Jakks TV Games: Atari Paddle

[George Gray]

Just noticed on the jakkstvgames.com website they have posted details on the Atari Paddle handheld. The unit comes with Atair Circus, Breakout, Canyon Bomber, Demons to Diamonds, Night Driver, Steeplechase, Super Breakout and Warlords. There is a photo of the unit. It looks a funky remote with an old Atari Paddle grafted on top of it. It looks ok, not as cool as the Atari Joystick. There are screenshots from the games as well. Goto http://www.jakkstvgames.com/ataripaddle.html

 

Forgive me if this was posted already. I looked and did'nt see it.

[SS]

I'd say that "Steeplechase" is the surprise in the package.

[SteveW]

I've never played Steeplechase. I didn't even know it was a paddle game.

 

If they really wanted to make the thing sell a little better, they would have included M-Network's Astrosmash. One of my all time favorite paddle games.

[Saikyo]

Maybe they should have re-released Music Machine and Atari Video Olympics (Pong variants) as well

 

only die hard collectors will buy it if it does'nt contain all the paddle games

but it's nice to see Demons To Diamonds get the re-release

[Thomas Jentzsch]

You forgot Street Racer and Casino in your list.

 

I wonder why they cancelled Video Olympics. AFAIK it was originally planned to be included.

[Saikyo]

it probably wasm't included cuz it's on the atari joystick 10in1

which is ashame as it's not the same with a stick!

 

Hmm shame you can't order a special model with Beat Em' And Eat Em ' on it

[Albert]

If they really wanted to make the thing sell a little better, they would have included M-Network's Astrosmash. One of my all time favorite paddle games.

 

They would have had to license Astrosmash in order to include it. There are other paddle games, such as Kaboom!, that also would have been nice to include, but they'd face the same licensing problems.

 

..Al

[Albert]

I wonder why they cancelled Video Olympics. AFAIK it was originally planned to be included.

 

Yes, this is a shame, considering that Video Olympics (Pong and many variants) is basically the original "paddle" game. However, nearly all the variations are either two or four player games, so it makes some sense from that perspective.

 

..Al

[Ralph3]

It looks like it would be more comfortable to hold for us big handed players with the battery pack on it.

[christianscott27]

their other products have made me smile, they're not for purists but cool for casual gamers, this one is just so wrong looking it makes me cringe.

[desiv]

their other products have made me smile, they're not for purists but cool for casual gamers, this one is just so wrong looking it makes me cringe.

 

I don't know.. For me, I thought it looked pretty good.

 

Yeah, the pack at the bottom is big,but the paddle on top looked spot on. And there's not much room in a plain paddle to make it work. So, I think it's OK...

 

I figure there were 2 other options. Make the electronics so small they fit IN the paddle, raising the price. Make it 2 units, 1 the paddle plugs into. That's not what they do..

 

Besides, I'm with ralph3, it might even be a bit more comfortable to hold..

 

IMHO

 

desiv

[Rob Mitchell]

I donno about this one .. Alot of people might grab it thinking PONG and be disappointed when they get it home and hook it up. But this is great for the Breakout fans and the kid who thinks Circus is hysterical!

 

I think they could have cut down on the buttons if they had made use of the paddle and red button for the game select functions.

 

I imagine some hacks are possible .. rig a real paddle to plug into this thing.

 

BTW: In Atari Joystick Games .. Video Olympics is included .. are all the variants accessable too? Does the thing go into "color shading mode" after 15 seconds of nonuse like a real console?

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Scooterb23]

THis probably will sound stupid...but does anyone think the reason Video Olympics was taken off because of the I.O.C.?? The commission that runs the Olympic Games? I know in the past they have been a bit snippy with the usage of the word "Olympics" and the usage of medals in non-Olympics approved places...

[liveinabin]

I think I'd rather watch 2 weeks of Video Olympics than the real thing

 

That paddle all-in-one thingy though, is it just me or does that look REALLY uncomfortable to hold?

[Shortly]

it probably wasm't included cuz it's on the atari joystick 10in1  

which is ashame as it's not the same with a stick!  

 

Hmm shame you can't order a special model with Beat Em' And Eat Em ' on it  

 

Circus is on the 10 in 1....

[Stingray]

I imagine some hacks are possible .. rig a real paddle to plug into this thing.

 

That should be no problem, assuming this thing uses a 1 meg pot like a real paddle. Even if it turns out to be something different you could still buy the appropraiate pot at radio shack and install that in a real paddle, then do the hack.

 

-S

[xmetalhedx]

I coudn't see buyinbg it if its just a single paddle. The best paddle games are played with two or more people.

[George Gray]

I was looking on the Gamestop site and found the following:

http://www.gamestop.com/search.asp?keyword...ag=show&statcd=

 

it is a listing of Jaaks TV Games products. It has pictures of a few of the upcoming units, notably the Pinball unit. Looks cutesy-cool.

 

BTW, they have a June 1 date for the Atari paddle.

[rc]

I thought all these TV games looked pretty lame at first but they are great for little kids. My four year old nephew can plug it in himself and they're much easier to clean up afterwards than systems and controllers and cartridges. I'm actually considering the paddle controller because I don't have all those games and my 2600 paddles are jittery as hell.

[Cootster]

I mean, couldn't they have let us play that game as God (by which I mean HSW, of course) intended? It was on the stick . . .

 

Honestly, these things have pretty weak lineups, odd considering that the whole first-party library is available to them.