Well before tomb raiding became the sexy pastime of buxom, British bombshell, the 1980s was awash with treasure-hunting, dungeon-exploring dudes in search of lost relics and forgotten stockpiles of gold… you know- to donate to a museum. It was also the era of Montezuma’s Revenge, an action adventure game created for the Atari 800 computer by a 16-year-old programmer named
Read more
“I want to be an airborne ranger!” Atari has released Airborne Ranger for modern PCs via GOG, with a Steam version coming on 22 December. Originally created by MicroProse in 1987, Airborne Ranger is a war game known for its realism and the inclusion of stealth elements. Here’s the official breakdown of Airborne Ranger from Atari, followed by a handful
Read more
Atari has hit the ground running this year with revivals of classic franchises. The latest game to get the modern treatment is Yars: Recharged, the fourth game released under their “Recharged” banner. Co-developed by Adamvision Studios and SneakyBox, Yars: Recharged is a re-imagining of the great 1982 Atari 2600 game Yars’ Revenge by legendary creator Howard Scott Warshaw. This new
Read more
Surveillance: noun: close observation of a person or group, especially one under suspicion We live in a world where constant surveillance has been weaponized by overreaching technocratic dictatorships, projecting the right to privacy as a necessary sacrifice to ensure safety and security from both foreign and domestic threats. Observation devices are purchased at-will, sometimes worn on our wrists as status symbols, and other times installed in our homes
Read more
Atari recently announced the next game in their Recharged series: Yars: Recharged. The game is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbone, SeXbox, Nintendo Switch, Atari VCS, Stadia (really?) and PC (via Epic and Steam). Like the other games in Atari’s Recharged series, Yars: Recharged is made in collaboration with developers Adamvision Studios and SneakyBox. The game is a modern interpretation of
Read more
Before the world went nuts and people turned into whiny-ass vanguards of social righteousness, video game advertisements were frequently quite awesome. Welcome to Cheeky Gaming Ads, where we highlight samples of how the video game industry didn’t take itself so seriously and let their advertisements reflect the spirit of their games… through fun. For this go-around, let’s look at a
Read more
Atari recently announced that a new puzzle-platformer Kombinera for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbone, SeXbox, Atari VCS, Steam PC and mobile platforms. Developed by Graphite Lab, Kombinera is described as featuring “Juicy animation, clever storytelling, and memorable puzzles.” Here’s the official breakdown of Kombinera from Atari, followed by the latest trailer: Kombinera is a new IP from Atari that seeks
Read more
Atari recently announced that Tempest 4000, the latest installment in the classic arcade shooter series Tempest, is scheduled to release on Atari VCS and Nintendo Switch on 22 March 2022. Developed by Llamasoft and Tempest 2000 game designer Jeff Minter, Tempest 4000 is a unique, visually psychedelic shooter coupled with an intense techno soundtrack. You can check out the latest
Read more
The small group of intellectual property lawyers who call themselves Atari has revealed a new trailer for Breakout Recharged. Breakout Recharged is the fourth game in Atari’s “Recharged” retro revival line, joining Missile Command, Black Widow, and Centipede, which are all currently available. For those young’uns out there unfamiliar with Breakout, it’s one of the original releases in a long
Read more
On Tuesday, Atari announced that all three of Sid Meier’s original Command Series of classic 1980’s strategy war games are now available on Steam. Decision in the Desert, Crusade in Europe, and Conflict in Vietnam were originally released in the 1980s by MicroProse. Meier collaborated with historian Ed Bever to ensure that each of the Command Series games were presented
Read more
Welcome back to 80s August, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of the greatest decade since the founding of psychoanalysis! As reviews for E.T. The Extra Terrestrial have piled up over the years, I’m here to talk about one aspect of the game that could impact your desire to buy a copy, as it has mine. I am a trypophobe, and I
Read more
The office full of IP lawyers who are currently wearing the skin suit once known as Atari (allegedly)* recently announced that a new version of Food Fight is in the works, thanks to a collaboration with developers at Mega Cat Studios. Arriving in early 2022, new Food Fight will launch first as a timed exclusive for the Atari VCS PC/console
Read more
The small group of intellectual property lawyers who call themselves Atari has announced the Mini Pong Jr., a portable handheld version of the original Pong arcade game. The Mini Pong Jr. features both competitive two-player and single-player modes, complete with ten different AI settings (sounds like difficulty levels to me). Here’s the official announcement trailer for the Mini Pong Jr,
Read more
In the latest issue of Famitsu, publisher Taito and developer Natsume Atari announced that a new game in the KiKi KaiKai series is headed to the Nintendo Switch. The unique, vertical-scrolling shoot ’em up series is known as Pocky & Rocky in the West, and the new game is tentatively titled KiKi KaiKai: Kuro Mantle no Nazo (whatever that means).
Read more
Curt Vendel, Atari historian and founder of the Atari History Museum has passed away on 30 August at the age of 53. Vendel’s passion for Atari began in his teenage years, when he collected games, engineering logs, schematics, drawings, and technical materials from former Atari employees. He was also known to have dug through the dumpsters at Atari’s California properties
Read more
Intellivision has made several announcements over the last few days regarding their upcoming console, the Amico. More specifically, they have debuted new Breakout and Moon Patrol titles, both of which will be available at launch. Featuring trippy visuals and dynamic music which is driven by the gameplay, this new take on Breakout looks to be inspired at least partly by
Read more
Welcome to yet another review celebrating Attack Helicopter Week here at The Splintering! Today we’re picking apart another retro arcade game port, this time it’s Steel Talons for the SEGA Genesis. Before we get going, however, I have to note that this game is ROUGH. I couldn’t play it through in a normal state, so the only solution was to
Read more
Did you ever hide video games in your sock drawer as a teenager? Maybe under your mattress? There’s very few games that required that level of concealment, but one of the first was certainly Custer’s Revenge on the Atari 2600. First released in 1982, Custer’s Revenge is an adult-themed game in which the player controls a nude General George Armstrong
Read more
Comedian Seth Rogen lit a small Internet fire this week when he took to Twitter and “revealed” a relatively unknown feature of Duck Hunt on the original NES. The world was stunned to learn that the onscreen ducks could actually be controlled by a second player. This revelation came as a shock to many, as I couldn’t even count how
Read more
This past week, Intellivision Entertainment announced that it intended to revamp its brand by naming “Video Games Live” creator and 30-year video game industry veteran Tommy Tallarico as President of Intellivision Entertainment… and by introducing a new home video game console. Described as simple, affordable, family-friendly and fun, not much else is known about the yet unnamed Intellivision console. Tallarico
Read more
Gaming pioneer and Atari co-founder Ted Dabney passed away on Saturday at the age of 80. Historian Leonard Herman, who told Dabney’s story in an article for “Edge” magazine in 2009, announced his death on Facebook. In 1971, Dabney co-founded Syzygy with Nolan Bushnell where they developed Computer Space, the world’s first commercially available arcade video game. Rather than use
Read more
The Splintering 