Tag: Atari
News Atari's CEO Is "Extremely Pleased" With Company's Performance In 2024
On the up and up
Atari has released an end-of-year business update regarding its work and performance during 2024; its first full calendar year in executing its new retro-focused strategy. Crucially, things seem to be looking good for Atari, with the company highlighting several launches during 2024, including the likes of Yars Rising, Mighty...
News Atari's 2024 Recap Video Shows How Important Its Acquisitions Have Been
Firing on all cylinders
Things really weren't looking good for Atari for a while. Before current CEO Wade Rosen shifted the company's focus back to retro gaming, Atari had its eyes firmly on cryptocurreny and... hotels? Yeesh. It wasn't great. Now, however, the future looks bright for the once-mighty Atari, with the firm's acquisitions of Digital...
Retro revival
For many younger gamers, the idea that Atari was once the undisputed king of console gaming might seem somewhat farfetched. Yet in the late '70s and early '80s, the gaming giant dominated the market with the Atari 2600, introducing audiences to the likes of Adventure, Yars' Revenge, and Haunted House. However, after a wave of...
News Atari Hopes To Add Switch Touch Controls To RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic In The Future
Keep your arms inside the ride, for now
Atari's RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic came speeding onto Switch this week and, honestly, it's an all-round good time. In our review, we praised the game's endless creative freedom and its ability to bring hours of rollercoaster-building fun, but there was one small omission in the Switch port that left us...
Let battle commence
With the release of The First Console War, the second DLC expansion for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, developer Digital Eclipse has seemingly completed its mission to present the most comprehensive interactive documentary on Atari possible. Much like the previous expansion, this latest release lacks some of the cohesion...
Mini Review Atari 50: The Wider World Of Atari (Switch) - More Of The Brilliant Same
How deep does the Atari hole go?
Dubbed The Wider World of Atari, this first entry in what will ultimately be a two-part DLC expansion for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is essentially developer Digital Eclipse digging even deeper into the Atari vaults. The result is a new timeline that, while possibly not as cohesive as those found in the...
News Every New Game For Atari 50's New Paid DLC Has Been Revealed
Get ready to go Berzerk
Just the other day, Atari and developer Digital Eclipse announced that a new paid DLC expansion for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration would be launching, er, tomorrow (that's 26th September 2024). Now, thanks to a reveal YouTube MetalJesusRocks, we now have a complete view of every new game being added to the new content...
Review Yars Rising (Switch) - A Stylish, Ambitious Revival Of An Atari Classic In Metroidvania Form
Qotroidvania
Over the past few years, Atari has been revisiting its storied history with compilation titles, remakes, reboots, and surprise sequels. So while a revival of Yars’ Revenge really shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise, we have to admit to being a bit taken aback by Yars Rising. After all, what was once a stylish, yet basic...
News Atari Launches 'Summer Sale', Slashing Up To 80% Off Switch eShop Titles
Tempest 4000! Turok! Akka Arrh!
Summer is in full swing and to celebrate, publisher Atari has launched a generous 'Summer Sale' on its Switch eShop titles, including games from its subsidiary teams Digital Eclipse, Infogrames, and Nightdive Studios. There are some bonadife bangers included here, with some games seeing tasty discounts of 70%, 75%,...
Guide Atari 50 Game List - Every Playable Game In The Anniversary Celebration, Expanded Edition
All 148 games, DLC included
When Atari and Digital Eclipse launched Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration on 11th November 2022, we honestly thought that the compilation would be left well alone in the coming months. Heck, it already boasted over 100 playable games and five separate timelines providing players with an extensive look at the company's...
News Revived Infogrames Label Acquires 'Surgeon Simulator' Franchise
Atari will see you now
Infogrames, the newly revived publishing label and subsidiary of Atari, has announced that it has acquired the Surgeon Simulator franchise after finalising a deal with tinyBuild Inc. This follows the previous acquisition of Totally Reliable Delivery Service back in April 2024, announced to coincide with Infograme's revival...
From Revenge to Rising
WayForward Technologies has worked on several well-known franchises over the years, including the likes of Contra, Silent Hill, The Mummy, Transformers, and even Aliens. Despite this, the reveal that the developer would collaborate with Atari on a brand new Yars entry came as a genuine shock to many, this writer included. Not...
News Atari Acquires Intellivision Brand And Rights To 200+ Titles
Deal "ends the longest-running console war in history"
Atari has announced that it has acquired the Intellivision brand along with the rights to over 200 games in a move that, according to Digital Eclipse's studio head Mike Mika, "ends the longest-running console war in history". As a result, Intellivision Entertainment LLC will rebrand and will...
News Atari Is Reviving The 'Infogrames' Publishing Label
The armadillo returns
Atari has announced that it is reviving the dormant publishing label Infogrames, once famous for publishing games such as Hogs of War, Heart of Darkness, Alone in the Dark, and many more. Though once one of the most recognisable publishers in Europe, the Infogrames name was ditched in favour of the Atari brand in 2009...
News Atari And WayForward Join Forces For A New 'Yars' Metroidvania
All rise!
Publisher Atari and developer WayForward have announced Yars Rising, a new Metroidvania based on the classic Atari franchise Yars. The original Yars' Revenge released back in 1982 for the Atari 2600 and was very much a basic (albeit incredibly addictive) shooter in which an insect-like creature called Yar would go up against an evil being...
News Atari's Arcade-Inspired Racer 'NeoSprint' Speeds Onto Switch This Year
Fast and curious
Atari has today announced that its arcade-inspired racing game NeoSprint will be speeding off the early access start line and heading to Switch later this year. This single-screen racer borrows a lot from Atari's Sprint arcade series with its top-down perspective (here a little more isometric, but you get the picture) and a focus...
Soapbox The 'Recharged' Series Proves Atari Is No Longer A Spent Force
A look at Atari's lineup of neo-retro revivals
Before there was Nintendo, there was Atari. Once the dominant player in the gaming industry, its story is one of a dramatic rise and fall. For years, Atari had done little more than sell licensed T-shirts and low-quality plug-and-play consoles. But since coming under new management in 2021, Atari looks...
Hands On Atari 50 Gets Even Better With Adventure II, Warbirds, And More
Home-brewing a winner
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration was already a remarkably comprehensive package when it launched back in 2022, boasting over 100 games from Atari's history from its humble arcade beginnings to the ill-fated Jaguar console. Seemingly not content to leave it as it is, however, developer Digital Eclipse has launched the...
News 'Atari 50' Is Getting More Games Via Free Updates, 12 Dropping Next Week
More prototypes, homebrew, and official 2600 games incoming
Atari has announced that the stupendous compilation Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration will be getting even more games via several free content updates. The first of these is launching next week on December 5th, 2023, and will bring 12 Atari 2600 titles to the collection, comprised of...
News Atari Reiterates Firm's Focus On Retro, Isn't Looking To Compete With Nintendo
'What can we do better than anyone else in the world?'
After years of meandering messages and threats of bankruptcies, Atari SA looks to be finally turning the corner with a renewed focus on retro. If this wasn't clear enough with the launch of the magnificent Atari 50 compilation in 2022 and the recent release of the emulation-based Atari 2600+...
News Atari Acquires Retro Specialist Digital Eclipse
"The future is bright and unwritten"
In what will no doubt prove to be one of the more, shall we say, sensible acquisitions in the games industry, Digital Eclipse has announced that it is officially joining Atari after its stellar work on Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. Founded in 1992, Digital Eclipse is well known for its expertise in the...
News Atari's Neo-Retro Platformer, Mr. Run And Jump, Hops Onto Switch Next Month
Stick (man) the landing
Atari has today announced that its upcoming neon adventure-platformer Mr. Run and Jump will be coming to Switch on 25th July. Revealed just last month, the game is a frantic platformer set in a neon-drenched world that immediately had us thinking of VVVVVV with its tight, spike-dodging gameplay. Mr. Run and Jump is developed...
News Atari's 'Akka Arrh' Gets A Europe-Only SE Physical Release With Mini Arcade Cabs
Papercraft cabs coming to Switch, PS4, PS5
Jeff Minter's modern reworking of Atari's Akka Arrh — originally a prototype that never saw release until its official debut as part of the Atari 50 collection — is set to get a Europe-only Special Edition physical release on Switch, PS4, and PS5 courtesy of Numskull Games. Limited Run Games has a...
News Atari Enters Agreement To Acquire Night Dive Studios
Retro revival
In some breaking news, the famous video game company Atari has officially entered into an agreement to acquire developer and publisher Night Dive Studios - known best for reviving classic games such as System Shock, Quake and Doom 64 on modern platforms. Atari will acquire "100% of Night Dive Studios" with hopes to "enrich" its own...
Video Jeff Minter On How He Brought Atari's Lost Shooter 'Akka Arrh' Up To Date
A physical edition is coming this week, too
Akka Arrh was, for a long time, one of Atari's long-lost treasures, an arcade shooter that was scrapped back in the '80s. After making its return in Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, legendary game designer Jeff Minter and his studio Llamasoft brought an updated version to consoles in the form of a...
News Atari And Jeff Minter's Psychedelic Shmup 'Akka Arrh' Lands Release Date
Launching later this month
Atari has revealed that Akka Arrh, the company's once-lost psychedelic shooter, is launching on Switch on 21st February. This rerelease is being worked on by legendary British game designer Jeff Minter, who is helping to upgrade this "complete" version with his sense of humour and distinctive visual style. His company...
News Caverns Of Mars Is The Latest Atari Game To Get The 'Recharged' Treatment
Launches this coming March
Publisher Atari has announced Caverns of Mars Recharged, the latest in its line of revamped classic titles for the Nintendo Switch. Launching on March 9th, 2023, the game will feature single-player and local co-op for two players as you navigate through 30 unique missions set in three core "depths" of Mars. Enemies will...
News Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Gets First Update, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
DIP switches galore!
Digital Eclipse has dropped the first patch for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration on all platforms, which includes lots of bug fixes, gameplay tweaks, and menu additions. The developer shared the update on the game's Steam page (via Nintendo Everything), and while many of the tweaks are P
News Atari's Once-Lost Shmup 'Akka Arrh' Makes Dazzling Return In New Screenshots
A 'revitalized' version from Jeff Minter
Atari has shared some brand-new visuals for the return of its once-lost classic, Akka Arrh, which is being produced and completed by the legendary British game designer, Jeff Minter. The shmup, created by Mike Hally and Dave Ralston, was originally due to be released in arcades in 1982 but was scrapped as it...
News Atari Announces Ultra Rare Arcade Shooter 'Akka Arrh' Is Coming To Switch
Originally scrapped for being "too difficult"
After Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, Atari Flashback Classics and Atari Mania, you might think that the iconic studio would want a break from looking into its back catalogue for a brief moment. You would, however, be wrong. Perhaps the most obscure of these titles yet has today been announced,...
News Atari Recharged Collections Receiving Limited Run Physical Switch Release
Pre-orders open this week
Move over Atari 50, physical distributor Limited Run Games has announced it will be releasing hard copies of some other Atari collections. From Friday onwards, you'll be able to order Atari Recharged Collection 1 (including Astroids and Breakout Recharged) and Atari Recharged Collection 2 (including Black Widow and...
Graft from the past
Atari, and its exuberant founder Nolan Bushnell, were 1970s trailblazers who formed, established, and pioneered the video game industry. Brushing a near-century of mechanical coin-operated gaming aside and barging pinball into a dusty corner, Atari became the focal point of bars everywhere with Pong in 1972. It was the dawning of...
Exclusive Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Locks In November Release
Plus a new trailer featuring Jaguar games
The Holiday season is starting a little bit early for us, as Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration will be launching on Switch on 11th November. Promised to be a special celebration unlike other compilations — and we can believe that statement when Digital Eclipse is behind the wheel — Atari 50 packages...
Mini Review Yars: Recharged (Switch) - A Relaxed, Repetitive Reinvention Of An Atari Classic
Yar she blows
The most recent in a line of Atari ‘Recharged’ re-imaginings, succeeding the likes of Gravitar and Breakout, Yars: Recharged sets about updating what was once the best-selling game on the Atari 2600. Originally released in 1982 and designed by Howard Scott Warshaw (also responsible for Atari’s infamous E.T. the...
News There's Now A New Classic Console To Keep Your LEGO NES Company
Update: LEGO Atari now available
Update: The LEGO Atari is now available to purchase, available directly from LEGO's website. It may not be Nintendo hardware, but we have to say they've done a beautiful job or replicating Atari's woody classic. Here are the links you need: <products id="19770"> Original Article (Tue 19th Jul, 2022 17:30...
News Atari Goes WarioWare In Microgame Collection 'Atari Mania' Out This Summer
Avoiding all pitfalls...
Atari's asking you to save the company's history by fighting off killer pixels and difficult puzzles in Atari Mania, a brand new game which sees you defending the Atari Vault. If only that was a real building... Developed by ILLOGIKA, Ataria Mania contains 150 microgames based on various Atari properties from the '70s and...
Random Nintendo Wasn't The First To Introduce Region Locking, After All
Everything we knew was wrong
It's generally accepted these days that Nintendo was the first major company to introduce region locking to its products, limiting their use outside specific regions or territories. Heck, if you simply Google 'region locking' and take a peek at the Wikipedia entry, it says the following: "Nintendo was the first console...
News Atari Acquires Video Game Database MobyGames For $1.5 Million
Hmm, what's the angle here, then?
In the latest of a long line of corporate takeovers, this one is admittedly much smaller in scope, but significant nonetheless: Atari has acquired MobyGames for $1.5 million. MobyGames is a highly regarded and renowned video game database that stores information on the medium spanning back to the 1950s. It's a time...
News Kombinera Is A New Neon Puzzle-Platformer From Atari
"It feels like a pick-up-and-play Atari classic”
The makers of Hive Jump have just announced their next game: Kombinera, a gorgeous neon-on-black puzzle-platformer that's being published as a new IP from Atari. From the trailer, it's giving us VVVVVV vibes, plus the vibrant high contrast look of games like Hohokum and Baba Is You and a healthy...
News Co-Founder Of Game Grading Service WATA Accused Of Selling Company's Games On eBay
Company policy doesn't allow this
A co-founder of retro game grading service WATA is now being accused of running a side business on eBay. Further investigations by Proof journalist, Seth Abramson, suggest WATA's Mark Haspel is selling graded games under an alias. Abramson was recently reviewing some of his previous purchases and
Random Rapper Soulja Boy Claims He Owns Atari, Atari Doesn't Agree
Update: Soulja Boy reacts badly to Atari's response
Update: Following Atari's denial that Soulja Boy is now in charge of the famous video game brand, the rapper has reacted angrily online (with lots of bad language and slurs - you have been warned), claiming that he has a contract which backs up his side of the story. He even brandishes the contract...
News Food Fight Is Making A Comeback In 2022
First on Atari VCS, if you're particularly keen
As you may be aware, the Atari brand is in the midst of another comeback, primarily with the Atari VCS system and its recent wider release into some territories. Atari is also seeking to revitalise its iconic game brands, and has announced that Food Fight is getting a new title in 2022. It's being...
Random Playing Switch With A 1977 Atari Joystick Is Neat, If A Little Impractical
Bridging a 40-year gap of gaming tech
The two pieces of tech may well be 40 years apart, but it's possible to play on a Nintendo Switch with a 1977 Atari joystick. YouTube channel Will It Work?, which we've featured on the site in the past thanks to a project which got a Wii Nunchuk working with Mario Kart Tour on mobile devices, has shared a new...
Random Atari Shows Off Concept Art For Its New Hotels, And It All Looks Insane
First hotels to open in Nevada and Arizona
While the Atari that arcade gaming fans knew and loved in the '80s has long gone, the name continues to find itself attached to all sorts of fancy new projects, including the 'Atari Hotels' venture which we first spoke about earlier this year. In a new press release, innovation and strategy agency GSD...
News Atari Has Looked To Nintendo For Inspiration With Its New VCS Console
"Nintendo has done an amazing job of breaking from the mold"
We've been keeping an eye on the upcoming Atari VCS system over the years, mainly because following the drama around the new console has been massively entertaining. However, for all of the issues it has experienced, the VCS does appear to be nearing the finish line – and Atari's Chief...
Random Erstwhile Nintendo Rival Atari Is Building A Hotel, Because Why Not
Stay at the Atari, they said
The name ‘Atari’ is, for many gaming veterans, synonymous with video gaming. The company was a trailblazer in the world of arcades before bringing interactive entertainment home with the VCS/2600 console. However, following the video game crash of ‘83 – which many blame on Atari’s poor business practices –...
News Atari's Take On The "Classic Edition" Trend Will Cost You At Least $250
Or $390, if you want to go all-in
We've reported on the Atari VCS (not that one, the new one) in the past, mostly out of morbid curiosity; it's not a Nintendo system but given the popularity of 'classic' retro consoles – such as the SNES Classic Edition and Mega Drive Mini – we found the whole concept incredibly interesting, as well as little...
Reminder Atari Flashback Classics Is Out Now On Switch, 150 Games Included
Asteroids, Pong and more!
Sneaking onto the Nintendo Switch this week is Atari Flashback Classics, a collection of 150 Atari favourites all in one handy bundle. Atari Flashback Classics includes a whole range of titles from the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 home consoles, as well as some former arcade exclusives. We're talking games like Asteroids,...
News Atari Flashback Classics Is Due To Launch On The Switch Later This Year
Back to the roots
The video game industry owes a lot to Atari, even if its closure was one of the most epic implosions in the industry’s history. Though the original Atari is dead and buried, the brand still lives on today in some form, and IP under its ownership are still an important piece of gaming history. To celebrate this legacy, Atari has...
News Atari Has Reached the Minimum Goal for RollerCoaster Tycoon on Switch
Also, an explanation on why crowdfunding was used
Last week, we reported on a new effort from Atari to bring the Rollercoaster Tycoon franchise to the Switch via an investment campaign like Kickstarter. The minimum goal was set at $10k, an extremely reasonable goal that was passed in a matter of hours. The usage of crowdfunding certainly raised a...
