Atari has announced that they are bringing the PC classic mega-hit RollerCoaster Tycoon to Switch on December 5. RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic will contain both the first game, its immediate sequel. I’m going to assume it also has the second game’s expansions, Wacky Worlds and Time Twister, but the PR doesn’t say it. Uh, yep. Says so on the store page.

It’s funny timing. My sister texted me the other day telling me that my nephew has a new interest in roller coasters and asked if I had any recommendations for one on Switch or iOS. I recommended RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete on Switch, but now that the original is coming I�probably still would recommend RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete. He’s 12, he d?oes??n’t care about the real classics. Yet.

I actually spent a lengthy amount of time in the late �0s playing RollerCoaster Tycoon. It’s one of the rare times my parents bought me a PC game (they were afraid I’d fill up the “memory,�which I probably would have). I remember quite a few mornings being vegetative in front of the screen. It’s also the game that taught me the word “queue.�I still play it occasionally, but did you know Parkitect is a pretty great successor?

RollerCoaster Tycoon is a management game where you’re given the task of building and running amusement parks. It’s a lot like Theme Park, but much deeper and with a set of tools that allow you to design your own roller coasters. It was programmed by the legendary Chris Sawyer and is interesting in the convincing way it simulates physics, right down t??o the G-force that the passengers are feeling. It was initially released in 1999, but the only place you can feel that beyond the graphics are in how slow it can sometimes feel to progress.

Each area you build on has an objective to complete, w??hich is usually “Have so many people in the park�and “have this park rating�in a set number of years. You have to not only manage how profitable you rides and stalls are, but also your reputation. If you kill a bunch of people on a poorly conceived ride, some will be hesitant to visit. My favorite was creating one of those drop towers with too short of a shaft and cranking up the thrust to send the riders screaming into space.

As for how it will adjust to console controllers. According to Atari, “Our partners at Graphite Lab did an amazing job translating RCT Classic’s detailed keyboard-based controls to controller input.�I can see it working fun, since it’s grid-based. The only thi?ng I’m having trouble imagining is the terrain deformation tools that allow you to grab and raise specific corners of a tile. We’ll see, I guess.

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic is coming to Nintendo Switch on December 5, 2024 for $24.99.?? It is currently available on PC and mobile platforms.

The post RollerCoaster ?Tycoon Classic is coming to Nintendo S?witch in December appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has announced that they’ve acquired Chris Sawyers�1994 DOS hit Transport Tycoon. That is to say, they’ve bought the property. Although, since the game is largely unavailable aside from the free OpenTTD fan source port, it would be?? a feat in itself to purchase it.

This is a move that makes sense. Atari already licenses Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Chris Sawyer has kept a working relationship with the company, even back when they were terrible, and even after a 2005 lawsuit. Atari recently bought a large portion of Microprose’s back catalog and is resurrecting the brand as a publishing label. It would make sense that they’d want Transport Tycoon, and that Chri??s Sawyer would be willing to sell it to them.

I haven’t personally played Transport Tycoon, but I’m aware of its impact. I’m also aware of Chris Sawyer’s technical mastery in the �0s. Guy’s a legend, but I mostly know him from Roller Coaster Tycoon and Frontier: First Encounters. I could also play OpenTTD, an open-source port of Transport Tycoon Deluxe, at any time since it’s available for free.

Speaking of OpenTTD being free, I have to wonder what Atari plans on doing with the property. The press release only says, “Atari will seek to expand digital and physical distribution, potentially develop new titles or content, and explore brand and merchandising collaborations as part of a long-term plan to preserve and expand this classic sim.�Maybe they’ll work with the community to port OpenTTD to consoles (I highly doubt they’d try and hamper the fans working o?n it), or perhaps they’ll port the Saturn/PS1 version of it. One thing I do know for sure is that there will probably be T-shirts with a high p?robability of mugs and hats, as well.

Atari has done a lot to transform its image from a reviled publisher responsible for things like Asteroids: Outpost and Haunted House: Cryptic Graves to one that pays greater respect to its stable of IPs. They’ve bought up remaster houses Nightdive Studios and Digital Eclipse. As cynical as I am, their efforts seem very earnest. It all seems like way too much effort to just be in it for the money. Four years ago, I would have told you it would never happen, but here it is. Now we get to wait and see what they do with Transport Tycoon.

The post Roller Coaster Tycoon progenitor Transport Tycoon acquired by Atar??i appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has revealed Fatal Run 2089, a very late sequel to the very late 1990 game Fatal Run. More importantly, I don’t remember the last time I played a decent, new vehicular combat game. Maybe Gas Guzzlers Extreme or Carmageddon: Max Damage. ??Quite a drought in games about stapling miniguns to station wagons.

Fatal Run was a very latterday game for the Atari 2600 and 7800. As such, it was pretty much unknown to anyone outside the core fanbase of those consoles until its inclusion in the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. That’s when I played it, and while the 2600 version just feels significant for the way it translated the game to well-fermented hardware, the?? 7800 ver?sion was fun. Of course, as a fan of raster racing games and car combat, I was set.

Fatal Run 2089 looks pretty fun. It’s running on Unreal Engine 5, but I wouldn’t have guessed that. It has the grungy metal look and simple terrain of an Unreal Engine 3 title. However, it does have it where it counts, by which I mean when you land a jump, the camera shakes to make it seem like your car is very heavy. Like in Burnout 3 or Split/Second.

There are corkscrews, 20 tracks, and I spy boss vehicles. The press release promises “branching paths, hidden shortcuts, and explosive set pieces that keep every run intense and unpredictable.�There are seven vehicles, four bosses, and you can upgrade your vehicle b?y picking up (in-game) currency.

Fatal Run 2089 is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Swit??ch (?) and PC sometim?e in 2025.

The post Fatal Run 2089 revives the Atari 7800 c??lassic, ?also vehicular combat appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has surprise-dropped Mega Cat Studios' Food Fight: Culinary Combat on Steam today. Previously, the title was only available on Atari’s own VCS console.

Food Fight: Culinary Combat is an arena shooter take on the classic Food Fight arcade game. Th?ere’s local and online multiplayer, four modes, six m??aps, and even split-screen.

Strangely, a lot of the marketing information focuses on what goes around the multiplayer itself. There’s an Atariverse hub where you can talk to characters from other games and the creators of the original Food Fight. You can a?lso find circuit boards to unlock Atari arcade games, and more cosmetic items for cha??racter customization. Which sounds rad, but I still don’t know much about how the game actually plays. 

The four game modes are Buffet? Brawl, King of the Cone, Cookie Collector, and Crumbling, which aren’t very descriptive names. The Steam listing has a tag for PvE, which is suggested in the trailer but not in the store blurb.

Atari fans seem to look favorably on the VCS version. The most signif??icant complaint I could find was that, because the VCS is a US-only console and it has a s??mall userbase, it was sometimes difficult to find people to play with. Hopefully, with the Steam release, things will be more lively.

Food Fight: Culinary Combat is now availa??ble for the Atari VCS and PC. Console versions are planned.

The post Atari VCS timed exclusive Food Fig??ht: Culinary Combat arrives on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has announced that they’ve acquired the Surgeon Simulator franchise under its Infogrames label. The press release suggests that this was done through an agreement with publisher TinyBuild rather than the original developer, Bossa Studios. TinyBuild purchased the IP in 2022.

The original Surgeon Simulator made a sizeable splash when it was released in 2013. Similar to Octodad or QWOP, it focuses on the humorous mishaps that happen when an over-detailed and inaccurate physics simulation is applied to a concept that requires fine motor skills. It wound up in?spiring a wave of similar “simulator�concepts in the indie sphere.

This was followed in 2020 by Surgeon Simulator 2, which doesn’t seem to have been as popular with players. It focuses on multiplayer and has a campaign�I didn’t? play it, if it’s not obvious. Having a multiplayer focus is a quick way to get me to s??kip over a game.

I did, however, play the original back when it was still called Surgeon Simulator 2013. It’s not really surprising to me that a sequel wasn’t as well received. The central concept is a lot of fun, and it’s still for a while, but it’s very one-dimensional. The joke is only funny for so long.? I tried replaying it later and found that I was too adept at it for it to actually be entertaining anymore.

On that note, I’m not sure what Atari/Infogrames plans to do with it. It’s rather similar to their purchase of Totally Reliable Delivery Service, which had also been published by TinyBuild. The press release says, “Infogrames will seek to expand distribution, potentially develop new titles or content, and explore brand and merchandising collaborations as part of a long-term plan to preserve and expand the franchise.�/p>

Oka?y. I guess?? we’ll potentially see more titles or t-shirts.

The post Atari continues to buy things, acquires ?t?he Surgeon Simulator IP appeared first on Destructoid.

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 game??s under two new “timeline�headings and will also be available as DLC for 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 a??ren’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, showi??ng how Atari continued t??o 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 Switch 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.

The post Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration?? Expanded Edition is adding 39 new games to the interactive documentary appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari and Wayforward have announced that Yars Rising, a spin-off/reimagining of the 1981 Atari 2600 title, Yars�Revenge h??as a release date of Sept??ember 10, 2024. They’ve also released a new trailer that covers the gameplay in better detail.

Announced back in April, Yars Rising is a gated exploration (Metroidvania) game that bases itself on Yars�Revenge. It’s a weird way to reimagine a fixed-screen shooter from the early days of home games. While the initial trailer didn’t really show much relation to the original beyond some visual references, both the demo and the trailer show a more distinct link. I’m talking about the hacking mini-games that are essentially new configurations of the classic Yars�Revenge gameplay.

It’s a better trailer overall, though I’m still not sold on the aesthetic. I say that as someone who actually likes Yars�Revenge. However, Joseph Luster tried ??out the demo and came to the same conclusion that he’s curious, but not wild about the game. I’m just not seeing m?uch of a hook here.

Yars Rising still fits into Atari’s business model of adapting old licenses into smaller-budget games. So far, a lot of what I’ve experienced from the initiative is solid but unremarkable. However, with the resurrection of the Infogrames label and Nightdive and Digital Eclipse at their side, they aren’t restricting themselves to one strategy. It’s a lot better than what we had a decade ago when they last tried to resurrect Yars Revenge and Star Raiders.

Yars�Rising will b??e released for Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC on S?eptember 10, 2024.

The post Atari and Wayforward’s Yars Rising is out in September and looks slightly more Yar appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari announced today t??hat they have acquired the brand of one of their formal rivals, Intellivision, as well as certain games. I know what you’re thinking, but the beleaguere??d Amico wasn’t part of the deal. That legacy lives on.

Let grandma tell you a story (this is actually before my time, as well, whippersnapper.) While it’s generally remembered that the Atari 2600 dominated the early days of consoles, it wasn’t the only one on the market (or the first). During its heyday, it went up against a few competing consoles like the Fairchild Channel F and Magnavox Odyssey 2. But ?none came closer to threatening its dominance like Mattel’s Intellivision. Things were looking good for Mattel Electronics when the bottom fell out of the video game market in the Crash of 1983. Things were so dire that Mattel sold the Intellivision brand. 

Then, in 2018, the rights were picked up by Tommy Tallarico to create the new console, the Intellivision Amico. It was a catastrophe and it isn’t even technically out yet. You can still pre-order it if you, for some reason, want to. Maybe the money from the Atari deal will finally be what gets it ??out the door.

The Amico will remain with its parent company (currently Intellivision Entertainment), but both company and hardware will be renamed to remove the Intellivision branding. It will also include “a license from Atari to continue to distribute new versions of the Intellivision games on the Amico console.�/p>

Atari will get ?the rights to use the Intellivision name, as well as over 200 titles that belonged to the company.

This is an interesting but somewhat unsurprising move by Atari. The company is pushing with a retro-first strategy, releasing new versions of classic hardware and bringing in remaster studios like Nightdive and Digital Eclipse. They’ve been using the licenses in their portfolio to create new low-budget titles like Sneakybox’s Recharged series. Buying the Intellivision rights gives them more option??s for both hardware and software.

Atari has also released T-shirts to celebrate the occasion?, because merch??andising is another piece of the company’s strategy.

The post Too late for the first console wars, Atari ??acquires Intellivision appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has announced that Headless Chicken Games' NeoSprint, the successor to the classic-ish arcade series that I always get confused with Super Off-Road, will be launching on June 27. It will be released on Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, ??and Atari VCS (which still trucking).

Okay, so think back. There were these arcade cabinets with (usually) three steering wheels. It was a top-down tilt-angled racing game. You and your friends would stand shoulder to shoulder and steer your cars around a track. If you remember it having a lot of dirt, that was probably 1989’s Super Off-Road. However, if it was F1-Racing on tarmac; that was probably 1986’s Super Sprint.

I’m just finding out now that the two games weren’t really related. They’re not part of the same series. The arcade cabinets look functionally the same. I definitely played both.

If you’re a lot older than me, the series goes all the way back to 1977 with Sprint 2. That’s not a sequel. There was also Sprint 4, 8, and One, and the number is how many playe?rs each version was, and not the order in which they were released. Wild stuff.

Since Atari is going back and resurrecting all their old classics, they’ve got a new entry to the series NeoSprint. It definitely looks like a Sprint game. It’s got a sim?ilar angle and eight players. The track is really tight. There’s a trailer for it that features some really bad drivers. Although to be fair, it’s kind of hard to judge your turn radius from that angle. You’d just kind of bump off each other.

Weirdly, it refers to it as 8-player co-op racing. So, wait. What’s the objective?? Is it not to race?

It’s local co-op, so you’ll at least be on the same couch (in the same auditorium?) as each other. But, I don’t know. I think I’d miss being crammed up against the arcade ca??binet in some hockey arena playing with whoever was hovering around at the time.

I guess to make up for it, there’s a track builder which looks like a fantastic feature. I don’t think NeoSprint’s design really allows for some wild tracks, but at ??least you won’t run out.

NeoSprint releases on June 27 on Switch, PS?4, PS5, Xbox Seri?es X|S, PC, and Atari VCS.

The post Atari’s NeoSprint revives the cramped arcade racing series this June appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has announced that it has revived the Infogrames name as a publishing label. The press release says the intention of the label is “to acquire IP and publish games, across multiple genres, that fall outside the core portfolio of IP associated with the Atari brand.�To start, they have purchased Tinybuild’s Totally Reliable Delivery Service.

A history lesson for you: The current, modern Atari is actually Infogrames. With the company’s exit from the hardware business following the Jaguar, the Tramiel family sold the name to ??Hasbro Interactive. In 2000, as part of a large number of acquisitions the company was making, Infogrames purchased Hasbro Interactive and gained the Atari name. They then spent a few years transitioning into Atari SA. So, Infogrames never really went anywhere, it just adopted a new moniker.

The new Atari later ran into trouble, nearly going bankrupt in 2013, but it survived by selling many of its acquired assets. Since Wade Rosen stepped into the role of CEO in 2021, the company has been reacquiring many of its lost properties, as well as retro-focused companies like Nightdive Studios and Digital Eclipse.

The move of reviving the Infogrames name makes some sense. Atari has a very specific identity that they’re capitalizing on by focusing on reviving old properties. If they want to branch out into publishing more modern titles, publishing under the Atari name might not send the right messa?ge.

On the other hand, Infogrames doesn’t really strike me as a nostalgic name. They were mainly just a publisher around since the �0s, and they had a vast catalog that they helped bring to market. It’s not that they didn’t have their name attached to some good titles, but nothing that really strikes me as a memorable association. Alone in the Dark maybe?

Nonethel??ess, it’s an interesting but not entirely unexpected route for Atari to take as it shifts from being essential??ly a licensing brand to a legitimate game company. 

The post Atari continues to unimplode, revives? Infogrames label appeared first on Destructoid.

Yars�Revenge is one of the more interesting Atari 2600 games, and it has seen attempts at revival over the years. Wayforward and Atari are teaming up to take another crack at it with Yars Rising, and it doesn’t really r??esemble the original game much?

Yars Rising is a sidescroller where you play as a blue-haired girl who goes by codename Yar who is fighting against cyberpunk megacorporation Qotech. If you’re savvy, you’ll remember that Yars Revenge was about this weird bug thing that eats through force fields in order to take down the enigmatic Qotile. You can get the refrences, I’m sure. Even more so when the trailer shows off her Yars tattoo?? and she grows wings, and also there’s, like, a hacking minigame (?) that features ?the 2600 graphics.

I don’t know. I’d have to see more of the game to really f?orm a solid opinion, but ?what I see really isn’t doing much for me. That art is okay, the animation is a little jerky, and I don’t see what separates it from other side-scrolling action games.

Yares Rising is coming to the PC and consoles some??time later this year.

The post Yars Rising is coming this year, doesn’t look very Yar appeared first on Destructoid.

I’m young enough that my first home computer was a standardized “Wintel�machine that ran Windows 3.1 and DOS. The early �0s home computer marke??t is strange and mysterious territory to me, and these days, it’s a lot more difficult to get into them than consoles of the era.

It was only a few years ago that I g?ot my hands on an Atari 600XL that was modified for more RAM and an Atari XEGS �a consolized Atari 8-Bit computer. But getting software for the things is hell. Retro game stores don’t often carry the games, and between cassette, floppy disk, and cartridge, it’s a rather difficult and expensive? landscape.

So Retro Games�THE400 Mini is an enticing concept for me. It gives a rather in-depth taste ?of the platfo?rm without having to hunt down cartridges and disks. However, while it’s friendly on the surface, it carries some of the original platforms�un-intuitiveness.

On the surface, THE400 Mini is a plug-and-play version of the Atari 400 home computer, originally released in 1979. It includes 25 built-in games from across Atari’s 8-bit computer hardware. It also comes packaged with a modified version of Atari’s CX30 controller called THECXSTICK. The controller appears to be the classic one-button Atari staple, but has hidden buttons around the directional ring, one concealed on the corner, and two more at the top. This is to not only allow you to navigate the menus, but also allow games ??that didn’t just use a single button to function.

The UI is similar to Nintendo’s efforts on the NES and SNES Mini consoles. It’s a carousel, with a save function that has you drop?? your sa?ve state into a slot at the bottom of the screen. However, this is where things get a little more complicated.

Unlike consoles, home computers didn’t have standardized controls. As I mentioned, not every game used a single button. Often, they weren’t made with a single joysti??ck in mind and required keyboard input. So, games might not tell you, “Press A to continue.�Instead, changing settings on a game might be bound to a key on the keyboard, and it won’t tell you which. So, Retro Games could only do their best, and before you boot into a game, it’s best to read the controls where they wrote out what button is bound to a function. And then you memorize that, which isn’t a massively tall order since the games are typically simple.

Some of them, anyway. There are quite a few games in the mix that desperately need to be partnered with their instruction manual, but that’s not built into THE400 Mini. However, the quick-start manual ?gives a link to the instruction manual, which gives a link to the individual game manuals. That works, and I’m not sure what a better solution would be aside from maybe a hefty physical guide covering everything. Like mapping controls, it’s kind of just the nature of the beast.

THE400 Mini’s unwieldiness will probably serve as an unwanted learning curve to anyone who just wants a taste of the games on the system. Anyone willing to put a modicum of effort int??o learning its eccentricities won’t have a problem.

However, if you want to get more complicated, THE400 Mini has some functions for the enth??usiast. It will play just about any game from the 8-bit computer line-up, including 5,200 games. The box says that you need to legally obtain them, so I guess if you don’t want to break its trust, you can either dump your disks and cassettes or just play homebrew titles.

It’s done very intuitively. You simply need a USB drive, load on your various disk, cassette, or cartridge images?, then plug it into the port on the back. The carousel will get an option for your USB device, which you can then browse the files an?d folders of. THE400 Mini then tries its best to map the controls, but since every game is different, it doesn’t always get it right.

Thankfully, you can map controls. It’s extremely fiddly since you need to map keys to specific buttons, but that’s not the hardware’s fault. If you can’t map the controllers to THECXSTICK, THE400 Mini works fine with a lot of USB controllers. I hate the CX30, so I plugged in my arcade stick and everything was gravy. You can also plug in a USB keyboard (the keyboard on the device is just for show) if you want to play something that requires one, such as Zork. Most keyboards, anyway. It doesn’t like my 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard, whether ??it’s through the 2.4g dongle or USB. I couldn’t tel??l you why, but the other keyboards I tested were fine.

Speaking of keyboards, plug??ging a USB drive into THE400?? Mini loads it up with Atari BASIC, meaning you can write your own programs. I haven’t done it yet, but one of these days, I’m going to find a dusty old tutorial to run through.

If you’re not into tinkering, THE400 Mini is packed with some of the Atari 8-Bit computer line-up’s best games. While there are the obligatory Asteroids and Centipede, it also has Jeff Minters�Hover Bovver and the incredible 2007 homebrew title, Yoomp. While it doesn’t come with Ultima, Rescue on Fractalus, or Karateka, it’s not just a bunch of arcade ports. There’s a really good variety, and if you looked up a particular pe?rson’s “Best of the Atari 8-Bit�list, you’d probably find a few of these games on it?.

The question that often gets asked about machines such as this is along the lines of “Why not just ?build a RetroPie," and there isn’t a really great answer to that. Aesthetics would be the primary one. Not having to build a Retro?Pie might be another. It’s not FPGA-powered, so there isn’t necessarily a hardware advantage.

For ??me, I like focused devices. I like my dedicated boxes, they give me cla??rity. Fresh from the package, THE400 Mini comes with enough potential for tinkering that I’m quite happy with it. It’s made me reassess getting THEC64 Mini (Commodore 64) or THEA500 Mini (Amiga). If you’re interested or nostalgic and you don’t mind a bit of a learning curve, you might feel the same way. Just make sure to bring your curiosity.

The post Review: THE400 Mini appeared first on Destructoid.

We need sites like MobyGames n??ow more than ever. With the ongoing enshittification of the internet, where useful ??and trustworthy information is being buried under a mountain of worthless garbage, user-driven databases are becoming the last reliable, trustworthy sources. How standards have changed.

It’s been 25 years since MobyGames was founded. However, its future w?as never guaranteed. In fac??t, I’m not sure I recall a time when it wasn’t at risk of disintegrating. But roughly two years ago, in 2022, the website landed in the hands of Atari. At the time, I thought that was another twist in a series of bad turns, but now, I’m not sure that’s the case.

I was given the chance to speak with Atari CEO Wade Rosen and the general manager Jeremiah Freyholtz about the state and future of the site, which is something I couldn’t pass?? up given my history with it.

I joined the MobyGames community in 2009. While I made some small ?contributions to the database, my main reason for joining was to cut my teeth writing about video games. What I did there 15 years ago led me here. Users are able to submit reviews for any game listed on the site, so that’s how I taught myself to be a critic. All my reviews are still up there, including the first I ever wrote, and it’s awful. I keep it up to show how much I’ve developed my craft, but I’m not going to link you to it out of shame.

More importan?tly, however, I connected with the community there. At the time, the forums were an active place just for talking about video games. Just a bunch of people who loved video games from all eras?, all who had very particular and eclectic tastes. I fit right in.

In 2010, the founders of the site sold it to GameFly Media, and the results were catastrophic. It was done without informing anyone in the community. One day, there was just a GameFly logo at the bottom of the screen. Some longtime approvers and contributors resigned immediately. Even the most optimistic, however, quickly lost faith when the company rolled out an updated look for the site sometime in 2013.

The original look of MobyGames was aging fast, but the new version was broken and unusable. The remaining community crumbled. The forum conversatio??ns dried up. Even I left after it felt like there was nothing for me there anymore.

One day at the end of December 2013, one of the community members messaged me over Steam. The old site was back. Suddenly, and out of nowhere. It was a gosh-darned Christmas Mir??acle??.

GameFly had sold the site to Jeremiah Freyholtz (who we? knew as Reed at the time) and Simon Carless of Blue Flame Labs. They had rolled everything back. More imp??ortantly, they were planning to do the work to help restore MobyGames.

The community, having been so badly burned by the Gamefly deal, was skeptical. Work was beginning on Blue Flame’s own refresh on the site, and while Reed was communicating and taking the community’s feedback into consideration, it would ??never be possible to ple??ase so many passionate people. In retrospect, Blue Flame saved MobyGames. At least from my perspective.

Unfortunately, the community would never quite be the same. Don’t get me wrong; a good many of the people who I used to converse with in the forum?s are still there, and a lot of people still contribute to the site. But the random talk about video games in general and their history never really came back. That probably moved to the Discord server, as is often the case these days.

However, the updates slowed down pretty quickly. In 2014, Simon Carless clarified that MobyGames didn’t make much revenue. This meant that Freyholtz ha??d to focus on other things and couldn’t devote all his attention to the site. They brought on community member Tracy Poff to maintain things and f?it in what upgrades they could.

I made regular donations to the site. I thought this was the primary, and I have no idea why because the site always had ads. Freyholtz told me, “Actually, for most of our history, the site was supported primarily by ads and affiliate links. Although we had donations at times, it was a smaller piece.�/p>

Sometime in 2020, Antstream bought the site, but things remained very much the same. So much so that I didn’t even notice, and neither did much of the community. However, it did open up Atari’s entry.

According to Wade Rosen, “We made a strategic investment in Anstream back in late 2021, which owned Mobygames, and as part of that investment secured the option to buy Mobygames outright. We exercised that option in early 2022. MobyGames was something that I had identified pretty early on as something I thought made sense within the Atari family.�/p>

“For me, Mobygames has always been the source of truth for information about video games,�Rosen said. “That has been particularly valuable to me in game publishing, first at Ziggurat and now at Atari.�/p>

When it was announced in 2022, I thought Atari’s acquisition would just be a repeat of the GameFly situation. The Atari I knew up to that point was coasting on past success by occasionally releasing (very) substandard entries in older series. But since Rosen took over as CEO, the company has made strides in proving that game preservation is their business model. Now it doesn’t seem like such a bad fit.

Development on MobyGames went into overdrive. The site got another interface update, but beyond that, a number of additional features were added. One of the more interesting additions is still in beta, ??which is MobyPro, a paid subscription tier that provides improved analytics. Little changed for users who just want to access the database for free, but for people who commonly research games, like myself, it’s an appreciable addition.

“Originally, I wanted to do MobyPro about a decade ago,�Freyholtz explained, “but felt that it and the overall long term vision was untenable with the old backend from 1999. So instead, we put our efforts into first building a new si?te and infrastructure - effectivel?y a new foundation from which to work from. Tracy Poff (the other developer at Moby) and I worked on that part-time, on and off, over the course of many years. Along with feedback from the approvers as we developed it. Ultimately Atari’s investment and support enabled us to get it over the finish line!

“It was a massive project and I’m relieved we made it to the other side,�he added. “Especially since the site and database is now in the best shape it’s ever been.�/p>

As for how the community responded, Freyholtz says, “The community has been energized by the rapid pace of development we’ve been able to achieve since the upgrade. Prior to that improvements and bug fixes took *forever*. And with MobyPro, it’s still very early days, but it’s off to a good start!�/p>

I asked if contributions have picked up since the site’s update, and Freyholtz provided a graph to il?lustrate.

That is certainly a graph. We’re missing an axis here, but it defi??nitely go?es up.

Things are still in the midst of improvements, however. MobyPro is available, but it’s still in ear??ly access. The site is already in better shape than I’ve ever seen it, but I was curious about wh??at other additions were planned, so I asked Freyholtz.

“Oh absolutely, there are many!�He replied. “And some have been added since launching the new site. A favorite of which is Game Relations. Which allows contributors to link games to any of its expansion packs, DLC, conversions, compilations or special editions.�/p>

“But overall we’re focusing more on improving the UI and processes for our existing data types before expanding too much into other areas.�/p>

Game relations, in particular, have been something requested by the community since the time I was active there. Things li?ke expansion packs and DLC would be listed with their own entry in the database, and you’d typically n??eed to look at the description to see what they related to. The game relations panel just shows it at a glance.

Speaking of community requests, I had to ask a cheeky question about whether or not the Famicom Disk System would become its own platform.

“As for Famicom, there are differing opinions about that (and some other platforms) in the community, and I’m not sure where we’ll land on that yet,�Freyholtz explained. “Currently we document it as a tech spec, which you can find here.�/p>

Yes, this has long been argued about in the community, even as far back as when I was active. If it’s no?t clear, I’m on the side that thinks it should be a different category??. After all, the Sega CD and Turbografx CD are listed as separate platforms.

25 years is?? practically ancient on the internet. 1999 was even before the dotcom bubble burst and ended Web 1.0. To close out the interview, I asked both Rosen and Freyholtz what they think MobyGames will look like in 25 years.

For Wade Rosen, “I am excited to see the professional layer added to an already rich body of information and active community. As you look forward to how the site will document and discuss more modern games, it opens up a host of possibilities. It is hard to predict exactly what it will look like, but my expectation is that MobyGames will continue to excel at its core mission, and it will remain the most authoritative source for video game information.�/p>

As for Jeremiah Freyholtz, “I think it will make the current MobyGames look like a baby in comparison, in terms of capabilities and scope of video game knowledge. And will be an increasingly important part of the industry.�/p>

MobyGames has gone through some rough patches in the past, and there’s no guarante??e that it won’t hit another. However, with Atari providing Jeremiah Freyholtz the ability to implement his vision for the site, things are looking more optimistic than ever. Here’s hoping that the new owners and, more importantly, the hard-working community volunteer contributors and approvers can keep this important resource going strong far into the future.

As Freyholtz puts it, “Check back on our 50th Anniversary!�/p>

The post Talking MobyGames’ 25th anniversary with Jeremiah Freyholtz and Atari CEO Wade Rosen appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has both announced and released the 1997 classic-ish, Balls of Steel onto S????team today. The port was handled by Big Boat Interactive.

So, I have bad news. The Duke Nukem table appears to have been removed. I’ll get to that. However, in its place, there is the spin-off table (Devil’s Island) and two brand new tables based on Missile Command and Centipede. Not a bad deal.

Balls of Steel was developed by Wildfire Studios (with help from Apogee/3D Realms/The Pinball Wizard) and published by GT Interactive in 1997. If we track the lineage, GT Interactive was acquired by Infogrames in 1999, which later became the modern-day Atari. That would be why it’s Atari releas??ing a remaster of it. That is, assuming everyone has the rights ownership figured out.

As for why the Duke Nukem table was removed, that property is now owned by Gearbox in a “worst timeline�kind of situation. It does feel weird for the character to not be in it. I’m pretty sure it was named Balls of Steel because of him and the fact that pinball tables featuring his visage appeared throughout?? Duke Nukem 3D.

I never played Balls of Steel, but I wanted to back in my youth. I wanted to play anything with Duke Nukem in it. It got some pretty decent rev??iews, but whether or not it’s worth playing now is going to depend on your toleran??ce for �0s Windows pinball games.

The port is fine. Big Boat Interactive previously did the Battlezone remasters, which were fantastic. This is a bit more bare-bones. You start in a launcher, and each table seems to be its own executable. What kind of bothers me is that they disabled “scrolling mode,�which would zoom in on the table. Instead, your only option is viewing the whole field and the marquee right next to each other, and this results? in the table itself being crammed into the left side of the display. Depending on your monitor size, it's still easily legible, but its placement gives me anxiety, and there doesn’t seem to be an option to change it.

The new Atari tables display differently, being directly in the middle and having a background that looks?? like it’s in an arcade. I wish they did that for all the tables.

Balls of Steel is available now on PC via Steam.

The post Atari puts Balls of Steel back on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

Dust off your Atari 7800, because Plaion and Atari have announced that three of the console’s titles are getting a new cartridge run on M?ay 24, 2024.

The games in question are 1990’s Fatal Run, 1986’s Food Fight, and 1990’s Ninja Golf. All of these are favorites on the platform, but Fatal Run and Ninja Golf were both featured as part of Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. Food Fight, on the other hand, was only prese?nt in its arcade and Atari 80??0 formats.

If you don’t have an Atari 7800, there’s good news. The Atari 2600+ supports 7800 cartridges, though I had some issues trying to find a controller that was recognized by the hardware. Good news again on that front! Atari is also reissuing the CX78 gamepad. Also, Plaion is working o??n updating the console’s firmware, so hopefully, better?? controller compatibility will be added.

After the failure of the Atari 5200, the 1983 crash, the launch of the NES, and the sale of the company to Jack Tramiel, the Atari 7800 wasn’t really able to find its footing in the market. To make matters worse, the slow release of software left gamers unenthused. It didn’t quite find the audience that the NES or even the Sega Master System did, but some who played it are still affectionate toward the con?sole.

If you’re like me and were too young to really get in on th??e platform while it was on the market, these reissues might be an exciting piece of history. 

The three Atari 7800 reproductions come with a box and cartridge, but that seems to be it. I’m not sure why Atari and Plaion don’t include instruction manuals with their re-releases, but tha?t seems to be continuing with these. They’ll run you?? $29.99 and release May 24, 2024. They’re available for preorder in some places now.

The post Three Ata??ri 7800 cartridges are gettin??g reissued May 24 appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has announced that qomp2, the follow-up to the 2021 Pong continuation, will be released on February?? 20 on PC and console.

qomp was a game that dared to ask dangerous questions like, “What would happen if the Pong ball escaped from the confines of the court a??nd went on an adventure?�I’m not sure how you extrapolate further on that, but Atari and Graphite Lab are going to try. They promise “An enigmatic story of doubt, fear, and self-acceptance, told wordlessly through simple effects and gameplay.�Sound?s appropriately depressing.

Alongside the announcement of the release date, they released a short video of the Pong ball being interviewed in vertical?? cell-phone ratio, and I kind of hate it. I wonder if it’s the?? knee-jerk revulsion I have toward social media that’s the problem.

I didn’t play the original qomp, but it does sound like a fun premise. For a little while, at least. The first game was only played using a single button, but qomp2 adds a second one that is used for dash. It’s a logical evolution. Pong used no buttons, qomp used one, and qomp2 will use two of them.

This falls in line with Atari’s new focus on smaller games that leverage their existing brands. It’s a bit interesting that, while the original game was created by a group of indie developers under Stuffed Wombat, qomp2 has been handed off to Atari’s frequent collaborator, Graphite Lab. I have to wonder if they’ll be able to capture the same charm and impact of the original qomp.

qomp2 will launch for PC, Switch, Xbox One,?? Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 4 and 5 on F?ebruary 20, 2024.

The post Atari announces that qomp2 release??s on February 22 appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has announced the next in the line of Retro Games�/a> mini PC consoles, the Atari 400 Mini, based on the class?ic Atari home computer. It will be available starting March 28.

Retro Games previously released The C64 Mini, the A500 Mini (Amiga), and The Vic20, based on the Commodore?? lineup of home computers.

The Atari 400 Mini comes with 25 preinstalled games, including M.U.L.E. and Millipede and the store page ??says you can load and play programs “you already own.�It comes with a USB controller styled off the Atari CX40, displays at 720p, and ??is powered by USB (no included adapter). It is also compatible with other USB controllers.

I feel like mini emulat?ion boxes are a good fit for old computers. Unless you’re an enthusiast, you probably have no interest in owning the actual hardware for, say, spreadsheets. Therefore, you don’t really need the keyboard, which was rarely ever used to play games. As for me, ?I own an Atari 600XL and an Atari XEGS, so I’m probably passing on this. On the other hand, games for them are kind of hard to come by and often expensive.

Currently??, the Atari 400 Mini is only announced in the UK where it releases on March 2??8. No plans have been announced for North America.

The post Beige is back with the Atari 400 Mini appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari and Mega Cat Studios have released Food Fight: Culinary Combat, a multi-player reimagining of the somewhat bizarre 1983 arcade game, ??into Early Access. The catch is that, right now, it’s exclusively available on the Atari VCS.

As a note of disclosure, I did a stint with Mega Cat Studios writing for their blog and for a still unannounced (and maybe canceled?) game. They weren’t working on Food Fight at the time, as far as I know.

By the looks of things, Food Fight: Culinary Combat doesn’t really have anything to do with the 1983 arcade game. Maybe. It’s hard to tell. It’s the type of trailer that cuts so frequently that you don’t get a very good look at things. There is a single-player mode, and maybe you fight chefs, or perhaps instead, it’s zombie foo??d.

What I do know is that there’s multi-player. There are four modes across six different maps, all with food-related names like King of the Cone, Buffet Brawl, Cookie Collector, and Crumbling. There are shades of Splatoon in all of this, though I don’t think the formulas are related. There’s also a hub world where “you can play classic arcade games, purchase new gear, and interact with the locals.�/p>

It’s interesting to see an Atari VCS exclusive release, even if it is early access. It will supposedly be released on PC and other platforms at a later date.  Released in 2020, the console �or �a href="//venturebeat.com/games/atari-ceo-wade-rosen-interview-returning-to-classic-video-game-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">home entertainment computer��has h?ad trouble establishing a place in the market. It has a se??emingly loyal fanbase but hasn’t seen much mass market adoption. However, Atari continues to work to not only support it but also see if they can gain some traction.

On the other hand, Food Fight: Culinary Combat isn’t for me. I’m not much of a multiplayer person, and I don’t own an A?tari VCS. On top of that, a lot of the early footage seems? rough, not only in terms of gameplay but also in fidelity for some reason. I guess that's what Early Access is for.

Food Fight: Culinary Combat is currently availabl??e in Early Acces on Atari VCS. PC and console versions will be coming at a later date.

The post Food Fight: Culinary Combat releases on Early Acc??ess today�on Ata??ri VCS appeared first on Destructoid.

Earlier this year, Atari reported that they were teaming with Playmaji to create Atari modules for the Polymega console, but a recent half-year financial report shows that their investment in the company goes beyond that. According to the document, Atari owns a non-con?trolling stake of 53% of the compa?ny.

The year has seen quite a few acquisitions by Atari. While it started out by buying back catalogs of game properties, they later announced the acquisition of Nightdive Studios and Digital Eclipse, two of the top developers focused on remasters, rereleases, and overall preservation of video games. In July, they announced their partnership with Playmaji alo??ng with a “minority investment,�and now we can see that came at the price tag of �.6 million

As someone who only really heard of Polymega back in July �which is a bit embarrassing for someone so dee??ply invested in retro games �unraveling what has gone on with it in the past few years is rather difficult. The basic idea is a modular retro console that allows you to upload (or rip) your game collection as a unified console to play them. Press review??s for the console happened way back in 2020, but it seems that they have yet to fulfill preordered units.

To be more specific, according to the document, “Atari holds a non-controlling stake of 53% on a non-diluted basis and 49% on a fully diluted basis.�/p>

In a recent interview with gameindustry.biz, Atari CEO Wade Rosen addressed the issues and intentions. He said, “For most of our projects we've done and probably the ones we will do going forward, we look for best-in-class partners who know how to do those things, have access to supply chains and distribution chains�In the case of the Polymega, the investment really was for them to clear that up. The investment was really to help them get back on track on those things and work out from that backlog.�/p>

Rosen goes on to say that a lot of the problems with the production of the Playmega was with COVID and the resultant chip shortage that made components for the console extremely expensive. While this may be an unsatisfactory excuse for customers, it is maybe worth remembering that the chip shortage affected a lot of industries, and we’re still recovering from it.

However, right now, there are reports on Twitter that Japanese customers who ordered through Amazon are now receiving their units. ?According to my source, units have also arrived in the US and may begin distribution soon.

While acquisitions within the industry have been common, especially throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Atari’s seems unique from my perspective. While other publishers seem to be seeking to gain high-value IPs wherever possible, Atari seems foc?used on making a business ?out of the retro market and is seeking partners with established knowledge on the subject. 

While I’m ??not sold on the Polymega (damn, that’s pricey), gaming’s history is important to me, so it’s interesting to watch a company make such moves in regards to it.

The post Atari financ??ial report clarifies its stake in Polymega creator Playmaji appeared first on Destructoid.

[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 update??s, 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. This may sound like a lot of marketing-friendly hyperbole, but as someone who loves game history and preservation, I fin??d these collections to be transformative. I am sincere??ly 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 alongside 10 of the system’s many dregs, that’s pr??etty 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 jus?t tell us what the 12 games are.

The business of retro

But that might still happen! Atari says that this up??date 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 like 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 histo??ry in the process, I suddenly have a new appreciation 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 ava???ilable for free on December 5, 2023.

The post Atari 50: The Anniversary Cel?ebration is getting more games cram?med into it (Update) appeared first on Destructoid.

Being born late into the �0s, the Atari 2600 was an intriguing mystery to me. By the time the N64 hit, the NES felt old to me, so the idea of a console even older than that was exciting. This was before you could jump onto YouTube to look up gameplay. I wanted ??to see it for myself.

It wasn’t until college, around the time that the retro gamer identity really became a thing, that I finally found myself a 2600 Jr. Since ??then, I keep tripping into 2600 games. I own around 60, which isn’t as imp?ressive as some of my other libraries, but considering I never actively tried to find Atari 2600 games, it says something.

A major issue wit?h this, however, is that every model of the 2600 uses an RF output, and modern TVs hate it. Even late-model CRTs will sometimes refuse to display an Atari 2600, and those that do often do so behind a sheet of noise. I eventually modified my fo?ur-switch 2600 to composite video to finally get it to play nice with my modern setup. However, that’s not an option for a lot of people.

For people who want the 2600 experience without all the fuss, Atari themselves (and Plaion) have created the Atari 2600+.

Bringing back woodgrain electronics

The Atari 2600+ is based on the four-switch model of the 2600. Clone versions of the console are hardly a rarity, since the Atari Flashback has been around for?? nearly ?two decades. This one is unique, however, as it accepts Atari 2600 and 7800 cartridges. But rather than just be a reproduction, it outputs through HDMI and supports widescreen. It’s also a bit smaller.

If you’re a retro enthusiast, your first question is going to be what kind of emulation it uses. A lot of modern retro consoles have switched to using field-programmable gate array (FPGA) hard?ware emulation rather than software emulation because it’s more accurate. The Atari 2600+, unfortunately, uses software emulation through Stella for 2600 games and ProSystem?? for 7800. Stella has been around since 1996, so it’s damned good software emulation, but it’s software emulation nonetheless.

The major problem here is that compatibility isn’t perfect. There are games that won’t work on the Atari 2600+, but they are rare. Atari has a list of games, and there are only three fails as of writing, but there are quite a few that are untested, and a few that I noticed aren’t even listed at all. For example, one of my favorite Atari 2600 games, 1986’s Solaris, isn’t listed. However,?? I can confirm th?at it’s a pass.

Another downside is that the system needs to load at startup. Whereas the Atari 2600 gets an image on display the moment you flip the switch, ??t??he Atari 2600+ displays a splash screen, then states that it’s loading, and then you get the image. I don’t find this to be that much of a nuisance, especially since you can hotswap games to avoid the initial splash, but I do feel it’s worth noting.

If looks could kill

Aesthetically, it’s pretty spot on. From the wood panel front to the cold, dull click of the switches, it’s a good reproduction.?? The big new additions are a switch on the back that changes it from 16:9 to 4:3, and the logo on the front lights up. Otherwise, it’s basically just a smaller four-switch 2600.

The controller is also pretty exact. The CX40 joystick is one of the most iconic controller designs in video game history, but it also sucks. However, this is a good reproduction, as it features the rubberized stick (some aftermarkets just have a plastic stick), so long play may give you blisters. I didn’t pop it open to see if it uses the dome contacts of the original or if they changed ?it to carbon dot contacts. The screws are under the pads on t?he bottom of the controller, and I just don’t want to pry them off a perfectly good CX40.

Of course, the CX40 is an uncomfortable controller with a single button that can’t even be reversed for left-handed people. I had the idea of plugging in a Sega Genesis controller, since both the CX40 and Genesis controller?? use DB9 ports. I’d swear this worked on my original 2600, but maybe I’m mistaken, because it doesn’t work with the 2600+. I tried a 3DO controller as well. Nothing.

Control freak

What’s mostly vexing about this is that the 7800 had a two-button controller. I own a single Atari 7800 game, Pole Position II (another accidental acquisition). It requires a two-button controller, a button for brake, and another for accelerate. The CX40 has one button, so it doesn’t work. The above controllers d??on’t work either. I tried a Sega Master System controller, and there’s not button mapped to accelerate.

Atari has announced they’re reproducing the Atari 78+ controller, which is sort of great, but also not really because it’s not the best controller. Also, you have to buy it separa??tely.

If we’re using software emulation here, I’m not sure why I can’t use whatever DB9 controller I want. I get that it’s trying to be faithful to the original hardware, but I feel this could have been a place where we could have deviated enough for comfort’s sake. I’m just saying it would be nice to plug in my 8BitDo M30 and use it wireless. As it is, if you want wireless play, you’re going to have to find one of the actual 2600 wireless controllers from the �0s. Just a warni??ng: those get interrupted if an ambulance drives by or someone turns on a microwave.

I’m not sure if this can be addressed later. The splash screen states that this is v1.00, which suggests to me that the firmware (or software layer) can be updated. However, if there’s a way to access any software settings, I can’t fin?d it. It would have been nice if you could tweak certain things about the console if you’re savvy. Like, maybe turning off the sprite limitations to get rid of flicker on some games. Scanlines, ma?ybe?

In the slot

As for games, the Atari 2600+ comes packed with a 10-in-1 cartridge. It includes some obvious entries like Adventure, Combat, Haunted House, Missile Command, and Yars�Revenge mixed in with some other common game??s that are less well-remembered.

Interestingly, the 10-in-1 and the 4-in-1 that comes with the CX30 ??paddle controllers both use DIP switches on the back of the cartridge to select the game you want. This is probably so they remain? compatible with original hardware, as an in-game selection isn’t as easy to display. I kind of find it cool that they did it this way, but I also think that a normal home user might think it’s a bit intimidating.

Alongside the Atari 2600+ launch, Atari also released Berzerk Enhanced Edition and Mr. Run and Jump. 

I think for Berzerk, it’s using the homebrew hack created by Mike Mika, but I don’t see him credited anywhere. It’s mostly just the normal 2600 version of Berzerk, but with a few added voice lin?es. Pretty neat, considering the hardware. The enemies can also shoot diagonally now, making it more in line with the original arcade version. The voices are impressive.

Mr. Run and Jump is an actually new 2600 game. It was created by John Mikula of Graphite Lab and was converted into a modern title that was released this past July. It’s an extremely basic platformer, but it’s surprisingly slick for the 2600, which didn’t see many games of the genre. I have to note that neither John Mikula nor Graphite Lab is listed on the packaging or in the game itself (unless there are end credits, which wasn’t common on ??the console). I suppose that’s very faithful to Atari’s classic way of doing business.

Credits might have been included in the manuals for these games, but surprisingly, there are no manuals. This is especially weird for Berzerk Enhance Edition because it has a number of ??different game modes that you choose using the Game Select lever on the console. However, without the manual, the only way of knowing what these are is by looking it up online. Further, Evil Otto doesn’t appear in the defau?lt game setting, so�What the hell?

You get what you get

You mostly get what you get with the 2600+. It’s an Atari 7800 in a smaller Atari 2600 casing that is powered by USB-C and outputs with HDMI. It’s not impressive. If you’re familiar with 2600 games ?and don’t like them, this isn’t going to change your mind. However, if you’re already somewhat invested in the console and want one that doesn’t use RF without having to mod it, then this is probably for you.

I mentioned that it does widescreen, but it’s just 4:3 stretched to 16:9. I know there are people who like filling their screen with a stretched im?age, but not in this house.

That era of home consoles is far from my favorite. Each game is a short e?xperience that usually can only keep you entertained for about five minutes before you’re slotting in the next cartridge. It can be enjoyable with friends, especially if you’re willing to compete for high scores. On the plus side, the entire catalogue of the console is still reasonably cheap. If you want to build up a stack of games, it isn’t expensive to do so.

And that’s that. If you know what you’re getting into, the Atari 2600+ will suit your needs. It does what it says it does a?nd not much else beyond that. It might be a good starting point if you want to build a 2600 collection. It’s definitely a good way to get the full physical Atari 2600 experience. But that’s it. It’s exactly what I expected and nothing more.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the hardware purchased by the reviewer]}

The post Review: Atari 2600+ appeared first on Destructoid.

When I started into Berzerk: Recharged, I was shocked. There were no robot voices.

Berzerk was a 1980 arcade title, which means it existed before good graphics were invented. While something like Pac-Man could generally be considered a better game, Berzerk had one thing going f??or it: the robots talked. Th?ey’d draw from a series of words and phrases that would get pasted together into taunts. Things like “Chicken! Fight like a robot!�or “Get the humanoid!�Imagination was leaned on to fill in a lot of graphical blanks in those days, and having the robots converse with each other and actively taunt the player really helped get you in the headspace.

If there are no robot voices, wh??at are we even doing here?

Berzerk: Recharged (PC [Reviewed] Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, Switch)
Developer: Sneakybox
Publisher: Atari
Released: November 10, 2023
MSRP: $9.99

Berzerk wasn’t a very complicated game, but try to remember that this was two years after Space Invaders and the same year as Pac-Man. The evolution of vid??eo games was goi?ng to be kicked into high gear for the next two decades, but 1980 was still pretty early.

Largely, the game just involved you running around electrified mazes, shooting at hostile robots (in eight directions! Fancy!) You’d get extra points if you cleared a screen before proceeding to the next, but if? things go too hot, it was always better to duck through a doorway. If you lingered too long on a single screen, Evil Otto would show up. Hilariously, Otto was just depicted as a ball with a smiley face, but he was invulnerable, so you could only really run.

Berzerk: Recharged is pretty much still just that. You’re a little dude, you’re in a maze, and you shoot robots. The biggest difference here is the addition of power-ups and twin-stick shooting. Also, co-op, but who has friends in this economy? Does that make a huge difference? No, not really. It’s not the major overhaul that Quantum: Recharged offered. But Quantum didn’t age as well as Berzerk’s simple gameplay, so it maybe needed it more.

Get the humanoid!

I’m a bit surprised by the visuals in Berzerk: Recharged. I feel they’re a reasonable interpretation of the original’s graphics, but at the same time, the Recharged series has always struck me as being more stylish. Sneakybox has frequently reinterpreted older games as being more Tron-like, using lots of neon-heavy m?inimalis?tic designs. 

By contrast, Berzerk: Recharged is a lot more cartoon-like. If I was feeling particularly mean, I’d? say that it looked like a Flash game from the �0s. I’m not, so I’ll just say that it doesn’t have the same edge as other games in Sneakybox’s remake series.

The soundtrack, however, is outstanding. Sneakybox has frequently tapped Megan McDuffee of River City Girls fame to compose for the Recharged games, and she has outdone hersel??f here. It still has a cyber-pop sound to it, but the hooks are outstanding??.

Meanwhile, the gameplay doesn’t really shake up the formula all that much. There are dashes and power-ups, but you can turn these new abilities off to gain a boost to your score. I played without them, and honestly, Berzerk: Recharged doesn’t need them. It plays basically the same ??if yo?u just use your standard pea-shooter and human legs.

The robots also don't talk as much. I know that's a small complaint, but I've alr??eady discussed how im??portant the robo-jabber is.

Get the intruder!

Atari has made no secret that the Recharged series is mostly for the fans. Alongside it, they’re doing more feature-packed remakes like Lunar Lander Beyond and Haunted House. They’re generally good snack games. Even if you dive in to try and plumb out every one of its achievements, you can probably be done with it in an afternoon. As long as you know what you’r??e getting into, you’ll probably have a good time.

On the other hand, I feel like most Recharged games supersede their inspiration in some way. Even if they aren’t explicitly better, they’re a reasonable substitute. I don’t really feel that way about Berzerk: Recharged. To me, it’s no replacement for the original, which, with all its limitations, still managed to present a fun and strangely atmospheric experience. The remake is more disposable, and that’s a shame since I couldn’t readily tell you where you can get an arcade-perfect port of Berzerk.

Nonetheless, Berzerk: Recharged is a fun experi??ence for as long as it lasts. It doesn’t quite capture the charm of the original, and there are many better choices now in terms of twin-stick shooters. However, those games don’t h?ave a deadly grinning ball that follows you until it witnesses your death. Its gleeful grin, looking down at your robot-ravaged body, reveling in its victory. No, you are safe from that nightmare in your pathetic human games.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Berzerk: Recharged appeared first on Destructoid.

Digital Eclipse has announced via Twitter that they will reveal the next game in their Gold Master Series during the Day of the Devs The Game Awards Edition on December 6, 2023. This follows this year’s August release of The Making of Karateka.

The Making of Karateka feels like an evolution in re-releasing older games. While Karateka itself m?ight be a tough sell in today’s market, Digital Eclipse contextualized it using a tonne of behind-the-scenes footage, documents, and interviews. With this added context, it’s a lot easier to appreciate the game in the spotlight. Beyond that, it also provides great insight into not just the rigors of game development but the business as it was at the time.

The Making of Karateka was advertised as the first in their Gold Master Series (though it followed the foundation they set with Atari 50). No other titles have been officially revealed. I can definitely think o?f ??more than a few that I’d like to learn more about.

The developer was recently acquired by Atari, who has seemingly pivoted to the business of game preservation and has suggested an eagerness to work with Digital Eclipse on similar projects. The chances that the subject?? this time will be a game from Atari’s history is definitely greater than zero. At the same time, it might not be.

We’ll have t?o wait and see at Day of the Devs The Game Awards Edition on December 6, 2023.

The post Next in Digital Eclipse’s Gold Master Series will be announced December 6 appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari is continuing its lineup of newly produced Atari 2600 cartridges with a more obscure title: Dark Chambers.

Dark Chambers was released in 1989, extremely close to the end of the 2600’s lifespan. Hah! Except, not it wasn’t, because Dark Chambers is actually just a rework of Dandy, a game originally released in 1986 on early home compute??rs. But wait, it gets stranger.

Going back to the beginning, Dandy was developed by John Howard Palevich. It’s a dungeon crawler inspired by Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, the name is based on the abbreviation D&D. Dandy plays like a prototype of the popular arcade Gauntlet, and that’s because it basically is. A perpetuated gaming myth (as in, I can’t find an authoritative source) is that Palevich sued (or threatened to sue) Atari over Gauntlet taking Dandy’s basic gameplay, and according to the rumor, this was settled ??out of co?urt.

Regardless, Dandy wasn’t initially released on the 2600, so the game had to be scaled back for Dark Chambers to f?it the stricter hardware limitations. How much? Well, it’s actually kind of an impressive attempt. 2-player co-op was retained, as was 8-directional shooting. Its graphics are fairly charming in a v??intage way. Is it any good? Depends on your mindset. It’s a classic dungeon crawler, so you either have to be really good at memorizing layouts or will need to make a map.

It’s a neat addition to the Atari XP lineup. The limited edition comes with a manual and is packaged in a sil?verbox. It also has a new cover featuring “reimagined artwork by Brazilian pop arti?st Butcher Billy.�I dig it.

Here’s hoping that a non-limited edition is in the works. Especially since it doesn’t ship to Canada because At?ari probably hates maple syrup and poutine. For that matter, since the Atari 2600+ will be able to play 7800 game, maybe we can see a reissue of that version as well. Oh gosh, while we’re on the topic, Atari should reproduce the Atari XEGS so we can play reissued Atari 8-Bit cartridges.

Anyway, Dark Chamber’s Limited Edition ??is available for preorder on Atari’s site. The store page says it will ship in 3 to 4 months.

The post Atari i??s reissuing the lesser-known Dark Chamber??s on a 2600 cartridge appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire legendary port/remaster house Digital Eclipse. This is the latest of a long string of acquisitions made by t?he company.

This is perhaps the least surprising acquisition Atari has made in a while. Digital Eclipse are the developers behind Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, whose formula of contextualizing retro games with supplemental information was utilized in The Making of Karateka. The modern-day Atari (still technically a rebranding of Infogrames) is helmed by CEO Wade Rosen, who seems to have his eye on game preservation. Digital Eclipse is insisting that nothing is changing for them and that it's business as usual.

Digital Eclipse has been around since 1992 and has always been mainly focused on porting games to other hardware. A lot of this was done during the days of the Game Boy line, when they would downscale console games for the handhelds. This is going to sound unflattering, but the game that comes to mind when I think of Digital Eclipse is Army Men on the?? Game Boy Color. Say what you want about the game. It was a pretty impressive translation of the PC title.

The rate of acquisitions going on in the industry is tiresome, but having tracked Atari’s movements for the past while, they don’t seem set on simply expanding their revenue. Interviews with Wade Rosen, like the one I did for Destructoid or this fantastic face-to-face video interview that Minnmax did, tend to frame the CEO as someone who’s trying to balance ?passion with business. Digging into the past seems like more than simply a way of turning a quick buck, but rather a real appre??ciation of the past.

Ew, this optimism feels gross. I need to retreat to comfortable cynicism. Wade Rosen travels t??he world and can probably afford to own a house. Also, the company hasn't fully divested from its Web3 ventures.

Recently, Atari has been acquiring the back catalogs of some adjacent companies, has purchased the remasterminds at Nightdive Studios, and acquired retro databases MobyGames and AtariAge. They’ve been working with smaller studios to remaster retro games and have begun producing physical games for their old consoles. They have the Atari 2600+ and a series of new and reissued games coming out on November 17, 2023.

The post Atari is set to acquire l?egendary game preservationists Digital Eclipse appeared first on Destructoid.

It wasn’t so long ago that Atari revealed the next in their line of Recharged games, Berzerk Recharged, but now they’ve announced a release date for it. It will arrive for PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox? One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Atari VCS on November 9, 2023.

Berzerk Recharged is an updated version of the classic 1980 arcade game by Alan McNeil. It’s maybe not as well-remembered as titles like Pac-Man or Space Invaders, but Berzerk is pretty great in its own right. The 2600 port is among my favorite games on the system, even though I’m not a huge fan of that era of games. There’s just something about the feel of Berzerk that gets my endorphins pumping.

If you don’t think you’ve ever heard of the game, it was referenced in Futurama’s season one episode, "Fear of a Bot Planet." Two robots quote the game, saying, “Get the humanoid. Get the Intruder.�/p>

As part of Sneakybox’s Recharged line of games, Berzerk Recharged will be updated with new visuals, leaderboards, and power-ups, and progression. Most importantly, I feel, is the addition of a twin-stick control scheme. 1975’s Gunfight was the first game to use the control scheme, while it would later be popularized by 1982’s Robotron 2084. I really started digging it after I played 1990’s Smash T.V., which was a spiritual successor to Robotron. I’m getting off-track here, but twin-stick is a great control scheme and should definitely benefit Berzerk’s formula.

Berzerk Recharged will release for PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Atari VCS on November 9, 2023. Also, as a reminder, Berzerk Enhanced Edition will launch on Atari 2600 on November 17th alongside the Atari 2600+.

The post Atari has ??announced Berzerk Recharged will be released on November 9 appeared first on Destructoid.

[Update: David Lowey has provided some clarification on Atari's reasoning beh??ind acquiring these properties:

"We do think Awesomenauts and Swords &a??mp; Soldiers are both strong games, and they were on Wade's radar. When we found out that they w?ere available it made the decision to acquire them easier.

Both games show off Ronimo’s sense of humor, their ability to create compelling characters and stories, and their game design. They were received very positively when they we??re released, and they continue to support an active player base and community of fans. So, we think they are a good addition to Atari’s portfolio, and we will explore ways to continue to support and commercialize the existing games and the underlying IP.

We have only announced the acquisition of the games, trademarks, and the underlying intellectual property. As of now, we have nothing to share regarding ??ongoing collaboration with the team members at? the studio."

Fair enough! Our original story follows.]

Atari has announced that they’ve acquired a few high-ish profile properties from Ronimo Games. Notably, these titles include Awesomenauts and Swords & Soldiers.

The press release sounds like those two games were the cream of the crop, but the only other property I really know Romino owns is BlightBound. Awesomenauts is a 2012 MOBA, and is probably the closest I’ve come to enjoying a MOBA. I didn’t, but I almost did. As is common for MOBAs, it had a tonne of DLC cosmetics. It’s still going as a free-to-play title to some extent, but since it’s over a decade old, the player base has cooled, and it’s?? not ??as popular as it once was.

Swords & Soldiers was first announced as a WiiWare game back in 2009, and stood out because there was never a whole lot on WiiWare. It was eventually rescued and ported to other platforms. In 2015, it got a sequel, which was Swords & Soldiers II: Shawarmageddon. I neve??r played either title, but now I’ve got a mighty craving for shawarma.

What puzzles me is why Atari wanted these properties. The current version of Atari is going through a period of acquisitions to try and focus its strategy. Part of the strategy is doing smaller budget titles, so these fit that bill, but it’s still interesting that they bought these properties in particular instead of, say, Romino itself. Did Ronimo need the money, and Atari saw the opportunity? Did key staff move to Atari and want to continue working on their established series? Is CEO Wade Rosen a fan of these games?

I’ve reached out to my person on the inside to see if they can deobfuscate things and will update this article if they get back?? to me with some interesting information.

The post Atari acquires multiple game properties from Ronimo, inc?luding Awesomenauts (U?pdate) appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari and Cristales developer Dreams Uncorporated have pulled back the veil on Lunar Lander Beyond for this week’s Steam Next Fest. Theyâ€??™ve put out a trailer for the game, as well as a demo for you to try it out.

Based on the 1979 vector arcade title, Lunar Lander, Lunar Lander Beyond is a reimagining that ties a narrative and progression to the formula. Atari previously played it coy with a cinematic trailer that left a lot of questions. Especially considering the trailer’s more melancholy tone ??versus the synopsis, which boiled down to space deliveries.

I personally love the original Lunar Lander, but I was wonder??ing how Dreams Uncorporated was going to tackle it. There have been a lot of adaptations of the game’s fight against gravity gameplay in the decades since its release. I didn’t expect stress.

The press release says, “Beware of mounting stress levels, as they may usher in harrowing hallucinations and the onset of cosmic-induced madness!�/p>

Yeah,? I usually start hallucinating when I’ve got a deadline coming up, or I’m visiting with relatives.

It honestl??y doesn’t look that bad, but, like I said, I'm a fan of the original. You select your pilot, there are four different ships that you can customize, and there are 30 mission??s across five celestial bodies. From that trailer, it looks like there will be a decent amount of variety between the mission types.

Th??e demo can be test-driven from 10:00 AM today, October 9th, through October 16th. I think that’s in Eastern Time.

The post Atari’s Lunar Lander Beyond gets gameplay trailer and demo for Steam Next Fest appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has revealed that they're bringing Save Mary to their Atari XP cartridge line. This one is a bit more special because it was an unreleased title by Tod Frye, who would go on to program the N64 cult classic Battletanx. He uh�also programmed the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man, which is attributed as a? major contributor to the 1983 crash of the video game market.

It’s honestly a pretty fantastic Atari 2600 title. Or, at least, I like it. Your goal is to use a crane to drop bricks on a platform that is slowly being submerged in water. Mary is stuck on this plat?form and is relying on you to stack these bricks so she can escape. Also, don’t drop them on her because she’ll die a lot ??quicker from that than she would from drowning.

Save Mary was apparently in development for a very long time and eventually canceled when Atari discontinued the 2600 in 1990. Atari founder Nolan Bushnell was quoted in Atarian saying that he was eagerly anticipating the title. Years later, eight of the prototype cartridge?s were unearthed and dumped onto th??e internet. Homebrew cartridges would later be sold using the prototype ROM. However, this will be the first time it has been officially released

The Limited Edition version is available for pre-order right now and is only having a 500-cartridge production run. It comes in a box based on the silver box format of 2600 packaging. It also comes with a manual. Neither the site nor the press release states if there will be a standard edition of Save Mary.

Save Mary Limited Edition is up for pre-order right now. It’s estimated to ship 3 to 4 months from now.

The post Atari unearths Save Mary and ??slaps it on a 2600 ca??rtridge appeared first on Destructoid.

Atari has announced that the next in line for Sneakybox’s series of remakes is Berzerk: Recharged. The press release says that it will be released “later this year,�which is a pretty small window of time by development s?tandards.

Designed by Alan McNeil, Berzerk was first released in 1980 in arcades, followed by ??ports on the Atari 2600, 5200, and Vectrex consoles. It was first published by Stern, but Atari proudly bought back the property during a rou??nd of acquisitions this year. 

Something like this was inevitable, as Atari CEO Wade Rosen sounds like a fan. I don’t blame him. I’m not big on that primordial era of video games, but Berzerk is something special. It’s a m?ultidirectional shooter where you navigate mazes and blast robots. You also frequently find yourself accosted by a bizarre smiling face called “Evil Otto�who is indestructible. He’s here to make sure that you keep spending quarters.

Beyond updated graphics and a soundtrack by frequent collaborator Megan McDuffee (River City Girls), Berzerk: Recharged will also upgrade the gameplay with twin-stick controls. You’re put through 20 “hand-crafted�mazes to compete for leaderboard supremacy. There’s also a two-player coop, which is standard for the series.

While Berzerk: Recharged doesn’t have a solid release date, it’s targeting PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Atari VCS. In the meantime, you can satisfy your Evil Otto cravings with Berzerk Enhanced Edition for the actual Atari ?2600, which releases on November 17, 2023.

The post Berzerk: Recharged is next in line for Atari and Sneakybox’s remake series appeared first on Destructoid.