You Can Still Play Classic '80s Atari Video Games at Home

So you want to plays those classic '80s Atari home and arcade video games? Unless you are a serious collector of classic home video games and their systems, you probably don't want to spend a lot of time and money in search of these older games. The original systems and the original video games are still out there, often to be found for sale on eBay, but there are other options.

Atari Arcade Hits 1
First off, there's the Atari Arcade Hits 1 package playable on your PC. You can look for it in the stores, or you can download it directly from the Atari Web site. What games are available? Classics arcade hits like Centipede, Missile Command, Asteroids, Pong, Super Breakout and Tempest. What's great about this collection is you can play the games the way they appeared originally on the screen, or you can play them with fantastic, modern graphics. The choice is yours. The tiny little "1" added to the title's cover also makes me think more such packages could be coming in the future. That's great!

Atari Classics Evolved
This one is for you PSP players out there. Yep, with this package you can play some '80s games on 21st century handheld hardware. Again, you can play the games the way they looked originally, or you can play them with today's computer graphics. And just what games are available? Centipede, Pong, Battlezone and much more, including some games from the Atari 2600 home system (but that has to be unlocked).

Atari Flashback
Don't have a PSP? Don't even have a computer (but how are you reading this?)? Even that's not a problem as long as you've got a television. The Atari Flashback looks like an Atari 7800, a home gaming system from the mid-to-late '80s, and it plugs into the back of your TV. You can sit back and play 20 different games much like we did as kids twenty years ago. But just to make things clear, these games aren't arcade games; nope, these 20 games are from the Atari 2600 and 7800 home video games systems. What games do you get? Among others, you can have fun playing the 2600 versions of Asteroids, Crystal Castles, Adventure, Air-Sea Battle and more. You can also plays some 7800 games, like Centipede, Desert Falcon, Planet Smashers and Food Fight. The Atari Flashback plugs right into the back of your TV, so it's a lot like home gaming used to be years ago.

Atari Flashback 2
If the Atari Flashback wasn't enough for you, there's the Atari Flashback 2. This systems also plugs into the back of your television, and it's modeled to look just like one of the old Atari 2600 systems. It even comes with two of the classic black joysticks with the single red button! Here you get not only 20 classic home games like Asteroids, Breakout and Missile Command, but you also get 20 new games like Atari Climber, Adventure II, Yar's Return and many more.