Atari has announced that their Wider World of Atari DLC for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is out?? in a few days. It launches on September 26. 

We still don’t know what games are going to be in the DLC. The information we have says it, “Includes 19 playable games and eight video segments in a complet??ely new timeline.�Past Zoey had some good predictions for what was going to be included, but present Zoey is kind of out of it and can’t use her whole brain. Present Zoey needs to take a nap. However, YouTuber MetalJesusRocks will be revealing the games the day before on September 25.

As a reminder, this is the first of two DLC packs that are expanding Digital Eclipse’s Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. The other is titled The First Console War, and releases November 8, 2024. That one will include games from the Intellivision library, as well as Atari. It’s an interesting inclusion for an Atari celebration collection, but th?e company did just buy up Intellivision’s back catalog and brand (not the Intellivision Amico, fortunately).

Atari 50 is already one of the best game collections, as it includes both behind-the-scenes information to give context to the games, and the games themselves. An Atari 2600 game can be very underwhelming on its own, but the information behind them give new value to them. Atari 50 became the blueprint for Digital Eclipse’s “Gold Masters�series, which includes The Making of Karateka and Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story, which are both great in their own right.

The Wider World of Atari DLC for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration arrives on September 26, 2024. The games in the DLC will be announced on September 25. Finally, The First Console War DLC is out November 8.

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Atari has announced that the interactive documentary, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, will be getting an upgraded version later this year titled Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition. It will at 39 new games under two new “timeline�he?adings and will also be available as DLC fo??r existing owners.

I will answer the question that will be on most people’s mind first: we aren’t yet being told what will be included in the 39 new games. It sounds like Berzerk will be one of them, and M Network sports games are mentioned. There's also an art card for Atari Video Cube in the Steelbook edition. Aside from that, ??they aren’t naming names.

The first new timeline is called “The Wider World of Atari.�It includes �9 playable games and eight video segments, takes a series of deep dives ??into stories from Atari history, showing how Atari continued to influence creators and? fans over the decades.�That’s pretty cool, since Atari has a dedicated and passionate fanbase. It’s nice that they’re willing to work with them.

The second is “The First Console War,�and concentrates on the battle between the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision. They say it will include “a mix of Atari and M Network sports games, and some rare Atari 2600 and 5200 prototypes.�/p>

If you aren’t savvy (and I wouldn’t blame anyone who isn’t), M Network was Mattel’s publishing label for Atari consoles. Mattel had its own console, the Intellivision, but it still published games for the Atari 2600 on its own cartridges. When they mention “M Network sports games,�there were, to my knowledge, only three: International Soccer, Super Challenge Football, and Super Challenge Baseball.

Most excitingly, beyond just including new games, both new timelines also add new interviews and historical documents. That’s really what makes the Atari 50 compilation so worth checking out. It gives a deep look into a period of video game history that isn’t as well-documented. With Atari recently having purchased the Intellivision brand and catalog, incorporating some of that into the ongoing collection is a pretty great way to leverage that.

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition is coming as a new release for PC and consoles. The PS5 and Switc??h will get new physical releases, with the Switch also getting a limited edition Steelbook edition. The additional timelines will also be offered to existing owners as DLC.

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[Update: Now that the update is out today, we have a list?? of all the games that are going to be part of it:

• Adventure II (homebrew) 2600
• Bowling 2600
• Double Dunk 2600
• Maze Craze 2600
• Miniature Golf 2600
• MotoRodeo 2600
• Aquaventure (prototype) 2600
• Save Mary (prototype) 2600
• Super Football 2600
• Return to Haunted House (homebrew) 2600
• Circus Atari 2600
• Warbirds Lynx

That's quite the assortment. Two titles are homebrew, two are prototypes that have now been released elsewhere, a bunch of them are actually pretty awful, and one of them is Warbirds on Lynx. I hope there is some supplemental behind-the-scenes information on Miniature Golf. Our original story follows.]

Atari has announced that 2022’s Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration will be getting free updates, starting with one on December 5th. What kind of updates? The best kind. ??The collection is getting more games.

Atari 50 isn’t just another compilation of Atari’s old games. As the name implies, it’s a celebration of them, providing deep background information through interviews and behind-the-scenes documents. It was Digital Eclipse’s first test run of the absolutely incredible foundation of the Golden Masters series that started with The Making of Karateka. Th??is may sound like a lot of marketing-friendly hyperbole, but as someone who loves game history and preservation, I find the?se collections to be transformative. I am sincerely enthusiastic about it.

The first update will be bringing 12 additional Atari 2600 games, which may not sound too exciting, but it’s stated to have “a mix of prototypes, homebrews, and official titles.�Assuming they don’t mean just Save Mary and Berzerk Enhanced Edition a?longside 10 of the system’s many dregs, that’s pretty exciting. Sort of. Another suite of Jaguar and Lynx games would grab me a little tighter.

I'm also not sure why they didn't just tell us wh?at the 12 games are.

The business of retro

But that might still happen! Atari says that this update is “the first of many planned by Atari and its partner in video game preservation Digital Eclipse.�And furthermore, these games will come with all the behind-the-scenes interviews and concept art that is expected from the collection. The press release does not confirm that future updates will be free. It seems li??ke it suggests that they will be, but that’s just me speculating on it.

This follows news that Atari is acquiring Digital Eclipse. The new direction of Atari involves looking at its back catalogue through new lenses. For me personally, I think it’s pretty cool. I’m not all that interested in playing Adventure again, but if I can learn some his??tory in the process, I suddenly have a new app??reciation for it.

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is available on PC, Switch, Xbox One??, Xbox Series?? X|S, PS4, and PS5. The title update will be available for free on December 5, 2023.

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