Atari 10-in-1 Games
Company: Jakks Pacific, Inc.
Price: $24.99
http://www.jakkspacific.com
Now this is cool! For any of you older than thirty years of age, you will remember the Atari 2600. It was the real first cartridge based video game system that ruled during the late 1970’s, early 1980’s. I remember 1983, when Christmas morning was all about PacMan chomping his way across the maze, outracing ghosts at every turn. It was about Pong, which I had to beg one of my parents to play with me. Or Tank, shooting dots across a neon-colored backdrop. About Defender, and its fast, action packed landscape with descending alien spaceships. Atari was the predecessor to Nintendo, SEGA, Coleco Vision, X-Box, GameCube, and PlayStation.
A week ago, I was watching some mundane Saturday morning news program, the kind in which every segment is promoted as being “can’t miss” and you completely forget about ten minutes after watching it. Just talking heads making each other laugh. I hate those shows. But nothing else was on, and I was too lazy to turn the channel. Besides, the next “Stick around for more this morning, you don’t want to miss…” segment was going to be from some guy at the Consumers Electronic Show. (I just remembered, it was the show “NBC Weekend Today”)
The upcoming segment showcased some talking head, and I could see he was wearing that way-too-expensive “Apple is really selling a $499 jacket?” Burton AMP thing with iPod controls built-in. (Dumb-ass product…) I thought it would be fun to watch, thinking the guy would at least laugh at the price of the stupid thing. ($499! It is a JACKET! For SHOWBOARDERS! Hello, McFly!) But no, the guy loved the coat. (Does it even come with an iPod? No? And it cost $499? Is it just me, or…)
He then went on to talk about the new SonicBlue Replay TV 5000 (320 GB Hard Drive, 300 hours recording, only $299) I want one… He talked about a small 3 megapixel Casio Digital Camera that has a main selling point of a small size (so you can loose it more easily and have to buy another one) as well as a few other products. (Including a robot. Why does it seem that robots are always are promoted as being just a few years away from being in every home, yet no one ever seems to buy them. Do you know anyone who has a robot? Not the toy kind, but one that is useful. One that can actually change the cat liter, fetch you a beer, or even act as a spare TV remote when you can’t fine the other one. Anyone? No? Then can we shut-up about robots until someone actually makes a useful one? Please?)
As I was thinking about switching channels, I see the guy pull out an Atari 2600 joystick. My eyes shot open, and a “What the hell…?” escaped my lips before I remembered my daughter was in the room.
Turns out, the joystick is actually called the “Atari 10-In-1”. What is it? Basically, it is an Atari 2600, with ten games on it. It uses four-AA batteries, and has one cable (two RCA jacks at the end) that connects to your TV. It has an on-off switch, a reset button, and a start button. Otherwise, it is an Atari 2600 joystick!
“Whoa! TOO COOL! I gotta have one!” I said. Ten minutes later, I had one ordered from GameStop.com.
The ten games are Asteroids, Adventure, Missile Command, Centipede, Gravitar, Yar’s Revenge, Breakout, Pong, Circus Atari, and Real Sports Volleyball. All are the original, vintage Atari 2600 games I played twenty years ago or so. True, not my favorite 2600 games, nor even some of the best. But the games are fun to play, at least if you play them with a nostalgic air about it.
To connect, you simply plug the audio and vide RCA jack into your TV. Nothing could be more simple.
This is a very cool game, in a vintage sort of way. I had to have one, and $25 later, I do. I usually don’t like to review products I actually pay for, but I really dig this video game. And for those in my age group, who also has fond memories of the Age of Atari, you will, too. There is also an Activision 10 in 1 game, which works much the same way, but uses a PlayStation type of controller, which I ordered today and will review once I have had a chance to check it out. It also plays Atari 2600 games, of the Activision variety.
Great product. Great execution. Perfect timing for gamers of my generation.
MacMice Rating: 5 out of 5
Tim Robertson
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