Forty years ago tonight was a very special day for me. On July 29, 1983, Mom bought gifts for my brother and I. I received an Atari 2600 and my brother received a boombox. I had wanted an Atari 2600 for two years and it was finally going to happen. I was going to get an Atari 2600.

But a couple of things really bugged me. On the night when I got my Atari 2600, my uncle and his family arrived for a visit. That delayed me from getting my 2600. When they left, we went to Kmart to get my Atari and my brother's boombox. But when we returned to our car to leave, Dad had a flat tire and he didn't have a spare tire. That caused another delay. But somebody did eventually come along to help us.

By this time, Atari started giving Pac-Man away for free with their console. Combat was also included for free. Many people hated the Atari 2600 Pac-Man but I was happy to get it. I've always disliked Combat because it's a 2 player only game. If there wasn't a second player to play it with, it was useless. If I had received my Atari 2600 just a few months earlier, it would've only come with Combat and I wouldn't have been happy.

About a week or two after I got my Atari 2600, my friend told my brother and I that Revco was selling 2600 games for only five dollars each. When I went to Revco to check, I learned that it was true. I was able to start buying more games for my 2600 because of this and it made me happy. Even though the Atari 2600 is outdated by today's standards, it was very popular in 1983. I will always have a fondness for that console.