PPR 151

t’s raining diss tracks y’all, and ain’t nobody safe from the rhyming raids of character assault up in this BEE-yotch that we call LYFE…

Alright, that’s enough cringe—with all of the harrowing news we’ve seen out of 2024, we’ve decided to try our hand at some levity with a brainstorm-fueled feature topic that we think can bring out the sort of trademark fun the video games are iconic for. In the same vein of fantasy booking your favorite sport, we’ve decided to come together and choose one intellectual property to revive for a modern-day release from twelve different companies who have either dabbled in publishing or development for that property and make a case for why that given franchise is worthy of a new game over any other dormant franchises that have also been left in the gaming past.

It’s the type of “think-tank” discussion that we haven’t had on the show in some time! Join Andrew, George, and special guest, Joie of Super RPG Friends and Cerulean Skies as we wax nostalgia in the future tense as we plead the importance of a ninth-generation rally for dozens of cult-classic properties for y’all in episode 151 of Press Pause Radio!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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QCF: Centipede: Recharged

efore games had these rich worlds where players could invest countless hours into game theory videos on YouTube and subsequent dollars on merchandise, Video Games were mostly button-mashing contests of skills with some surface-level premises to hold your attention beyond all of the action. Where some placed you in the role of a frog trying to cross the road, or a Cattle Rancher trying to herd your livestock, a majority of retro video games was shooters, and one of the most iconic among them was Atari’s Centipede.

Most of the software from this era was very limited with what they could do for their presentation, often placing the burden of personality majorly upon the player’s fortitude of imagination, filling the blanks that crude pixels and chiptunes couldn’t do on their own. Centipede was unique in how little it left to the imagination of its players though, unfolding a distinctive world of mutated fungus and humid fauna, teeming with monstrous insects who’re ready to destroy anyone crazy enough to disturb their putrid land. The charismatic shooter’s premise and addictive gameplay has granted it a legacy that’s now spanned decades across the medium, and in an effort to revitalize the title for a modern audience, Atari has called on the folks behind the brilliant Mission Command Recharged, Adamvision Studios, to release the second entry into the “Recharged” lineup, Centipede: Recharged.

Where the previous efforts from the developer were certainly impressive, the lengths they’ve pushed the Centipede formula is nothing short of spectacular—Centipede: Recharged is one of the best modern arcade titles we’ve seen since the likes of Geometry Wars.

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QCF: The Atari VCS

he 1970’s were famous for a lot of things: the birth of whole entire music genres that ranged from Disco to Punk Rock, the Watergate scandal, and a certain living room pastime that would go on to change the entertainment medium forever—Video Games. It wasn’t long before these interactive television media programs made their way from the arcades to households across the country in the latter half of the Seventies, all thanks in part to a certain company that would help pioneer the blooming industry, Atari.

Years removed though, the Atari brand is seen as nothing more than a relic after its rise, and gradual fall—clinging on to nothing more than nostalgia for the remaining players who remember those early generations in their prime and get excited at the mention of the name. While the Atari line has enjoyed a second life in the aftermarket with a booming homebrew market and enthusiast media scene that’s fostered on by platforms like AtariAge and AtariMania, the company itself has gone mostly dormant through a series of mergers and extensions before quietly filing for bankruptcy in 2013.

Since then, the remnants of Atari, now named Atari SA have carried on with splintered releases of the remaining IPs in their possession like RollerCoaster Tycoon and Lunar Lander for the PC and mobile markets. The output was modest, as R&D worked on various projects while the company continued to earn royalties from its licensing deal with AtGames and their Flashback line of plug-in consoles. Sometime in 2017, however, a new management recruit by the name of Feargal Mac Conuladh was able to greenlight plans for a new Console-PC hybrid with an exclusive digital storefront codenamed the Atari Box. After years of sparse communication on the project and questionable crowdfunding campaigns to finish the production of the console, the Atari VCS has now officially launched to the public.

The question remains as to whether or not Atari can deliver on a product that can offer more than a fleeting sense of nostalgia that’s arguably just too dated to enjoy again. From my time spent with the machine, my answer isn’t as cut and dry as I would have ideally liked it to have been. I think the potential for the Atari VCS to deliver a different gaming experience is certainly there, especially when comparing it to contemporary upstarts that came before it like the Ouya and GameStick, who both originally promised something very similar and ultimately failed to live up to that promise. A number of shortcomings in the unit’s overall performance, however, unfortunately holds that potential, back and Atari’s subsequent management of the platform leave a sizable bit more to be desired. The VCS has too much running against it in the face of its low-end price point of $299.99 for just the base console without controllers, and the higher $399 asking price for the system and controller bundle—with the low-end being the same retail cost of a Nintendo Switch.

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Bullet Heaven, Episode 216 - Tempest 4000 (PS4)

empest 2000 is a pretty great time, but it's time for a new version of Tempest for a new generation. Rather than having a Tempest clone on the PS4, Atari instead chose to have the devs behind Txk, Llamasoft, work on an official Tempest game instead. The result is Tempest 4000... but how does it stack up?

In the credits:
Quad Fighter K (Switch)
1917: The Alien Invasion DX (Switch)
Gunbird 2 for Nintendo Switch (Switch)

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Bullet Heaven HD, Episode 112 - Atari Protoshmups

n the Series 6 premier, we're taking a look at TEN Atari 2600 "Protoshmup"s! Strap in, scale up and "Get Ready" for a look to the very genesis of home console shooting games!

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