MetaFilter posts tagged with videogames and atari

Play 5,000+ classic video games in your browser

Rhaomi — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:12:22 -0800

TheSmartAss.info's suite of Java emulators allows smooth, in-browser playback of literally thousands of old-school video games: 517 Atari titles, 148 for DOS, 636 Game Boy games (and 410 for Game Boy Color), 2,019 (!) NES titles, 238 GameGear games, 802 Sega Genesis titles, and 284 for the Sega Master System. Highlights include Space Invaders, Frogger, Galaga, Pitfall!, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, SimCity, Zero Wing, Duke Nukem, Sonic the Hedgehog, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, Pokemon, and Metal Gear Solid. Use the search function to find your favorites! You can also register an account to save games on emulators that support it. Make sure to check the purple bar below each game for control info and links to alternate emulators in case the default one is buggy or slow.

Clickin' it old-school

jbickers — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:30:29 -0800

The newly launched Atari.com includes the Atari Arcade, wherein you may play Adventure, Asteroids, Battlezone, Crystal Castles, Lunar Lander and Yars' Revenge in your browser.

Where did you learn to fly?

joedan — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:45:25 -0800

"So why bring up this sore spot in 2009, roughly 16 years after the Jaguar's ill-fated launch? Because as an artifact of video game history, the Jaguar speaks volumes about where we've been, where we are, and where we're going." Linking the past, present, and future: The Atari Jaguar as console artifact Buying the Jaguar at launch was, without a shadow of a doubt, the single worst gaming decision I ever made. I still have it. I keep it in its box. I left the $250 Walden Software price tag on it, as a reminder to never buy into PR hype.

The Chuck E. Cheese Ouroboros

batmonkey — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:33:36 -0800

In 1977, Nolan Bushnell allowed Gene Landrum to bring Chuck E. Cheese [yt] to life as a family-friendly access point to Atari games. This, perhaps, explains the pizza. During a search for a unique attraction, Bushnell offended Aaron Fletcher. They then lost a potential major investor, Bob Brock, who was more impressed by Fechter's animatronic wizardry - or put off by the mascot: a giant rat [yt]. Brock instead created the competition, Showbiz Pizza Place*, which would soon surpass and absorb Chuck E. Cheese...by uniformly converting into CEC restaurants or closing completely. The ascendancy of the rat [.pdf] hasn't been without challenges and scandals, though. The effects of alcohol on adults and the child-filled environment have proven to be a contentious combination [nws; yt], leading to some changes and criticism**. While the germ issue may be overblown, it's true that the toys aren't the safest. Skeeball might lead to video poker. Chuck might be pro-military. The food [yt; 1:03] isn't the healthiest. And, most worrisomely, their Child Check program doesn't always work. Probably no killer gnats, though. And at least the condoms are unused. Despite bitter [nws], sometimes even frothing [nws], post-childhood assessments [nws] by the disillusioned and jaded, CEC/SPP [yt] speculation, collecting, monetisation, and inspiration*** abound. Some wonder [nws] if there's anything in it for the legendarily* disaffected [yt], long-suffering [yt] employees...beyond the shenanigans of their infamous, self-important, clueless and sometimes plain ol' famous patrons. Selling tokens to the nostalgic, maybe? It's surely not Chuck. Maybe General Tommy Franks (yes, that one) can turn it around. How the rat will come off in Leonardo DiCaprio's upcoming film is uncertain, but it looks like Gene will be just fine, regardless. [previously: *SPP/RAE post; **WSJ CEC violence article; ***Aaron Fletcher & Chris Thrash (update); Clapton @ CEC; shifting demographics?]

The End of a Videogame Era

empath — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:10:23 -0800

The video games of the 1983 Sears Wishbook

Homesoft's Disk Images of Atari 8-bit Games

milquetoast — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:55:40 -0800

Homesoft's Disk Images. 354 disks full of 8-bit Atari games. Click on game titles for s c r e e n s h o t s. The links section is a good source for all your Atari emulation needs.

1981 Atari Catalog

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:09:25 -0800

It's the 1981 Atari product catalog!

You are not yet enlightened, Inky-san.

JHarris — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:57:41 -0800

Retro Sabotage is a collection of recreations of classic video games. Or is it? Hint: It's not, but to explain them would be to spoil it. If a button needs to be pressed, it's the space bar unless it's explained otherwise. My advice is to try the Pac-Man and Space Invaders ones first, but Pong 2.0 is a highlight.

The Ultimate Search for the Ultimate Treasure

Durhey — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 16:25:13 -0800

In the ancient year 1982, Atari tried an unusual promotion strategy for their SwordQuest series of games. Using clues found in the included comic books, players competed for a chance to win actual jewel-encrusted treasures [geocities link] worth tens of thousands of dollars apiece. The competitions for the first two titles (Earthworld and Fireworld) were held, and the winners took home their gaudy prizes, but then came the infamous console crash. The third contest (Waterworld) was cancelled, the fourth game (Airworld) was never officially produced, the promotion was called off, and to this day, no one knows for certain the fate of the remaining treasures.

Jumping up and down on one foot would be more fun than this.

Meredith — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 16:22:40 -0800

Children review classic games- some more. Back in November '03, 1up.com rounded up some kids from the 8-12 age range and had them play video and arcade games from the 70's and 80's, including Pong, Donkey Kong, and Tetris. The resulting commentary was mostly along the lines of "Tim: They could've just as easily called this game anything—Baseball, Bowling, Escape From the Monsters. EGM: Did you score? Kirk: I bumped into a dot." In December 2004 they brought them back to review Mike Tyson's Punch-Out and the 1983 Arcade version of Star Wars, among others. "EGM: What do those TIE Fighters look like? ...Are they scary? Anthony: No. It feels like they're trying to give me flowers."

Catheter not required

cedar — Sun, 04 Apr 2004 12:58:36 -0800

Asteroids marathon. Twenty-seven hours of game play and it's only good for fifth place. "In the history of recorded video game world records, no other record is as unique as that on the classic Atari game 'Asteroids' according to the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard. And the reason for that is simple. It is the oldest, unbeaten world record in our database, after more than 22 years of compiling and tracking world records on classic arcade, home console, pinball, hand-held and PC-based titles."

patrickje — Mon, 13 May 2002 17:10:47 -0800

Interested in video game emulators? Yearning for the games of yesteryear? There is probably an emulator for any 'classic' game that you could wish to play. General arcade emulators, SNES, NES, Genesis, Atari 2600, et al. For the truly curious, listen to the story of the emulator that almost was, Silhouette, the emulator Nintendo almost released.

tweebiscuit — Mon, 09 Jul 2001 10:29:39 -0800

Get your Atari 2600 fix on the go! With six models, it beats the Game Boy Advance by a mile! Unfortunately, they're handmade and the backlog is fifty units long, so more impatient retro-gamers might want to stick with a Sega Nomad.

bison — Mon, 14 May 2001 07:53:11 -0800

Yar's revenge: Mom plays video game with kids. Back when gaming companies advertised on TV, Atari was king.

kokogiak — Mon, 12 Mar 2001 11:35:55 -0800

All you ever wanted to know about Pong, but were afraid to ask. Okay, I had no idea - none - that Pong has such a long, involved history. I'd always seen it encapsulated as a two- or three- generation buildup to the Atari 2600 home machine. David Winter has exhaustively researched the life & times of Pong (Internationally) for those interested.

RakDaddy — Tue, 26 Sep 2000 15:57:15 -0800

And you thought the 2600 was dead... no way, baby. It's alive and kicking and oh-so-groovy. (Warning: link leads to big ass movie. Slow connections beware.)

plinth — Tue, 15 Aug 2000 13:35:54 -0800

Atari Confidential Design Documents Now you too can read the hardware specification for Gauntlet. Add a C compiler or assembler and a dash of MAME and you can write your own game.