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Book Review: Atari Inc. – Business Is Fun

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Atari_Inc_Book
source: Atari Book

‘Atari Inc. – Business Is Fun’ documents Atari’s history from its humble beginnings in the early 70s, to its meteoric rise and then, its downward spiral in the 80s. Atari had a big hand in bringing video gaming to the masses, and then almost bringing the same industry to its knees. These events are all retold in exquisite detail.

From its very beginnings, Atari lacked (business) discipline and clear market direction. It is evident from this book, that Atari just wanted to be part of the video games action, no matter what. Co-founder Nolan Bushnell aggressively advanced the company and Atari’s market and popularity grew rapidly. It seemed that Atari could not put a foot wrong – everything they created, from coin operated machines to the Video Computer System (2600) console, turned to gold.

There was a culture of ‘anything goes’ inside Atari, from their weekly staff parties to casual drug taking – it was all about having fun while creating video gaming hardware and software!

Stripping back the myths and misconceptions, this book sets the record straight in what went on behind the scenes at Atari. It wasn’t all glamour and high-fives. The authors spoke to the ‘real’ people at Atari who gave first person accounts of their experiences in the once titan of the video games industry.

The content grips you like a vice and does not let go until you have read every page. There are a few dry chapters where the authors cover the technical details of Atari’s home computer range, but these could be deemed optional for the non-technical reader.

You will be in awe of the people behind Atari and their many creations – which have withstood the test of time (even outlasting the company!). You will also be shocked to read about the back-stabbings, the parties, the drugs, and the backroom wheeling and dealing. I would not be surprised if Hollywood comes knocking on Martin Goldberg and Curt Vendel’s door.

Verdict: With never before seen photos and content exclusively obtained from the people at Atari, this book is a must read for any video games fan, not just Atarians. Buy it now!

Atari Inc. – Business is Fun [by: Goldberg & Vendel] is available in Paperback and Kindle.

 

 

Hot Wheels: Atari Nostalgics

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Hot_Wheels_ausretrogamer

What do you get when you cross an iconic toy car brand with a video gaming icon? You get the awesomely cool and soon to become collectable, Atari Nostalgics Hot Wheels series.

This Hot Wheels series consists of six Atari games inspired vehicles:

  • ’55 Chevy Panel – Tempest
  • Custom ’52 Chevy – Pong
  • ’49 Ford C.O.E. – Breakout
  • GMC Motorhome – Atari 2600
  • Cool One – Centipede
  • Fast Gassin – Missile Command

Hot_Wheels_2a_ausretrogamer

Mattel and Atari have capitalised on the retro gaming movement by creating this range of collectable vehicles. If you were lucky enough to find them all, hold onto them, they will become highly sought after in no time. If you are anything like me, rip them out of their packaging and have some fun!

Hot_Wheels_3_ausretrogamer

 

Competition: Win Atari 2600 Games

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COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED!

In celebration of the new look ausretrogamer.com, we would like to offer you the chance to win these Atari 2600 games: Missile Command, Space Invaders and Freeway.

To enter this competition: email your age, gender, occupation, and the amount of time you spend gaming in a typical week to [email protected] with “A2600 Comp” in the subject line. We won’t pass your information on to anyone else; we just want to know a little bit about our readers. Read our privacy policy here.

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California Games: Fun In The Sun

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CaliGames_Lynx_boxFormat: Atari Lynx
Media: Cartridge
Year: 1989
Developer: Epyx
Publisher: Atari

 

 

Ah California – where the sun always shines, the surfing is great and beach parties rock with scantily clad women with golden tans aplenty. Throw some cool sporting events into a competition and you have yourself some California Games.

If it was one game that Atari was betting on to shift more Lynx units, this one was it – California Games. The Lynx version of Cali Games turned out a bit different from its console and home computer counterparts. Firstly, the number of events was cut down to four: BMX, Half Pipe, Surfing and Footbag. Secondly, the BMX and Surfing events were tweaked for the Lynx screen which actually made them quite enjoyable to play.  Thirdly, you could not pick your sponsor (oh no, I wanted Santa Cruz boards!). Lastly, gone were the earthquakes, the taunting dolphin and the menacing shark with sunglasses.

Now, I know what you are thinking, what the hell is left in this Lynx version of California Games! Relax, chill out like a real West Coaster. This game is so awesome, I would recommend you to get a Lynx just to play it. The learning curve to play the events is quite easy, with the half pipe event being the most difficult to get used to out of the four. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of playing California Games, let’s run through the event playbook:

Cali_Games_BMX_ausretrogamer

BMX – Ride your bike on the stunt course strewn with obstacles and get to the finish line before the timer runs out. The more stunts performed and the faster you hit that finish line, the better your score. If you keep on crashing on the way to the finish line, the event spits you out.

Cali_Games_Half-Pipe_ausretrogamer

Half Pipe – grab your board and hit the half pipe to build up your momentum. Once you have some speed, hit each ramp with some cool tricks to gain points.

Cali_Games_Surfing_ausretrogamer

Surfing – my personal favourite of all the events. Surfing was changed on this version to riding the wave from ‘right to left’ – this actually breathed a new life to this event, as I was never crazy about surfing on the console versions. You earn points by staying ahead of the wave and getting airborne to perform (multiple) spins. Yes, I can do quadruple spins – that is a 1440! Oh yeah  you must land the board on the wave at an angle that won’t see you diving into the surf.

Cali_Games_Footbag_ausretrogamer

Footbag – or hacky sack. The premise is simple, keep the bag off the ground by kicking, kneeing or head-butting it in the air. Earn extra points by spinning around while the bag is in the air or by hitting George. Who is George you ask ? He is the friendly seagull that you hit as he flies across the top of the screen. Luckily animal welfare groups were cool about knocking off seagulls back in 1989.

The challenge of each event is always to beat your (or your friends) high score. The only way to achieve a higher score is to nail the timing in each event. Get the timing wrong, and not only does your score suffer, the game also humiliates you with light hearted quips. Thankfully, these were left in the Lynx game.

So there you have it – four obscure events that are quite enjoyable to play. If you have a Lynx, California Games is a mandatory addition to your games library.

Graphics Awesome detail and animation in all events. This game shows off the power of the Lynx

92%
Sound Simply awesome and ambient tunes for each event. The sound effects are just so sweet too

92%
Playability Four distinct events which will keep you on your toes

94%
Lastability Single or multi player, this game is built to be replayed so those high scores and records can be broken

95%
Overall The perfect mix of variation, challenge, enjoyment and fun.

93%

 

Video Games Graveyard

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Survival of the fittest or just plain bad business decisions. Just as Betamax was left in the wake of the VHS behemoth,  the video games market is strewn with carcasses of systems and games that just never made it.

Jaguar

Some of history’s most spectacular gaming console flops come from two of the industry’s heavy hitters, Atari and Sega. The hardware manufacturing death knell was getting quite loud at Atari – they decided to throw in the towel and quit making games consoles after the Atari Jaguar was caught in the crossfire of the Sega versus Nintendo battle of the 1990s. The Jaguar was rushed to market and suffered the consequences. Selling fewer than 250,000 units just wasn’t going to cut it. Perhaps Atari should have done the math (get it!) before they embarked on the Jaguar.

dreamcast-console_arg

A few years after Atari ceased making hardware, it was Sega’s turn to wave the console making white flag. Once a pillar of the video games console industry, Sega’s Dreamcast was met with initial enthusiasm but Sega also abandoned making consoles after the Dreamcast was smashed by the new kid on the block, Sony’s PlayStation 2.

Atari_ET_arg

As for gaming flops, Atari’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial takes the gong. The game was rushed (it took 5 weeks to develop) to retail stores for the 1982 Christmas season but was such a disappointment, that millions of unsold game cartridges ended up in landfill in the New Mexico desert. Atari ordered more E.T. cartridges to be made than there were installed Atari VCS 2600 units! Again, Atari should have DONE THE MATH.



Top 5 Games Charts: March 1981

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Let’s rewind back to March 1981, dead smack in the middle of a thriving arcade age and a killer home console scene. These were heady times for Atari – they were dominating the arcades and the home video games market.

To find out what we were playing as youngsters, here are the top 5 games from March 1981 for the Atari 2600, Arcade and the venerable Game & Watch.

 Atari2600 1) Dragster (Activision)
2) Pele’s Soccer (Atari)
3) Video Pinball (Atari)
4) Fishing Derby (Activision)
5) Golf (Atari)

 

 galaga_arcade_machine 1) Pac-Man (Namco)
2) Missile Command (Atari)
3) Battlezone (Atari)
4) Defender (Williams Electronics)
5) Space Panic (Universal)

 

 GandW 1) Fire (Nintendo)
2) Manhole (Nintendo)
3) Helmet (Nintendo)
4) Vermin (Nintendo)
5) Flagman (Nintendo)

 

Best-Selling Video Game Consoles: 1972 to 2002

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Atari2600       NES       SMD

Do you remember those school-yard arguments you used to have with your friends about which video game console was better: Atari vs Intellivision or Sega vs Nintendo ?
Finally, you can check out the best-selling video game consoles from 1972 to 2002 figures below and put an end to those endless arguments – or will this just reopen old wounds ?  [Read more…] about Best-Selling Video Game Consoles: 1972 to 2002

Interview With A Retro Gamer

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Hey guys, Nintendo Legion here. My friend, ausretrogamer, whom I met via twitter, has been nice enough to welcome me into his home, to play his many many games and was gracious enough to be grilled for an impromptu interview. The interview for me was to get to know him better, and hopefully, you will too. [Read more…] about Interview With A Retro Gamer