It’s funny to think how everyone thought it was insane to see Sega-developed games start popping up on Nintendo’s consoles back in the early 2000s after the decades-long battle for dominance of the home videogame console market, but that wasn’t the first time competitors saw themselves entangled in all out war.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Atari and Mattel were at each other’s throats as the multi-million dollar Atari 2600 got a taste of competition when the toy manufacturer put out the Intellivision. But funnily enough, it wasn’t just their machine that ruffled some feathers, since Mattel also strove to actually release games for their rivals machine through the clever initiative called the M Network.
That’s the focus of Atari 50’s latest DLC, a new chapter in the fantastic and now long-running game documentary series released by Digital Eclipse. Under its own tab, The First Console War goes through the timeline of events that eventually resulted in Atari’s acquisition of the Intellivision brand nearly 40 years after their butting of heads that helped shape the industry.
It includes interviews with developers who worked on both the Intellivision as well as the host of games that were put out on the 2600, and other luminaries from the industry’s rich history. Some of the games developed are playable through the collection, expanding its catalog even further. If you thought Atari 50 was already jam-packed, now it’s further down the rabbit hole of seemingly more obscure releases.
Even though The First Console War lacks a bit of the teeth that the base content had in spades, offering more held back accounts through a more contained play-by-play delivery, it’s still clear Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is one project that Digital Eclipse is obviously very proud of. And if I can help it, I’ll keep playing more of it if there’s any fuel left in the form of more DLC down the road.
And it looks like they’re looking to explore more avenues in videogame history: recently, the company released Tetris Forever, featuring the rise of one of gaming’s best franchises, which will be reviewed very soon. Spoilers, I REALLY like it as well, so look for more on Digital Eclipse’s series very soon!
