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Atari's first -- and last -- venture into handheld gaming might not have been commercially successful, but it was most certainly a special time in gaming. With hardware designed by the engineers of the Amiga, and a first party lineup from legendary Commodore-era developer Epyx, the Lynx would prove to be the beginning and end of a new age for Atari. The Lynx was slinging around 16-bit pseudo-3D while Nintendo's green-and-purple screens struggled to replicate NES games. It might have been the unique hardware design with unlimited sprite-pushing and hardware scaling, or simply the way it was so dominated by a strong first party line-up, but it's hard to ignore the cult appeal of Atari's handheld wonder.

The Atari 2600 was not without software. The first mainstream videogame console sold over 30 million units on the strength of both its newness and the breadth of its game library, which numbered in the hundreds... as in, several hundreds. But the rush to publish games for the Atari 2600 was also the system's greatest weakness, as consumer confidence in the Atari 2600 -- and the entire industry -- was severely damaged by scores of high-profile bad games.

The RetroGaming 101 series is aimed at gamers who are just starting out in the classic gaming scene or are curious about an older console that they don't know much about yet. Those of you that are especially knowledgeable about the featured machine, I encourage you to add any information that you think would be beneficial into the comments section. If you are new to the featured console, and still have questions, you can also use the comments section and I will do my best to help you out.

The vintage Commodore 64 personal computer is getting a makeover, with a new design and some of the latest computing technologies, as the brand gets primed for a comeback.

The Atari 5200 is, dare I say it, Atari's answer to Intellivision, Colecovision and the Astrocade. Why a new game system when Atari already had the 400 and 800 computer systems with far more power, memory, picture resolution and overall capability than any dedicated game unit? Well, reasoned the powers that be at Atari, "the game playing world just isn't ready for a real computer."

All of us who have grown up in the 90's remember the SNES console. It is a classic second generation Nintendo game surpasses the expectations of NES. While we are introduced to additional buttons the feel of the games seem to be more complex with new dimensions being in introduced. This additional dimension gave way for some of the most excellent RPG games.

When Nintendo announced the Super Nintendo we all asked why? The NES was still king. Did we really want to spend money on a new system that would play basically the same games with slightly better graphics? And the first games released on the Super NES proved that point. A slightly more colorful version of "Super Mario" offered the same game play as it's original.

As a new decade is just around the corner and this decade comes to a close, I feel that it is only right to look back on the top ten video games that have shaped the gaming world in the past ten years.

Like every other form of electronic media, most video games are popular for a time and then fade away into disuse. The exact reason this occurs is different for every video game, but is usually a combination of new competing video games, advances in graphics, and low replay value. While quality video games will often spur the creation of a sequel, many times with few differences from its predecessor, few games actually last the test of time. For a very small number of games, despite improvements in video game technology, the quality of the game and more importantly, the replay value of the game, is so great that the game continues to flourish years and even decades after it is first published. The following games are the best ten games ever with high replay value.

If you lived during the 80's you probably know that the Commodore 64 was a popular computer/video game console that dominated the market, outselling IBM clones, Apple, and Atari--yes, Atari at one time made computers. The vast majority of Commodore 64s have since gone the way of all old technology and are collecting dust in basements, adorning landfills, or sitting next to that Betamax video recorder in the homes of those who say, "I'm not buying something new until they improve on what I already have."

Even with such a large influx of new games and systems out there, it is hard for me not to think of all my most favorite games from time to time. This will make me sound like an old fuddyduddy, but they just don't make 'em like they used to. Here is a list, in no particular order, of golden games I wish I could play through again.

One of the greatest old school video game consoles to ever be created was the famous Nintendo 64 console. This console was created as a "one step above" console to topple its Sony Playstation rival. It didn't necessarily topple it, but it did make some amazing games that really pioneered its respective genre to a whole new level. Here are some of the games that really made the Nintendo 64 truly what it is, an awesome video game console that really turned video games to a better direction in development.

This was Nintendo's last attempt to compete against the disk drive platforms with a cartridge platform. If Super Nintendo was only slightly better than the original NES then the N64 was light years ahead. entire 3D worlds could be rendered. Another part of the systems success was the expansion pak, a brand new more advanced processor that could be installed into the game to allow you to play more advanced games. Had the system lasted longer they may have introduced a second more advanced expansion pak. So what were it's five best games?

Introduced at the beginning of the 1980s, the Mattel Intellivision was very popular in the early part of that decade. While never surpassing the Atari 2600 in terms of popularity, Mattel's console attracted quite a loyal following that holds the Intellivision in high regard to this very day. It is also the one console to receive the most continued support from its original developers. Today, Intellivision Productions owns the rights to the original games and continues to support the Intellivision community with emulators and "new" releases.

I was randomly thinking about what my favorite games are, and so then I thought, why not share it and maybe someone else will end up finding a new game to add to their favorites list.

The vintage Commodore 64 personal computer is getting a makeover, with a new design and some of the latest computing technologies, as the brand gets primed for a comeback.

The RetroGaming 101 series is aimed at gamers who are just starting out in the classic gaming scene or are curious about an older console that they don't know much about yet. Those of you that are especially knowledgeable about the featured console, I encourage you to add any information that you think would be beneficial into the comments section. If you are new to the featured console, and still have questions, you can also use the comments section and I will do my best to help you out.

Well, heh heh, this site truely has grown since I first uploaded it those many months ago. It's success has gone far beyond my expectations, and I've had the pleasure of knowing that many top game making sites use it as a valuable resource. Anyways, I've slightly redone the design, and added a few new makers; I hope you enjoy.

Long before there was a Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii, there was the Magnavox Odyssey, the world's first home videogame console. But the story of videogames predates the Odyssey by six years. It begins in 1966 when a television engineer named Ralph H. Baer sat down at a New York bus station and entered history.

Throughout the history of video games, there have been many titles that did not make the transition from one region of the world to another. The games that have been translated have often been transmuted from their original form before ever reaching their new markets.