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Will Luton kick
starts Atarinvader's new series
Although the Atari 2600 ended its career with a glut (the Atari system
basically suffocated from an overwhelmingly large third party explosion, and
most of the games were designed very poorly, ending Atari's career), there's
been an increase of what is known as "retrogaming." For all those not
schooled in this term, it means that games of the past have been coming back
strongly, in one form or another.The reason being is this: Although
we've all seen the new wave of games, the 3D graphics, the realistic
sounds and effects that push the technology to its limits and beyond, many
"older" gamers desire simple basics. Playability and fun. Granted, many of
these new games on the market are enjoyable, many older gamers (and ones
that have just discovered the retro games themselves) agree that nothing
beats a rehashed version of some of the games we were playing in the early
80s. As such, a veritable cornucopia of classics have been given new
life. In many of their forms, however, they come out as revamped versions of
what they once were...beefed up for the 21st century (Asteroids 2000 for example). I myself, as an older gamer, groan with dismay and ask, "What
happened to the game? Where'd it go underneath all this glitter and
glamour?" The good news is many PCs and Macs emulate these games to a tee.
You can find virtually any game made in the last 20 years somewhere on the
internet, and you can play it in its original, unedited form. However, playing
an old game on a new Pentium 4 processor doesn't seem the same to many. In
fact, it's like it's been given a new face to wear. Many gamers turn
back the clock to obtain old video game systems (Intellivision, Odyssey II,
and so forth) and the great games they had for them in their heyday. Hence,
collectors everywhere now have a new hobby: collecting these priceless
classic systems and their games from wherever they may have taken up
residence in the last two decades. Auctions (Ebay), flea markets, on-line
stores, and everywhere in urban America have been turned upside-down in the
retrogamers search for "that one particular game they remember playing when
they were ten years old." I have been no different from the others bitten by
this ancient bug, and if you're reading this, perhaps you're no different,
either. Here's to your search for those bygone games and systems that may
have gone by the wayside, but are very much alive with us retros as they
once were. Have you played Atari today? You bet I have. ;-)
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