This one is not that shocking, because AtariAge is and has been the best source for Atari for quite some time. 20 years they’ve been running, which kind of surprised me, because it doesn’t seem like that long, but hey, congrats to them. If you do any search for something Atari-related, chances are the result is AtariAge, not Atari themselves. Well, now, Atari has bought AtariAge via ArsTechnica:
On Thursday, Atari announced that it will acquire AtariAge, a popular online community for Atari enthusiasts over two decades. AtariAge is best known for selling Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800 console homebrews in high-quality cartridge form, as well as games for the Atari line of computers and other retro systems.
The founder of AtariAge, Albert Yarusso is part of the deal, and of course there is a quote from him about how the great things he feels Atari is doing. They are making some strategic acquisitions and investments, no doubt and this one makes perfect sense to this author. However, not being owned by the company you have spent 20 years creating content enthusiastically for does have its autonomous advantages. That autonomy, some might assume, might now be gone.
One of the coolest things AtariAge has been doing, as noted in the quote above, is selling physical carts, albeit on the expensive side, for Atari systems. I’ve been interested in the Jeff Minter Jaguar one, actually and interestingly, that store link isn’t working as of this writing for me to link to. However, there is an article talking about a hidden third game that shipped on the cart and could be accessed by entering in a code in the password field (see: An actual gaming Easter egg was unlocked on an Atari Jaguar cartridge today)
After more searches, I landed successfully on this link on AtariAge for buying the two games mentioned in the last paragraph, which includes the most excellent Robotron-insspired Llamatron: https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1109
It’s so cool to see new physical carts for a system that’s been dead nearly 30 years. Maybe, like Atari themselves, they are more undead than dead? What will Atari do next? Hint: might want to read the tea leaves of their recent fiscal report (see: Atari Cozies Up To Polymega According to FY2023 Annual Report)