Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
Developer: Digital Eclipse Publisher: Atari, SA Platforms: Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X Released internationally: November 11, 2022 This game has unused graphics. This game has revisional differences.

Atari 50 celebrates Atari's 50th Anniversary with a collection of 104 103 115 153 playable games (including several unreleased titles and six brand-new ones) presented on an interactive timeline, covering the company's history from its arcade roots all the way to the Jaguar, including brand-new interviews and high-quality scans of various internal documentation. Notably, this is the first time Jaguar or Lynx games have been officially rereleased.

It's not perfect, however; for one, due to most of Atari's back catalogue being sold off over the years, a lot of notable games like Battlezone aren't included. A good majority of the included games are part of the Reimagined, Arcade, and 2600 sections, leaving the 5200, 7800, Lynx, Jaguar, and 8-bit computer line without much (and the Jaguar CD gets nothing). Further, the five interactive timelines omit a few important aspects of Atari's history (such as the scrapped MindLink and Puffer accessories, the nearly-got-off-the-ground agreements to distribute the Famicom and Mega Drive in the US, why CEO Ray Kassar left the company, Tengen's existence as a whole, and pretty much everything that happened after 1998) and gloss over others (such as the vast majority of Atari's third-party output).

This collection would later serve as the framework for Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series of game collections, including Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story.

Unused Boxart Graphics

The following graphics can be found in museum\GameBoxes\assets.pie.

• 

  "Default". Presumably a placeholder for games that hadn't had boxarts inserted yet.

• 

  A much rougher, earlier version of the "boxart" for Sprint 8.

Seemingly-identical duplicate images are also present for the following games:

• Bounty Bob Strikes Back (5200)
• Bounty Bob Strikes Back (800)
• Star Raiders

Additional Placeholders

• 

  "FPO" image for Maze Invaders.

• 

  "FPO" image for Black Widow.

• 

  "FPO" image for DLC videos that didn't have thumbnails yet, amusingly depicting the unearthing of all those E.T. cartridges!

• 

  "noPreview", found in DLC files. Presumably placeholder for new games that still needed boxarts.

Oddity

Warbirds

To do: Was the game included in any of the other physical releases? Add specific Switch ROM ID(s) this is applicable to.

Prior to its addition in the December 5, 2023 update, and despite being initially promoted as one of the included games, the Lynx title Warbirds was removed at launch due to a last-second unforeseen licensing issue. The game did make its way onto physical copies of the Switch version, but it is removed when the mandatory day one patch is applied.

Revisional Differences

More games and content were added post-release in DLC updates, following Digital Eclipse's acquisition by Atari.

December 5, 2023

A free update that adds 12 more games, including one removed from launch.

2600:

• Adventure II (homebrew)
• Aquaventure (prototype)
• Bowling
• Circus Atari
• Double Dunk
• Maze Craze
• Miniature Golf
• MotoRodeo
• Return to Haunted House (homebrew)
• Save Mary (prototype)
• Super Football

Lynx:

• Warbirds (see above)

September 26, 2024

A paid update, the first part of the content featured in Atari 50 Expanded Edition. This set features one new timeline ("The Wider World of Atari") and 19 new games.

Arcade:

• Avalanche
• Berzerk
• Destroyer
• Football
• Frenzy
• Red Baron
• Skydiver
• Super Bug

2600:

• Atari Video Cube
• Berzerk
• Berzerk: Voice Enhanced (homebrew)
• Desert Falcon
• Off the Wall
• Skydiver
• Steeplechase
• Stellar Track
• Submarine Commander

5200:

• Berzerk

800:

• Avalanche

November 8, 2024

A paid update, the second part of the content featured in Atari 50 Expanded Edition. This set features one new timeline ("The First Console War") and 19 new games, including former business rival Intellivision's M Network titles.

2600:

• Air Raiders
• Anteater (prototype)
• Armor Ambush
• Astroblast
• Basketball
• Dark Cavern
• Frogs and Flies
• International Soccer
• Sea Battle
• Star Strike
• Super Challenge Baseball
• Super Challenge Football
• Swordfight
• Tower of Mystery (prototype)
• Video Pinball

5200:

• Xari Arena

7800:

• Desert Falcon

800:

• Final Legacy
• HardBall!