June 27 is a fitting date to recognise the history of video arcades. It marks the day Atari was incorporated as a legal entity in California, making it a useful choice for International Video Arcade Day. The company helped establish video games and arcade machines as a commercial industry.
The occasion carries extra weight in 2022, with Atari reaching its 50th anniversary. The current company responsible for the Atari intellectual property, spanning titles from Pong to I, Robot, has marked the milestone with a special anniversary site and an interview with Nolan Bushnell.
From Computer Space to Atari’s arcade legacy
A video covering Atari’s arcade catalogue traces the company’s releases from Pong through to San Francisco Rush 2049. It also briefly mentions Computer Space, although that game was produced for Nutting Associates rather than under the Atari name.
Computer Space was developed by Ted Dabney and Nolan Bushnell while they were working under the name Syzygy Engineering. Bushnell wanted to use the name Atari, but other Californian companies were already using it. Although Computer Space was a major step in video-game history, Pong ultimately did more to demonstrate that electronic games could succeed commercially.
An influence that continues
Atari no longer produces arcade games as it once did, but its releases continue to shape the modern arcade business. The logo can still appear on new products, including Atari Pong Knock Out from UNIS.
For readers exploring the same history through hardware, RETROCADE’s arcade blog covers developments across the industry. A look at upright arcades, bartop arcades and the arcade machine buying guide can also help put classic cabinet design into context.
Remembering an early Atari employee
Away from the celebrations, the Atari community also lost Colleen Hall-Werstler, who died of a heart attack that weekend. Hall-Werstler was one of the company’s original employees and began working there in 1972 or 1973.
It is not known whether she was the same Colleen after whom the Atari 400/800 computer was codenamed. Atari commonly assigned people’s names to home-hardware projects during development. Rest in peace, Colleen.
A two-hour livestream discussion also revisited Atari arcade games and consoles, with audience chat contributing to the conversation.
Which Atari title is your favourite? Share it with fellow arcade fans, and browse arcade parts if you are maintaining a classic-style machine at home.
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