This week, gamers learned the sad news that Atari filed for bankruptcy in the US. True, most of us likely haven't played an Atari game in decades, but the retro 8-bit look will never go out of style!
Naturally, no one is more upset about this than Conan O'Brien, who'll miss what could've been if Atari had made current pop culture legends into fast-paced games. Watch Harry Potter, Frodo, and James Bond get the pixel treatment below.
Gaming pioneer Atari turns 40 this year and, as icons do, rereleased its greatest hits in honor of the milestone birthday. In the 1970s, Atari was considered an innovator in video gaming technology, and even convinced a young Steve Jobs to work for it in 1974. Stroll down gaming memory lane with Atari Arcade, a website that brings back "all the joy, without the joystick" of classics like Pong, Asteroids, and Centipede — for free.
The catch? Ads, and lots of them. But since the company built the site in partnership with Microsoft, nostalgic gamers who download Internet Explorer can then experience all the glory of Atari ad-free.
Addictive iPhone games are already blamed for missing bus stops, appointments, and growing piles of dirty dishes that never get done, but when you combine the portability of an iPhone and the retro goodness of the Atari, well, that pretty much guarantees that you'll fall behind on all sorts of chores.
Atari's Greatest Hits (Free - $15) is my latest gaming obsession since it brings all my old favorites (classic arcade and 2600 titles) to one device — Centipede, Lunar Lander, Asteroid, and so, so much more, you can download the entire 100 game collection for $15, or buy game packs individually for $1 each. Don't say I didn't warn you about getting addicted.
Although I can keep up with the best of them when it comes to modern warfare games like Gears of War and Halo, being the vintage geek that I am, I can't help but hold my favorite old-school arcade games close to my heart. So even though I can't find Galaga at an arcade within a five-mile walking radius of my apartment (I'd go pretty far to drop a few quarters in that baby), I could play right at home with these Pac-Man and Atari game controllers.
These all-in-one controllers hook right up to your TV and provide hours of arcade gaming entertainment (they each include 10 games or more) for a mere $40. Which, let's face it, would be less than I'd drop at my local Pizza Palace arcade during any given month in the '90s.
Do you remember the Asteroids video game? It's one of the most basic video games ever. The player has to shoot asteroids with his or her tiny spaceship and avoid being smashed. Video games have come a long way since the Asteroids days, and yet some folks in Hollywood are very anxious to bring Asteroids back — in movie form. In fact, Universal just won the rights in a bidding war against three other studios.
Huh?
Maybe there's more to this video game than I can see because it seems like a lot of fighting over something that doesn't really inherently provide a story. Now, Pac Man I could understand. There's romance and dangerous chases! But Asteroids? Huh.
What's the point of just going to Ikea and picking any old wall hanging for your wall, or putting up a generic art print? If you're going to hang art in your home, make it reflect you in some way, and if you're geeky, you can still do it and have a chic home.
Pieces like this Atari hanging, called "Mothership" by Bughouse Art and Design can say geeky without being dorky.
It's decidedly for the vintage geek fan, and has its own look — but is it your look?
Turn the lights on and send yourself back to a simpler time, a time when you only needed a couple of video games to keep you occupied all day and a bunch of black and green squares were considered amazing graphics.
It's all possible with the one-of-a-kind Atari Joystick Lamp, crafted from pine and aspen and costing $100.
The joystick button is also the lamp's on-off switch — brilliant! This would be perfect in a game room, a kids' room, or maybe your room, if you're so inclined.
What do you think?
I've talked about uWink before, the restaurant chain started by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, that combines food, drinks, and media, by offering games, table-to-table tournaments, Internet access, gaming, entertainment and movie trailers to guests.
Listen-up geeks, uWink has just opened its doors at a new location in Mountain View, CA. Here you'll find customers ordering American comfort food via touchscreen terminals that double as multiplayer game consoles, 20 projectors that show everything from eye candy to football games, while wood walls attempt to provide a natural counterpoint to all that tech.
What a perfect combination: Geek capital of the US mixed with geeky restaurant, equals — perfect geek date!
Feast your eyes on this rendition of The Minus World's version of the Grand Theft Auto IV art — done up in classic Atari style! Check out the link for many other versions of modern games made to look like Atari times. They're fun recent vintage, and remind you that as fancy as graphics and storylines get, we'll always love the originals.
What's in the fashion designer water? Something geeky I presume, because first I saw that Space Invaders dress in French Connection (not even ThinkGeek!), then Chanel and Style.com created iPhone apps, and now this: Alice McCall is creating a line for Topshop that will incorporate prints inspired by Atari video games.
It'll premiere September 25th in Topshop stores, and let me tell you I cannot wait to rock my Pong ball gown, mmm kay?
