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The 2018 Atari Challenge


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What is the 2018 Atari Challenge?

 

It's quite simple really! The 2018 Atari Challenge is a challenge to only play video games on Atari produced consoles and/or computers for the entirety of 2018. Sound crazy? Of course it does, it wouldn't be a challenge if it didn't!

 

 

Who is this challenge for?

 

I came up with the idea for this challenge primarily to help myself focus my game playing and collecting in 2018, after a decade or so of jumping around between collecting games for a dozen or more different systems and never quite knowing what to buy or play next. However, anyone else who would like to participate is certainly welcome to! Whether you're someone with a large assortment of Atari systems and games to choose from already or just looking for a good reason to branch out and explore new Atari systems and games that you've never played before, you're welcome to come join me on this journey as I explore all that the world of Atari has to offer in 2018.

 

 

Which systems are eligible?

 

Any console or computer ever produced by any incarnation of Atari. The 2600, 5200, 7800, XEGS, Lynx, Jaguar and any of the vast array of computers in the Atari catalog. Also eligible are Atari's dedicated consoles such as Pong and Video Pinball, as well as systems produced by the modern incarnation of Atari like the Atari Flashback series. Emulating games for Atari consoles or computers on other non-Atari hardware (your usual home computer, Raspberry Pi, Wii, Xbox, etc.) is just fine, as long as the games you're emulating were originally produced for an Atari brand system.

 

 

 

 

I think that about covers all the important bits! I decided to start the thread for the 2018 Atari Challenge a few months early in case anyone else decides that they'd like to participate, to give them time to track down and acquire any Atari systems they'd like to use for the coming year before the challenge begins. Personally I currently own an Atari 2600 and 7800, have an XEGS in the mail on it's way to me, and will be trying my darndest to pick up a Jaguar and Lynx II before 2018 starts to round out my Atari system selection for this crazy experiment. I have no idea how this challenge is going to turn out, but it should be an interesting adventure! :)

Edited by Jin
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Me neither. I'll rather give them all a bit of love, though there has been an exceptional amount of Atari 8-bit this year for me due to joining the HSC. Sometimes it feels like I'm neglecting the Commodores and the others, so being exclusive to Atari for an entire year is asking too much.

 

But good luck with your journey!

 

Edit: But of course if you omit "only", so you make it a challenge to at least play one Atari system every week, it'll be a much more open challenge many of us can join.

Edited by carlsson
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That definitely sounds interesting, but it'd just be impossible for me. Between my already solid collection that I just love, games for work, and having a good few friends who I like to play online games with I would have to sacrifice most of my current entertainment just to only play a small portion of my collection for a year straight.

 

Edit: But of course if you omit "only", so you make it a challenge to at least play one Atari system every week, it'll be a much more open challenge many of us can join.

 

This would be a lot more doable, honestly if it was something added in I'd be 100% up for it (An hour or two every week knowing my usual weekly gameplay?) as alongside adding more variety to my usual game schedule/just being a good opportunity to play through a good bit which I haven't played, it would mean I wouldn't have to commit to blowing people off just for the sake of Atari games.

 

Good luck if you go through with this - that's a lot of dedication for video games with the fact that there's so much more out there which you could be playing.

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Don't feel too bad guys, I honestly don't expect anyone else to come along on this journey with me. With all the gaming options vying for your attention in this day and age it would be a very difficult for any retro gaming enthusiast to stick to just Atari systems for a whole year, but that is kind of the point. :)

 

I've gotten into this routine for the last half a decade or so where I always play the same Game Boy, PlayStation, GameCube, and Wii games every year; and I've grown bored with the routine and want to force myself to explore some Atari systems that I've always meant to but never quite gotten around to.

 

Will I find myself going a little nuts and wishing I could play a Zelda or Resident Evil game after a few months of nothing but Atari? Maybe so, but it will certainly shake up my routine and it wouldn't be any fun if it wasn't a challenge. I imagine I'll probably spend a lot more time reading books and catching up on movies and TV shows next year than I have in years past, but either way this thread will serve to chronicle the fun (and likely frustration) of gaming like a die hard Atari fan from 1995 for a whole year. I have a feeling that me and the Jaguar are going to become good buddies for a long while, since that will be the most modern system I can play. :lol:

Edited by Jin
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If I read the rules correctly, those would be modern games produced exclusively for the Ataribox, not just any game which the Ataribox is compatible with. For similar reasons, running a non-Atari emulator on e.g. a Falcon or a PC5 (20 MHz 80386) would be outside of the challenge as it is about playing games natively issued for an Atari branded system, not running any game through an Atari device.

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If I read the rules correctly, those would be modern games produced exclusively for the Ataribox, not just any game which the Ataribox is compatible with. For similar reasons, running a non-Atari emulator on e.g. a Falcon or a PC5 (20 MHz 80386) would be outside of the challenge as it is about playing games natively issued for an Atari branded system, not running any game through an Atari device.

You got it. I'm sure if someone was really clever they could come up with a way to emulate NES games and the like on one of the later 16-bit Atari computers, but that would go against the spirit of the challenge. So if you're looking for loopholes in the rules to play non-Atari system games on an Atari system then this challenge probably isn't for you. I will admit that I am looking forward to trying out Zippy the Porcupine though! :D

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For that matter, three days ago I completed a similar but different challenge of my own. I haven't been playing a single SNES game for an entire year! :lol:

 

I may have touched a SNES to check that it still was working, but not spent more than one minute to ensure that it did. I suppose the same could be said about many systems and generally it is much easier to stay away from one or many different brands for an entire year than to be exclusively loyal to a single brand for a year.

 

(Of course only systems that you actually own, have a bunch of games for and used to play semi-regularly should be considered in a such challenge)

Edited by carlsson
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