Frank
Toastmaster
jakeoff
cubansamurai
ALeks_M
B Miggs, Headlines, art, atari
Before the over the top, logo heavy madness of today’s next-gen masterpieces became the visual norm for video game cover art, there was the basic beauty of the Atari 2600’s approach to package design. Clean composition and vague descriptive text came together to create something that was just so…intangibly fresh and mesmerizing. But what if the biggest games of now fell into the hands of a 2600-era artist? We’d have Atari Modern Classics, a vintage look at our new favorites through the pixelated beer goggles of an era where simplicity was king.
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Super Smash Bros. Brawl |
Call of Duty 4 |
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Bioshock |
Grand Theft Auto 4 |
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No More Heroes |
Halo 3 |
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God of War 3 |
Resident Evil 5 |
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40 comments 
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09.16.2008 ,
at 12:15 pm
The Bioshock one is awesome! Nice work!
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09.16.2008 ,
at 2:02 pm
Well done. I think my penis just got hard…
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09.16.2008 ,
at 2:42 pm
lolol amazing…I would love to actually play grand theft auto in atari style..all the songs played on the car radio stations would be exactly the same and the hookers would look like smurfette
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09.16.2008 ,
at 2:54 pm
Very cool! The funny thing is that all of those “graphics” are actually better than anything the 2600 could produce. Then again, they never showed any real screenshots to begin with…
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09.16.2008 ,
at 3:33 pm
boring
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09.16.2008 ,
at 4:19 pm
I go to the bathroom to save in real life.
Effin’ brilliant work. -
09.16.2008 ,
at 6:56 pm
Your diagonals are very straight… Atari had 192×160 resolution there is no way you are getting those lines in without jaggies… The box art, I suspect, does not match gameplay, not uncommon for atari in the old days.
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09.16.2008 ,
at 7:46 pm
Not enough rainbows in all of these.
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09.17.2008 ,
at 1:34 am
1980 called… they want Atari back
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09.17.2008 ,
at 10:34 am
On a few crits — diamond shapes on GTO4 wouldn’t be in pixel land, No More Heroes “kitanas”/”katanas”, and curved lines on Portal also not possible for Atari — otherwise, very fun!
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09.17.2008 ,
at 12:00 pm
Nice idea but poor execution. The covers looked nothing like that.It doesn’t look either like the cover’s art nor what you’d see on an Atari 2600’s cover.
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09.17.2008 ,
at 1:35 pm
to the fanboys that have to critique everything, its a fuckin joke. grow up and shut up or open ur own site where you can post all sorts of shitty content so we can mock you. thanks!
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09.17.2008 ,
at 2:03 pm
That No More Heroes one just fits with the whole feel of the game. I like it.
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09.17.2008 ,
at 2:10 pm
HahAHAhaHAHa!!!
Absolutely brilliant!
I am jealous of your creativity, nice work.
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09.17.2008 ,
at 4:51 pm
What font was used for these?
I’d like to make some of my own.
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09.17.2008 ,
at 6:08 pm
The 8-bit shooter was the best part of NMH.
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09.17.2008 ,
at 6:39 pm
lol, awesome. I should dig up my old 2600 carts and fix my console (I opened her up and cut out the power led when I was 10 or so)
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09.17.2008 ,
at 8:24 pm
I agree with nice idea, but poor execution. I would have never got an NES if my Atari put out games for the 2600 with graphics like what you have in those box covers.
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09.17.2008 ,
at 9:17 pm
@ Pants: The rainbows were on the Activision covers. These are very well done, takes me back to the late 70s when Atari was king.
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09.18.2008 ,
at 6:54 am
Love the Halo 3 and GTA 4 ones, very nice work!
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09.18.2008 ,
at 7:13 am
There is an actual Portal demake for the 2600 for your playing pleasure… http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=2391.0
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09.18.2008 ,
at 10:18 am
Queria ver o pessoal atualmente virar a noite jogando estes jogos.
Era bom! Mas tinha que ter muita imaginação!!! -
09.18.2008 ,
at 12:38 pm
Don’t buy Grand Theft Auto for Atari. Buy it for Intellivision - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdHG5-K8E1E
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09.18.2008 ,
at 9:29 pm
Anyone pointing out that some of these graphics would not be possible on the Atari has never, and will never, know a women in the biblical sense (i.e. sexual intercourse)
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09.18.2008 ,
at 11:25 pm
The Grand Theft Auto reminds me a bit of the Superman game on the 2600. Damn I want these games to be real. Of course I got the 2600 when it was first released for my birthday. No matter how much I have played any other system, no amount of internet play etc will ever compare to the time I spent on the 2600.
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09.19.2008 ,
at 4:10 am
It’s a nice idea (if not a particularly original one), but those don’t look anything like Atari covers (they rarely if ever used screenshots) and sure don’t look like Atari screenshots (no Atari system ever had that many colours, or could render action that complex).
So, um, it doesn’t really work.
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09.19.2008 ,
at 10:29 am
@Jayismostlywater: I hate you and all your Intellivision ilk!
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09.19.2008 ,
at 11:36 am
re: the people actually critiqing these covers - i never knew that there were actually that many stupid losers in the world….you’ve proved me wrong
get some fucking perspective - leave the basement and find a goat or something to finger bang
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09.19.2008 ,
at 11:41 am
Someone’s already “ported” Portal to the Atari 2600:
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09.19.2008 ,
at 1:25 pm
The graphics would make great t-shirts.
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09.19.2008 ,
at 2:32 pm
good concept, but i have to agree that the atari boxes all had badass paintings on them, not representations of the game screen. these look more like activision box covers.
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09.19.2008 ,
at 4:25 pm
otimo
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09.21.2008 ,
at 10:18 am
You suck.
Check the specs before doing. None of those pictures could be actual screens from VCS. -
09.21.2008 ,
at 11:51 am
Excellent work.
Nostalgia galore. -
09.21.2008 ,
at 12:35 pm
Thanks for the link “A_SN”. frickin’ hilarious!!
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09.21.2008 ,
at 4:51 pm
Oops, I meant to say that to “Jayismostlywater “
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09.23.2008 ,
at 2:27 am
this has the be the dumbest fucking thing i think ive ever witnessed……. i mean if i could play those…. mabey id try, BUT COME ON!!!!
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09.26.2008 ,
at 1:04 pm
Lega
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10.4.2008 ,
at 6:14 pm
Haha I love the Portal one! And the Bioshock one is pretty cool! This stuff is great.
I’d love to see a Metal Gear Solid one! Or maybe Dead Rising one. -
11.3.2008 ,
at 12:37 pm
Pretty awesome.
