Introduction (Does It Do What It Should)

Well, the Atari GameStation Pro is one product that I was more than happy to review. You see, I grew up with Atari, and I would like to tell that story.

In 1981, the Atari 2600 was all the kids at school were talking about. At the time, stand up video games were very much all the rage, and to have them at home is something that hasn’t really been done before. Granted, I remember playing a Pong thing in the late seventies, but to have video games that you can play at the arcade at home was something that Atari really made their own, at least, for a while.

I get the feeling that these type of video games were made for at least two people, as Pong was always two-player, and the one cartridge that came with the Atari 2600, Combat, was two-player. Of course, you could buy a lot of interesting and pretty much not interesting titles, as some of those 1981 games were pretty lame. The worst was when Atari tried to part the immensely popular Pac-Man to Atari, and it only slightly resembled Pac-Man.

Still, it was about one hundred dollars back then, and I didn’t get it until it was way late. I finally got it one year after it was super-popular, and it slowly lost popularity after the release of the now infamous game based on E.T., which most agree was when the video game bubble burst.

Not only that, Atari had some stiff competition with Intellivision and Colecovision. Both of these systems had much better graphics, and Atari attempted to upgrade the 2600 with the 5200. The sad part is that the 5200 really failed to take off, and I think part of that was the marketing. You see, Colecovision had an adapter for playing 2600 games, and in order for Atari to downplay Colecovision, they downplayed the Atari 2600. These ads would show the 5200 Pac-Man compared to the 2600 Pac-Man, and yeah, it was a no-brainer to see what looked better.

I’m really not certain what happened during the mid-80s, but Atari 2600 games actually started to look a little better. Of course, they had sucky ones like the 4-part Swordquest series, which never concluded because the company went bankrupt before it finished.

I’m not certain how Nintendo revived the home video game market, but it really did it with a vengeance. Atari still attempted to recapture its old glory with the 7800, but Nintendo and Sega already had the marketshare.

Okay, now that the background is taken care of, I can talk about how MyArcade brought the golden age of Atari back with the Atari GameStation Pro. I find it hard to believe that it comes loaded with over 200 games, as I recall a single cartridge being a quarter of its size.

The set-up is quite simple, as you plug it in with an HDMI port, and then plug the included USB-C to USB-A cable for power. The two controllers are battery powered, but I assume that they will work with a USB-C to USB-C plug, because the GameStation itself has two USB-C ports in front for some reason.

Even though the Atari GameStation Pro looks nothing like the 2600, in size or shape, but the controllers really look like the original 2600. Granted, the original 2600 joysticks had only one button, but the GameStation Pro controllers were made with many buttons, but are not button mashers.

I show in the video how the controllers have three buttons of Exit, Select, and Start. It is very similar to the controls that used to be on the Atari 2600. I really felt like the designers love their nostalgia.

The video shows what it is like, and some of these games have not passed the test of time. Like there is 3D Tic Tac Toe, and one just called Basic Math. Really? These were not the games I was itching to play.

I did love Centipede, which still gives me an adrenaline rush. I also like Yar’s Revenge, which feels like it should be the next video game movie, or at least deserves some kind of reboot. There were many to select from, those made for the 2600, the 5200, the 7800, and the arcade. The arcade ones had decent enough graphics, such as Food Fight, which I have to say was very fun.

You can see me play these games in my video, which is very long. I will have to admit that I thought I would get caught playing these games for hours, but really found that I got bored after two hours. I had a lot of fun introducing these games to my son, and it really was a whole different generation of video games.

I will have to say that the controllers, which looked very cool with their rainbow lights, were sometimes awkward. The worst were any games that were paddle controllers, and there was a bit of a learning curve to get used to their sensitivity.

Still, I think it is worth the money for it, as these games can be just fun. Most games required a kind of commitment to play, with challenges and universes designed to really take up your time. With the Atari GameStation Pro, you just select and play. This would be a good time to talk about the Bonus games, as there were many, and some reminded me of the Nintendo 8 and 16-bit era, which I have to admit I kind of missed.

Facts About The Company

Normally, when I get to this part of my report, I usually use that company website and their “About Us” as a source. I didn’t see one here, but it’s pretty obvious that this company exists to really bring back that eighties era of video games.

What Does This Company Make?

My Arcade is kind of what its name implies, as it makes miniature versions of old-school arcade games like Pac-Man and Tetris. It’s definitely a nostalgia ride, that is for sure.

Just the Specs, Man

If you’re the type that needs this info, this section is for you!

I can’t find any particular specs on this, so I’ll leave this blank.

If there is something on this that I didn’t cover, please let me know.

What Do the Reviews Say?

I’m seeing reviews that are mostly four out of five stars, and this is what I would give it, at least 4 and a half out of five. My nostalgia glasses could be giving me a bias, and I don’t care.

Okay, Get To The Unboxing Already!

Maybe I Want It, But Is There Anything Else Like It? Maybe For A Lower Price? Please?

I don’t think I can find anything like this anywhere. I mean, your phone has apps, and I don’t know if you can download 200 games on your phone unless you have the memory. Your gaming apps would look better than most of the games on the Atari GameStation Pro, though.