Introduction

As mentioned previously, Frightober died on the vine this year due to unforeseen circumstances. But, we promise to come back bigger and better next year. We also pledge to make Thankful for Gaming bigger than ever this year. I started with comics earlier this weekend. Now, today, I kick off the thankful with Thank you Atari.

Those who spend any time here know that both Chris and I are old men gamers. Me slightly older than him. As a result, I grew up with both the Atari 2600 and 7800 in the house. Whenever I get a new computer, the first thing I do is download the Stella emulator to play those games. A couple of years ago, I bought one of the Retrokin Atari systems. Just this year, I bought one of the 7800+ systems from Atari.

Okay, But, Why?

Aside from the obvious nostalgia and memories that the games bring back, they’re genuinely just fun games. When I first got the Retrokin to work, I spent a good half hour playing Frostbite until I achieved a score of almost 200,000. I then went on to time out in PItfall (something first accomplished while sleeping over my grandmother’s apartment when younger) and beating Superman, a game that I barely played when younger.

Sure, the graphics are terrible and the game play is repetitive. But, that’s why I love these games. You can have your speed runs. I want a good old fashioned high score battle any time. No pause button. Only one button and a joystick. So tests the mettle of a man. Okay, sorry, I got a bit carried away there. But, those are the reasons that I like the games. It takes away all the pomp and circumstance and gives you games stripped down to the simplest terms.

Doesn’t It Get Boring?

Well, sure, of course it does. But, you can say the same about modern games. How many times can you mine for diamonds or beat the other team in Madden by 75 before you walk away from those games? At least, in my case, I have these games to fall back on when the modern game becomes too much to bear.

Additionally, I don’t want to speak out of turn, but how many other systems will have a thriving homebrew community 40 years later? Command such respect that the company updates the software and recreates the hardware for a third generation? Granted, gaming changed and many developers release their own emulators to preserve older games. But, that takes the power out of the hands of the hobby programmers some. Plus, they continually attack those hobbyists and try to enforce decades old copyrights. How much longer until the emulation industry dies altogether?

Thank You Atari

Fun and engaging games that are almost half a century old. Homebrew games by the dozens. New releases even this year by some of the best and brightest programmers from back in the hey day. What more do you need to convince yourself that the answer to “Have You Played Atari Today?” is a resounding yes each and every day?