Throwback Thursday’s: The History of Atari

Today marks the 40 year anniversary of my generation’s first popular gaming console, the Atari. Founded in 1972 by engineers Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, Atari was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles, and home computers. Atari is even where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple got their start. I actually still have my original console alongside a dozen or so game cartridges back at the home I grew up in and probably will never get rid of it. All I can think looking at the photo above is that it would be pretty awesome if a modern age game console was designed with a wood finish instead of the clunky cheap plastic that has dominated product design for almost three decades.  Whatever the case, in celebration of the anniversary this week’s Throwback Thursday is a make-shift documentary about the history of the gaming console, exploring the rise and fall of the one-time giant.  Grab some popcorn and a comfy chair because it’s an hour and a half long but well worth your time if you are a life-long vidiot like myself, and if you’re not?  It’s at least worth a couple minutes of your time to fast forward to the end to watch the crazy Star Wars game ad.