The life, death, death, death, death, and rebirth of Atari

This week on Post Games, Atari CEO Wade Rosen joins me to discuss gaming’s ship of Theseus.  While everyone remembers Atari at its height, most folks ignored the company's struggles following the games industry crash of 1983. Understandably! For forty years, Atari has been a brand in search of a purpose.

Rosen is determined to change that, making Atari relevant for the first time in forty years. And he wants to do so while having a sense of humor and respect for the brand's long, long journey. Who doesn't love a comeback story?

• Patreon bonus prologue: A history of Atari and its lost decades

• Act 1: Why Atari can’t die, an extended conversation with Atari CEO Wade Rosen

• Act 2: What is a “modern” Atari game

• Act 3: The news of the week

Patreon bonus prologue: The history of Atari

• Atari vs Magnavox - Who Controls The Rights To Pong!?! (Matt James)

• The Jack Tramiel Trilogy: From Commodore to Atari (Kim Justice)

• Jack Tramiel vs. IBM - The Atari PC Story (ctrl-alt-rees)

• Computer Space may have a weak name, but the cabinet is incredible (Museum of Play)

Act 1: Why the Atari brand will never die

• Atari Gaming moving away from free-to-play and mobile games (Game Developer)

• Atari 50 (Steam)

• The Atari 2025 summer fashion collection

• Roller Coaster Tycoon scented candle

• The Atari x Roasty Buds coffee blend

• Atari 2600+ Review: Atari's NEW 2023 Console (Dan Wood)

Act 2: The future of Atari games – and Bubsy

• Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection (Steam)

• Missile Command Delta (Steam)

• Atari Buys Intellivision Brand, Ending ‘Longest-Running Console War in History' (Variety)

• Elderly Woman Ruins 19th Century Fresco in Restoration Attempt (ABC News)

Act 3: News of the week

• Video Game Actors Contract Ratified: SAG-AFTRA Leaders Talk Gaming Execs’ Reckoning With Hollywood’s AI Standards, 11-Month Strike’s Turning Point (Variety)

• Anime to try:

  • My Dress-Up Darling

  • Dan Da Dan

  • Leviathan

  • Nyaight of the Living Cat

This week in video game links

• Stranded Again, but Unable to Escape an Auteur’s Themes (NYTimes)

• The year in clears #10 - BBB'25 game 5: dragon's dogma ii (The Backloggery)

• How Much Of Kojima's Games Are Actually Cutscenes? We Did the Maths (IGN)

• How Video Games Became the New Battleground for Actors and AI Protections (Wired)

• Only 8 people beat this level. 5,000,000 Failed it (LilKirbs)

• Inside the Ambitious Japanese Video Game That Almost Bankrupted Its Makers (Bloomberg)

• Boss Fight Books: Season 8 - Three documentary-style books on classic video games, including a Japanese RPG that never caught on in the West: Legend of the River King. (Kickstarter)

• Woodkid on the Death Stranding 2 Soundtrack and Why Games Could Be the New Music Videos (Endless Mode)

Free game of the week:

Seasonala Cemetery: You'll hear more about this game in an upcoming episode of Post Games. In the meantime, here's the summary: "Seasonala Cemetery is a meditative experience that invites players to explore the serene beauty of a living, breathing cemetery. Using your system’s real date and time, the game changes dynamically – visit in the summer to see the cemetery bustling with life, or explore in the quiet, snowy winter. Observe and interact with NPCs and animals as they visit Seasonala Cemetery, all while listening to ambient sounds recorded from a real-life cemetery."

What else I’m enjoying

• Girlhood Is Deadly In Cave’s Classic Shooter Deathsmiles (Endless Mode)

• All My Pants Are From Outlier Because They Appear To Live Forever (Aftermath)

• Saving a Studio? This Looks Like a Job for Superman! (WSJ)

• The new Hot Chip video will make you want to book a trip to Japan (Hot Chip)

• Movies Are Like My Parents with Ari Aster & Bill Hader (The A24 Podcast)

• The Horrifying Utopia of Prime Intellect (Quinn's Ideas)

• How The New York Times is (still) getting gamed by the right (The Verge)

• Clipse: Tiny Desk Concert (NPR)