Need more Atari in your life? You’re going to be getting it with the rather significant Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition when it releases this October. There will be a tasty Steelbook to consider too.
More Atari?
Anyone with an inkling of love for the retro scene would have enjoyed what was originally delivered via the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration back in 2022. And since that initial release, further games have been added too.
But that’s nothing compared to what Atari have planned with the Expanded Edition as it releases on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PC and Atari VCS on October 25th 2024. And whilst we’ll be picking it up digitally, if you’re PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch capable, you’ll also discover a physical release rolling out for good measure.
What’s included in Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition
But what are we getting in Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition? Well, a couple of new timelines should excite, as should a host of new games.
The Wider World of Atari timeline, which includes 19 playable games and eight video segments, takes a series of deep dives into stories from Atari history, showing how Atari continued to influence creators and fans over the decades. New interviews, vintage ads, historical artifacts, and more have all been researched and presented with Digital Eclipse’s signature style. Highlights from the new timeline include a deep dive into Stern Electronics’ robot-blasting Berzerk; unusual and underappreciated innovations and hidden gems from the late 1980s; a spotlight on the artist Evelyn Seto, who helped create the iconic “Fuji” Atari logo; Pong creator Al Alcorn explaining the birth of Breakout; and an exploration of the fan base’s role in discovering unreleased prototypes, creating “homebrew” games, and preserving Atari history.
Meanwhile, the First Console War timeline, which includes 20 playable games and half-dozen video segments, tells the story of the first major console war in the gaming industry between the Atari 2600 and Mattel’s Intellivision. The team at Digital Eclipse curates an exploration of the rivalry, including Mattel’s quixotic decision to create games for the competing Atari 2600. Highlights include a selection of M Network games, including some fan-favorites; a mix of Atari and M Network sports games, and some rare Atari 2600 and 5200 prototypes. New interview features include former Intellivision game director Don Daglow, M Network programmer Jane Terjung, Activision’s David Crane and Garry Kitchen, homebrew programmer Dennis Debro, and historians Leonard Herman and Mike Mika.
Those new timelines and games will be offered to owners of the original Atari 50 release as DLCs too, at some point later this year.
Coming in October – get that Steelbook
That physical release will include a Steelbook version for Nintendo Switch, complete with Atari 2600 art cards, miniature arcade marquee signs, an Al Alcorn Replica Syzygy Co. business card and a Steelbook case. The standard version will retail for $39.99 USD and the steelbook will retail for $49.99 USD.
So, will you be going deeper than ever before with Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition? We’ll be sure to remind you when it releases on October 12th 2024, but before then, get into the comments and let us know if Atari have nailed what you want.
