Jeremy Parish

NES Works Gaiden 74: Atari 2600 beyond the crash (Patreon)

Published:

2024-12-27 21:44:06

Imported:

2026-06

Tags:

atari 2600 atari corp nes works gaiden

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Content

I've been mulling the prospect of tackling the latter-day Atari 2600 library for years now. Given all the other material I've set up recently as a supplement to NES Works, I realized I'd be abrogating my obligations as an elder nerd with noisy opinions about old video games not to cover the 2600. Like the Intellivision and XE Game System sidebars, there's not a lot here to deal with—10 episodes max. Maybe even fewer than that if I come across some unreasonably slight games that don't support four minutes of commentary. Who knows!

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me while I put this episode together. Like I said the other day, the next few episodes (and hopefully everything beyond that) will be published in a more timely fashion, for real.

Files

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In the mood for necromancy: Atari 2600 beyond the crash | NES Works Gaiden 74

Rounding out the exploration of Nintendo's 8-bit competition in the U.S. comes the Atari 2600. The original hit console may have found itself diminished by the time NES launched, but that didn't mean it had tapped out. Atari Inc. would continue to push the 2600 as a budget-priced starter system until shortly before the NES's 16-bit successor arrived. This episode looks at what the 2600 represented in the late ’90s as a preamble to a brief series of game retrospectives that may just surprise you with the quality of the material developers and publishers were putting together for this most elderly of consoles... You can learn more about the Intellivision's history during the INTV days by preordering The NES Era Vol. III: NES and the Peak of 8-Bit, a comprehensive photographic atlas of every console game released for NES and its competitors—including the Intellivision—at the height of their power, from January 1988 through the advent of 16-bit systems in August 1989. Take a deep dive into the prehistory of NES with this limited-edition oversized (12x12"!) photo book: https://limitedrungames.com/products/the-nes-era-vol-3-hardcover Production notes: Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Atari 2600 footage captured in RGB from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 4K with RetroTink 4X.