Ahhh…that scene in Back to The Future where George McFly finally stands up to Biff, and knocks him on his ass.
Of course, we’re not endorsing physical violence, but the David vs. Goliath angle here is kind of relevant, considering David in our story…used to be the Goliath who was knocked on his ass, by other Davids. Good Grief Charlie Brown get to the Point!!!
OUR FIRST GAMING OBSESSIONS
If you were born in the 1970s, there’s a pretty good chance you too shared in the joy of being an 80s kid when tech started to become pretty frickin awesome. Unlike kids today, your first digital obsession wasn’t a smartphone, it was an Atari 2600.
That sleek black box with the faux-wood paneling was PURE MAGIC and if you were lucky enough to be one of the first kids on your street to own one, it meant instant status elevation as your place was instantly the place to be.
It turned our chunky old TVs into portals for pixelated parties. Picture the front lawn, strewn with a myriad of BMX bikes as your buddies raced to get there fast, to try and enjoy every minute before the sun started setting and they had to race home before dinner hit the table. (Yeah, we used to know the time from the colour of the sky and the pain of being grounded if you were late…)
All these years later: if someone mentions games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, or Defender, a nostalgic wave hits hard. Those notes & tunes take you right back, as our brains are sort of hard-wired to associate sounds with memory, and some of these are the best I had as a kid (right up there with no helmet / no pad BMX jumps, endless hours of street hockey & of course, paper routes to pay for these toys!)
BRIEF HISTORY OF (OUR) TIME:
Launched in 1977, the Atari 2600 became a cultural phenomenon by the early ’80s. With over 30 Million units sold, it introduced many millions of kids (and of course, their PARENTS) to the concept of home video gaming.
Now we still hit those video arcades pretty hard, as the freedom of a BMX, a few spare quarters for a Dairy Queen Blizzard a few hours surrounded by neon niceties nullified any afternoon boredom, but let’s be real…Atari changed everything.
What Were the Top 5 Bestselling Games?
Pac-Man: 7 million copies sold
Pitfall!: 4 million
Donkey Kong: 3.6 million
Space Invaders: 2.5 million
Asteroids: 2.4 million
Despite my parents’ constant eye rolling, these weren’t just games, they were events. We sat around on shag carpet & basement floors, or stuffed ourselves in tiny bedrooms where a spoiled kid or two may have just been lucky enough to have a 12-channel TV afforded in his room.
Archie Comics had to make room for Atari Age & Joystick Magazines (thx @brokenarcade for featuring these on your IG page - I had SO MANY of these mags and miss them much!!!), and we blew into cartridges like we had to save the Earth from nuclear missile attack.
ALL GOOD THINGS...
Sadly, Atari’s golden era didn’t last. By 1983, an oversaturated market and epic flops like the rushed E.T. game helped crash the entire video game industry. The company changed hands multiple times, losing its identity in the shuffle.
Many top Atari developers, like David Crane (Pitfall!) & Howard Scott Warshaw (Yars’ Revenge), jumped ship to form new studios or enter other tech fields altogether, and we started to see the rise of cool gaming companies like ACTIVISION & the rise of competitive platforms like Intellivsion & Coleco Vision…right before the home computers started popping up all over the place.
Atari thus drifted into obscurity while the likes of Nintendo and Sony rose to stardom.
But Guess What? Atari is Back & Betting on Bringing Us Back to the Future Along With It!
It’s now July 2025, where Atari drops a bombshell with the release of their Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Collection! This modernized console plays both new & classic cartridges you may have held onto, if I’m reading the onsite details correctly, where Marty is winding up the fist with Biff in range...
Even cooler? The Atari x Pac-Man Collection comes set up with fun coloured SINGLE-BUTTON joysticks, classic bangers game cartridges like Dig Dug & Galaga, and stunning reimagined packaging.
Retro Meets Premium.
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out, as price points certainly don’t match the 1980s era dollar equivalents, LoL...
Based on the bundle of choice, pricing looks to range from around $400 to $600 CDN, so not too bad if you’re in the US these days the way our CDN dollar pegs, but here’s the link to the Atari page to have a look-see: https://atari.com/collections/atari-x-pac-man-collection
I also find the timing quite interesting. Gaming these days is dominated by AI-generated worlds, photo-real graphics, Internet connectivity, E-Sports and blockchain mechanics, where players can even earn crypto just for playing. Just around the corner? Metaverse & fully immersive A/R gaming on a grand scale. So, do I think Atari really compete?
Actually…Yeah.
They’re betting big on nostalgia, while offering a tactile, easy-button, no-lag, Internet-free escape for gamers who miss the “pick up and play” magic. So many of my fellow collectors and parents tell me they crave more tangible experiences in a digital world, to bring back some of the joy & simplicity our 70s through 80s era provided for ‘quality time’ with the kids, that maybe, this might be a pretty clever move by Atari.
I’m rooting for ‘em.
Admittedly, in addition to our PlayStation, I still own my Nintendo Game Cube for its simplicity, no 'load time' quick action & fun gaming I still enjoy playing with the kids every now & then...having owned this almost 21 YEARS, and it still plays like it did back in 2021!!!
And even though I’m now much more aggressive collecting digital comic assets than print, I still share time with my kids every now & then checking some of those old comics out & reliving Marvel glory re-watching the MCU series on DIsney+ and more recently, the animated Silver Surfer / Fantastic Four / Spider-Man / X-Men...and yeah...even DC's Justice League for shizz & giggles.
So yeah, I think they just might have enough nostalgic appeal and a good shot at making this work.
After all, you never really do forget your first love, right?
Thanks for Reading!
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