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Nov 1, 2021 · 1. Atari made console design matter. Take a moment and soak in the sadness that is the design of other 2600-era video game consoles.
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Long before the Nintendo Switch or the PlayStation 5, video games took a much simpler form. Atari was a pioneer in American gaming that shaped childhood memories and future gaming consoles alike.
While it may not necessarily have been the “golden age” of gaming, the Atari days helped make what the gaming world is today, experts and former Atari diehards say.
"I don’t know if I’d say it was the golden age, and I might reserve that for when the Nintendo Entertainment System came out and took gaming to the next level, but I‘d definitely say that the Atari days kicked it off," said Chris Spear, the host of the podcast, Chefs Without Restaurants, in an email interview with Lifewire.
The original Atari was founded in 1972 and was known for arcade coin-op games and home video game consoles like the Atari 2600: a console where you could swap out different games to play (an entirely new concept at the time).
Asteroids, Combat (which technically had 27 games in one), Crystal Castles, and Space Invaders all were Atari staples in its hey-day. The people behind these games were always trying to experiment with new ideas and new concepts.
Michael Albaugh worked in the coin-op division at Atari from 1976-2000, where he was involved with games like Pool Shark, Ultra Tank, and Atari Football.
"It was interesting because there were a whole lot of things that we were trying there," he told Lifewire in a phone interview. "We would put games out on a field test to watch players react to gaming."
"I did a bit of work on a game I think should have been produced that was a game called Beat Head that I took over from Bonnie Smithson," he said. "Someone described [the game] as head-to-head Q*bert."
Beat Head was a multiplayer prototype game where players had to jump on all of their specific colored tiles before their opponent did. Ultimately, Atari’s field tests didn’t work out with the game.
For those who only know Atari from the games they played, the mention of “Atari” conjures up memories of playing video games with friends at a young age.
"I have fond memories of sitting on the floor in friends' basements playing Real Sports Baseball," John Frigo, the digital marketing lead at My Supplement Store, wrote to Lifewire in an email. "I enjoyed the simplicity of Atari being able to pick up a controller and instantly know how to play a game and pick it up right away."
Even today, the Atari ways of gaming are still very much alive for some.
I‘d definitely say that the Atari days kicked it off.
"To this day, Raiders of the Lost Ark for the [Atari] 2600 is probably the hardest game to beat," Spear said.
What players miss about Atari games was the old-school gaming style and memories of playing a game surrounded by friends.
Dec 22, 2021 · Some of Atari's games are the most well-known in history. Wikimedia commons. The games that Atari produced are well ingrained into the collective consciousness of Generation X. The first breakout was "Space Invaders," but as PC Magazine relates, there were many others.
Nov 11, 2022 · Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is a playable history lesson spanning five decades of video games, and it’s available on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam.
- Pitfall! One of the best-selling titles on the seminal console, Activision's Pitfall! put the publisher on the map and showcased just how entertaining these downsized arcade ports could be.
- Combat. A pack-in title that shipped with almost every Atari console released before 1982, most gamers who grew up with the console likely have fond memories of battling friends and siblings in the iconic multiplayer title Combat.
- Kung-Fu Master. Originally released in 1984, the Atari 2600's Kung-Fu Master was a loose adaptation of the Jackie Chan movie Meal On Wheels, which debuted the same year.
- Pole Position. Compared to its arcade counterpart, 1982's Atari 2600 rendition of the hit game Pole Position was pretty lacking. That said, attempting to portray a real-world environment with any sense of depth on the console was ambitious, and the port definitely deserves praise for maintaining the look and feel of the original title given the extremely limited hardware on which it ran.
Nov 20, 2017 · This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the Atari home gaming console. Yes, the 2600, with its sleek design and many iconic games, is now four decades old.
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Nov 29, 2023 · It acquired Nightdive Studios, which built its name remastering older games for release on modern hardware, titles like Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition, System Shock: Enhanced Edition, and...
