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Collectors Weekly

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, the toy most coveted by kids was the Atari 2600 Video Computer System. While the graphics seem rudimentary by today’s near photo-realistic 3D gaming standards, when the VCS was released for Christmas of 1977, it was revolutionary to be able to interact with your TV set in such a way.

In fact, Atari set the whole video-game craze in motion with its 1972 coin-operated arcade game Pong. Even though Nutting Associates technically produced the first arcade computer game, 1971’s Computer Space, no one paid attention to this new form of entertainment until the game’s creator, Nolan Bushnell, formed a new company of his own called Atari and released Pong. During the arcade years that followed, Atari made several coin-operated hits: Breakout, Atari Football, Asteroids, Battlezone, Missile Command, Centipede, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Marble Madness, Gauntlet, and even Star Wars.

Atari also did not introduce the first home video-gaming console, but it did make the most successful one of the era. Kids would cram around TVs in rec rooms, fighting over the b...

At the height of its success in 1982, Atari introduced the new 5200 system. Even though the company was advertising its games during prime Saturday morning cartoon time, Atari now faced tough competition from the Commodore 64 and ColecoVision. Atari faded out of fashion by 1985, when the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was introduced.

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Recent News: Atari Video Games

Source: Google News

Atari 2600, la consola que marcó nuestros días
AS (Comunicado de prensa), May 25th

En el año 1977, la empresa creada por Nolan Bushnell, Atari, lanzó al mercado la primera consola con cartuchos intercambiables, sucesora del mítico pong, llamada Atari VSC (Sistema Informático de Vídeo) también conocida popularmente como Atari 2600...Read more

Get Your Business Game On with “The Gamification Revolution”
Small Business Trends, May 25th

Jump to today's gaming environment, where even console games are being challenged (my Atari 2600 is weeping as I write this!);. ”What's more, mobile games, especially social and casual games (like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, and Tiny Wings), are rapidly...Read more

Build An All-In-One Arcade Stick That Works On Multiple Consoles
Lifehacker Australia, May 24th

The process is by no means for amateurs, but Nunez's guide walks you through the process of picking components, soldering and building the case with a CNC mill. The end result is a single arcade stick with outlets that plug into a SNES, NES or Atari 2600...Read more

Report: Atari Seeks to Auction Off Brand, Video Game Business
PC Magazine, May 24th

Dabney in 1972, ushered in the age of arcade and home console gaming with titles like Computer Space, Pong, Asteroids, and Missile Command, as well as dominating the home console market in the late 1970s through the early 1980s with the Atari 2600...Read more

Playing the Past: Pac-Man
Computerandvideogames.com (blog), May 23rd

Zoom By the time Pac-Man found its way to my Atari 2600, the Nintendo Entertainment System was a dominating force in households, while Sega's Master System was putting up an impressive fight of its own. The differences between those systems and the...Read more

All-in-one Atari 2600 controller crafted to curtail retro gaming clutter
Engadget, May 5th

Ahhh, the venerable Atari 2600. The godfather of console gaming has, in recent years, seen a resurgence as a hacker's muse -- mods to its innards and controllers are legion on the web. Recently, a new mod emerged: a controller that combines the...Read more

Halo 2600 Atari Cartridges Available Once Again For $50
Ubergizmo, April 30th

But what if Halo was released on one of the first home video game consoles, the Atari 2600? Would it have been as influential during the video game industry's earlier days? Microsoft's former vice-president of game publishing Ed Fries and a co-creator...Read more

Halo Game for the Atari 2600 Released in Cartridge Form: Combat Devolved
Technabob (blog), April 29th

Back in 2010, Ed Fries – former Vice-President of Game Publishing in Microsoft and one of the co-creators of the Xbox – created a “demake” of Halo for the Atari 2600 called Halo 2600 (Fries also talked about how the project came about on the linked page)...Read more