Atari and Digital Eclipse have announced a brand-new expansion for the Atari 50: the Anniversary Collection.
Entitled Atari 50: the Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition, this new version of the game will add two timelines, along with 39 games, to the playable Atari retrospective.
The Expanded Edition is set to release on October 25 for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5, as well as for the Atari VCS this holiday.
The Nintendo Switch and PS5 versions will also receive physical editions. More specifically, it will include a steelbook for the Nintendo Switch, which comes with quite a few extra goodies, including Atari 2600 art cards, miniature arcade marquee signs, and an Al Alcorn Replica Syzygy Co. business card.
The standard version will retail for $39.99 / £31.50, while the steelbook will retail for $49.99 / £39.40.
However, the two new timelines and games will be offered to owners of the original Atari 50 release as downloadable content (DLC) later this year.
As for the two timelines featured in the Expanded Edition, 'The Wider World of Atari' timeline will feature 19 playable games and eight video segments and takes a series of deep dives into stories from Atari history, showing how Atari continued to influence creators and fans over the decades.
It will also feature new interviews, vintage ads, historical artifacts, and more have all been researched and presented with Digital Eclipse’s signature style, along with highlights such as a deep dive into Stern Electronics' robot-blasting Berzerk; unusual and underappreciated innovations and hidden gems from the late 1980s; a spotlight on the artist Evelyn Seto - who helped create the “Fuji” Atari logo - Pong creator Al Alcorn explaining the birth of Breakout; and more.
Meanwhile, 'The First Console War' timeline will include 20 playable games and six video segments, and will tell the story of the first major console war in the gaming industry between the Atari 2600 and Mattel’s Intellivision.
Among a series of highlights of M Network games, this timeline will also have interview features from numerous industry veterans.
Atari 50: the Anniversary Collection was released in 2022 from developer Digital Eclipse and details the storied history of Atari with playable games and extras including galleries, arcade flyers and documentaries.
It launched with 103 games from Atari's history, then receive 12 more in December 2023. With the Expanded Edition set to add 39 more games, this will bring the total of games to 154.
You might also like...
- Best retro games consoles: the top nostalgic gaming revivals
- Atari 2600+ review: comfy beeps and boops in an irresistible package
- Amazon is offering a collection of 15 free games ahead of Prime Day next month, including Star Wars: KOTOR 2 - The Sith Lords and Hitman Absolution
