Since Gametap isn't quite the original content developer they used to be, the six animated shorts now appear on the Gametap YouTube channel, rather than getting the sort of attention the first season of Re/Visioned did with its unique takes on the Tomb Raider franchise. Still, fanfare or no, these are some brilliant cartoons. I particularly like comic book writer Christos Gage's take on Cosmic Ark, which was technically an Imagic game, but who's counting?

Below you will find comic legend Mark Waid's take on Kaboom, along with shorts for Pitfall, H.E.R.O., Freeway, and Pressure Cooker. You'll never look at your old favorite 2600 games the same way again.

Redbeard Math Pirate on Flickr created 15, spanning the range of cart art on the Atari 2600 - original VCS, second generation, third generation, early Activision, and original Imagic. More of his offerings below:

Yo dawg, I herd you like memes ...

Yeah, and 33-69 is PORN.

I've played this game. It's like Outlaw with multiplayer.

Fake Atari Games [flickr]

Atari Brings Classics Back Into Your Hands

Atari Announces Development Of Atari Classics Evolved For The PSP® System -

NEW YORK, Aug. 21 - Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), one of the world's most recognized brands and a third-party video game publisher, today announced that Atari Classics Evolved, an homage to Atari's landmark catalogue, is in development on the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. Developed by Stainless Games Ltd., Atari Classics Evolved is schedule for a Fall 2007 release.

Atari Classics Evolved will feature such timeless games as AsteroidsTM, AsteroidsTM Deluxe, Battlezone®, CentipedeTM, Lunar Lander®, Millipede®, Missile Command®, Super BreakoutTM, TempestTM, WarlordsTM and Pong®. These titles, presented in both an original and an evolved version, will maintain the original gameplay while adding beautifully rendered up-to-date graphics.

"We are looking forward to providing gamers with the experience of the iconic Atari catalog on a handheld platform," said Matt Rush, Producer, Atari, Inc. "Offering these Atari classics in both their elemental and contemporary forms should excite both old-school and next-generation gamers alike."

In addition to the 11 evolved classics, more than 60 original Atari 2600 titles will be available for gameplay such as the memorable Yar's RevengeTM, Night DriverTM, Canyon BomberTM and Crystal CastlesTM to name a few. Atari Classics will feature online Leaderboards for the original 11 coin-op games, allowing players around the world to compare scores, and will also feature peer-to-peer wireless compatibility for titles that have multiplayer capabilities.

Salvaged from dumpsters back in 1983, the collection represents over 135 classic Atari 2600 titles arranged into folders by game. It includes instruction manuals, concept art, boxes, proofs and mechanicals...exactly the sort of thing game collectors might put on a tie to watch it be carted off by someone who can afford the $150,000 to $250,000 appraisal the lot has attached to it.

While there is no way in hell any of us could afford this, it does teach us a very important lesson. Digging through other people's garbage rocks. As a plus, in researching this post I became a member of Sotheby's, which entitles me to wear a waistcoat and monocle and...should I feel it necessary, a top hat of the highest quality. Michael Fahey

ATARI VIDEO GAMES (Registration Required) [Lot Information at Sotheby's - Thanks Manofquest!]

Authored by Ron Lloyd with props to the winners of the Atari Age "Ye Olde Adventure II" sprite design contest, Adventure II is not only the first ever sequel to the 2600 classic, it's also the first ever Atari 5200 game to come in a Limited Edition box set loaded with extras. For $50 you get the amazing professionally printed and gold-foiled number box, the fully-functional cartridge, a full-color manual, parchment maps, some magnets, and a brass plated skeleton key.

The box set is limited to only 250...so limited that I bought mine before posting this, just in case. Now that that's over with, click here to go buy, or hit the jump for a gallery of screenies and product shots, courtesy of Atari Age. Michael Fahey

Adventure II: the homebrew sequel to the Atari classic [the bits, bytes, pixels & sprites]

Simply magnificent. For me, it shall be Yar's Revenge. Michael Fahey

Jack Rabbit's Knitted Atari Goodness [flickr - thanks Chris!]

San Francisco Chronicle writer Peter Hautlaub makes an excellent suggestion for those too poor or too unlucky to acquire a shiny new next-gen system for the gamer in your life. Go retro. The article lists several financial situations, and the perfect classic gaming system to satisfy both wallets and game cravings.

Scenario 1: I'm poorer than Joey on the first season of "Friends" but not quite as poor as Gary Coleman when he got that job as a security guard:

The Nintendo 64 and Super NES are both great systems from the 1990s, when video game development was arguably at an artistic peak. You can buy either system with extra controllers and a shoe box full of games on eBay for about $60.

PS3 too pricey? For video game gifts, go retro. Sega Dreamcast, underrated and underpriced — and under your tree [SFGate.com]

We've all heard it before, the story of the Great Atari Landfill. According to legend, Atari 2600's E.T. game sold so terribly, that in an attempt to literally bury the stink-bomb, a landfill was created out of all the unsold copies.

Devoted researcher, DigitalMadman, has created a whole website on the study of this phenomenon and tackles his subject with a fervor that would make Agents Mulder & Scully jealous. Through interviews and meticulous research he has set out to prove that the legendary pile of plastic actually exists and reveals the real some truths behind of legend.

What now has become stuff of urban legend (and many people doubting the event even happened), Atari Inc. sent a reported 10 to 20 semi trucks loaded to brim with unsold/returned Atari game carts, unsold Atari consoles, and countless other related hardware from it's El Paso warehouse. Where was it's destination? The answer, Alamogordo, New Mexico. Where as the story goes, the trucks were emptied into the local landfill and the Atari materials had concrete poured on top of them. Where they remain buried to this day.

Coincidentally, Alamogordo happens to be just southeast of the infamous Roswell. Will DigitalMadman really find a huge pile of Atari excrement a scant 50 miles from the world's most famous alien landing pad? Perhaps it will finally give truth to the theory that there is more than one extra-terrestrial buried in the New Mexico desert. (Insert X-Files theme here) Flynn De Marco

The Atari Landfill Revealed [Digital Madman]

In a bizarre first for video games "journalism", over at Toybane they reviewed the Atari 2600 joystick key ring that we wrote about last month. This post's image? The crazy ass wire and battery pack that allows it to hook up to your television.

Toybane's judgment?

Yeah, not so ideal as a keychain. Still, we can ignore that as part of the ironic appeal of the device. It is still adorable as an object. And it does a good job of playing its' games. Pong and especially Warlords are most appealing as multiplayer games, but they play well enough through the controller. Breakout is still a classic, and it's great to play it with a paddle again. The joystick just isn't the same. While the controller feels oddly small at first, it's hardly a dealbreaker, and it quickly becomes comfortable. The wheel rotation is fairly smooth, but has some odd spots of resistance which make it feel as though it's fully turned when it's not. I did become accustomed to this fairly quickly though. The button feels very cheap and mushy, but in its defense, it is very cheap and mushy. One thing to keep in mind, three AAA batteries are also required to play the game, though not for keychain functionality.

But, of course, shove it down the front of your pants, and as Ash suggested, it's an excellent accessory for your Florian Eckhardt Halloween costume. Florian Eckhardt

Nostalgia Is Key To Attacking My Wallet [Toybane]

Back in the good ol' days of Atari, there wasn't a lot of story you could cram into a few kilobytes. To counter this, Atari teamed up with DC to distribute mini-comics along with Atari 2600 games. One was a long-running series of comics about a group of extraterrestrial super heros called Atari Force; Swordquest, a line distributed with Waterworld, Earthworld and Fireworld, Centipede and Yar's Revenge.

It's great trashy, marginally game related reading for a lazy Friday morning. The Yar's Revenge one has particularly striking, minimalist art to it. Centipede, on the other hand, is just plain creepy, about a small ugly elf child who likes to play with gigantic, nightmarish insects. Florian Eckhardt

Atari Comic Books [Atari Age]

Nothing like those homebrew devs who throw the whole hog over their shoulder. Simon Quernhorst has released a brand new Atari 2600 game called A-VCS-Tec Challenge. It's available not only in ROM form, but Quernhorst is producing a limited edition run of 55 cartridges to go along with it.

What's the game about? You play a half-naked man trying to run to a pyramid while dodging spears. It sounds a lot like some movie, the title of which I can't remember, in which some white guy runs across Africa, hunted like prey by Zulu warriors. Or something. Whatever. Florian Eckhardt

A-VCS-tec Challenge [Quernhorst.de]

Man, why do controllers have so many buttons? What kind of digital Briareus do you have to be to control two joysticks, four face buttons and four shoulder buttons at once? It's like these controllers have been designed specifically for the next stage in human evolution: the ten-fingered mutant...hey. *counts* Wait a second.

Anyway, the point is that Peter Moore thinks there's a significant portion of gamers who work at saw mills with lax safety standards. He points to his daughter, who wrestles with the controls in PGR3. These gamers, he argues, are confused by all the buttons and want a controller that sticks to the ergonomic ideals of the Atari 2600. And although Microsoft isn't ready to announce anything yet, they are exploring all options to simplify controllers for casual gamers... whether that's inspired by the Wii or a single joystick with a bright orange button in the middle. Florian Eckhardt

Moore hints at plans for new Xbox 360 controller [GamesIndustry]