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Old-school console gaming...without the console
By Sean Carruthers, posted 6/30/2004 4:45:03 PM

Yeah, yeah, your PlayStations, Xboxes, and Game Cubes are fun and all, but there's still something about the old-school arcade games that never really grows old. In the early days of arcade-style videogames, the concepts were pretty simple, usually no more than move and shoot. The graphics were nothing to write home about either, featuring somewhat blocky blobs of colour moving around the screen. But the games were still a lot of fun, probably because of the simplicity rather than despite it. After all, the first home gaming consoles were sometimes even cruder, but were fun too.

Despite the proliferation of high-end consoles featuring complex and well-rendered games that draw players into the 3D action, Jakks Pacific (http://www.jakkstvgames.com/) believes there's still room for the classics. Rather than designing the old games for play on a new gaming console, Jakks Pacific has packaged them in a classic-looking joystick that's powered by four AA batteries and plugs directly into your TV. No console required -- just plug and play!

The Atari joystick is almost identical to the squared-off joysticks that came with the original console. Once you plug it into your television (using the composite video and mono audio jacks that come right out of the back of the joystick), you can select one of 10 classic games, including Adventure, Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Circus Atari, Gravitar, Missile Command, Pong, Real Sports Volleyball, and Yar's Revenge. Each game uses exactly the same data as the original, so you swear that you're actually playing on an Atari 2600 console. It has an estimated retail price of $26*.

While the Atari 2600 was a thing of joy for many gamers, a contingent of players swore that Activision games for the 2600 were the superior choice. The Activision controller also has a classic design: the rounded joystick with the fire button on top. Inside are Atlantis, Boxing, Crackpot, Freeway, Grand Prix, Ice Hockey, Pitfall, River Raid, Spider Fighter, and Tennis. This one will cost about $33*.

My favourite, for a few reasons, is the Namco joystick. It has a classic arcade-style joystick with the metal rod topped by the colourful plastic ball, and though it only comes with five games, the are all killers: Bosconian, Dig Dug, Galaxian, PacMan, and Rally X. Each game comes straight from the arcade ROMs, which means you are truly playing PacMan on your television, rather than one of the many cheap imitations that have appeared on various consoles over the years. Again, the Namco joystick will cost about $33*.

All of these controllers (as well as a special SpongeBob SquarePants game for the kids) are available now. Keep your eyes open mid-summer for a new group: Spiderman (five games), Arcade Pinball (three games), and Ms. PacMan (with four additional Namco games). Also shipping around the same time will be the Atari Paddle, which will feature 10 games that work best with a paddle-style controller.

*Converted from US$20 (Atari), US$25 (Activision, Namco)

By Sean Carruthers