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Tag: Atari

  • The Atari E.T. Game Land Fill Legend

    The Atari E.T. Game Land Fill Legend

    The year is 1983. The Alamogordo Daily News reported in September that between 10-20 (actually 14) semi-trucks coming from a storehouse in El Paso, Texas, traveled 90 miles to a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico. At night, they would unload, cover deep within the earth, and seal with concrete, Atari boxes, cartridges, consoles, and the shame brought with their creation.

    Among the gizmos lay purged was one of art’s greatest abominations: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Atari videogame. An estimated 750,000 copies lay crushed in their dusty graves; the cause of death being rock-bottom sales due to abysmal quality by rushed development.

    Whispers of what happened that day trickled into an urban legend of doubt, intrigue, and mystery… until…

    31 years later.

    On Sunday, at 12:45pm MDT, a film documentary seeking out the video game grave yard teamed up with Xbox Entertainment Studios and Lighbox Entertainment, went back to that old landfill and dug up the remains. There, in front of hundreds of spectators, revealed the epitome of what was one (of many) man’s trash, to be a treasured relic of gaming history.

    The E.T. Atari cartridge did not die alone; several cases of the game Centipede, Pac-Man, and others games were also found, surprisingly, to be in very good condition despite three decades – unfortunately none of them were playable.

     

    There’s a notion in the video game industry that the licensed movie adaptations of video games (and vice versa) wind up becoming laughable flops. The Atari E.T. game competes as one of the worst video games in history, but, as with all art, found a way to be enjoyed.

    Besides the novelty of his lovable wrinkly testicle-like face, critics found the gameplay of collecting Reese’s pieces and part of E.T.’s phone to be a repetitive and vicious cycle; try to watch the following without any hint of irritation:

    Doesn’t it just take you back?

    Image via YouTube

  • Atari Landfill Excavation Will Have an Audience

    In 1983 the video game industry crashed in the U.S. One of the most legendary tales from that period involved Atari‘s rushed video game adaptation of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

    Atari had allegedly manufactured a far too ambitious number of cartridges for the game, leading to a massive revenue loss on the product. Legends since that time have held that Atari took millions of unsold Atari console cartridges, tossed them in an Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill and covered them with concrete.

    Now a new documentary is looking to discover the truth behind the legend. The movie, directed by Zak Penn (writer on screenplays such as X-Men: The Last Stand and creator of the Alphas TV show), will cover the excavation of the alleged Atari dump site.

    Though the production reportedly ran into trouble getting permission for the excavation, the event is now scheduled to take place on April 26. Gaming fans are now being invited to come to the dig site and watch as the truth comes out. The day-long excavation will take place from 9:30 am to 7:30 pm at the Alamogordo Landfill.

    This entire endeavor is being funded in part by Microsoft’s Xbox Entertainment Studios as part of its new documentaries initiative. The company will be producing a documentary series that will air first on Xbox consoles.

    The Atari landfill documentary is the first of these upcoming documentaries. The project is also being produced in cooperation with Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn studio Lightbox. The project is cooperating with Fuel Entertainment, the company that has exclusive excavation rites to the landfill in question.

    In addition to curious gaming fans, Microsoft is inviting the media to cover the excavation event. A team of archaeologists will be at the site, as will representatives from all of the parties involved in the project. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial developer Howard Scott Warshaw will also make a special appearance at the site.

    Image via Microsoft

  • Atari Games Buried in a Landfill? Old Legend Prompts New Search

    Legend has it that there’s a massive grave of Atari games, most notably millions of copies of the epic commercial failure E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, buried in a New Mexico landfill. If you’re an Atari nerd or video game historian, you probably know the story.

    Back in 1983, reports emerged that between 10 and 20 semi truckloads full of Atari games and systems were dumped into a landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Atari claimed that the dump was due to the changeover of Atari 2600 to Atari 5200 games. As additional reports emerged, the story became even murkier. Eventually, it came to be believed that Atari had dumped around 3.5 million copies of the E.T game, a huge failure, in the landfill and buried it in concrete.

    The story has taken on the status of urban legend. Are there really millions of copies of terrible Atari games buried in the New Mexico desert? There even a Wikipedia entry on the “Atari Video Game Burial” that chronicles both the fact and myth. Among gamers, it’s a highly-contested question. Is it total BS?

    We may soon have an answer – or at least more information to go on.

    A New Mexico City Commission has approved a search of the landfill grounds by Canadian marketing agency Fuel Industries. They’ll be looking for any discarded Atari wares buried under mounds of dirt and concrete – and they have been given six months to look.

    In 1983, as Atari was sinking into hard times, they paid to license the name of one of the previous year’s most popular films – and they fell even deeper in the hole. Out of that failure rose this legend. This odd story, one of the strangest and most mythical for video game lovers, may finally get a new chapter.

  • Play Atari’s Breakout in Google Image Search with This Awesome Easter Egg

    If you were planning on getting any more work done today, well, cancel those plans. Go to Google Image search and type “atari breakout.”

    Are you doing it yet?

    What you’ll find is a wonderful little Easter Egg from Google, who have turned the image search results for the classic Atari game into a fun little game of their own. Each time you complete a level, Google auto-generates another set of image results for you to bust. From our experience, it’s usually some sort of food like “milkshake” or dog like “mastiff.”

    Once you’re done busting up image blocks, you can share your high score on Google+. The game, while fun, doesn’t get any harder as you progress. So there will be some really high scores to beat, I’m sure.

    Atari’s Breakout first launched back in April of 1976, which means that it’s currently 37 years old. Nearly four decades old, simple as can be, but still addicting as hell – as any great arcade game should be.

    Link for the lazy.

  • Atari’s U.S. Branch Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

    Atari is one of the most well known brands in the gaming industry. That being said, the company now known as Atari hasn’t been associated with a hit for a long time. The modern gaming industry has not been kind to the company, but it’s making a comeback via mobile and social gaming. That comeback may be delayed for a bit as it now works its way through bankruptcy.

    Atari’s U.S. branch announced today that it has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The move is being used to detach itself from its France-based parent company, Atari S.A. The company says it has been a growth driver for the parent company since rebranding itself as a social game developer in 2011, but the break off from its parent company is being used to “preserve [its] inherent value and and unlock revenue potential unrealized while under control of Atari S.A.”

    As part of the bankruptcy process, Atari U.S. plans to sell off all of its assets, including its branding. Some of the properties available for sale include Pong, Asteroids, Centipede, Tempest, Test Drive, Backyard Sports, and more.

    Atari says that its business will continue as normal over the next few months. In fact, the company has a few new games in the pipeline that will be launching on mobile devices, including a new entry in the Rollercoaster Tycoon series and Atari Casino.

    Atari is just starting the bankruptcy process, but troubled publisher THQ has been there for a while. The company announced its plans to sell off the company to a private investor in late December, but the company’s investors, with the help of the court, stopped the sale in favor of an auction where each property may be sold off piece by piece. We’ll know later this week if THQ will end up as a whole in the hands of its initial investor or if the company will be split up among the wolves hoping to obtain the lucrative Saints Row franchise.

    All that being said, Atari probably doesn’t have anything to worry about. Mobile gamers who grew up with an Atari 2600 will be able to enjoy touch-enabled versions of their favorite retro games for years to come.

  • Atari Embraces HTML5 In Internet Explorer 10

    I know it may seem unreal, but Internet Explorer is actually a decent browser these days. The latest iteration – IE10 – is already available in preview form on Windows 8. Once it launches, it will be expose millions of Internet users to the power of HTML5. To show off that power, Microsoft has partnered with a legend in gaming.

    Microsoft announced today that they have entered into a partnership with Atari to bring the Atari Arcade to Internet Explorer 10. All the games will be built using HTML5 and feature Windows 8-specific features. The games can be played on any modern browser, but players on Internet Explorer will be granted an ad-free experience.

    “Atari and Microsoft have had a long and successful history on Xbox LIVE and in the digital space,” said Jim Wilson, CEO of Atari. “The reimagined Atari Arcade expands this partnership in a new direction, in keeping with our current digital strategy, making it easier than ever for gamers around the world to access our renowned franchises, through the power and flexibility of an HTML5 based platform.”

    The initial batch of games available in Atari Arcade include Centipede, Yars’ Revenge, Tempest, Millipede, Missile Command, Adventure, Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Crystal Castles, Gravitar, Haunted House and Lunar Lander. The games have been updated with new graphics and gameplay including real-time multiplayer.

    “We were excited to work with a gaming legend, Atari, to bring their classic arcade games to life on the web with Internet Explorer,” adds Ryan Gavin, general manager, Internet Explorer. “Atari Arcade demonstrates what’s possible when you couple HTML5 along with a fast and fluid browser that is perfect for touch, which is precisely what you get with Internet Explorer 10. Now together with Internet Explorer and HTML5, we get to see some of our favorite games jump into the next generation of gaming on the web – which is pretty fantastic.”

    The Atari Arcade is not exclusive to the old classics of yesteryear. Atari is offering developers access to their Create.js tools so developers can create HTML5 cross browser titles. One game from a third party developer is already available on the service – Heroes of Neverwinter.

    The popularity of arcade games on mobile and Web make this partnership seem like a no brainer. I’m not sure if kids would play Atari games, but I’m sure adults will jump on the chance to relive their childhood. The only thing standing in its way is its reliance on HTML5.

    You can start playing games on Atari Arcade right now. You may have your favorite, but let me recommend Tempest. It’s still one of the best games ever made and nobody has ever really topped its unique barrel shmup design.

  • 40 Years of Atari Celebrated with Arcade Giveaways [Infographic]

    Atari may not be the biggest current name in gaming, but it has been around longer than most, and it has the titles to prove it. Pong, Asteroids, and Pac-Man all came from the minds at Atari. Recently, the company has been remaking some of its most classic arcade titles for re-release on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It even crowd-sourced some of this work by holding a $100,000 contest for indie game developers to re-imagine Pong for the iPhone.

    Today, Atari is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a “40 Giveaways in 4 Days” sweepstakes. The contest will take place over on Atari’s Facebook page, where fans of the company can win t-shirts, swag, or even Atari Arcades.

    “Over its 40 years of operation, Atari has become one of the most iconic and recognized brands around the world, responsible for mainstreaming video games with blockbuster franchises including Asteroids, Breakout, and Centipede,” said Jim Wilson, CEO of Atari. “Today, we aim to keep the tradition alive through new and creative development efforts based on what made us great in our early days – offering our devoted and growing fan base fun but challenging games on mobile and online platforms.”

    Atari has released an infographic detailing its storied history, which, in many ways, mirrors the history of gaming as a whole. Some highlights include the Atari 2600, the Atari Jaguar, and name-dropping Steve Jobs as a former employee. At least the company is even self-deprecating enough to mention that it created the video-game tie-in for the movie E.T. – a game so bad that Atari dumped every copy into a landfill, crushed them, then encased them in cement. Check out the history of Atari below and see how the company has churned out an average of 10 games per year for the past 40 years:

    Atari's 40th anniversary infographic

  • Iconic Video Games Get The IRL Treatment

    The reality of how newer games are designed is that they want to get as close to reality as possible. Older games? It was an exercise in making the game fun, regardless of how it translated to real life. So when you say, “Ugh, why can’t Pacman be real?” think again.

    Patrick Runte, a german photographer, decided to take his shot at making some of the most iconic video games in history and turning them into real life art pieces in a series he calls “Jump N’ Run.”

    I love the Pacman one, but the Flipper one kills me. It looks so stupid its funny. I also like the Tetris one because it looks like the before picture where the pieces are just hanging out before falling having some coffee or something.

    Tetris

    Space Invaders

    Pong

    Flipper

  • What If Angry Birds Was Released in the 80’s?

    What do IntelliVision, the Commadore 64, and Atari 2600 all have in common? Aside from all bringing back awesome memories for children of the early 80’s and being hilarious examples of how much technology has changed, they all featured a little known game called Angry Birds. It would take Rovio three decades to finally cash in on the idea, but it finally paid off for them.

    That is not true, obviously. You would have heard about Angry Birds a long time ago if they had been making games since the 80’s, but it would be cool if it was. That’s what squirrel-monkey.com is trying to say with this MS Paint and Windows Movie Maker version of the wildly popular multi-million download game. The sounds and graphics are all spot on for video games at the time, and the negative color images as the screen bleeps in and out are a good touch. I’m glad I kept playing video games into adulthood, we have come so far.

  • Atari Wants You To Remake Pong

    Pong is one of the greatest games ever made. Maybe not for its compelling gameplay, but for its simplicity that brought video games to millions of households. Atari has never really captured that kind of magic again, but they are going to try this year.

    Atari has announced via their Web site a contest for indie developers to remake Pong for the iPhone. They don’t just want a straight up remake of Pong, but they want indie developers to reimagine Pong as something completely unique and exciting.

    Finalists will also have their games submitted for review with the winners being decided by a panel of industry judges and the community.

    Speaking of industry judges, one of them is Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari. I wouldn’t want to be under his scrutinizing eye, but I’m sure somebody will please this giant of video games.

    The winner will receive $100,000 and a publishing agreement with Atari.

    If you want to enter, you can do so here. Atari wants any interested parties to have a design document ready at time of submission.

    The last proper Pong game was Pong The Next Level for the PlayStation. I never played it myself, but I remember the box art looking really trippy.

  • DLD 2012: Atari Founder Details New Education Initiative

    DLD 2012: Atari Founder Details New Education Initiative

    Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese’s, has a new pet project that aims straight for the classroom.

    At the Digital Life Design conference yesterday, Bushnell outlined his plans for Speed to Learn according to the DLD tumblr. The new service aims at updating the classroom for modern students to learn in new ways.

    “ADHD is misspelled – it’s actually called boring teacher syndrome,” Bushnell said.

    He went on to say that the traditional system is not up to date on the kind of learning processes that are needed to keep students engaged.

    At this point, he says that the education system can learn from video games. He says that the classrooms should be rid of lectures and homework, and introduce individual learning styles. He went on to say that the classroom should in incorporate notions of different learning cultures, and add the power of computers. Such a move would create an education revolution he said.

    The Speed to Learn initiative aims to do that. Teachers can not handle the difficult levels of students, but computers can. He says that through using software that mimics the structures of computer games, initiatives like Speed to Learn can speed up the education process and help individual students reach their potential.

    “Matching difficulty with ability makes teaching fun,” Bushnell said.

    Here are some more priceless quotes from the talk with Bushnell:

    @Bill_Gross
    Bill Gross    “The Classroom is the Dumbest Thing Ever Invented For Teaching Children” Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari / Pong @ #DLD12 1 day ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @DLDConference
    DLD Conference    Bushnell: “Matching difficulty levels with ability can help keep students motivated” #DLD12 #DLDLearn 1 day ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @mktgchelsea
    Chelsea Rustrum    “I characterize my life on how much fun I have.” Nolan Bushnell, father of 8 and inventor of pong w/120 billion lifetime downloads #DLD12 1 day ago via Twitter for iPad · powered by @socialditto

    @larsfnorway
    Lars F    Nolan Bushnell: Todays school system is outdated. One week of teaching could be learned in ONE hour #DLD12 1 day ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    [Lead image courtesy of DLD tumblr]