Atari Game Console

The 'Game changing' Atari Game Console

I’m continuing my theme from last month of influences on me which resulted in a career in Information Technology and computing. This month – the Atari Game Console.

I still remember the feeling of awe when I first heard about the Atari Game Console as a child. It was simply unbelievable!

I was playing the state-of-the-art tennis game on my TV – people of a certain age may remember it as ‘Pong’. You plugged the console into your TV and it allowed one or two players to move a ‘bat’ up and down, to ‘hit’ a ball that was bouncing horizontally across the screen.

For anyone who doesn’t remember, there is a Youtube link below that demonstrates it.

This was as good as home video games got in the early 1980’s!

Then a friend of my parents visited us, saw me playing ‘Pong’ and told me all about the new games that were coming out. He described being able to control a small biplane and shoot at another biplane on screen.

For a nascent teenager who was into ‘gaming’ it was mind-blowing!

Before too long I got to hear all about it – it was called Atari and it wasn’t limited to just one game – there were hundreds! You simply plugged in the relevant game cartridge and away you went.

The true genius of the Atari game console was that it recreated arcade games in your own home. I was fortunate to receive one for Christmas, and of course, all my friends, and friends of my parents in the older generation, were all completely hooked.

There is an interesting Youtube video below on the evolution of the Atari Game console.

I don’t recall all of the games I had, but I think it’s safe to say my favourites were the ones I still remember today:

Space Invaders (of course!)
Defender

Clearly some love of science fiction was already built in (I was in the Star Wars generation after all!)

So there you have it. The Atari Game Console was an early indicator of where my eventual career would lie. By modern standards of course the games look remarkably primitive. Yet I think there is an innocent purity to them. The game designers achieved amazing results with very limited computing power, and they deserve great credit for that.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Next month, another Atari….

Guy Phoenix

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