“Pac-Man,” “Mortal Kombat” and “Tetris” aren’t just for old heads anymore. The classic video games of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s are making a comeback as AtGames announced the launch of the Atari Flashback Portable Game Player, the Sega Ultimate Portable Game Player, the Atari Flashback 8 Classic Game Console and the Sega Classic Game Console. Loaded with classic favorites, they are now available at Family Dollar and Toys “R” Us and will be at other large retailers soon.
To support the launch of the new systems, AtGames is engaging in a massive nongaming retail blitz that will bring the classic gaming hardware to everyone.
“AtGames has always focused on family friendly fun, value and accessibility,” said Ping-Kang Hsiung, CEO of AtGames. “Making it easy for families to enjoy video games together continues to be AtGames’ mission.”
In this age of massive multimedia video game production that requires a significant time investment just to learn the controls, it’s refreshing to play a classic game that’s almost instantly intuitive, said AtGames marketing coordinator Ray Attiyat, 32.
“A classic game is a classic for a reason. There’s a timeless quality about it. Those of us that grew up during that time are starting to have families of our own. It is only natural to look back and have fond memories of the games you played growing up. A lot of parents also like sharing these classic games with their children to give them a taste of what gaming was like when they were younger,” said Attiyat.
The most popular games for Atari, according to Attiyat, are “Pong,” “River Raid,” “Pitfall!” and “Space Invaders.” For Sega, pretty much any Sonic game, “Mortal Kombat” and the “Phantasy Star” series, he said.
“We find that our customer base is a mix of nostalgic adults and newcomers who want to check out some classic games that they may have heard about but have not yet played. Since all of our consoles come with two controllers, multiplayer gaming is a given, including between parents and kids. It’s great family fun and introduces retro titles to a younger generation,” he said.
But what about the quality of those pixels that make it painful to watch older movies?
“As long as a game is great gameplay and is fun to play, the graphics don’t really matter as much. These retro titles have withstood the test of time due to those reasons as opposed to just having great graphics,” said Attiyat.
Almost all of the Atari and Sega games were designed for multiple people to play, which is uncommon nowadays. Sega can have two people playing simultaneously and some Atari games can support four with two sets of paddles. The Sega Genesis Flashback and Atari Flashback 8 are the latest additions to theretro gaming line. Both consoles include 720p HDMI output, 2.4g wireless controllers, save/pause/rewind functions for all games and original wired controller support. The Sega unit comes with 85 games built in as well as a cartridge slot to play original Sega Genesis/Megadrive games. The Atari console comes with 120 built-in games.
“The original idea came from us observing how passionate fans are of these original systems, and we realized that no one was making any quality and fully licensed consoles for people to enjoy,” Attiyat said. “We are currently working with Atari to help release a VR title on PS4!”
Visit atgames.com for more info.
