Retro Gaming Archives - The Silicon Underground

What happened to Epyx

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 11:00:42 +0000

Epyx was one of the most celebrated and prolific software publishers for 8-bit home computers, especially Atari and Commodore, and, to a lesser degree, Apple. But they struggled to transition to newer platforms and that ultimately led to bankruptcy, on

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The Infogrames-Atari merger of 2008

Dave Farquhar — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 11:00:09 +0000

On October 9, 2008, Infogrames completed its purchase of Atari Inc. The deal, which the two companies agreed to in May, led to speculation that the acquisition would be the end of Atari. Instead, it had the opposite effect, though

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What happened to Activision

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Activision was the first independent third-party publisher of console video games, founded October 1, 1979 by a group of former Atari developers. Activision proved successful, becoming the largest and most enduring publisher of video games for both game consoles and

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Atari 2600 launch titles

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 11:00:27 +0000

The Atari 2600 was first released on September 11, 1977, along with nine titles. It wasn’t the first home video game console to connect to a TV and it wasn’t even the first one to use cartridges, but it was

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Atari Lynx: The first color handheld game console

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 11:00:37 +0000

What did the original Amiga design team do after the Amiga went to market and Commodore wasted the opportunity? Jay Miner went back to designing medical devices, but three other members of the team designed the first color handheld game

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When Nintendo sued Blockbuster

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:00:27 +0000

Here’s a late ’80s memory you may not have thought about in a while. Do you remember going to the video rental store to rent a video game and getting the cartridge but not getting the instruction booklet? The reason

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Nintendo Famicom and the secret of Nintendo’s success

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:00:58 +0000

On July 15, 1983, the Famicom, or Family Computer, launched in Japan. Despite the name, the Family Computer was a game console, and it went on to shatter the Atari 2600’s record for the most sales worldwide by a game

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How Donkey Kong toppled Atari

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 11:00:46 +0000

In July 1981, at the height of Pac-Man fever, Nintendo released its third stand up arcade game. This game, Donkey Kong, took over as the most popular arcade game in the world, but it had a lasting repercussions. It irreversibly

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What went wrong with 3DO

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 11:00:40 +0000

3DO sounded like a great premise. Several great minds came together to design a game console that they could license to any consumer electronics manufacturer who wanted to make it. It could have been the VHS or the IBM PC clone

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How the Vectrex game console sunk a 124-year-old company

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 04 May 2026 11:00:08 +0000

On May 4, 1984, Milton Bradley, a leading producer of board games for 124 years, agreed to sell itself to Hasbro. Changes in the way people played games in the 80s, especially kids, put pressure on the company. In this

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