HEXUS.preview: The Atari Flashback 2.0
HEXUS.preview: The Atari Flashback 2.0
Let’s take a step back in time. Skateboards were all the rage with hospital A+E departments filled with kids have grated themselves on the pavement from a tumble, Slime, Holly Hobbie and Othello were the top selling toys and the VHS/Betamax war was all but over…
The ZX Spectrum was just around the corner but at this time, Atari ruled supreme for the home console system of choice. In a prequel to the Amiga/Atari battle for home computers, you were either an Atari or Intellivision fan and many a playground dispute rolled into a fight over the merits of Pitfall versus Utopia…
Atari are now set to re-open old feuds as they launch the Flashback 2.0, a retro console designed to bring a nostalgic tear to the eye of anyone in their thirties. Modelled on the classic 2600 console featuring the woodgrain inlay and with two 2600 joysticks, the Flashback comes pre-loaded with 40 Atari games, 20 of which are the original 2600 classics like Pong, Missile Command, Asteroids and Centipede and all the games are the originals, not third party ports.
The Atari Flashback 2.0 promises to deliver the same gaming sights, sounds and action as the original Atari 2600. To ensure this authenticity, Atari has engineered modern chip technology that allows use of the original Atari 2600 code directly. In addition to this, the Flashback 2.0 is backward compatible with all the numerous existing 2600 controllers: paddle controllers, trackballs, and the like, so it’s worth having a root around in the loft for that box of bits you never had the heart to throw out.
