We celebrate Ataris anniversary twice
For those who love video games, 2022 is especially significant. The June 27 Atari , the company on which the industry w erected, turned 50 . But today, September 11, the VCS console, the mythical Atari 2600, celebrates 45 . Double celebration to mark with gold letters the beginning of everything and the good health of video games in the 21st century.
While we have precedents in Ox (1952), Tennis for Two (1956), Space war (1962) or the _in-inspired game, for this, the Computer Space (1971) of Nolan Bushnell himself, it is until the arrival of Pong to the market in 1972 that begins to form and develop an industry. So Atari , a company founded by Bushnell and Ted Disney **, with its successful recreational under the arm, is a good starting point to place the year zero of the interactive medium we know it today.
On the other hand, in a matter of consoles with interchangeable game cartridges, although the first remarkable attempt came from the hand of Ralph Beyer with Magnate Odyssey (which allowed us to enjoy multiple ways of the game that inspire pong), the domestic market does not shoot until the arrival of the Atari 2600 on September 11, 1977 . Very limited at the hardware level even for the time, through its circuits they psed authentic clsics between originals and adaptations for recreational. Yes Steve Jobs had been in charge of programming that great idea of Bushnell that w Breakout, in the VCs we had, among others, a handful of wonders created by Whitehead, Crane, Miller and Kaplan, The Fanttic Four that would found in parallel during those years Activision .
Compilations to enjoy the Atari catalog today
We have for a long time Atari Flhback Clsics, a magnificent compilation of 150 Atari titles, both from Arcade and the different iterations of its domestic consoles. At the beginning accessible in several packages, in switch for example we could get it in a single block. There are games in that compilation that we will endure only a few seconds, leaving its presence for pure historical pleure, but it is incredible to verify how there is a good handful of titles that endure the guy even today. This is the ce of the same Breakout, Centipede, Missile Command or Tempest (in its recreational version, which is far on domestic, also included in the collection).
The compilation includes a digital manual of each game, and we are incredible surprises such the inclusion of the comics of 50 pages in full color (with proper names such Roy Thom, George Pérez and Dick Giordano) that accompanied the three games of Earth world . We miss everything, we must say it, archive material that does justice to the tremendous importance of Atari in the history of video games, something that seems to have been solved in the surprising compilation that is about to arrive at the occion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary: Atari 50 The Anniversary Celebration . We leave you with the trailer. Attentive to the comments commented and the surprising list of the games that are included.
To close this section, we cannot fail to mention the mini replica of the arcade of Pong, or the also mini Atari Flhback, replica of the VCS console, with wireless joysticks and more than 100 games inside. The faithful version of VCS to mount that Lego puts on sale a celebration of the 45th anniversary of the mythical console is also a delight. All these proposals are jewels for inveterate brand fans in particular and video games in general.
Books where to find Atari’s logo
Being a strut from where the video game industry is born and developed, we can read about Atari in any encyclopedic book focused on the interactive environment. In our opinion, three of the most important would be High Score! (2002, Ruse Maria and Johnny I. Wilson), although today it is difficult to find; The great history of video games (although its original publication w in 2001, did not reach Spain until 2016) and Replay (2018).
Already specific books we have the essential The art of Atari (2017, Tim Latino). In a large format, hard and full color, it is the first compilation of the wonderful covers made for four decades of games, in some laps ceded for the occion by private collections and museums. Not only does it stay there, also deepen pages and pages in the history of the company founded by Nolan Bushnell.
The story of Atari: Video Computer System (2018, José Manuel Fernández Spider), Atria contribution that includes exclusive statements of Bushnell, falters in its brief historical part, but shines in the compilation of advertising of the time and, attentive, in its review for the entire VCS catalog. Of standard size, hardcover, profusely documented and illustrated in full color, the story of Atari is revealed essential consultation material.
Beyond the theoretical, Atari is also the object of fiction, more specifically of science fiction bed on virtual reality. The novel I give you the end of the world (2020) shows the blades and the pong ball from the same cover. With quotes to Nolan Bushnell (a main character bears his name) and the comic of the 80 Atari Force , highlights that the original arcade furniture of the tennis game is the crucial element to reveal the mystery that the plot hides. In it, set at the end of this century, Atari are considered the founding parents, and their logo is respected and venerated worldwide.
We say goodbye here but before wishing that Atari’s name is still remembered forever. We owe it so much. That he continues to turn years and, of course, that we all see it. Long live video games, live Atari.