Review
Played on: Xbox Series X
Released: 2022
This isn’t a typical review, it’s about a neat package of information and tons of games, with more being added as we speak, rather than highlighting individual titles. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is just what it says on the box, a celebration, not just a collection, but it’s so much of both!
Atari is, despite their fall from dominance, one of the most famous companies in the video game industry. With its timeless logo, in my opinion one of the most iconic for any company, Atari has a strong sense of presence over the industry. Albeit more as a historic name these days.
This isn’t a typical review, it’s about a neat package of information and tons of games, with more being added as we speak, rather than highlighting individual titles. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is just what it says on the box, a celebration, not just a collection, but it’s so much of both!
Atari is, despite their fall from dominance, one of the most famous companies in the video game industry. With its timeless logo, in my opinion one of the most iconic for any company, Atari has a strong sense of presence over the industry. Albeit more as a historic name these days.
Although it’s height of success was way back in the 70s and 80s, through their arcade machines and the massively successful Atari 2600 console, they kept going for years since then. Through many failed consoles, various owners, multiple financial troubles and eventually being bought up and used as a brand name for Infogrames.
These days, the company is back in the US and trying to find its feet again, offering something nostalgic and unique by going back to its roots. From a newly released, HDMI compatible, Atari 2600 to throwback remakes of their most famous titles through the years.
Atari 50 is a celebration and journey through all this. From its humble beginnings with one of the video game industry founders, Nolan Bushnell, right up to its last-ditch effort to remain important in the console business, through the Atari Jaguar in the mid 90s. Right from the title screen to deep dives into individual titles, this collection is a artistically stunning and beautifully presented affair.
Not only do I recommend reading, watching and playing through all the historical timelines, I think it’s mandatory! It will teach you an extremely interesting history of not only Atari, but the industry in general and an insight into understanding why Atari had so much success early on, followed by failure and the difficulty to adapt to Japans rise in the business.
Sure, the video game console wasn't invented by Nolan Bushnell with Atari, that honour goes to Ralph Bear, but it's undeniable that Atari created the industry as a whole. Transitioning from emptying coins out of peoples pockets in arcades, bars and malls with it’s massive arcade cabinet success, only to progress into being the inventor of a standard hardware platform in the shape of the Atari 2600 console with interchangeable cartridges.
These days, the company is back in the US and trying to find its feet again, offering something nostalgic and unique by going back to its roots. From a newly released, HDMI compatible, Atari 2600 to throwback remakes of their most famous titles through the years.
Atari 50 is a celebration and journey through all this. From its humble beginnings with one of the video game industry founders, Nolan Bushnell, right up to its last-ditch effort to remain important in the console business, through the Atari Jaguar in the mid 90s. Right from the title screen to deep dives into individual titles, this collection is a artistically stunning and beautifully presented affair.
Not only do I recommend reading, watching and playing through all the historical timelines, I think it’s mandatory! It will teach you an extremely interesting history of not only Atari, but the industry in general and an insight into understanding why Atari had so much success early on, followed by failure and the difficulty to adapt to Japans rise in the business.
Sure, the video game console wasn't invented by Nolan Bushnell with Atari, that honour goes to Ralph Bear, but it's undeniable that Atari created the industry as a whole. Transitioning from emptying coins out of peoples pockets in arcades, bars and malls with it’s massive arcade cabinet success, only to progress into being the inventor of a standard hardware platform in the shape of the Atari 2600 console with interchangeable cartridges.
Making a hardware standard, selling it into millions and millions of homes and offering hundreds of titles to sell, was not only a financial jackpot but a brand new form of home entertainment. Take a moment to reflect on the Atari 2600 sales: 30 million consoles sold. That is a massive number, higher than famous consoles like the original Xbox, Gamecube, Dreamcast and Saturn.
It can’t be stated enough how revolutionary and pioneering the concept of a standardised hardware platform with cartridges was. Everything we know about video game consoles today has been developed from this concept. Even more interesting are obvious mistakes made at Atari's height of popularity, which seem naive for modern times, weren't obvious faults back then. Nobody knew where or what this new form of home entertainment was heading or becoming.
How do you follow up the first hardware generation? What even was a console generation back then? It didn’t exist and nobody knew how the industry was going to develop. Atari had to brutally navigate it all and find out by themselves, for good or worse.
Presentation in this collection has a distinct, purple neon, arcade vibe for the menus, alongside some beautiful photographs of various Atari hardware pieces, making it stunning to navigate. There are tons of Atari games to try yourself, ranging from arcade, 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar and Lynx versions. Seeing the difference between arcade hardware and home consoles, even back then, is amusing.
Presentation in this collection has a distinct, purple neon, arcade vibe for the menus, alongside some beautiful photographs of various Atari hardware pieces, making it stunning to navigate. There are tons of Atari games to try yourself, ranging from arcade, 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar and Lynx versions. Seeing the difference between arcade hardware and home consoles, even back then, is amusing.
You can watch a handful of video interviews of original Atari creators and developers, explaining how it was back then. The cover arts, game manual artwork are lovely throwbacks to times long since passed, predating my own childhood by a decade.
It’s interesting learning how this massive industry shaped itself, finding out its origins and better understanding how difficult a ship Atari was to navigate through changing times. I can’t recommend this title enough for people interested in history, presented beautifully visually, accompanied by pleasant background music.
It’s interesting learning how this massive industry shaped itself, finding out its origins and better understanding how difficult a ship Atari was to navigate through changing times. I can’t recommend this title enough for people interested in history, presented beautifully visually, accompanied by pleasant background music.
While you'd think its mostly for old Atari fans, it's a fantastic package for newcomers to learn the historic part of how video games became so immensely popular from the very beginning. Plus, there's a ton of games here to just dive straight into if that's more your thing.
