The Smarmy Carny

In my mind, the Atari 2600 is the best video game console of all time. You either had a joystick or a paddle — both of which had just one button. Modern day consoles have nothing on the Atari 2600 with their 80-button, vibrating controllers and frequent crashes. The Atari 2600 blows these out of the water with its 128 bytes of RAM and 1.19 MHz processing speed.

• Basketball: D- I know that the graphics weren't top-notch on the Atari 2600, and that's fine. But playing basketball with a square ball? Something's just not right with that.
• Combat: B It came with the console, so everyone had it and knew how to play it. Somehow, they managed to turn two games (tanks and planes) into 27 games — really just different options on the two themes. For such a basic game, though, getting those tanks to move and shoot the way you needed them to really became an art.
• Missile Command: C- In retrospect, I probably played Missile Command far more than I should have. This game, though entertaining, quickly becomes repetitive. Gee, I wonder what the next level will bring me — perhaps more missiles I'll have to shoot down in the same manner? You basically played until the game outplayed you.
• Pac-Man: A- Pac-Man was the game. Easy to understand but difficult to master, I don't know a kid who was yelling at their television because of this yellow dude.
• Pitfall!: B+ I don't know how many times poor Pitfall Harry fell down holes or got eaten by a crocodile, but this game was addictive. The game used a combination of timing skills and just a bit of strategy that made you want to come back for more.
• Space Invaders: A+ Simple, easy, and perfectly designed for the platform. You have shields, you have bad guys. They inch closer, and you try and pick them off. And just when that might have started to get boring, you've got a UFO to aim at! It even spawned quite a few 80s song, which actually might not have been a good thing.

Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you agree or disagree with, and why? Which Atari 2600 games do you wish were included that I didn't cover here?

I have been playing the Unreal Tournament series of games since shortly after the original UT came out. I currently play the latest version of the game, Unreal Tournament 2004. I usually play under the name YourEvilTwin.

Months ago, I discovered a neat mod that played like RPG. Appropriately enough, it is called UT2004RPG. Back in the day, I and my college buddies played an RPG-themed mod for Quake that was plenty of fun. Though that old Quake mod had lots of bells and whistles, this mod for UT2k4 is much simpler, and much more enjoyable. Servers are configured to remember you and your stats, so when you gain levels, you gain them for good.

Unlike other RPG mods I have seen, the skills are fairly generic, which allows gameplay to (mostly) remain recognizable. Too many times I have seen RPG mods that practically require a 50 page manual and extensive training and key binding to play effectively. With UT2004RPG, you can pretty much just play like you normally would, with a few minor exceptions. Check out the many skills and weapons that you run into while playing UT2004RPG. There are also artifacts, but I won't discuss these because my server does not use them.

Gameplay in UT2004RPG is fairly straightforward. For each kill, you get experience points. When you earn enough points, you automatically advance to the next level. When you advance to the next level, you also earn stats points. You use the stats points to enhance your player's skills and abilities, which in turn help you to make more kills, and thus completing the beautiful circle of life . . . or death.

The RPG server I play on utilizes the Invasion gametype, so instead of a high level ruling in DM, players work cooperatively to clear the map of all the monsters. It is the "]UR[ UT2004 RPG INV Server." It's a nice community of gamers that hang out there.

Click here to view my stats on this server in real time.

If you already have Unreal Tournament 2004 installed on your system, simply click here to start playing UT2004RPG!

This man is a genius. He was the founder and CEO of Atari. The founder and CEO of Chuck E. Cheese. The. Inventor. Of. Pong!!!

Nolan Bushnell has a new idea, now.

Newsweek reports in an article titled "Playing It Again" that Bushnell is planning on starting a chain of Chuck E. Cheese-type restaurants for adults. Think Dave & Buster's, but from the guy who started it all.

Imagine a Chuck E. Cheese for grown-ups–with booze and Caesar salads instead of balloons and singing animatrons. Bushnell has built "party tables" where six customers can play each other in the same game, and tournaments where diners in any of the restaurants in the chain can compete against each other in a single contest such as Texas Hold 'Em. Bushnell says he will open the first restaurant this fall in Los Angeles.

I'm there. Too bad the closest one will probably be six hours away!