The new Atari.com represents phase one of the company’s internet re-launch, allows fans of the company’s works to browse the latest Atari titles, buy games from the Atari Store, enter contests, and most importantly, play six classic Atari games for free as long as you;d like, unless your boss is watching. The six games currently on the site include Asteroids, Adventure, Battlezone, Crystal Castles, Lunar Lander and Yars Revenge, each retro-fitted with leaderboards so players can keep track of how much they suck at Crystal Castles and how many times they blame it on the lack of a trackball.

“Today commences the first stage in Atari’s ongoing commitment to growing its online business with the re-launch of Atari.com,” said Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari, Inc. “Our online roadmap contains a multitude of enhancements and exciting new features which over time will redefine how people play and connect with Atari.”

Yes, yes Jim, whatever you say. More Yars Revenge please.

You are reading Kotaku’s once-weekly (sort of) journey back to yesteryear.

I direct you to the June 24, 1990 edition of The Oregonian. The headline: “Video Games Capitalise On Popularity Of Movies.” But past reports of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Dick Tracy games is a bit on something called Final Fantasy.

Tom Sarris, a spokesman for the Nintendo empire, said that the company expects about 70 new game titles out between now and the beginning of the year.

“Basically, you can expect something for everybody,” he said. “One of the most eagerly anticipated titles here is ‘Final Fantasy,’ which is very, very big in Japan, and that is very much geared to the adult market.”
Final Fantasy is a role playing-adventure fantasy game that will come with two maps and, Sarris said, the biggest instruction manual ever to accompany a Nintendo game — 84 pages long.

“It will be the most sophisticated game yet,” said Sarris. “We estimate the serious player can get through it in 60 hours. Casual players may take twice as long.”

I never played that first Final Fantasy. I never counted the pages of its manual. I couldn’t even say it’s not for adults, though I didn’t think it was geared for the adult market. But it certainly was big in Japan. Still is!

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Here I thought all the flashing corpses meant we were watching the Australian version of Left 4 Dead. I kid, Luke! I kid!!! No, this is a bona fide playable 8-bit “demake” of L4D, available soon for PC.

Now, that’s not to say this is exciting. I kept waiting for a crescendo event and then realised this emulator probably cannot handle that many characters on the screen. But the common infected are a little too sedate, especially considering 8-bit games are remembered for being muuuuuch harder.

There’s also only one special infected — the Boomer — although the creator Eric Ruth says all of the other special infected will be added in later some point. Ruth promises that all maps and campaigns will be represented too when the game is available for free download on PC on Jan. 4.

NES Left 4 Dead Gameplay Video 1 [YouTube, thanks Eric.]

The museum was erected just outside Nintendo’s store in Rockfeller centre, a few metres from the Today Show Studios and pretty much on the spot where people stand and yell for Al Roker most weekday mornings.

There was no Roker today, but there was Trinen and Ellis, providing the following tour. We shot this just before the museum opened to Nintendo fans. Attendees were able to buy New Super Mario Bros. Wii at the store today and enter a tournament featuring the game.

A storm was picking up as we began:

“The Music Machine” was based on a line of other products, including albums — back when they were, in fact, albums. The seller indicated his elderly mother owned a Christian bookstore, and while going through her things, came across the game. It puts a real twist on the cliché of your mum chucking out a rare baseball card or comic book you later find out is worth thousands.

If the guy is taking care of his mum, and it sounds like it, then it sounds like the dough will be put to good use. Or he could be spending it all on hookers and cocaine… who am I to make judgements of people I’ve never met? C’mon, I’m trying to be a nice guy here.

Sealed Atari Game Sells for Over $US5,000 [Hot Blooded Gaming]

Give firearms to one pissed-off amphibian and watch roadkill turn into road rage. Oh, so I’m gonna die if I hit the edge of this screen, MFer? Yeah, well, Frogger’s goin’ home, bitch — through the front goddamn door.

Grand Theft Auto vs. Frogger [Gagfilms via CollegeHumor]

A press release from the US Department of Homeland Security’s US Customs and Border Protection indicates that the machines were valued at $US138,000 and capable of being sold for $US672,000.

And these games, which were discovered in a shipping container that arrived in Los Angeles from China, played the classics:

The machines contained several copyrighted video games, which are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and recorded with CBP. The video games found on the coin-operated machines were Frogger, Scramble, Time Pilot, Ms. Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong 3 and Donkey Kong. CBP seized the items when the importer was unable to provide authorization from the owners.

The machines were seized on October 23.

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Osama calls it The NEStickle (not to be confused with the NES emulator) because, well, why not. It’s not like FightDeck or TurboConsole’s gonna make this look any less weird. The NES controller houses the stick’s USB cable, and it’s compatible with all consoles and PC.

Osama says Nicolas, his friend, had to carve a reinforced interior from wood “using nothing but his laser vision. This insures that I don’t over-zealously cave the NES in while pressing hard on those buttons when I’m losing badly to a cheap-ass who won’t stop throwing me.”

You can see more pics of the NEStickle and its construction over at the link.

Introducing the NEStickle! [Towards Mecca]