The Age of Atari

• Friday February 3, 2006 in: Video Game Consoles Tag(s):

  Those over the age of 25 who are still into video games but don't know the difference between a PlayStation 3 or a Microsoft Xbox 360 can't help remembering the good old days of video gaming.
  
  This writer's trip down video game memory lane was partly inspired by an article from Yahoo's technology section in which it detailed the 100 most influential electronic devices in American history.

  Ranking along with the Ipods, answering machines and Polaroid cameras are the forefathers-shall we say, progenitors-of the Xboxes, Game Boys and Playstations which is namely the Atari gaming system.

  Those Generation Xers out there who spent our youth during the Reagan and Donald Trump boom years certainly have at least some fond memories of the Atari and Nintendo gaming systems that once (and may still have) graced our bedrooms.

  What's left of the now archaic Atari games are such favorites as James Bond and space adventure games as well as that old standby "tennis" in which the player is represented by one thin domino block.

  The Atari tennis game has become the butt of jokes among tech-savvy persons who equate it with, yes, all things archaic. But then in this age of online gaming, Ipods and MP3s even old things have their own charm.

  In fact the Atari was, along with its predecessors like Nintendo, credited with paving the way for the birth of the video game industry by making it possible for children and even adults to play electronic games in the comfort of their own homes.

  Through the miracle of Atari one need no longer stay for long hours after school furiously punching coins and levers at the local arcade. For it was Atari that brought the games to us.

  And then along came Nintendo with its better graphics and game play and it was off for the video-gaming industry. But then again it wouldn't have been possible without this archaic gaming system known as Atari.

  Yep, those were the good old days....