Let the Frustratingly Unplayable Games Begin

Hello Internet Friends. Welcome to the Summer of Atari. Sounds exciting doesn't it? Well, kind of. Here's the story so far. I recently brought home an Atari 2600 and an assortment of games to help me pass the time between reading about Intergovernmental Relations and staring at my wall. Save for the sheer gaming joy brought about by a few recognizable, classic titles such as Pac-Man, Pitfall, and Qbert, my Atari-related excitement has quickly given way to frustration at my inability to figure out what in the fuck the point of most Atari games is. While discussing this matter with a friend, and trying to determine what E.T. falling into a series of holes has to do with the movie, the suggestion was made that I create this blog to chronicle my effort to play through all of the games that I either own or have borrowed from friends. My main objective with this blog is not to attempt to "beat" these games so much as it is to try to establish something of an understanding of their purpose. For example, in the case of E.T. as mentioned above, I feel compelled to know why this pixellated little alien must carry on in his world of interconnected holes and what he can do to escape this horrible fate and get back to hanging out with Drew Barrymore. I realize there is probably already some explanation of the purpose of this and all of my other games elsewhere on the webs. However, if I were to just read this information, I would be missing out on the countless hours of quality me-time that I will get to spend blowing into dusty old cartridges, swearing at my TV and then telling four people on the internet about it. Well, the summer is short and I've got about 40 or 50 games to get through (assuming they all still work), so I had better get started soon. Stay tuned for the first installment in this exciting series: 1982's Raiders of the Lost Ark. Coming in at the forefront of a grand tradition of horrible games based on films, it's sure to be a crowd pleaser. See you soon. (Also, I'm going to think of a catchy sign-off for the end of each entry. That's what blog peoples do, right? Yeah, I think they do. I'll do that later. )