I do have a story in regards to how I got my first Atari VCS in 1980. I 
was 14 years old at the time and are family was dead broke as my dad was 
medically discharged from the military service as he was terminally ill 
with cancer. He wasn't expected to live. He somehow lived longer than 
expected and the cancer went into what apeared to be temporary 
remission. Anway to keep the story short, I always wanted a 2600 after 
he got us a Pong unit a couple of years before. But due to lack of funds 
we couldn't afford it. Well, the last christmas he spent with us before 
he passed away, we (my 2 brothers and I) asked for very little as we 
knew money was very tight. It was a very pleasant surprise when we 
opened our presents and I got a 2600 and 2 games while my brothers got a 
radio controlled airplane. These gifts were very dear to us, as we 
always wanted these. Well, I still have my original Atari 2600 with 
original box and docs, controllers etc.. and currently I have in excess 
of 400+ games for it. A couple of years ago my Colecovision died and so 
I couldn't use the Atari expansion module (My mother still had my Atari 
2600 at home). Now that I make a comfortable living, I called Atari to 
see if I could get another. For 39.95 they sent me an Atari Jr. Even 
though I have multiple game systems (NES,SNES, SEGA, Jaguar, Lynx, Atari 
8 bit, Gameboy, Intellivision, computer,etc..) I still play the hell out 
of my 2600 (more than any other system I have). Games like Millipede, 
Beamrider, Missile Command, Space Invaders, Pitfall!, etc.. just can't 
be beat. And yes the graphics may be better on other systems, but the 
games and the originalility of the 2600 have stood the test of time. 
Even Doom isn't original. Think about it, Escape From the Mind Master 
was a crude version of Doom. Space Invaders set the standards for all 
shooters to follow, i.e. Galaga, Galaxian, Gorf, etc.. Even games like 
Breakout/Super Breakout can't be beat for replay value. 

And yes my brother still has parts of his original radio controlled 
airplane. It unfortunately had a fatal crash on it's maiden flight and 
my father couldn't afford to repair it. But just having the box with 
bits of christmas wrap on it, brings back good memories of how much my 
dad loved his kids and all the time he spent playing with us.

Anyway, that is why I'm an Atarian.

Take care,
Lee
(One of the clods in Seattle)        

BTW: Not to long ago I came across an original Atari Pong (complete in 
box ). Man does this bring back some good memories of long nights in 
front of the TV. I was always sure to have my homework done so we could 
play. We got our 1st color TV shortly there after getting the Atari and 
the colors were just incredible.