Atari

Things We Saw Today

Things We Saw Today: Thor Can Prance If He Wants To

by Isabella Kapur | 5:01 pm, June 5th, 2013

The mystery of Thor’s workout routine has been revealed thanks to the YouTube channel Everyday Thor.

Meet Dona Bailey, The Woman Behind Atari’s Centipede

by Kellie Foxx-Gonzalez | 11:01 am, July 10th, 2012

If you remember hanging out at arcades as a kid, and blowing all of the quarters in your piggy bank every weekend, you definitely know about Centipede. The classic arcade game was bright, colorful, operated by a trackball, and difficult as hell: players must shoot a centipede that splits into more centipedes as it winds down the screen. But what you might not know, is that a large part of the iconic shoot ‘em up game was designed by Dona Bailey, one of the few women programmers for the Atari.

Things We Saw Today: Angelina Jolie, As Maleficent, Flying Through the Air

by Jamie Frevele | 4:57 pm, June 27th, 2012

Well, there goes the “intimidation” factor. Angelina Jolie, flying about the set of Maleficent. “RAWR! I am a pitchfork!” (via Geek Tyrant)

5th Avenue Frogger Is the Coolest Thing We Atari Geeks Have Seen All Day [Video]

by Jamie Frevele | 11:29 am, April 22nd, 2012

Surely some of you are from the earlier part of the 1980s and can appreciate a little game called Frogger. Seeing it now is a trip down memory lane, and it holds a special place in my heart as one of the roughly five video games I can actually play. If I could just get my Atari 5200 controllers to work! Blast those things. Anyway, this version of Frogger is slightly different than the classic one. In fact, besides something involving actual (and ill-fated) frogs, it’s the closest thing we can get to Frogger IRL. Developed by Tyler DeAngelo, 5th Avenue Frogger is the original game, hacked, with the cars programmed according to actual New York City traffic on 5th Avenue. (Spoiler: The frogs die — fast.)

(via Laughing Squid)

It's Technical

The Origin of Easter Eggs — The Digital Ones

by Jamie Frevele | 12:55 pm, April 8th, 2012

It should come as no surprise that the concept of a digital or virtual “Easter egg,” or a hidden link, message, feature, etc. embedded into a form of media, has a geeky history. Not just geeky, but vintage geeky — as in 1979 Atari geeky. Do I have your attention? And no, there are no Easter eggs before the jump. I’m not technically-inclined enough to work that kind of sorcery.

Space Invaders Jewelry, Because the Internet Loves Us and Wants Us to Be Happy

by Jamie Frevele | 3:31 pm, December 21st, 2011

When I saw this picture on EPIC Ponyz this morning, I had to wonder what other wearable art inspired by one of my favorite 1980s video games, Space Invaders, had to exist out there. (My favorite, because the 1980s was the last time I played video games and also because I cannot play video games.) Well, I was in luck, and so are you! Because in addition to that ring above (by Etsy user Virginie Millefiori), there is a whole world of retro 8-bit aliens with which to adorn yourself.

When Old School Atari Game Gauntlet Invades the Holidays, the Results Are Mint [Video]

by Jamie Frevele | 5:44 pm, December 19th, 2011

I hate it when this happens. You’re having a lovely get-together, and suddenly, it’s taken over by pixellated demons and whatnot, and the only thing you can do to regain your strength is consume any food around and drink … potion. Right! Potion. And then someone shoots the food. For those of us who remember the 1980s, the sights and sounds of the Atari arcade game Gauntlet will come haunting your minds once again. And it won’t be the “potion” talking, just this sketch by Co-Op Life. Before you leave today, you need to watch this video, badly.

(via Topless Robot)

It Came From Outer Space

Atari’s Space Invaders to Become a Movie, Might Even Have an Actual Story

by Jamie Frevele | 11:44 am, July 8th, 2011

Space Invaders — which was first released in 1978 as an arcade game and then came to the Atari 2600 system in 1980 — is going to be made into a movie, says the Hollywood Reporter. Producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Gigi Pritzker (Odd Lot Entertainment) will be optioning the rights to the game and then finding a writer to come up with a story. Because Space Invaders really doesn’t have one. Like, at all. There’s no mythology, no protagonist (except for you, the shooter of said space invaders), just a little gun thing and aliens. Those aliens don’t even have a real alien name! So everyone has their work cut out for them.