Thirty years ago this fall, video game pioneer Atari released its first two entrants in the home-computer market: the Atari 800 and 400 computers. Originally retailing for $1000, the Atari 800 shipped ...

On holidays like Thanksgiving, part of the togetherness (especially with my older brother) has always included video games—especially games for our first computer, the Atari 800. Released in 1979, ...

This excerpt is from Jamie Lendino’s Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation, an amazing book that details with an obsessive’s eye the rise and fall of Atari 8-bit computers. While ...

I've got a shelf full of computer history books, many of which I love and have reread several times. But I wanted to write one that focused on the first real computer I grew up with, the one that ...

Atari 400/800 -- Using your Atari computer -- Atari learns to let go -- Tramiel trauma -- Sunset in Sunnyvale -- Golden age gaming -- Emulation -- Collecting -- Mods -- Community --Atari forever ...

In 1982, while most game developers were busy with space invaders and maze ghosts, Bill Williams created something far more profound: a game about swimming upstream against impossible odds. Salmon Run ...

Some Computerworld bloggers have been telling tales of their first computers. I figured I’d throw mine into the pool here… The year was 1984, I was 11 years old and baseball cards were rapidly fading ...

Running 1980s home computer software on your modern Mac is fun, but can be done in many different ways. Here's how to run retro Atari, Sinclair, and Commodore software on the latest hardware. In Part ...

Anyone who’s ever had to deal with the aftermath of a leaking battery knows how much damage such a failure can cause. Degrading batteries leak corrosive chemicals that eat away PCB traces, clog up ...

When we write about the 8-bit era of home computers there is a list of manufacturers whose names are frequently mentioned. Apple, Commodore, Texas Instruments, maybe Acorn and Sinclair if you are ...