Atari 50 GOTY Nominations and Wins

[GraffitiTavern]

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration has gotten universally good reviews and a number of people have called it the best retro collection ever released, decided to aggregate a few of it's GOTY nods. (If I worked at Atari I would definitely milk its success and/or make a follow-up to one of the Reimagined titles)

 

Major Wins/Nods

Ars Technica:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/12/ars-technicas-best-video-games-of-2022/

DigitalTrends Best Remakes/Remasters:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/best-game-remasters-2022/

Metro UK Remake of the Year: 

https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/30/metro-gamecentral-video-game-awards-the-best-of-2022-17989988/

Carolyn Petit of Kotaku's Top 5:

https://kotaku.com/best-games-2022-elden-ring-vampire-survivors-fortnite-1849927777

Jeff Grub of Giant Bomb's #5:

https://www.giantbomb.com/articles/jeff-grubbs-top-games-of-2022/1100-6272/

 

Also Notable

Push Square Best PS4/PS5 Remake or Remaster (#3/Silver Trophy):

https://www.pushsquare.com/features/game-of-the-year-best-ps5-ps4-remake-remaster-or-re-release-of-2022

Video Chums Classic Console Compilation of the Year: (Yar's Recharged also won best revival)

https://videochums.com/article/retro-game-of-the-year-awards-2022

Nintendo Life Switch Games of 2022(Voted #29):

https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/best-nintendo-switch-games-of-2022?page=3

The MinnMax Show Best Games of the Year(#17): (on YouTube)

 

Top 5 Best Reviewed Switch Games of the Year on Metacritic:

https://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/score/metascore/year/switch/filtered

https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-best-switch-games-of-2022-according-to-metacritic/2900-4480/ 

[GraffitiTavern]

Will Update as I find stuff

 

Pure Nintendo's Most Played Switch Games list:

https://purenintendo.com/pure-nintendos-most-played-switch-games-of-2022/

[moycon]

It's an amazing release that's for sure! I don't usually buy games at full price, but in this case I made an exception, and it was more than worth it at that price.

[Guest]

The video interviews are worth the price of admission alone! So many great golden nuggets of Atari history and lore.

The "Highs and Lows" section has a video called "Atari after the Crash" with David Kitchen and its an absolute hoot!

And the quote on the next page in the timeline! LOL!!! I just love its timeline setup. 

[+Stephen]

I just hit 100% on the Arcade timeline yesterday, getting ready to start into the 2600 next.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

42 minutes ago, Stephen said:

I just hit 100% on the Arcade timeline yesterday, getting ready to start into the 2600 next.

I just finished the 2600 timeline and need to get to the rest. There are some great videos there, but then I keep jumping over to play games. Haunted Houses is my favorite of the new stuff, Vctr Sctr a close second.

 

I do need to sit down and start figuring out how to unlock some of those Atari 2600 games, one of these days

[GraffitiTavern]

On 12/30/2022 at 6:51 PM, Shaggy the Atarian said:

Haunted Houses is my favorite of the new stuff, Vctr Sctr a close second.

My favorite Reimagined so far is probably Neo Breakout for solo or Quadratank for multiplayer, when I go visit a friend I will probably bring it because Quadratank seems fun to play with friends.

 

 

[GraffitiTavern]

Also for the record I don't think that Atari 50 is GOTY(It's great I just wouldn't put a retro collection for GOTY in general) but I do think it's the best remake/remaster of the year definitely in my personal top 5 titles of the year

[MrMaddog]

Having now being able to play Atari 50, I just love the interactive timeline format.  It's so cool not only being able to watch videos and read scanned documents but also play the games that they talk about.  I'd say it's more like a virtual museum instead of just another game compliaiton...reminds me of the original Namco Museum games for the PSX, plus it's also to have Digital Eclispe make great collections like they did from the Playstation era.

 

Maybe someday I'll actually do the Swordquest games once I can figure out how to play them right, as well as do the other adventure games like Secret Quest & Dark Chambers.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

On 1/1/2023 at 9:55 AM, GraffitiTavern said:

My favorite Reimagined so far is probably Neo Breakout for solo or Quadratank for multiplayer, when I go visit a friend I will probably bring it because Quadratank seems fun to play with friends.

 

 

I do need to spend more time with Neo Breakout - Battle Breakout is fun. I wonder if the including of Neo Breakout in the collection is the reason they didn't include Breakout 2000 in the Jag games (don't see why it wasn't included otherwise)

 

Quadratank is all right but could use more maps. The controls also confused my kids since it lets you change the control scheme on the fly, then you don't know what you're doing after already trying to figure it out. 

 

I did play SwordQuest Airworld a little but I never had a lot of patience for the SW games. This is one that certainly could use a strategy guide (beyond the manual, which is pretty good...but so far I've had no success in solving any clues as to item placement)

 

Yars is cool, in that you can switch between graphics and it plays like the original. I haven't spent a ton of time on it yet though.

 

Edited January 2, 2023 by Shaggy the Atarian

[GraffitiTavern]

On 1/2/2023 at 12:13 PM, MrMaddog said:

I'd say it's more like a virtual museum instead of just another game compliaiton...reminds me of the original Namco Museum games for the PSX

Me too, honestly Namco or Nintendo have libraries so well suited to this sort of collection, the only issue is once you get to the PS1 era some of those file sizes could get pretty bulky, even with the Jaguar they never got about 4 MBs(which is presumably why there were no Jaguar CD games in the collection)

On 1/2/2023 at 1:27 PM, Shaggy the Atarian said:

I wonder if the including of Neo Breakout in the collection is the reason they didn't include Breakout 2000 in the Jag games (don't see why it wasn't included otherwise)

They might not actually own the rights to it, it was in-development when the system was cancelled so Telegames actually ended up licensing and publishing it, they own quite a few Jaguar titles(if I was Atari I'd definitely buy those rights up)

Atari 2021 IP Catalog - this is Atari's IP catalog as of Oct 2021, Breakout 2000 not listed(notably Space War 2000 is listed)

 

While I enjoyed Breakout and Quadratank a lot, I think a souped-up version of Vctr Sctr could do well in the barcade circuit, I know the barcades aren't your thing but I think there is some location appeal there. The simple 80s-inspired concepts but with complexity through the alternating gameplay, sent our resident Atari marketeer @davpa an email suggesting as much (although I'm not holding my breath on it lol)

 

[Shaggy the Atarian]

On 1/3/2023 at 11:16 PM, GraffitiTavern said:

They might not actually own the rights to it, it was in-development when the system was cancelled so Telegames actually ended up licensing and publishing it, they own quite a few Jaguar titles(if I was Atari I'd definitely buy those rights up)

Atari 2021 IP Catalog - this is Atari's IP catalog as of Oct 2021, Breakout 2000 not listed(notably Space War 2000 is listed)

This is probably something that an IP lawyer would need to sort out but I can't imagine that given the original Breakout copyright + the fact that Atari Corp did pay for the game's development back in '95 with the intent to publish, can't be figured out as Telegames would have had to license it from Atari. It's a weird mess in that case but perhaps it wasn't worth it do figure out in court for an "ok" grade remake.

 

On that catalog, Atari had a few unreleased games on there, which was kind of weird as they have many more prototypes/unreleased games that were worked on than what they list, but have been maintaining the copyright on them for these recent years (in the hopes of making something like the new Akka Arrh, I suppose).

 

Quote

While I enjoyed Breakout and Quadratank a lot, I think a souped-up version of Vctr Sctr could do well in the barcade circuit, I know the barcades aren't your thing but I think there is some location appeal there. The simple 80s-inspired concepts but with complexity through the alternating gameplay, sent our resident Atari marketeer @davpa an email suggesting as much (although I'm not holding my breath on it lol)

I don't mind barcades, they've basically saved the arcade industry...they just aren't as huge a thing in dry Utah as they are in other places  I wouldn't mind seeing them test it out but a location test would be the best way to see if something like that would really work or not.

 

One company did take Atari's iPad version of breakout and turn it into an arcade game for tickets a few years back but it's rare to find it. It probably would perform much better with something like Neo Breakout though.

 

In regards to Vctr Sctr, it is cool but it might be too esoteric for the general public. I used to own a game which was basically Gravitar 2 called Cosmotrons. It was a multiplayer (up to 4) game focused more on battles than landing but it still had the gravity at play. It looked almost exactly like Gravitar, just on a 4K screen; The button layout was the same as Asteroids. It completely bombed at my place, making $5-$10/wk on average; $20 on a good week (on a $3500~ game, not nearly good enough). I had it near new games, placed it near my retro games, it did about the same regardless where I placed it.  It's currently at a bar/arcade in a different city where from what I hear, it's definitely doing a little better there (although I sold it and the guy hasn't told me exactly how much it's raking in yet, it's not the worst one there though). But still, it's not strong.

 

Part of that is certainly from Gravitar since that's just not a good game for casuals to jump into but the issue I've noticed with that and any other "new retro" game is that most people visiting an arcade think that it's an old game inside of a new cabinet, but maybe some obscure one they never heard of back in the day so they just keep walking past. 😕 I'm afraid that Vctr Sctr would suffer a similar fate...the whole thing of indie games doing well on Steam just doesn't translate in arcades, at least in my case. 

[GraffitiTavern]

On 1/6/2023 at 2:44 PM, Shaggy the Atarian said:

This is probably something that an IP lawyer would need to sort out but I can't imagine that given the original Breakout copyright + the fact that Atari Corp did pay for the game's development back in '95 with the intent to publish, can't be figured out as Telegames would have had to license it from Atari.

Even then Telegames still exists(I emailed them a month ago) so Atari could just reach them directly to clear things up.

On 1/6/2023 at 2:44 PM, Shaggy the Atarian said:

In regards to Vctr Sctr, it is cool but it might be too esoteric for the general public.

With Vctr Sctr, since the first part is Asteroids, that might be a little more intuitive to ease people in that Gravitar-like gameplay. Would also depend on presentation, in a retro arcade/barcade an Atari game may still have some marquee value, especially if you get some press as Atari's first arcade game since the 1990s. I would also counter with Centipede Chaos, which has more faithful gameplay but I've also seen at a few FECs(specifically a Scene 75 and a Round1), although I don't know the financials for it.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

On 1/7/2023 at 4:40 PM, GraffitiTavern said:

Even then Telegames still exists(I emailed them a month ago) so Atari could just reach them directly to clear things up.

With Vctr Sctr, since the first part is Asteroids, that might be a little more intuitive to ease people in that Gravitar-like gameplay. Would also depend on presentation, in a retro arcade/barcade an Atari game may still have some marquee value, especially if you get some press as Atari's first arcade game since the 1990s. I would also counter with Centipede Chaos, which has more faithful gameplay but I've also seen at a few FECs(specifically a Scene 75 and a Round1), although I don't know the financials for it.

In watching people play video games every day, I can guarantee that the moment the Lunar Lander sequence pops up, they'd all die and walk away, if they could even get that far. I get people who regularly:

 

-Can't figure out how tokens work without help (had one just yesterday)

-Can't figure out how to start a pinball machine and accuse it of being broken or stealing from them (all I do is go and push the blinking START button, then they feel dumb. Doesn't matter the age either - I helped a guy in his 50s/60s the other day who didn't notice it at first)

-Lose all three lives within 20 seconds of starting a shoot 'em up game like Dariusburst, even though it starts out super nice and easy

-Can't push the pedal to start a game like Hydra, even though is says on the screen that's what you're supposed to do to start. This past Sunday there were 4 credits on the game because no one pushed the pedal.

-Often get stuck in games that are very clear about what to do so I have to help them (Big Buck Hunter is the worst on this; it'll happen often on The Walking Dead too, which doesn't have much text yet people still get confused and angry because they're too lazy/impatient to take a second to read and navigate simple menus)

-Can't figure out selecting their game on something like the Neo Geo MVS (not too frequent on this one, fortunately)

-As mentioned, few people "got" Cosmotrons and that didn't involve landing at all - just gravity and avoiding the walls/ground. 

 

Last year, the guys who made Centipede Chaos had created a new Asteroids. I couldn't get good pics from the location test but it was a cocktail style for 4 players. Unfortunately that bombed...as did their attempt to bring a new Tetris to arcades a few years ago.

 

Today's gaming public is so dumbed down by mobile gaming that if the game doesn't practically play itself for them, they get mad and walk away. This is sadly why redemption gaming is such a money maker - it requires very little brain power to play but it gives a quick dopamine hit that keeps people shoving coins into them. Anything from 40~ years is too complicated for your average consumer (which I hate to say but I've been watching people for 15 years now and skilled gamers are exceptions, not the rule).   

 

Vctr Sctr would probably do fine in any retro focused place where they do free play on the games but anywhere you'd see the general public and games like Centipede Chaos, it'd bomb. 😕 

[GraffitiTavern]

4 hours ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

Vctr Sctr would probably do fine in any retro focused place where they do free play on the games but anywhere you'd see the general public and games like Centipede Chaos, it'd bomb. 😕 

Fair enough, perspectives also might be different because I live in the Great Lakes where classic-style arcade gaming is much more popular, so I may overestimate national appeal. For example in Cleveland there's the Superelectric Pinball Parlor, every time I've gone in it's decently busy with both kids and adults, with a mix of classic and new tables. https://www.superelectric.tv/

[Shaggy the Atarian]

21 hours ago, GraffitiTavern said:

Fair enough, perspectives also might be different because I live in the Great Lakes where classic-style arcade gaming is much more popular, so I may overestimate national appeal. For example in Cleveland there's the Superelectric Pinball Parlor, every time I've gone in it's decently busy with both kids and adults, with a mix of classic and new tables. https://www.superelectric.tv/

That is a good point and I meant to emphasize that market a bit more. Galloping Ghost Arcade certainly is a great example too, although some of their appeal now comes from the sheer size of of it all (I don't envy all the tech work they have to do). Admittedly, I'm sort of jaded as I've seen my retro stuff just stand in as filler for the most part while it's new stuff that pays my bills. Any time a movie hyping up retro hits though (Wreck-It Ralph or Pixels come to mind), I did see a slight bump for a few weeks on my old stuff. Wednesday's popularity on Netflix has also caused my Addams Family pin to suddenly double or triple in earnings. But that stuff is all inconsistent and unreliable...and it's a tangent

 

One issue I've noticed is that the market for "indie" retro stuff is extremely small - not necessarily due to lack of locations (which most would assume but if we add bars which are also arcades, the number is huge) but due to interest. Many current retro arcades tend to draw an arbitrary line-in-the-sand about what video games they'll have on hand. Some it can only be stuff up to '89 or '95 or whatever the owner feels is "classic." They never have that qualm with pinball, as they'll grab the latest Stern's but video, they just won't touch it either due to those principles or because it costs 3-8 times as much as some retro games.

 

Of course your original point was bar/arcades and they can be less picky in that regard but still, I have seen many over the years as that market has blown up who will say "why should I spend $5k on a new Pac-Man game when I could get a bunch of classics for that same cost?" (granted, I heard that more pre-inflation). There are some out there who will invest into something new like Golden Tee/Big Buck Hunter/Pac-Man Battle Royale but otherwise it is pinball; they just don't consider new retro stuff much(there's also the factor of distributors who barely pay attention to new retro stuff as well - if they pushed harder you'd see more out there but they don't because in most places, those games don't earn as well as something else like a light-gun or racing game). As it is, most indie guys I've talked to have sold under 100 units of their game. The only exception to that has been Killer Queen, which last I heard has sold well over 120 units but that's still a drop in the bucket compared to the likes of Golden Tee, Big Buck Hunter or Cruis'n Blast which have each broken 10,000 sales. 

 

As I see it, the best appeal from the new games on the Atari 50th for being turned into arcade games would be: Neo Breakout (with a knob controller)/Battle Breakout (standalone on a cocktail) > Quadratank (do it in an 8-player cocktail cab like the ol' Tank 8 )> Yars' Revenge Reloaded > Vctr Sctr. SwordQuest and Haunted Houses don't really count   Here's a game I played recently which is kind of like Battle Breakout:

 

 

I wouldn't be against DE releasing VS in the arcade cab that they took to CAX. I would just be very surprised if they managed to sell more than 25-50 cabs (which might not be profitable for them to do) and I would personally pass on it just due to how my customers are. Neo/Battle Breakout in a cab like Bumper though, I could be quite tempted.  

 

[roots.genoa]

On 1/10/2023 at 4:39 PM, Shaggy the Atarian said:

I can guarantee that the moment the Lunar Lander sequence pops up, they'd all die and walk away

I admit I had a hard time with this sequence the first time too but, tbf, the next one (I think) is even worse for me.

[+x=usr(1536)]

On 1/10/2023 at 9:39 AM, Shaggy the Atarian said:

In watching people play video games every day, I can guarantee that the moment the Lunar Lander sequence pops up, they'd all die and walk away, if they could even get that far.

In relation to every point you raised: modern games generally don't tend to have attract modes, so there's often no way for a player to have a rough idea of what to expect in terms of gameplay.  Retro-themed games are generally an exception to this rule, but for the most part they tend to just hover on a title screen.  If there is something equivalent to an attract mode, it's generally an FMV sequence with only a tiny pinch of gameplay (if any).

 

Then again, I've also seen people staring at the attract mode of, say, World's Largest Galaga for a couple of iterations, then get their asses handed to them within 60 seconds of starting the game.  This usually results in them stomping off angry at the game, because 'old' games are supposed to be way easier than modern ones 

[Shaggy the Atarian]

13 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

In relation to every point you raised: modern games generally don't tend to have attract modes, so there's often no way for a player to have a rough idea of what to expect in terms of gameplay.  Retro-themed games are generally an exception to this rule, but for the most part they tend to just hover on a title screen.  If there is something equivalent to an attract mode, it's generally an FMV sequence with only a tiny pinch of gameplay (if any).

 

Then again, I've also seen people staring at the attract mode of, say, World's Largest Galaga for a couple of iterations, then get their asses handed to them within 60 seconds of starting the game. 

Yeah, this is one reason the arcade biz is still obsessed with racing and light-gun games - they earn well because just the design of a machine teaches the player how to play. Steering wheel? Just drive. Gun? Shoot whatever you see. Even if you have never played a video game before or don't speak English, you instantly get the basics of what to do. Joysticks or buttons though can be just about anything so it becomes harder to teach people how to play when they are often judging whether or not they will play a game within a matter of seconds. Even pinball which has been around for longer than most of us have been alive often gets people (kids and adults) who have no idea what it is they're doing. They approach it because the theme appeals to them, then many are utterly confused as pinball just assumes that everyone playing a machine is Roger Sharpe. It's always fun when I have to try and teach someone who doesn't speak English how to play pinball. 

 

It can be done - Gauntlet Legends with its narration on the first level & play is a good example, but I don't see anyone using that style at all these days. I'd prefer it too as I've mentioned, very few people have the patience to read. Me telling them real quick what to do usually works - the games should be doing that since it's rare you'll go to an arcade where someone is there who can help you figure out how to play. Modern arcade games, like pinball above, need to stop assuming that everyone who approaches the machine is literate or a pro gamer. 

 

Quote

This usually results in them stomping off angry at the game, because 'old' games are supposed to be way easier than modern ones 

If you're here on AA, then chances are you know how to play Asteroids or Galaga or whatever, maybe even with your eyes closed.   Talk to  "most people" born in the past 20 years though, and they might not even know what Asteroids is, much less know how to play it. This is probably why the new Asteroids arcade game that was on test bombed - same thing happened with Tetris just a few years ago. The same guys who made Centipede Chaos were trying to turn Tetris into a video redemption game and it bombed hard. They observed a bunch of players trying to make towers with the blocks instead of fitting pieces together to clear lines. If the general, modern public can't figure a dumbed down version of Tetris for tickets out, there's no way they figure out a bunch of esoteric vector games. It reminds me of Jeff Minter's frustration about how a Frogger remake outsold Space Giraffe. It really sucks but it seems to be the state of modern gaming 😕

[Smell Dawg]

Imagining folk intentionally building towers with Tetris blocks makes me chortle, ha.  No judgement at all - just a funny thing to picture.

[GraffitiTavern]

Metacritic released its full 2022 rankings

Atari 50 at #5 for Switch(as we knew but this has a writeup) https://www.metacritic.com/pictures/best-reviewed-nintendo-switch-games-of-2022/9

Atari itself also landed at #14 for the Annual Game Publisher Ranking https://www.metacritic.com/pictures/2023-game-publisher-rankings/18