Atari Oddities

The wacky Atari you don't know: Its digital photo booth, video phone, "Puppy Pong," and more.

Posted by  | Sunday, February 12, 2012


Atari Calculator
In 1987, a company called Hartech USA introduced a fully licensed line of desktop and pocket calculators styled with Atari design and branding. Seen here is a CC192 from my private collection, still unopened in its retail blister pack.

Two years later, Atari Corporation cancelled the license and announced plans to enter the calculator market directly. Those plans never came to fruition — likely because LCD calculators had become such a cheap commodity by the late 1980s.

(Photo: Benj Edwards)



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9 Comments For This Post

  1. JM_Brazil Says:

    Thanks for the nostalgia Benj, this brings back many fond memories.

  2. Martin Goldberg Says:

    A little off on the Tank console and joystick history there. It wasn't the Tank console first and then the VCS/2600 and the sticks weren't chosen for one over the other. They were in development simultaneous. In fact the Tank console (called Tank II in the Atari version), the last of the dedicated consoles, was there simply in case something went wrong with the VCS. It didn't and the Tank console was cancelled accordingly. Additionally, the sticks used in this and the VCS were not CX-40's, they are the spring loaded CX-10's.

  3. Benj Edwards Says:

    I had a feeling I'd hear from you on this one, Marty. Thanks for clarifying that murky bit of Atari history for us.

  4. Martin Goldberg Says:

    Benj, not a problem. Great article otherwise!

  5. Mem Says:

    Wasn't that F-1 game in Dawn of the Dead?

  6. Guest Says:

    I actually owned a Hercules pinball game. It was easily the heaviest piece of electronics I have ever purchased for home use. It cost $500 from a Denver arcade refurbishing shop and came with free shipping back in 1993. Never broke down once in the 2 years I owned it but don't recommend putting this in the basement. Gave it away rather than trying to move it to my new house. Still, it was a lot of fun.

  7. Puffers Rabbinald Says:

    Just as a comment, the guy who eventually created programming to supercede scrolling as approximated in F-1 was Steve Hanawa, who worked as head of R & D for Sega of America during the Master System's initial launch. The game he did this in, which revolutionized racing games forever, was Turbo.

  8. Daniel B. Says:

    "Puppy Pong" did in fact get some kind of national exposure — it was a one-bid prize on a nighttime (Dennis James) episode of "The Price Is Right" during the 1974-75 season. Janice Pennington and Anita Ford were shown playing it.

  9. Daniel B. Says:

    AnitRa Ford, sorry. Also, here's the segment where Puppy Pong was offered (audio only, sorry):
    http://j-shea.com/TPIR/nighttime/750715b.mov