Atari 2600

screenshot from the 1983 Atari 2600 video game

Do Anyone Else’s Wrists Still Hurt From Playing ‘The Activision Decathlon’ 40 Years Ago?

Early ’80s computers and home consoles had cool Olympics-inspired games, including ‘The Activision Decathlon,’ which left sore wrists and broken joysticks in its wake.
screenshot from the 1983 Bally Midway arcade video game Journey. It depicts video game versions of members of the rock band Journey with black-and-white digitized photos of their actual faces on top of their computer graphic-created bodies. The band is performing onstage in front of a wild audience, with a bouncer attempting to keep them from reaching the stage.

Remember Those Early ’80s Video Games Featuring Journey?

Journey Escape, a 1982 cartridge for the Atari 2600, and Journey, Bally Midway’s 1983 arcade game, both starred classic rock group Journey and featured synthesized versions of some of their songs.
screenshot from a 1975 commercial for Purina Chuck Wagon dog food. It shows the famous little chuck wagon coming out of the TV in front of a dog, who is leaping up from a lying position on a carpet in front of the television to pursue the wagon.

Did Anyone’s Dog Ever Catch That Purina Chuck Wagon?

Look back at several classic ’70s and ’80s commercials for Purina Chuck Wagon dog food, featuring a variety of pooches chasing that wagon in a marketing campaign so popular it even inspired an Atari 2600 video game!
screenshot of the 1983 video game

Remembering the Weird ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ & ‘Halloween’ Atari 2600 Game Adaptations

These rare video games, based on the classic horror films of their titles, were published by Wizard in 1983 and among the more adult-oriented Atari 2600 (VCS) titles kept quietly behind counters at the few stores that carried them.
promo image for the 14 arcade games that are built into Arcade1Up's Atari 50th Anniversary Deluxe Arcade Machine cabinet. To the left of the vertical image is a picture of the arcade cabinet itself, with the list of games on the right. From top to bottom, the listed games (using their title logos from their original arcade cabinets) are: Centipede, Tempest, Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe, Millipede, Crystal Castles, Space Duel, Major Havoc, Missile Command, Gravitar, Akka Arrh, Liberator, Super Breakout and Lunar Lander.

Atari Deluxe Arcade Machine Re-Creates Retro Video-Gaming Experience

The reproduction of a classic arcade cabinet features 64 Atari games — 14 arcade favorites and 50 from the Atari 2600 home console.
an image of the Atari 2600+ video game console, a smaller version of the original Atari 2600 Video Computer System console of the 1970s that is backfitted to play original games as well as new ones.

A Modernized Atari 2600 Is Coming in November 2023

The Atari 2600+ will be a faithful re-creation of the four-switch Atari 2600 console released in 1980 (albeit smaller), complete with joystick and a cartridge containing 10 games, including Adventure, Missile Command and Yars’ Revenge. You can also play your old 2600 and 7800 cartridges on it!
screenshot from a July 16, 1983, broadcast on MTV. The shot is a medium closeup of VJ Martha Quinn, who is wearing a shirt colored white below the neck, with red ring around the neck and red shoulders down into the arms.

Enjoy Three Hours of Martha Quinn VJ-ing MTV in July 1983

It’s another trip back to when MTV actually was ‘Music Television’ with this three-hour video from July 16, 1983. Besides Quinn introducing videos and delivering music news, there are also great commercials from the era.
a screen shot from the 1978 arcade video game Space Invaders, depicting the player's green ship along the bottom, behind four green shields, firing up at rows of white-colored invaders getting increasingly lower and firing back. A red UFO is moving across the top of the screen.

A Space Invaders Appreciation Post: The Classic Arcade Game Turns 45

Since its debut in Japan in June 1978, following by its North American release that November, Space Invaders has never relinquished the hold it has had on Earthlings with its fun, addictive and influential gameplay.
title screen from late May 1983, when Dan Aykroyd was a guest VJ on MTV for an hour. Aykroyd's headshot is on the right side and he is wearing glasses and a bowtie, in character from his movie

Revisit Dan Aykroyd’s 1983 MTV Guest VJ Appearance

The actor spent an hour on MTV in May 1983 introducing music videos by Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, Prince and other artists, and also helping promote MTV’s contest tied in with his movie Doctor Detroit, which had just hit theaters.