Google commemorates the release of the Atari classic Breakout with a playable Easter egg.

Released in 1976, Breakout is one of the most successful PONG variants Atari released.

Inspired by the sport of racquetball before the clever wall-breaking conceit was integrated, Breakout was incredibly influential and spawned countless clones.

Its addictive brick-bashing gameplay was a big inspiration behind Taito’s Space Invaders, and its fascinating development tale also links two of America’s biggest ever electronic companies: Atari and Apple.

With the cult coin-op turning 37 this year, Google has chosen to commemorate the occasion with a neat little Easter egg that lets you play a version of the game in your browser.

To access it, simply type “Atari Breakout” into the Google Image search bar and hit return.

Fortuitously, next month in Retro Gamer we have a big feature planned on the story behind Breakout, its sequels and the many clones it inspired.

In it, we speak to Al Alcorn and Ed Logg, creator of Super Breakout, and delve deep into the fascinating history of the franchise.

Issue 117 of Retro Gamer goes on sale 20 June.

A rare Jaguar VR Headset has appeared on eBay and can be yours for $14,500  

What could $14,500 buy you? Let’s see, you could buy 1450,000 one cent sweets, almost treat yourself to a couture Barbie costume, or go to cinema and watch the latest Hobbit movie (in un-3-D mind) over 1800 times. Or, you could just blow it all on a rare Jaguar VR headset.

The Jaguar VR headset was never released commercially. According to the item description by the eBay seller, only two ‘working’ prototype models are believed to exist and what makes this particular headset a bit more special than the others is that it has the Jaguar logo markings on it.

Included in the sale is a load of other VR related stuff, including a copy of Missile Command 3D (the only known compatible game for the system) and the VR gun peripheral. Oddly though, for the price, no console to actually use it on.

A Swedish homebrew coder has just released a version of Castlevania for the Atari 2600

Not really a conversion of the MSX 2 and Famicom Disk System original – which went on to enjoy most popularity on the NES, Castlevania 2600 is actually a ROM hack of another Konami game called Roc ‘N Rope, which was ported for the console around 1984.

Playing the legendary vampire hunter Simon Belmont, you must collect all the pick-ups that are scattered around the level and then safely reach the exit to progress to the next stage.

Out to stop you are re-spawning monsters, and these must be carefully avoided, or temporary subdued with your whip, as you make your way up the platforms using a grappling hook.

Given the gameplay and theme, the game actually has more in common with Konami’s obscure Famicom Disk System game Arumana No Kiseki than Castlevania, but hey, we’re not ones to ever look a fun gift demake in the mouth.     

If you’re a fan of the series then be sure to check it out. The author, who calls himself Rabbit 2600 on the Atari Age forums, has posted a download link to the ROM on the website, which can be found here.

Atari is celebrating Pong’s fortieth anniversary today.

To celebrate this momentous occassion in gaming, Atari has released a brand new game called Pong World, which is currently available for free on iOS.

Z-Games, the creators of Pong World received first place and $50,000 from Atari for winning the Pong Indie Developer Challenge and now you’ll be able to get your hands on the final product and play it for yourself.

Atari is continuing the Pong celebrations by giving away a rather cool looking Atari 2600-skinned Xbox 360 on its Facebook page. It also recently attempted to set a new world record by playing a game over Pong on a 22-story building, which you can see here on Youtube. The record is still pending, so be sure to check back to see if its broken.

Today marks the return of the fantastic Carrier Command series.

Carrier Command: Gaea Missions has been in development for the past four years and promises to recapture the spirit of the original hit 16-bit game.

Unlike the original game, Gaea Missions also feature a first-person shooter campaign in addition to its usual strategy offering. There are also 30 huge islands to explore, a large amount of different weaponry to use and there are options to constantly upgrade your vehicles.

We’ll hopefully review it in a future issue.

The Atari brand is 40 years old today and Atari has been celebrating with a number of cool prizes on its Facebook page.

Atari was originally formed as Atari Inc by Nolan Bushnall and Ted Dabney in 1972 and quickly rose to prominence thanks to a number of excellent arcade games, including Pong, Asteroids, Missile Command and Breakout. Everyone from Allan Alcorn to Steve Wozniak worked on Atari’s products in the early days, while its roster of talented developers ranged from Ed Logg and David Theurer, to David Crane, Jed Margolin, John Salwitz and Carol Shaw.

In addition to creating its own arcade games, Atari also started producing its own consoles and 8-bit computers, with its first home console, the Atari 2600 going on to sell a staggeringly high 30 million units. The company eventually ran into trouble though and was sold to Warner Communications.

The Atari legacy continued when Commodore’s Jack Tramiel stepped in and formed Atari Corp. Under his savvy leadership, the company shed many of its debts and continued to created new games and consoles, including the vastly underated Atari ST, as well as the first colour handheld (the Atari Lynx) and the first 64-bit console (the Atari Jaguar). After 12 years, Tramial decided that he wanted out of the company and it was merged with JTS Inc in 1996.

By March 1998, JTS had sold the Atari name to Hasbro interactive for $5 million, with the brand name changing just a few short years later when Hasbro sold the Atari name to French developer Infogrames, who still own fly the Atari flag to this day. Things came full circle when Nolan Bushnall, Atari’s original co-founder rejoined the company as an Atari board member in 2010.

Atari has recently been finding success on iOS with updated versions of many of its old classics, including Circus Atari and the recently released Centipede Origins. It’s also giving away a number of cool promotions on its Facebook page and has revealed the finalists for its Pong competion.

Here’s to another 40 years.

With Alien prequel Prometheus nearing its release, Retro Gamer looks back at some of its favourite videogame aliens, both friendly and hostile.  

Howard Scott Warshaw programmed two 2600 games starring alien heroes. One was the infamous E.T. – The Extra Terrestrial (which, given the amount of landfill it created, could be the only videogame in history visible from outer space), and the second was Yar’s Revenge, a superb shooter for the Atari 2600 that became the best-selling original Atari game for the machine.

As explained in the Quotile Ultimatum - a comic book packaged with the game, Yars evolved from common houseflies. When a manned space excursion goes wrong, a shuttle crashes into a strange planet and the high radiation levels caused by the explosion cause the flies on board to mutate into humanoid creatures.

A peaceful race, they soon begin populating several planets in the solar system. However, their existence soon comes under threat from a nefarious alien called the Quotile, which starts decimating their planets one by one. With just one remaining, it falls to a single Yar to breach the Quotile’s shield and destroy it using a powerful weapon known as the Zorlon Cannon.

As well as a deep back story (for a 2600 game), what made Yar so cool was that he flew in the face of the limited visual capabilitiess of the 2600. Gnawing away the shield of its enemy target, furiously flapping his wings and basically just behaving like a housefly, Warshaw packed a lot of character into the little guy.

Iconic machines remembered in the Classic Videogame Hardware eBook from Imagine Publishing

Fans of Retro Gamer’s hardware bookazines will be pleased to hear that they are now available to buy for Kindle. The Classic Videogames Hardware Genius Guide is available now for just £5.81 and features in-depth guides to some of the best computers and consoles of all time. The Amiga, Super Nintendo, PC Engine, Atari 2600 and ZX Spectrum are just a few of the machines featured, and all come with the fantastic in-depth information that only Retro Gamer offers.

Editor in Chief Aaron Asadi said: “This eBook is a fantastic resource for all retro videogame fans. Offering in-depth information on some of the iconic consoles from the last 50 years, there are also run-downs of the best games from each piece of hardware, allowing readers to relive the classic videogame moments from days gone by. The is the perfect trip down memory lane, and represents excellent value for money.”

The Classic Videogames Hardware Genius Guide eBook is available now from Amazon (http://amzn.to/iZODFT).

Fans of Retro Gamer’s hardware bookazines will be pleased to hear that they are now available to buy for Kindle. The Classic Videogames Hardware Genius Guide is available now for just £5.81 and features in-depth guides to some of the best computers and consoles of all time. The Amiga, Super Nintendo, PC Engine, Atari 2600 and ZX Spectrum are just a few of the machines featured, and all come with the fantastic in-depth information that only Retro Gamer offers.

Editor in Chief Aaron Asadi said: “This eBook is a fantastic resource for all retro videogame fans. Offering in-depth information on some of the iconic consoles from the last 50 years, there are also run-downs of the best games from each piece of hardware, allowing readers to relive the classic videogame moments from days gone by. The is the perfect trip down memory lane, and represents excellent value for money.”

The Classic Videogames Hardware Genius Guide eBook is available now from Amazon.

Fans of Retro Gamer’s hardware bookazines will be pleased to hear that they are now available to buy for Kindle. The Classic Videogames Hardware Genius Guide is available now for just £5.81 and features in-depth guides to some of the best computers and consoles of all time. The Amiga, Super Nintendo, PC Engine, Atari 2600 and ZX Spectrum are just a few of the machines featured, and all come with the fantastic in-depth information that only Retro Gamer offers.

Editor in Chief Aaron Asadi said: “This eBook is a fantastic resource for all retro videogame fans. Offering in-depth information on some of the iconic consoles from the last 50 years, there are also run-downs of the best games from each piece of hardware, allowing readers to relive the classic videogame moments from days gone by. The is the perfect trip down memory lane, and represents excellent value for money.”

The Classic Videogames Hardware Genius Guide eBook is available now from Amazon (http://amzn.to/iZODFT).