Going into Atari 50, I was far more interested in it being an interactive museum than the collection of games themselves. Perhaps its due to me being a filthy zoomer, but I'm always more engaged with learning the history of video games than playing through those early games myself, despite the respect I have for them.
Having finished the main 'museum' part of the Atari 50 and very briefly dipping my toes into the majority of the 115 games in its collection, I have to say that my initial assessment was correct, and I came away loving learning the history of the company far more than playing the games. Though that's not entirely fair since learning that history and the context behind each game allowed me to enjoy playing them far more than I would have otherwise.
That's perhaps the biggest triumph of Digital Eclipse's work here.
Don't get me wrong, my lack of interest in these games is not from an 'ew, it's old, so it's bad' perspective at all, but more that a lot of them are quite primitive by design, and the 5–10 minutes on average that I spent on them ultimately amounted to a feeling of 'huh, that's neat! Anyway…'.
As I said, learning the context behind these games, the sheer passion these pioneers of the industry had for their craft, and the feeling of putting a piece of themselves into these games and putting them out into the world are enough to make even the most hardened cynic smile. It's truly wonderful to bear witness to.
So yes, in summary, even if you couldn't possibly give a shit about Atari's games, you really should check Atari 50 out anyhow. The attention and respect Digital Eclipse pays to teaching you the most important chapters of the history of video games is really compelling, and its interactive museum presentation is well worth the asking price of <$20, even if you can emulate all of these games very easily nowadays.
8/10
Having finished the main 'museum' part of the Atari 50 and very briefly dipping my toes into the majority of the 115 games in its collection, I have to say that my initial assessment was correct, and I came away loving learning the history of the company far more than playing the games. Though that's not entirely fair since learning that history and the context behind each game allowed me to enjoy playing them far more than I would have otherwise.
That's perhaps the biggest triumph of Digital Eclipse's work here.
Don't get me wrong, my lack of interest in these games is not from an 'ew, it's old, so it's bad' perspective at all, but more that a lot of them are quite primitive by design, and the 5–10 minutes on average that I spent on them ultimately amounted to a feeling of 'huh, that's neat! Anyway…'.
As I said, learning the context behind these games, the sheer passion these pioneers of the industry had for their craft, and the feeling of putting a piece of themselves into these games and putting them out into the world are enough to make even the most hardened cynic smile. It's truly wonderful to bear witness to.
So yes, in summary, even if you couldn't possibly give a shit about Atari's games, you really should check Atari 50 out anyhow. The attention and respect Digital Eclipse pays to teaching you the most important chapters of the history of video games is really compelling, and its interactive museum presentation is well worth the asking price of <$20, even if you can emulate all of these games very easily nowadays.
8/10