Versions of a Burial: The Atari Landfill Excavation in Museums, Part 1

by Raiford Guins | Jun 18, 2026 | 1970s, 1980s, Atari

There is something quietly vertiginous about walking through an exhibition and finding yourself already inside it. Not a self you remember putting there, but a self distributed across objects, images, words; a self that arrived in the museum before you did, and which...

Review – Wee Ninja for the Atari Lynx

by Marcus Albers | Jun 14, 2026 | 2020s, Atari, Console/Handheld, Reviews

It is impossible to deny the impact Super Mario Bros had on the gaming landscape when it was released on the original NES, especially on scrolling platform games. For gamers, it set a standard to expect from new platforming games released afterward. For gaming...

Life Before the Plumbers – Platform Games Before Super Mario Bros

by Marcus Albers | May 24, 2026 | 1980s, Arcade, Atari, C64 Vic20, Console/Handheld

Super Mario Bros. This game single-handedly changed how platform games were approached after it stormed onto the scene in 1985. It established so many conventions that people now expect in side-scrolling platform games. When you approach a new platformer, what is the...

One Game, Five Systems – Choplifter

by Marcus Albers | May 19, 2026 | 1980s, Apple 2, Arcade, Atari, C64 Vic20, Console/Handheld

Most popular video games eventually end up on platforms other than the one for which they were initially created. Obviously, there are exceptions. You wouldn’t have seen a Super Mario Bros title on a Sega console, just like you weren’t going to see the...

Atari 2600 Adventure: That Old Cartridge Still Meant Something

by William Winter | Apr 23, 2026 | 1970s, 1980s, Atari, Console/Handheld

I pulled something off the shelf the other day that I haven’t looked at in a while. It’s an old cartridge from the Atari 2600. The game: Adventure. You don’t need to be into games to follow this; it’s more about the connection than anything else. I was about ten when...

Gaming on the Original iPhone 2G: Three Tiny Games

by William Winter | Apr 22, 2026 | 2000s, 2010s, 2020s, Atari, Console/Handheld, Gaming

  To me, there is something deeply satisfying about powering on an iPhone 2G in 2026 and finding that it still works.I keep my original iPhone on a display shelf, still connected to power, keeping the battery charged. It actually still has its original battery,...