Atari pretty much started this whole home console gaming thing with the 2600, a precursor to the NES. That console is 45 years old and Atari itself was formed well over 50 years ago. To originally commemorate its 50th birthday, the company called Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. Now, it’s getting a hefty update with nearly 40 additional games, though Atari has yet to release a full list of the new titles.
This brings the total of games available with this collection to almost 130, derived from multiple home and portable consoles. Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition also adds two new timelines to the software. Basically, these timelines are interactive history lessons about the company, complete with video segments and playable games.
One of the timelines is a deep dive into the company’s history, called The Wider World of Atari. This features retrospectives into the classic arcade cabinet Berzerk, Pong creator Al Alcorn and artist Evelyn Seto, who designed the company’s iconic logo. The First Console War timeline gets into the battle between the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision, which was a prelude to Nintendo versus Sega. Incidentally, , officially ending the rivalry.
The update rolls out this fall and is free to current owners of the collection. It’ll also be the definitive version moving forward. For new buyers, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition costs $40, with a Steelbook edition retailing for $50. It’ll be available on just about every platform, including the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X and PC. The physical Steelbook edition, which is just for the Switch and PS5, comes with art cards, arcade marquee signs, replica business cards and more.
