Atari Arcade

Atari Arcade
From Discovery Bay Games

About the product

Atari Arcade - Duo Powered lets you relive the fast-action excitement of all your Atari favorites—such as Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command—on your iPad. With its joystick and buttons, Atari Arcade lets you experience arcade games exactly the way they were meant to be played.

My Thoughts

While our kids go to Awana on Thursday nights, we try to find things to do together.  Often, we will go visit my in-laws this year but other times we take the hour and a half to do some grocery shopping.  One Thursday night about a month ago, we were at Wal-Mart to get a few things as well as check out a few things.    Near the toy section, there was part of the aisle dedicated to games based on the iPad and my husband saw the Atari Arcade.   He immediately thought it was  super cool and jockingly said to me “You should try to review this…” 

The next day, I emailed the company to see if it could be possible to review it as well as the Duo Pinball.  They agreed and sent me both of them.    I was very excited about this opportunity and waiting patiently (as much as I could…) to get the package.   He never asked me if I emailed them or not.    And I want to keep this a surprise.  

The packaging of the box has been thought so that the device doesn’t move around it.    Check out the Atari Arcade and its design below.

What I particularly like is the there are two switches on the side of the device that will help you secure the iPad when it is inserted in the Atari Arcade.    The control as well as the button are easy to handle and perfect for little and big hands.  Once you have inserted your iPad in it, you are ready to play.

 

I had downloaded the Atari’s Greatest Hits before unpacking the game and immediately loaded the game to try it out. 

Ataris’s Greatest Hits is the game that you can download for free on iTunes.   Be aware though that it’s free for the first game and if you want to unlock all the other ones (99 of them to be exact), you will have to pay 9.99$.  These 99 games are part of the classics from Atari 2600 and arcade games that you might have played in your youth.   Games like Asteroids which I excelled back in the days.   When I met my husband more than 15 years ago, I discovered that he still had the original Atari platform with numerous games including Asteroids.   I told him I was pretty good at it but he didn’t really believe me.   However, he recognized my skills when we played one day together.  He was impressed…   So I can tell you one thing.  When I give him this Atari Arcade at Christmas, I will also include an iTunes card so we can purchase the 99 games to play and have fun.  

Through the Atari Arcade device for the iPad and the Atari’s Greatest Hits app, you will relive the Golden Age of Gaming with a collection of the most popular retro games from the 70s and 80s.   This extensive catalog pays homage to each of the originals, with controls designed to mimic what Atari fans remember from 30 years ago!   Literally!   I never really played Missile Command when we had an Atari at home when I was younger but the graphics on the game I tried with the Atari Arcade were just like the game I used to play.   The Atari Arcade is easy to use and will bring tons of fun in your family.   If you want your kids to experience classic gaming experience, this device and its app are fabulous for this.   My kids are used to play with the Wii and I am quite impressed to see how Nintendo has improved their games since I had one in my 20s.   But this fun little arcade which fits the iPad in is a gem in disguise as it will bring my husband and I on a trip through time.   I look forward to see his face when he unwraps it on Christmas morning.  This Atari Arcade will also help my kids to develop a keep sense of strategy based on old games.   It will also work as a trip in history when playing with old games.   I could even ask my oldest to write a report on how gaming has evolved since the 70s.    (Yes I am sneaky sometimes…)  

If you have experience the Atari games back in the 70s or 80s and you have enjoyed it, this Atari Arcade will bring back memories to you.   If you have a love one who still has his old Atari device in the basement but also plays with games on his iPad, this would be a great gift for him this Christmas.    Whether for Christmas or a birthday celebration, the Atari Arcade will make a great gift to someone passionate about the old ways of playing games.

The Atari Arcade is available at your favourite toy store near you.   It is also available through the Apple Store or on amazon.com.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Discovery Bay for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes . I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.