Atari has acquired user-driven database MobyGames

It is hard to tell what direction this piece of news may be heading…

Atari, the Japanese company known for its consoles such as the 400, 2600, the 5200, and VCS, has acquired MobyGames for $1.5 million.

If you aren’t familiar with MobyGames, the user-driven database is a singular resource for those interested in gaming history, yet has received some backlash from its users and owners regarding the state of the database.

MobyGames

The way MobyGames works is by users uploading summaries, screenshots, box art, and developer information for any game. From upcoming releases to games from the very dawn of the medium. all the information is gathered and put into the database, which currently stands at 300,000 unique titles.

The information provided is then assessed by volunteer fact checkers. Unlike other databases like Wikipedia, this user-driven database is for-profit, which has led to conflicts of interest between users and its owners.

Yet this new acquisition might start a new conflict of interest, as Atari has made some pretty interesting decisions recently. The company is currently big on crypto and NFTs, which have been proven to be bad for the environment, and was also in the news recently for the rumour Soujia Boy was now running the company.

It’s also not the first time MobyGames has changed owners. Gamefly Media and BlueFlame Labs owned the database previously, both changing the site drastically from its previous owner.

It’s unsure how Atari will fare with MobyGames, and how long the company will keep a hold of the site, but people are skeptical of what is in store for the future of MobyGames if this acquisition sticks.

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The post MobyGames: Atari Aquires Profitable Gaming Database first appeared on Get2Gaming.

9-foot-tall Atari jockstick wins 2022 Guineas World Record for world’s largest joystick!

This handy-dandy monolithic contraption was expertly crafted by Mary Flanagan, a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor in Digital Humanities at Dartmouth College. It’s 14 times the size of the average Atari controller while surprisingly still being perfectly functional for play. This passion project was in large part inspired by Mary Flanagan’s fond memories with the Atari 2600 console, often playing it in her youth according to her page on the official Dartmouth College website… Wholesomeness aside LOOK AT THE GIRTH ON THAT THING! Like, the folks at Bad Dragon need to step up their game if they want to compete with this!

The world-winning Atari controller has been displayed in the UK, the US, and Spain. Currently, it is being shown at the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany.

When Flanagan made the Atari controller in 2006, its largeness was part of an attempt to ‘investigate the idea of collaboration and the sharing of an otherwise single-person gaming experience, and also to focus on the ‘exploration of the cultural and sociological effects of technology’ according to Guinness. On a much smaller scale, this reminds me of a great optional feature from Mario and Sonic At The Olympic Games for Wii, where with some turn-based games, you can use one controller and pass it around to other people when it’s their turn to compete.

“To have this common pop culture artifact just erupt in the middle of a space and allow people to play something familiar, yet not familiar, was exciting” – Mary Flanagan to Associated Press.

Flanagan also chairs Dartmouth’s departments for Film and Media studies, something I can 1000% get behind given my own background in both. So needless to say: By the power invested in me by The Church of Orthodox Gamers, I hereby declare Mary Flanagan Gamer Girl Extraordinaire and honorary member of The Realm.

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The post Achievement Unlocked – World’s Biggest Atari Joystick first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Atari, known for its many classic games such as Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Pong and Rollercoaster Typhoon (yes I am putting the amusement park simulation game series on par with Pac-Man, deal with it), recently addressed it would be focusing on free-to-play and mobile gaming, has now had a change of heart.

Atari Gaming and Blockchain

Atari announced back in April that it would be separating into two separate divisions, Atari Gaming and Atari Blockchain, with Atari Gaming focusing on retro gaming, specifically through mobile games, the VCS console, and licensing, and Atari Blockchain will focus on developing the Atari Token cryptocurrency and NFTs.

However, Atari Gaming has announced it is now changing its strategy to move away from free-to-play and mobile games to focus on premium PC and console games, hoping to “build a strong pipeline of premium games on all platforms”.

The first titles are set to arrive at the end of March 2022.

Our intent with any gaming experience is to provide accessible and joyful moments of meaningful play. That’s the core of Atari and what binds our history with our future. To that end, we feel that premium gaming is better representative of this type of gaming experience and the Atari DNA. – Wade J Rosen, Atari CEO.

What this means for Atari Mobile Games

Atari will continue to operate successful free-to-play titles with a continuing user base, however, it does mean games such as Roller Coaster Tycoon Story, Castles & Catapults, Ninja Golf, and Atari Combat: Tank Fury will either be sold to different companies or closed down entirely.

The company still aims to focus on the Atari VCS, with the lineup of premium games to bolster the recently released PC-based system.

What do you think about Atari Gaming’s new strategy? Comment down below!

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The post Atari Gaming: Moving Away from Free-To-Play and Mobile Gaming first appeared on Get2Gaming.

As this is the first time posting on this blog, I think it would make most sense to start with a brief introduction. My name is Ron Zlatkin, I am 24 years old, and am currently working at Go2Games as a content producer and editor. There are a few videos that I have (partially) edited on our YouTube page, including the EPOS H3 Unboxing video, and the Go2Verses Love Cronx.

This morning at the Go2Games store, I arrived just before 10am to start my day. Toby joined not much later, and after a quick morning meeting and going through the goings of the day, we started working on the first video of the day. This was the unboxing video for the Atari Flashback 7, which Toby presented and I will be editing. Unfortunately we have not taken a moment to review the actual console, as we didn’t have the correct adapters for TVs. So we will have to shoot additional footage further down the line.

After this, we shot a quick section for a meme that we’ll be editing soon. There’s been a video going around where people keep hitting bottles off screen, to each other. We’re going to play a joke on that. Can’t say exactly what that is going to be, but should be quite funny.

After this we decided to go on lunch break. When we came back from Greggs (sometimes it’s a good idea, okay?), our colleague Sam had arrived.

Not long after this, we finished up on our break, and went on to do the next part of the day – Game of the Week. A simple concept really, we talk about a game that has been trending during the week. Usually we film this on a Friday, but we opted to do it today. That way, it will go up on a Friday instead, making more sense to determine the game of the week. Previous episodes can be found here and here. This week we talked about the new Ratchet And Clank.

And finally, the best part of any Wednesday – we filmed the new episode of Gaming Shart! The first episode is not up as of writing this, but it is my favourite show that we do. Shortly said, I host a show in the character of Bob Ron, and draw a video game character that I either know or don’t know, to the best of my ability. This week, we had a head-to-head matchup, as I competed against Toby in drawing the best looking Kratos from God of War. We did this separately, so we wouldn’t know what the other persons art looks like. At the end the art was revealed to us, and an impartial judge decided who won.

All in all another successful day on set, and tomorrow it’s going to be editing the unboxing video from home.

For all the games mentioned as well, go and visit go2games.com

This has been Ron, see you next

The post My day at Go2Games – Ron Zlatkin, 9-6-2021 first appeared on Get2Gaming.

In 1979 we saw the release of Asteroids which joined a list of games that were the major hits of the golden age of arcade games. Asteroids was a shooter game and had a space theme much like Space Invaders, which was released a year before Asteroids.

Although it was similar to Space Invaders, Asteroids was also very different as you had to cover yourself from every angle and there was a lot more movement involved. In the game, the player controls a spaceship that is in an asteroid field with the occasional flying saucer flying past. The player needs to shoot and destroy the asteroids and flying saucers without colliding with them. The more asteroids the player destroyed, the more points the player got.

The competitiveness of the game and always wanting to get your name up on the high-score leader board meant people spent lots of money on the game to keep playing and trying to beat their former high-score and of course beating their friends’ scores.

The total money spent on the game meant that Asteroids is in the top 10 of highest-grossing arcade games of all time. Asteroids had already made a revenue of $800 million by 1991 and selling 100,000 machines in the process.

In 2010, John McAllister broke the Asteroids world record with a flabbergasting high-score of 41,338,740 in a 58-hour livestream. Whether that score is ever beaten remains to be seen.

The post 1979 – Asteroids Debuts first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Invading arcades around the world – Space Invaders

Created by Tomohiro and produced by Japanese electronic game manufacturer Taito Corp, 1978 saw Space Invaders hit arcades in Japan before making its way around the world.  Rumour even has it that due to its popularity in Japan, the ever-lasting arcade game led to a coin shortage and promoted an increase in production of the 100-yen coin. In 1980 Atari adapted a version for its Atari 2600 console, helping fuel the popularity of home gaming that we see today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=437Ld_rKM2s

Space Invaders arguably paved the way the successful shooting genre that has produced so many popular games over the years, so simple but so effective.

The post Gaming Through The Years – 1978 first appeared on Get2Gaming.

An arcade legend is born: Pong

One of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity was released in November 1972 in the form of Pong. Originally produced by Atari, Pong started off as an arcade game before Atari released Home Pong in 1975, for the public to play the game in the comfort of their living rooms, essentially becoming one of the first video game consoles that connected to a television, whilst also being the first commercially sold video game.

This iconic arcade game will forever stay in gaming history!

The post Gaming Through The Years – 1972 first appeared on Get2Gaming.