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A Classic Is Reborn – The Atari 7800+

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Play Like It’s 1986!

Just in case you have been away on Mars or off grid somewhere on Earth, you may have missed the news that (the new) Atari are at it again, mining their legacy IP to create a contemporary product that tugs on retro gamers’ hearts!

This time around, it’s the Atari 7800+, which is based (on looks) on the 7800 console that was released in 1986. The beauty about the 7800 was that it could play both original VCS/2600 and native 7800 game cartridges, and thank heavens, the 7800+ will be able to do the same. However, the 7800+ will have an added advantage by being able to play the newer 2600+ and 7800+ carts as well – how cool is that?!

So fetch your old 2600 and 7800 game carts and get them ready for some action!


source: IGN

Atari VCS: Happy Anniversary!

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Atari_VCS_TitleImagine it is September 11, 1977. If you were living in North America, you may have been lucky enough to receive the console that would transform the video games market forever – the Atari VCS (Video Computer System, later rebadged as the Atari 2600).

On this day (September 11) all those years ago, Atari made history by releasing their Atari VCS console, the first commercially successful home video gaming system. The video games market exploded with the VCS, and then imploded in the early 80s, but we won’t speak of the implosion here. Today is a day we celebrate the Atari VCS, that beautiful wood-veneer machine that brought many a joy at home, with families huddling around their TV in the lounge room to play Space Invaders and Pitfall.

I remember my first memory of the Atari VCS as if it were yesterday. My dad and I were walking along the local shopping strip when I stopped at the electronic retailer’s window TV display to be mesmirised by a little triangle shooting dots at flying rocks. The game was of course Asteroids, and I fell in love with the Atari VCS right then and there. I begged my dad to buy the console, but at $300AUD, the answer was always going to be no. Luckily for me, I had cousins that got the Atari VCS, so I liked visiting them even more than I used to. Ah, to be young again and enjoy the wonders of simple games. What were your first memories of the Atari VCS? – engage with us on Twitter or Facebook!

Well, with 30 million units sold worldwide and a long lifespan (games were being released for the VCS/2600 till 1992!), the Atari VCS built the foundation that latter consoles would stand on and make history for themselves. Happy anniversary, Atari VCS/2600!

Atari_playing

image sources: gamester81 and blacknerdproblems

 

Atari Panther: The Extinct Cat

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In 1988 Atari Corporation’s Jack Tramiel ordered work to begin on the successor to the Atari 7800 and XEGS. Work quickly begun on the Panther and Jaguar consoles – yes, the Jaguar! The Atari Panther was being developed by Flare Technology (Flare One and Konix Multisystem) and was scheduled for release in 1991, directly competing with Nintendo’s SNES and Sega’s Mega Drive.

The Panther platform was going to be a mash up of the Atari ST and Transputer “Blossom” video card, once again blurring the lines of “is it 16 or 32-bit?”. For the record, the Motorola 68000 CPU was going to run at 16MHz (compared to the Mega Drive’s 8MHz and the SNES’ 12MHz) which was going to be paired with a 32-bit graphics card running at a whopping 32MHz! On paper, Atari was doing their math(s) right!

As the Panther and Jaguar were being developed in parallel, Atari Corp. started favouring the Jaguar as it was progressing quickly and presented far more impressive and superior technology. Atari eventually decided to scrap the Panther and forge ahead with their 64-bit console. The cancellation of the Panther meant that Atari had no hardware presence in the home console market between the discontinuation of the Atari 7800 in 1992 and the launch of their Jaguar in 1993. This gap weakened the Atari brand and likely contributed to the failure of the Jaguar console.

The cancellation of the Panther was poor timing, which in retrospect Atari wishes they had pursued it to market, as it would have given both the SNES and Mega Drive one hell of a fight!

The Atari Panther blueprint!

Looking good – front, back with nice sides!

The press release that got us drooling!

image source: Atari-Explorer via Wayback Machine

 

Atari Flashback 7 Console Giveaway Winners

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Our Atari Flashback 7 console giveaway was a huge success! We were inundated with heaps of drool-worthy retro entries, making picking the winners all that more difficult!

We congratulate the winners, Tim Barnett and Daniel Cook for their great retro photo entries. Hope both Tim and Daniel enjoy their Atari Flashback 7 console prize!

If you want to see the other awesome retro pic entries, head on over here.

Winner 1: Tim Barnett:
“This blanket took 400 squares and 5 months for my wife to crochet. That’s retro love!”

Winner 2: Daniel Cook
“The summer of 89/90 – the greatest summer of my life. Where me and my bro would stay up all night spending hours and hours on my newly acquired and much loved Commodore 64. Ahhhh… retro gaming heaven”

“Meanwhile back in the 80s…where a young boy (with his tragic retro haircut) would dream of killing rapidly descending aliens in his sleep” – Daniel Cook

Thanks to our great friends at Five Star Games for supplying the Atari Flashback 7 console prizes!