All the Video Game Consoles I’ve Ever Owned in Chronological Order, Pt. 1 of 4
I was apparently a two to four year-old fixated on playing a game called ‘Juggles House’ on Atari. Similarly vague visual memory permits the intrusion of a large black shape, the integration of stark red branding. To a modern individual Atari is not a ‘console’ but a brand, having been in recent years cannibalized, gutted…
ColecoVision (circa 1982-1984)
A ColecoVision is a thing at which games press and assorted hobbyists nod sagely when it is presented in conversation by gray-haired veteran games developers. Further knowledge is rapidly tumbling into the realm of the apocrypha, but my Dad tells me I played this regularly while insisting in a fashion often accompanied by tantrums that I play something called ‘Juggles House.’
Upon hearing the word ‘ColecoVision’ I receive a vague visual memory of the white walls and sterile carpet of our finished basement ‘office/den/laundry room’, and an audio memory of my father speaking to me in a sweet voice, the way you talk to a two-year old, possibly calling me by the inexplicable nickname ‘Muffer’ and probably putting on something called ‘Juggles House’ for me to play. Unsure if the idea that there were three colors with which to render juggling balls are actual or informed by the power of suggestion.
Cursory Wikipedia research circa 2 minutes ago reveals that ‘Juggles House’ was in fact an Atari game and not a ColecoVision game. Similarly cursory image glances reveal vague recognition of absurdly large plastic controls. Third revelation: ColecoVision logo/font should be used in near-future glo-fi/’chillwave’ album art for nerd-retro value, as it may present more ‘obscure cred’ than the widely-used Atari logo.
