Attract modes and Logo screens in Atari 2600 games

[rhindlethereddragon]

Most Atari enthusiasts and collectors probably have taken some notice of the fact that in 1982, Atari began issuing their atari 2600 cartridges with uniform, standard "silver" labels.

 

What may not have been as obvious is that this was only one part of a "bigger picture". In 1982, Atari also "racheted up" the quality of their games. The graphics got better, but during this period, two important changes happened to all new Atari cartridges: to make the arcade ports look and feel more to the users like the real arcade game, the games now had two new additions that were now standard across the board: the addition of a REAL "attract mode" and a screen with the name of the game. In my opinion, this was a huge step in the right direction for the Atari. Management at least should be given a lot of credit for this.

 

Now, it will no doubt be argued/pointed out that Atari games always had an "attract mode" of some sort usually, such as asteroids floating around on the screen after the game ends. But in 1982, the "attract modes" began to feature actual gameplay, like a real attract mode would in the original game from which the cart was ported.

[Rex Dart]

Neat. Care to name some examples?

[Tr3vor]

Neat. Care to name some examples?

 

 

Dig Dug

[Lord Helmet]

Many of the best silver label arcade conversions were done by GCC and not Atari directly. Ms. Pac-Man, Battlezone, Jr. Pac-Man, and Dig Dug, and Galaxian all come to mind. I even like the GCC version of Millipede better. Somewhere around here is a list of the games that were done by GCC.

 

The silver label era might just be my favorite.

[rhindlethereddragon]

Neat. Care to name some examples?

 

Well.......just about every new arcade version from 1982 forward:

 

Ms Pac Man

Pole Position

Galaxian

Pengo

Defender II

Vanguard

Moon Patrol

Centipede

Jungle Hunt

Kangaroo

 

those are just off the top of my head. The list goes on and on..

[rhindlethereddragon]

Many of the best silver label arcade conversions were done by GCC and not Atari directly. Ms. Pac-Man, Battlezone, Jr. Pac-Man, and Dig Dug, and Galaxian all come to mind. I even like the GCC version of Millipede better. Somewhere around here is a list of the games that were done by GCC.

 

The silver label era might just be my favorite.

 

Thank you for this information, I didn't know that. I did some research on GCC, and it seemed everything was going very good for a while... http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/7800/7800menu/

[VectorGamer]

The Silver and Red labels really made the 2600 shine. Question is, did they come too late?

[+save2600]

The Silver and Red labels really made the 2600 shine. Question is, did they come too late?

Nah. Atari was still popular by then and besides, they helped breathe new life into the system when Jr. was born

[rhindlethereddragon]

Many of the best silver label arcade conversions were done by GCC and not Atari directly. Ms. Pac-Man, Battlezone, Jr. Pac-Man, and Dig Dug, and Galaxian all come to mind. I even like the GCC version of Millipede better. Somewhere around here is a list of the games that were done by GCC.

 

The silver label era might just be my favorite.

 

Now GCC entered the picture after all of the Atari programmers were laid off, right?

[salzmafia.com]

the addition of a REAL "attract mode" and a screen with the name of the game. In my opinion, this was a huge step in the right direction for the Atari. Management at least should be given a lot of credit for this.

 

Now, it will no doubt be argued/pointed out that Atari games always had an "attract mode" of some sort usually, such as asteroids floating around on the screen after the game ends. But in 1982, the "attract modes" began to feature actual gameplay, like a real attract mode would in the original game from which the cart was ported.

 

I never thought about this, but you are absolutely right. The addition of an attract mode / title screen really enhanced (at least to me) the appeal of the game. Moon Patrol specifically comes to mind. It wasn't just plain text either, there was a deliberate design to the letters. Nice catch.

 

And reflecting on Ms. Pac-Man the programmer(s) the attact mode is pretty involved, and probably one of the nicer ones.

[Lauren Tyler]

If I recall, Pole Position didn't have an actual attract screen. It just alternated between the title screen (albeit with an incorrectly shaped track!) and your car on the track.

[Rom Hunter]

Neat. Care to name some examples?

http://www.atarimania.com/list_games_atari-2600-vcs-p_total-page-step-player-order_1111-1-200-1-title_2_G.html

 

[+FujiSkunk]

I remember thinking this was cool back when it actually was 1982. The first silver-label cartridge I got was Centipede. I was in awe at all the things it had that you frequently saw in arcade games, but never before saw in an Atari 2600 game. It had a title screen! It had a demo mode! It even had (gasp!) floating scores!

 

I was a geek then, and I'm still a geek now. My appreciation remains, for how much better the games were during the silver-label era.

[Seaquest]

I love the creative litle tital screens they used. Mrs. pac man and galaxian are definitely worth checking into. Edited November 30, 2010 by Seaquest

[Ranthulfr]

The silver-label games rock! The first title/splash screen I remember seeing was for ET, by the way. It left me with a good impression of the cartridge. It wasn't till much later that I decided the game itself isn't one of my faves.

[rhindlethereddragon]

I remember thinking this was cool back when it actually was 1982. The first silver-label cartridge I got was Centipede. I was in awe at all the things it had that you frequently saw in arcade games, but never before saw in an Atari 2600 game. It had a title screen! It had a demo mode! It even had (gasp!) floating scores!

 

I was a geek then, and I'm still a geek now. My appreciation remains, for how much better the games were during the silver-label era.

 

Correct. The Colecovision claimed to "bring the arcade experience home".... it kinda makes you wonder why they didn't go the extra mile with the stuff (as outlined in this thread) that even the 2600 was doing. In some ways, the 2600 was actually the one more closely providing the "arcade experience", even though Colecovision did have better graphics.

[+Random Terrain]

Neat. Care to name some examples?

http://www.atarimania.com/list_games_atari-2600-vcs-p_total-page-step-player-order_1111-1-200-1-title_2_G.html

Is that supposed to be a list of something specific? It just looks like an alphabetical list of all games.