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Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and video game console and home computer development company which operated between 1972 and 1984. During its years of operation, it developed and produced over 350 arcade, console, and computer games for its own systems, and almost 100 ports of games for home computers such as the Commodore 64.
Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of arcade video games, active from 1985 to 1999, then as Midway Games West Inc. until 2003.
YearTitleOriginal Platform(s)Publisher1985Arcade, Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, ...Atari Games, Namco1985Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, BBC ...Atari Games1985Arcade, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX ...Atari Games1985Arcade, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, ...Atari GamesList of Atari video games (2001–present), games developed or published by Atari, Inc. under Infogrames ownership.
- Breakout
- Asteroids
- Battlezone
- Centipede
- Missile Command
- Tempest
- Star Wars
- Marble Madness
- Paperboy
- Gauntlet
Designed by Steve Wozniak (later of Apple fame), who was duly ripped off by Steve Jobs (also later of Apple fame) over development bonuses, Breakout is one-player Pong. It’s basic fare, but tough and compelling. Play it with a spinner for best effect.
Arriving a year after Space Invaders, Asteroidsmade Taito’s title look archaic. In place of doddering and chunky foes was a field of asteroids you blasted to smithereens – and a sneaky saucer determined to turn you into so much space dust.
One of the earliest first-person shooters, Battlezoneplonked you in a tank and had you roam the landscape looking for other tanks to destroy. It was considered so realistic at the time that a version was worked up for the US Army.
Another title that reimagined Space Invaders, Centipede’swormy foes sped across the screen, inconveniently breaking in two when you shot them. The title’s breakneck pace and blink-and-you-die gameplay ensures it holds up today.
Released during the Cold War, Missile Commandtasked players with fending off waves of missile attacks. Chillingly and matter-of-factly stating ‘The End’ instead of ‘Game Over’ summed things up when all your bases were nuked.
More Space Invaders? Yep, but now in a tube and across varied geometric ‘webs’. Creator Dave Theurer’s additions (spikes, smart bombs, varied foes) ramped up the tension. Years later, Jeff Minter remade the game as Tempest 2000– aka the main reason to buy an Atari Jaguar.
Forget your Battlefronts and TIE Fighters (actually, don’t, because they were fab), because this vector classic made you feel like you were right there in the movie, blasting enemies to pieces, and making that famous trench run. “Use the force, Luke!”
The visually spectacular isometric levels in Marble Madnessbring to mind Escher-like landscapes as you attempt to coax your marble along narrow pathways and around plentiful hazards. Terrifyingly, experts can blaze through the entire game in three minutes.
British kids used to wonder what US newspapers were made of when they went through windows in this high-octane arcade game. It remains fun, though, not least when you reach the stunt course at the end of the street.
This dungeon crawler was a rarity at the time, in offering four-player co-op – and ratting you out if you kept shooting or eating all the health-replenishing food. The game itself ate coins, marking the start of pay to play.
- Craig Grannell
The period of 1979 to 1983 remains known as the golden age of arcade video games. The experience of playing games with your friends started here, and some things, like competing for leaderboard high scores, can be attributed to Atari’s lasting influence.
Jun 27, 2022 · It signaled the arrival of a golden age of arcade games, the period between 1978 and 1983 when coin-op video games took off. No Atari coin-op was as big as Space Invaders, or Namco’s Pac-Man...
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Nov 6, 2007 · It was formed by a volcanic eruption about 10,000 years ago, and has since been worshipped as a sacred landmark by the Japanese. In the shadow of that mountain, the people of Japan have played a strategy game named Go for thousands of years. Mount Fuji, taken by Asela Jayarathne.
