Atari Party is a free annual(-ish) event in Davis that brings together fans of classic Atari video game and computer systems (from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s). It's open to the public, and all ages are welcome. Volunteers bring systems and games from their personal collection, and set them up for attendees to play.

2016's Atari Party will take place on Saturday, July 30th! at the Davis public library, 12pm-5pm. No movie screening this time around, but there will be a ton of give-away prizes, and, of course, tons of games!

What to expect at 2016's show:

  • Home game systems:
    • Atari 2600 (and the recent re-make, the Atari Flashback 2)
    • Atari 5200
    • Atari 7800
    • Atari Jaguar
    • Nintendo NES (running Atari & Atari Games arcade ports)
    • Sega Genesis (running Atari Games arcade ports)
    • Sony PlayStation (running Atari arcade games and Atari 2600 games)
    • Sony PlayStation 2 (running Atari & Atari Games arcade ports and Atari 2600 games)
  • Dedicated home consoles:
    • Atari Video Music
    • Atari Super Pong
    • Atari Touch Me
    • Atari Stunt Cycle
  • Handheld game systems:
    • Atari Lynx
    • Nintendo Gameboy Advance (running Atari arcade games)
  • Computer systems:
    • Atari 8-bit
    • Apple II
    • Atari ST/TT/Falcon (16-bit)
    • Atari Portfolio (palmtop)
    • RaspberryPi (running Atari emulators)
  • Arcade games:
    • Centipede
    • Blasteroids (maybe)

Notable games you might have heard of: Pitfall!, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Tempest 2000, Star Raiders, Pong, Combat, Asteroids, Centipede, Breakout, Galaxian, Missile Command and Warlords.

History

In late 2008 Bill Kendrick, local Atari nerd and recent ex-mobile-video-game developer, decided to invite friends over to enjoy some of his various Atari video game systems. Interest among his friends and acquaintances was high, and what was to be a small event in his living-room turned into a full-fledged public event.

Past Events

  • The first event was held in March 2009 (around the time of the Game Developers Conference in the SF Bay Area). He and a handful of friends brought a dozen games systems and computers and set them up for 3 hours at the Public Library in Davis. About 80-100 people showed up, and that week's Enterprise newspaper had an article and some photos. Photos from 2009
  • The second event took place again in March 2010 at the Redwood Park Community Building on Anderson Road. It ran 8 hours, and over 30 game systems were set up, with over 500 games. It also included two film screenings (the documentary film Once Upon Atari and Disney's classic part-computer-generated, part-live-action, part-animated film Tron) and a free prize give-away. Prior to the event, SNR mentioned event and said "Don't Miss It!" Photos from 2010
  • The third event took place in June 2011, again at the Public Library. Two movies were screened ("Once Upon Atari" and "Cloak and Dagger"), and more prizes were given away in a drawing. Photos from 2011
  • The fourth event in Davis took place in July 2013, again at the library. Photos from 2013.
  • The fifth event in Davis was in May 2015 (aka, the organizer's 40th birthday party), Photos from 2015.

In 2012 and 2014, the event was held in Sunnyvale.

Future Events

Saturday, July 30th, 2016, 12pm-5pm

Yolo County Public Library
Mary L Stephens Davis Branch
315 East 14th Street
(Davis Blanchard Meeting Room)
Davis, CA 95616

http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/atariparty/2016/

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2013-01-11 14:21:21   I won an amazing Atari 800 rig in the raffle at the 2011 event. I haven't done much with it yet, but there's still time. —gcoville

2013-05-09 22:41:34   Gilber, I highly recommend an SIO2SD, SIO2PC, SIO2USB, or SIDE device, to modernize your 800's storage media (SD card, your PC/laptop, various USB storage devices, and CF card, respectively). :) —BillKendrick

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