Atari Archive

  • SPLORT FART: DIY Atari noises

    SPLORT FART: DIY Atari noises

    Posted on March 23, 2010 | No Comments
    Dear pre-teens: Want to piss off your parents? Buy and build this thing. It's a mini Atari-esque noise generator that fits inside an Altoids tin (not included.) While it makes noises like the Atari 2600 used to, it does not make "sounds" per se, in that said sounds could be pleasing to the ear. These are definitely not. It's only $25 and it's totally DIY. It also sounds like you're squeezing a gerbil through a clothes press.

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  • PuppyArcade: A standalone, CD-based OS for playing old arcade game

    PuppyArcade: A standalone, CD-based OS for playing old arcade game

    Posted on March 2, 2010 | No Comments
    While I think the passion for building stand-up arcade games has waned recently, it’s nice to see that someone out there is still thinking of the children. PuppyArcade by Scott Jarvis is a CD-based arcade system that boots in any PC and allows you to access MAME ROMs on almost any disk. The game plays [...]

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  • Atari and Cryptic anger the people who bought Star Trek Online at launch

    Atari and Cryptic anger the people who bought Star Trek Online at launch

    Posted on March 1, 2010 | No Comments
    Remember Star Trek Online? Yeah, it came out waaaaay back on February 2nd of 2010. Well, it's Cryptic's game, but it's published by Atari, and since there maybe hasn't been the level of interest everyone was looking for, they are running a sale. It's a pretty good deal too, since you get the game for $10 off (which isn't so bad) and you an additional 60 days of free gameplay (which is the frustrating part). That's a total of 90 days of free play, including the 30 days that come with the purchase of the game. That seems really unfair to the players who pre-ordered or bought the game when it first came out.

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  • Atari’s Missile Command (from 1980) to become live-action movie

    Atari’s Missile Command (from 1980) to become live-action movie

    Posted on February 22, 2010 | No Comments
    In case you needed another indicator Hollywood has run out of ideas, here is a new one for you: Atari is about to sell the movie rights to Missile Command, a shooting game that hit arcades back in 1980, to 20th Century Fox and another movie production company. Getting the license doesn't necessarily mean we ever get to see a Missile Command movie on the big screen, but a first step has been made. And in fact, Atari already managed to auction off the rights for Asteroids, another classic action game, to Universal Pictures last summer. Missile Command is supposed to be turned into a 3D movie.

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  • Old-timey grenade-shaped Atari controller brings us back

    Old-timey grenade-shaped Atari controller brings us back

    Posted on August 14, 2009 | No Comments
    If the action couldn't happen on screen then it surely could happen off screen. This odd, made-in-Denmark controller was called the Terminator and was shaped like a very realistic grenade - complete with pin. I remember the old style "stick" controllers with the triangular head so I guess this is similar. You'd hold this in your hand and move the top with your thumb. Sadly you'd also probably look like you were ready to blow up the computer lab, a sad side effect of these frightened times.

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