New twists to old classics; technology revamped
If you’re perplexed by all the fuss over Halo 2 or can’t tell the difference between PlayStation 2 and Xbox, you might want to add some new old-school video games to your holiday wish list.
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Video game maker Atari last Tuesday released the Atari Flashback, which is a gaming console with 19 classic Atari games and one never-before-released game built in. Unlike its 1980s predecessor, no cartridges are required and it plugs directly into the television’s audio/visual inputs.
The unreleased game, Saboteur, was developed in the 1980s, but never marketed.
“It’s from the vault,” said Stacey Clement, a public relations representative for Atari.
The console itself weighs about one pound, looks like a slimmed-down version of the Atari 2600 and retails for $45. Preloaded games include Adventure, Air-Sea Battle and Breakout.
Retailers such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Gamestop will carry the Flashback and Anthology.
In addition to the Flashback, Atari also released the “Atari Anthology,” a PlayStation 2 and Xbox game that has 85 classic games on it and retails for $19.99. Unlike the Flashback, gamers will use controllers that came with their PlayStation 2 or Xbox instead of a classic Atari joystick.
Clement said Atari began re-releasing retro video games last year when they marketed a PC game that included 80 classics.
“Retro is always popular every few years. People like to play games that are familiar to them,” Clement said. “And they’re a nice family alternative,” to some video games that might be more appropriate for older gamers.
The Flashback console is a tribute to gaming, Clement said. Atari licensed out some of its games to Jakks Pacific Inc., a California-based company that used the games for its own set of plug-and-play products.
Those who still hold a grudge against Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde – the four ghosts from Ms. Pac-Man – can pick up a game controller by Jakks TV Games. The joystick has five games loaded into it, plugs into the audio/visual inputs on a television and needs four AA batteries.
Jakks also makes Namco TV games, a similar controller loaded with five other arcade classics, including Dig Dug and original Pac-Man.
Jakks began selling retro video games in 2001 when the company acquired Toymax Inc., which developed the technology. The reason so many games can be stored in a single joystick – opposed to buying a console and separate cartridges for each game – is because the retro games are simple and low-tech.
“They’re such low resolution and small-bit games that they can all fit onto a chip that goes in the joystick,” said Anne-Marie Feliciano, head of corporate communications for Jakks. The eight- and 16-bit games were ported from the cartridge directly onto the chip.
At Gamestop in Cowesett Corners in Warwick, store manager Kyle Brooks said the store has carried the Jakks TV Games for about a year.
“They’ve been popular, definitely through the holidays,” Brooks said.
Customers generally buy the TV Games for gifts for kids “to show them what they used to play.”
Jakks this summer released a plug-and-play version of the Atari paddle, the controllers that accompanied the original Atari 2600 gaming console. The paddle has 13 original games stored in it. ?
