Arcade rooms have become a rarity, and Atari does nothing but exploit the “nostalgia factor” to boost its revenue these days. However, there was a time when the two made an unstoppable force, letting us dream of spectacular venues, extravagant color palettes, and cabinets inspired by spaceships. Some of the arcade machines we're about to see did make it to arcade floors around the world, but the rest are the product of an idealized, never-realized future in which Atari imagined itself as the eternal emperor of the arcade…
… and why not? Atari was on top of the world in the late '70s and early '80s. Lunar Lander and Asteroids appeared in '79. Missile Command swept everything in mid-1980. Battlezone debuted a couple of months later. Centipede in 1981, the licenses of Dig Dug and Pole Position in '82, the official Star Wars game in May 1983… let's say there were plenty of reasons. Several artists poured their talent into visualizing this “Atari of the Future” with entire dedicated rooms and special cabinet designs. Thanks to the magic of the Web, we can now appreciate those works. Some of their ideas were brilliant.
