history of video gaming.

We had one of these Atari consoles. I remember pestering my mum in the run up to Christmas but still being incredibly surprised and excited when one appeared. Of course we quickly realised we couldn’t afford many game cartridges ;) those joysticks were brutal - massive blisters in the middle of your palm where the joystick body rubbed the skin.
That Atari, and later a Sinclair Spectrum, started an obsession that lasted through my teens. And for my brother, led to a degree and a career writing video games.