Atari to bring retro games onchain with Base

AtariX, the Web3 initiative of video game pioneer Atari, will introduce its iconic titles to the blockchain through a collaboration with Base, Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 scaling blockchain.

The collaboration commences with the classic arcade game Asteroids, a space-themed multidirectional shooter released in 1979. Players navigate a spaceship, aiming to shoot and destroy asteroids while evading them.

Preview of the classic game Asteroids. Source: AtariX

This initiative allows players to compete and ascend a global leaderboard, earning prizes such as a $1,000 Atari gift card.

Onchain Arcade with NFT Access Pass

Atari establishes an onchain arcade, enabling classic games to be played through Base. Users connect their wallets and mint a non-fungible token (NFT) access pass, which they utilize to play and record their scores on the blockchain.

Players can mint up to 1,000 NFT passes per wallet. However, the platform clarifies that owning multiple NFTs does not enhance their game scores. The access pass costs 0.0015 Ether (ETH) to mint (approximately $5).

Asteroids is readily available for free on various websites and retro game compilations. However, the fee on the AtariX platform grants players the opportunity to compete against others, potentially win Atari gift cards, and engage within its ecosystem of games.

Classic Games Embark on the Blockchain via Ordinals Protocol

This integration marks the second instance of games being introduced to the blockchain. On January 8, developers at the Bitcoin Ordinals portfolio tracker Ninjalerts inscribed the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) emulator on a satoshi. This allowed the community to play classic SNES games on the Bitcoin network.

On January 25, a pseudonymous developer known as Mini Doge replicated this feat on Dogecoin (DOGE) using the Dogecoin Ordinals protocol, "Doginals." The developer inscribed the iconic 1990s first-person shooter Doom onto the network, enabling users to play the classic game on their computers and mobile phones by accessing the Dogecoin blockchain.

On February 22, Ninjalerts inscribed a Nintendo 64 emulator onto the Bitcoin blockchain. Ninjalerts CEO Trevor Owens expressed that placing game emulators on Bitcoin is part of their mission to preserve critically endangered games. Owens asserts that there exists no platform superior to Bitcoin for immortalizing data.