It's probably easier to convince a brick wall to try out Atari's games than most modern gamer's

[Giles N]

On 10/17/2023 at 7:48 PM, JPF997 said:

no Atari game compares to what Nintendo put out on the NES, no Atari game can evolve into a fully fledged franchise, no Atari game is even worth playing  today or is worthy of being modernized with remake's and sequel's

I think these things actually are interesting points to consider and discuss - or fight, scream and shout over, for those of less civil inclination ( or the moody ones).

 

No Atari game compares to what Nintendo put out on the NES… 

 

… therefore you cannot play any Atari-game like never-ever…?

 

No Atari game can evolve into a fullyfledged franchise?

 

Cannot or haven’t?

 

And if haven’t… why not? Due to what?

 

No Atari game is even worth playing today?

 

- which, why, by whom, in what setting…?

 

No Atari game is worthy of being modernized?

 

Why did they get that impression?

 

Does modernizations only come in one shape and size, and shouldn’t the very details of how a game is modernized be individually reviewed, considered here..?

 

What lies behind all this general negativity…?

 

And what to learn from it (for those interested in that)?

[JPF997]

24 minutes ago, Giles N said:

I think these things actually are interesting points to consider and discuss - or fight, scream and shout over, for those of less civil inclination ( or the moody ones).

 

No Atari game compares to what Nintendo put out on the NES… 

 

… therefore you cannot play any Atari-game like never-ever…?

 

No Atari game can evolve into a fullyfledged franchise?

 

Cannot or haven’t?

 

And if haven’t… why not? Due to what?

 

No Atari game is even worth playing today?

 

- which, why, by whom, in what setting…?

 

No Atari game is worthy of being modernized?

 

Why did they get that impression?

 

Does modernizations only come in one shape and size, and shouldn’t the very details of how a game is modernized be individually reviewed, considered here..?

 

What lies behind all this general negativity…?

 

And what to learn from it (for those interested in that)?

Giles I'm afraid such deep and thought provoking questions were not on the minds of the people who blurted out those statements.

[Giles N]

1 minute ago, JPF997 said:

Giles I'm afraid such deep and thought provoking questions were not on the minds of the people who blurted out those statements.

Yet, it’s my belief that perhaps Atari could read and take notes… I mean if they want to reach this group with new software.

 

BTW - was it some majorpoint in the discussions & yellings (and whatever else it involved), that it had to have been made by Atari in all parts, owned by Atari as of today…, or just any game anywhere in time (1972-2023) published with an Atari Logo legally on it? (Those are now spread among Atari, Warner and perhaps Midway - point is: its gotten complex)

[Gromit337]

What games has Atari produced or published in the last 40 years that would (A) be of interest to a much younger generation? And (B) Isn't already available on other platforms, in some equivalent or better form, from somebody else?  Those who are in to Atari for nostalgic reasons will appreciate the old games, and recognise the brand... but any games worth playing will have already been updated, improved and released by others on modern platforms. Atari would need to publish modern, high quality games on today's popular platforms to get any kind of foothold in today's market. That usually takes a lot time and lots money. Outside of historical footnotes and a minority of shall we say "middle aged" nostalgic folk, Atari has very little brand recognition these days. Sadly, rehashing old consoles and old games isn't going to change that, as evidenced by the plethora of Flashback releases over the years, the new VCS, GSP and the 2600+. 

 

I'm still waiting for a recreated Atari 800XL or 130XE similar in concept to the C64 Maxi. 😁

 

 

 

 

[Flyindrew]

The Atari VCS

 

1.)Has awesome retro design, controller

2.)Has classic Atari titles and a store that sells some pretty good recharged and,indie and homebrew titles

3.)Can stream X Box Live as well as other gaming services

4.)Can stream media

5.)Can be used in PC MOde.

 

If they marketed this product in a Super Bowl Sunday commercial, many many many many more people would know the system actually existed and might be tempted to give it a purchase.

[Video]

I think its a game type thing. Atari was more than capable of keeping up when they did similar games. Racers for instance, most Atari stuff till the early 90's was as interesting as anything else being put out (racers by other companies.

The problem with arcades is, by the time they started evolving beyond repetitive one screen games it was to late. Most especially 2600 games are just arcade games redone for a home console. Had Atari continued on, they could have kept up, maybe an adventure that played looked and felt like early Zelda, but they didnt. They disappeared for decades and when they reappeared it was to rerelease old arcade games, again.

 

Play something like dark chambers, maybe not as refined, but was perfectly acceptable compared to Nintendo titles of the time. What if the early 90's saw a super dark chambers with more weapons and a story?

 

Atari will have us old geezers that like their old stuff, and recharged, but to get in with the new crowd they need newer style games. Story driven stuff with a lot of variety. Even something like tempest which as far as I'm aware is their best selling classic game, good enough to stand on its own, has limited appeal and doesn't sell great compared to most things. They need, while there's some interest, to ride the old arcades and consoles to get enough seed money going to make truly new, or at least modern relevant content. Were old, and will be dying off, and can't support Atari indefinitely.

[+Zeptari]

4 hours ago, Flyindrew said:

The Atari VCS

 

1.)Has awesome retro design, controller

No to the console, yuck. Yes to both classic and modern controller, I like them booth.

 

4 hours ago, Flyindrew said:

2.)Has classic Atari titles and a store that sells some pretty good recharged and,indie and homebrew titles

Yup, so does my Xbox and PC. 

 

4 hours ago, Flyindrew said:

3.)Can stream X Box Live as well as other gaming services

I can just turn my Xbox on.

 

4 hours ago, Flyindrew said:

4.)Can stream media

True. Along with about a dozen devices in my house.

 

4 hours ago, Flyindrew said:

5.)Can be used in PC MOde.

Ok. Got me. Not sure what that is. Windows? 

 

4 hours ago, Flyindrew said:

If they marketed this product in a Super Bowl Sunday commercial, many many many many more people would know the system actually existed and might be tempted to give it a purchase.

Never ever gonna happen.That's an insane amount of cast to spend. If you showed the average joe the VCS they'd push it aside looking for today's popular modern console. The 2600+ has a better chance of hitting decent sale numbers.

 

 

[Flyindrew]

13 hours ago, Zeptari said:

No to the console, yuck. Yes to both classic and modern controller, I like them booth.

 

Yup, so does my Xbox and PC. 

 

I can just turn my Xbox on.

 

True. Along with about a dozen devices in my house.

 

Ok. Got me. Not sure what that is. Windows? 

 

Never ever gonna happen.That's an insane amount of cast to spend. If you showed the average joe the VCS they'd push it aside looking for today's popular modern console. The 2600+ has a better chance of hitting decent sale numbers.

 

 

Thats your opinion toward the system and certainly your entitled to it. There are millions of people, particularly of a certain demographic (Gen X middle age people) that tune in to the event like the Super Bowl that the VCS might strike a chord with and have no idea that the VCS even exists.

[Astro Rabby]

Yeah I find it annoying how even retro gamers dismiss Atari. Some have told me that they can acknowledge it’s historical significance while having no interest in playing them, which is fair but it feels they often don’t give them a chance. At the very least try exclusives like Adventure or Haunted House, yeah?

 

But Atari needs to make waaay more elaborate games to truly compete with Nintendo. Hopefully with the acquisitions and such they’ll try such a thing. Compilations alone won’t cut it.

[Giles N]

6 minutes ago, Astro Rabby said:

 

Yeah I find it annoying how even retro gamers dismiss Atari. Some have told me that they can acknowledge it’s historical significance while having no interest in playing them, which is fair but it feels they often don’t give them a chance. At the very least try exclusives like Adventure or Haunted House, yeah?

 

Atari haven’t tried very hard to keep

steady red threads in their complex gaming history when it comes to naturally building up a line of sequels.

 

They need to focus tightly on the gameplay, and try to imagine what a natural bridge of sequels would’ve looked like.

(I started a thread concerning what new Adventure for modern consoles/PC ought to be like

somewhere on Atari General)

 

Hounted House feels very dated to me. I can very well imagine it felt atmospheric back then, but I can also understand it looks just to dated for almost everyone below 35….(except dedicated retrogamers, having exploring retrogaming as their own hobby) 

14 minutes ago, Astro Rabby said:

But Atari needs to make waaay more elaborate games to truly compete with Nintendo. Hopefully with the acquisitions and such they’ll try such a thing. Compilations alone won’t cut it.

Yeah, and that means letting the game-design parameters/paradigms be well-conceived, not just add 3 - 6 forms of boosts. 
Describing such gameplay- and game-build up parameters may be a dead boring read, but a solid build must be like a fundament to the game, or - a skeleton within the games externals.

 

Already by 1984, many games had moved beyond your typical infinite-gameplay, to be more like an journey from with a start and an end, even if it re-started. Levels looked different, and the categories of challenges to tackle increased by types, not just speed and numbers of enemies and bullets.

 

 

[Giles N]

On 12/28/2023 at 1:45 AM, Zeptari said:

If you showed the average joe the VCS they'd push it aside looking for today's popular modern console. The 2600+ has a better chance of hitting decent sale numbers.

I think Atari feel sort of obliged to continue the VCS, due to ‘inheriting it’ by getting to run what the former prople had started.

They could either try to discontinue it and and sell out the stock packed with a giftcard that could be used to open all stuff there, then let it be, or they could try to ramp it up to much more powerful unit with many ways to interconnect or connect it with other things - like Polymega modules. 
 

The 2600+ could have a good chance of really getting them somewhere, if they get compatibility really much higher, like no problems with pokey/hokey emulation or particularistic memory setups on cartridges.

 

Even though some have mentioned they want no ‘add-ons’, bombastic self-linitations aren’t what Atari needs.

 

If they need to produce an adapter-piece which plays 5200 and Atari 8 bit carts using additional firmware updates and new emulators, -, well -, if thats whats needed to keep it sell more, rather than start all over, in my opinion they should do stuff like that.

 

Like, - they failed on backwards compatbility in the past… perhaps time has come to introduce forwards compatibility…?

 

If someone then says, - well an adapter so huge it will play 5200-carts, will undo the refined 2600-looks -, why not leave such decisions to gamers if they want to use something like that or not.

 

For own part I’d like a black box with high quality hardware and 5-6 slots, which could play any Atari console game from the past flawlessly on modern tvs. 
Even it’d cost like $350-400
I’ve paid (much) more added up together for my Atari systems together. 
If they’d included collection-carts for every system in the black box, people would perhaps be willing to pay knowing they could get a long line-up of retro games right out of the box.

 

But, thats me.

 

Know that not everyone is equally into retrogaming as that.

[Living Room Arcade]

Comment removed.

Edited December 29, 2023 by Living Room Arcade

[Astro Rabby]

@Giles N The thing about reimagining old IPs is a lot of them need new names. You couldn’t really get away with just naming a game “Haunted House” or especially just “Adventure”. Atari needs to do a lot of revamping to enter the modern market.

[Zoyous]

17 hours ago, Astro Rabby said:

@Giles N The thing about reimagining old IPs is a lot of them need new names. You couldn’t really get away with just naming a game “Haunted House” or especially just “Adventure”. Atari needs to do a lot of revamping to enter the modern market.

This is even a problem with the newest IP... although Mr. Run and Jump has a memorable sprite design, his name is generic. But even Mario started out as Jumpman. Maybe Mr. Run and Jump will get a more creative name in a future game.

[Cris1997XX]

So...are there any actually modern gamers here who want to share their opinions on this? I think it would be important to hear them too, instead of spouting the same "Atari isn't the same anymooore", "new games are crap" stuff every few days

[Warboss Gegguz]

2 hours ago, Cris1997XX said:

So...are there any actually modern gamers here who want to share their opinions on this? I think it would be important to hear them too, instead of spouting the same "Atari isn't the same anymooore", "new games are crap" stuff every few days

Speaking as a Zoomer (granted, an older one), I really don't think that's the case. At least not if we're talking people who are like older than 13.

As far as retro stuff goes, the 2600's library is mainly arcade-style short form experiences, and a lot of it's highlights have better versions on other platforms (eg the ACTUAL arcade games) so that'll always be an issue, but there are people into retro gaming in ever age-bracket.

 

As far as buying Atari's recent output... I mean, what's there to buy? The Haunted House remake is good, as are the recharged games and Mr. Run and Jump, but fuck if atari promotes/advertises anything they release outside of Night Dive and DE's games. And in the latter's cases, NightDive's games and Atari 50 did great with "modern gamers", particularly the former since kids are obsessed with FPS/TPS games.

 

If you're talking about the VCS... yeah nobody takes that seriously outside of a good amount of people in this Forum, but that's not a generational thing.

 

So pardon me, but I don't really see the argument of this thread other than just some old gen-xers complaining about "them damn kids these days!" Looking over it, it's mostly just a circle jerk of people who already feel that way complaining to each other and into the void.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Warboss Gegguz

[Cris1997XX]

1 hour ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

Speaking as a Zoomer (granted, an older one), I really don't think that's the case. At least not if we're talking people who are like older than 13.

As far as retro stuff goes, the 2600's library is mainly arcade-style short form experiences, and a lot of it's highlights have better versions on other platforms (eg the ACTUAL arcade games) so that'll always be an issue, but there are people into retro gaming in ever age-bracket.

 

As far as buying Atari's recent output... I mean, what's there to buy? The Haunted House remake is good, as are the recharged games and Mr. Run and Jump, but fuck if atari promotes/advertises anything they release outside of Night Dive and DE's games. And in the latter's cases, NightDive's games and Atari 50 did great with "modern gamers", particularly the former since kids are obsessed with FPS/TPS games.

 

If you're talking about the VCS... yeah nobody takes that seriously outside of a good amount of people in this Forum, but that's not a generational thing.

 

So pardon me, but I don't really see the argument of this thread other than just some old gen-xers complaining about "them damn kids these days!" Looking over it, it's mostly just a circle jerk of people who already feel that way complaining to each other and into the void.

Yeah, I mean...it really is a stupid complaint. I'm barely 19 but I've already played a lot of retrogames, without even being introduced to them by my father or something. I've tried my fair share of Atari titles, and...I'll just say many of them aged poorly. I DO like arcade-style games with lots of replayability, mind you, but I'm simply a minority and this stuff won't sell nowadays. Tastes have changed and younger people want something different compared to 45 years ago, it's really that simple. If you really wanna try to convince kids and teens that Atari is still "cool", then you'll need to do something like a Vampire Survivors version of Food Fight (And not that shitty Splatoon clone), or implementing Adventure in Roblox. You can't just rehash the same 9 or 10 games with a fresh coat of paint, old people might like that but others won't.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Cris1997XX

[roots.genoa]

It has been said before, but it's very hard to reinvent very old games like say, Adventure, like what Nintendo did with the Zelda series, that evolved slowly for almost 40 years. Creating a modern Adventure game would be like jumping from NES Zelda to Tears of Kingdom without anything in-between... 😅

 

Bear in mind that SEGA had the same difficulties with licenses they left alone for too long like Golden Axe or Altered Beast. Maybe the next Golden Axe will be good, but I'm cautiously optimistic about it. Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio are easier to revive since they're 3D games to begin with. That's probably why the Recharged series sticks to 2D, to spice up the original formulas without completely transforming them.

 

What Atari did with the new Haunted House and Food Fight is quite bold then, but not very successful in the latter case. At least they took a risk. But with Nightdive and Digital Eclipse, it's obvious that Atari tries to be a retrogaming specialist rather than a traditional publisher, and maybe it's a safer bet, at least for now.

[Video]

I see people mention haunted house and adventure a lot. These are good examples of games that were revolutionary for their time, but not interesting to a modern gamer. Both suffer from unacceptable (by modern standards) lack of graphics, especially haunted house where everything is invisible until light hits it (awesome for its time) and both are incredibly short games, that can be beaten in 1-5 minutes, depending on game mode, and play style.

 

I'm not sure modern gamers are the real problem, but rather, as has already been said by many people, including me, is the lack of progression and evolution in games. Had Nintendo disappeared in the 80's like atari largely did, do you think the modern crowd would care about Mario bros (not super) or the donkey Kong games? They are good games by classic arcade standards, sure, but if it wasn't for the natural progression through the years, I doubt Nintendo would be relevant either.

 

Atari doesn't have to necessarily snap off totally modern games or anything, but they literally can't just keep rereleasing compilations of 40+ year old games and expect much to come of it, even WITH all the acquisitions they are doing, they still need more modern content. Not a lot, not everything, not even new ip, just A small number of new stuff each year to build up their modern catalogue. I'm not sure "recharged" fits the bill, I like it, but as their old hat fan base, I'm really to close to see the bigger picture in those cases. Just being prettier isn't necessarily going to help if the game is based off an uninteresting old game, especially with what is essentially just A reskinned old game. Haunted house is awesome, and has actual levels now, but your still just an eyeball floating through an environment with a small number of mostly invisible stuff till your lights hit it, and a level still only takes a few minutes to beat. This isn't interesting to mostly a modern crowd, not to mention some flaws the new game adds (once the ghost sees you its unavoidable, at least originally you could escape it)

[tradyblix]

37 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

It has been said before, but it's very hard to reinvent very old games like say, Adventure, like what Nintendo did with the Zelda series, that evolved slowly for almost 40 years. Creating a modern Adventure game would be like jumping from NES Zelda to Tears of Kingdom without anything in-between... 😅

 

Bear in mind that SEGA had the same difficulties with licenses they left alone for too long like Golden Axe or Altered Beast. Maybe the next Golden Axe will be good, but I'm cautiously optimistic about it. Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio are easier to revive since they're 3D games to begin with. That's probably why the Recharged series sticks to 2D, to spice up the original formulas without completely transforming them.

 

What Atari did with the new Haunted House and Food Fight is quite bold then, but not very successful in the latter case. At least they took a risk. But with Nightdive and Digital Eclipse, it's obvious that Atari tries to be a retrogaming specialist rather than a traditional publisher, and maybe it's a safer bet, at least for now.

I looked at what they showed and honestly it's not interesting to me. What they really should have done is kept them 2D, but make the 2D Great. Golden axe could have giant sprites, animations and tons of effects in the magic system. Along the lines of what they did with Revenge of Death Adder, but better (and def we would need the 3 main characters and a rogue, for example, would have been good.) There should be branching paths. Keep the gameplay to the original, as that's why we cared. You know, games like the D&D games were fantastic, especially with that 80's-90's sprite/art work style. I loved that classic look. 

 

Moving to retro-dreamcast like 3D is just... we can play AAA 3D games if we want. It's not the same experience. Until companies understand this, they'll be doomed to releasing weird curiosities. Of course I'll still play it, but I'm not super psyched for it.

Edited December 30, 2023 by tradyblix

[Giles N]

On 12/29/2023 at 11:23 PM, Astro Rabby said:

@Giles N The thing about reimagining old IPs is a lot of them need new names. You couldn’t really get away with just naming a game “Haunted House” or especially just “Adventure”. Atari needs to do a lot of revamping to enter the modern market.

You add (- I don’t know what its called -) more to the franchise-title to specify its a sequel/remake or whatever.

Like adding ‘super’ or ‘mega’ prior to the franchise-title, of add something like what castlevania games does - ‘aria of this, of symphony of thst’.

 

Could be ‘Haunted House - Horrors of Twisted BlockenStein Game-Labs’, or ‘Millipede Massive  - Mission of the Invasion of the Myriadic MultiLegged Legions’.

 

Etc.

 

I hope Atari can update their games without straying from the classic take on games - making them be centred around tightly built-up gameplay which then builds up in tasks and action to master, contra relying on cheaper presentations which will last for only 3 months to 2 and a half-year (at most. Fad comes. Fad Goes. Games goes down the drain).

 

Cut to the core: tight, well-defined and well-designed gameplay, stuff to do and experience, not presentation-fads. My opinion.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Giles N

[Living Room Arcade]

@Warboss Gegguz Could you pls express your ideas in a less combative way?  

5 hours ago, Warboss Gegguz said:

So pardon me, but I don't really see the argument of this thread other than just some old gen-xers complaining about "them damn kids these days!" Looking over it, it's mostly just a circle jerk of people who already feel that way complaining to each other and into the void.

 

@Cris1997XX @Warboss Gegguz  Can we all please discuss this topic without insulting each other?  We all have something very strong in common here.  We all answer, "Yes!" to the question, "Have you played Atari today?"  We're like brothers here with a common bond.  And, hey, I don't have to take this.  I can go back to AARP and play Asteroids for free ANY TIME I LIKE.  (Just joking, just trying to get a rise out of you guys.)  

 

On the topic, I like what the Intellivision people have done with their IP with the Amico console, taking classic Intellivision games from 40 years ago and giving them a fresh, modern spin.    

 

Similarly, I like what the people at Atari have done rebooting their IP with the VCS-PC.  To me, an example of a successful Atari reboot is Berzerk: Recharged.  From recharged.atari.com, the game features an arcade mode, a challenge mode, power-ups, local co-op and leaderboards.  The graphics are next level and, at the same time, the classic Berzerk still comes through.  It's still Berzerk.  The two player co-op, to me, is especially exciting.  What fan of the classic Berzerk wouldn't want to get their hands on that!  

 

In my opinion, the Amico and VCS-PC reboots are the way to go, as these games will be attractive to fans of the classic games and yet at the same time have the eye candy that younger gamers crave.  

Edited December 31, 2023 by Living Room Arcade

[Giles N]

4 hours ago, Cris1997XX said:

I'm barely 19 but I've already played a lot of retrogames, without even being introduced to them by my father or something. I've tried my fair share of Atari titles, and...I'll just say many of them aged poorly.

If your (only) 19, this could be interesting:

 

Which of games (titles/franchises) do you think have aged poorly, which ones do you think have more replay-value (titles/franchises). And of course, why/why not.

 

Not asking for completeness here, but just the things that comes up in your mind…

[Cris1997XX]

40 minutes ago, Giles N said:

If your (only) 19, this could be interesting:

 

Which of games (titles/franchises) do you think have aged poorly, which ones do you think have more replay-value (titles/franchises). And of course, why/why not.

 

Not asking for completeness here, but just the things that comes up in your mind…

Well, here is my honest opinion: Games like Pong and Breakout have obviously aged the worst since they're from the early to mid 70s, and many later games did these concepts better. Bentley Bear has still got some value, but it should be reworked into a (quality) mascot platformer.

A modern version of Battlezone with clean 4K vector graphics and lots of effects flying all over the screen would be great, as well as a new Tempest game with an expanded soundtrack and support for 3D audio, which would go a long way into enhancing the experience. And as I've mentioned before, a new Food Fight game in the style of Vampire Survivors with dual analogue controls, an upgrade shop, etc.

Special mention goes to the Star Wars arcade game, it would really benefit from a modern remake but obviously Disney likes to get in the way. I don't expect much honestly, Atari just needs to hire capable programmers. I think that's their main problem right now.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Cris1997XX

[Warboss Gegguz]

52 minutes ago, Living Room Arcade said:

@Warboss Gegguz Could you pls express your ideas in a less combative way?  

@Cris1997XX @Warboss Gegguz  Can we all please discuss this topic without insulting each other?  We all have something very strong in common here.  We all answer, "Yes!" to the question, "Have you played Atari today?"  We're like brothers here with a common bond.  And, hey, I don't have to take this.  I can go back to AARP and play Asteroids for free ANY TIME I LIKE.  (Just joking, just trying to get a rise out of you guys.)  

I would agree, and I have had genuinely awesome conversations with people here older than me, since it gives me some better incite into the actual workings of an era of game-design and evolution that I love. Talking to people who have actually met and spoken to dudes like Ed Logg and Eugene Jarvis or even just grew up with arcades being more than just movie theater time-wasters and ticket machines is awesome.

I just also see a lot of weird comments sort of blaming the current state of Atari on the perception people my age and younger have of them rather than, ya know, 20 years of terrible management and poor financial decisions. And it's really ironic since if anything my generation having the attention span of gnats (myself often included, unfortunately) and a weird obsession with the 80s and 90s (music, analog horror, pixel art and chiptune EVERYTHING, etc.) has led to a huge revival of retro games and game design if anything. So seeing people randomly shit on "modern gamers" over the failure of a company that went bankrupt twice and invested in crypto and hotels in attempts to stay afloat (apparently) to adequately market their products and succeed in this industry is a little bit out of touch and ignoring the real issue.

Hell, retro-gaming channels and media outlets are the main reason modern retro-gamers have the impression of Atari that they do. 

 

52 minutes ago, Living Room Arcade said:

On the topic, I like what the Intellivision people have done with their IP with the Amico console, taking classic Intellivision games from 40 years ago and giving them a fresh, modern spin.    

This just reminds me that the Choice Provisions (ie Bit Trip devs) Breakout game is canned, along with most of those games  

For me, when I think of contemporaries of OG Atari that have managed to stay relevant, I think of Namco and Taito. Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, Pac-Man CE, Galaga Legions, Space Invaders Extreme, Space Invaders Infinity Gene, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders... And those are just ones from the late 2000s onwards. Hell, M2 has made hugely successful revivals of Konami and Sega IPs multiple times that sold to MY generation (the Rebirth Wiiware games are basically considered the best things on the service). So you don't have to deviate THAT MUCH from the original formula to draw in people. You just need to also do SOMETHING beyond a rerelease of old content.

 

The best atari managed to do around the same time was Breakout on PSX and a remake of BattleZone on XBLA (and obviously the recharged games nowadays). Berzerk recharged could've done great given how big Proc-gen and twinsticks are with zoomers (again, speaking as one) and Mr. Run and Jump is just a great platformer a la Meatboy and Celeste... but Atari does next to nothing to market their games so they flew under everyone I know's radar. Hell, the only reason I found Mr. Run and Jump was just dicking around on Atari's steam page. No word of mouth or anything.

Like, in the age of the internet you almost have to TRY to stay that low profile as a major publisher.

 

51 minutes ago, Giles N said:

Which of games (titles/franchises) do you think have aged poorly, which ones do you think have more replay-value (titles/franchises). And of course, why/why not.

For me, the biggest issue is the sheer amount of redundancy in the 2600s library. Like, the amount of fixed-shooters alone is borderline comical. And not in a "same genre/mechanics with a different approach", I mean borderline identical games. It's not their "fault" since the hardware was so limited that long-form experiences were basically impossible outside of stuff like Dragonstompper, but most of the console's strongest titles are just arcade ports. The biggest exceptions are Activision and M-Network stuff, and there's a good handful of proper-original first party games that are great (Solarus, Yar's Revenge, etc.).

So it's a bit hard to convince someone with access to MAME or a plethora of rereleases with hand-picked titles to go back to the greater 2600 library for reasons beyond historic significance. My first exposure to the entire console was Activision's collections.

Hell, the main use I get out of Stella on my 3DS is to play arcade-ports. And that's also my main interest when it comes to homebrew. Both because I like the games and because I love crushing such a technologically advanced experience onto such simple hardware.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Warboss Gegguz