It may sound silly, but Atari 2600 may be the next big thing. Sure the graphics are dated, but all things have revival potential. As we see from retro haircuts, jeans and shoes that flow back into popular culture, cool is a state of mind. At the same time, let me use a real-world analogy on the opposite side of the opinion stream. I live near Colonial Williamsburg, where you can watch butter churning and old-timey folks living like folks did 400 years ago. You may think it's corny, but it looks authentic. With authenticity as your yardstick, Activision Hits Remixed will rank quite high. It's a dead-on representation of the games that some of us played back in the day. There may be some optimization for certain parts of the interface, but the game content is raw 80's. At the same time, marveling at authentic material isn't always sustainable. Especially when you get into the re-enactment business, you have to think about replay value.

And what would an 80's revival be without some theme music? You'll find there isn't enough music on rotation to keep things from getting a little repetitive, but the logic is probably that you won't be logging ten hour sessions on these games. Even so, it would have been nice to have more music on tap. The sounds in the games are authentic, as much as bleeps and bloops can be. You'll laugh at some of what passed for music back in the day. We definitely had some themes from these games burned into our brains, which is amazing considering that the developers of cell ring-tones today have a far greater toolbox of tones and timbres.

I remember going over to someone's house in grade school and seeing an Atari system for the first time. We had a Magnavox system, which was not exactly playing in the same realm. We never actually had Atari, so I ended up playing most of these games on a Commodore-64 or at a sleep-over. Activision Hits Remixed is a big compilation with a few games that barely made it off the cutting room floor; almost nobody played those babies! If you are an Atari fan, there is a lot to love in Activision Hits Remixed. Over 40 titles are here; classics like the Pitfall games share space with obscure or downright extinct titles. One of the favorites that I found on this compilation is Barnstorming, a game so simple that it would probably fit on a cell phone today. To think we oo'd and ah'd over these in the old days, but it was two decades ago. The variety of games and the creative approach that developers took with the Atari system highlights how much we need more fresh ideas in gaming today. I'm not suggesting that these games will win converts and spark some huge landslide of retro gaming. They really are just historical documents at this point - getting to play them is a thrilling experience, but then reality hits. A game like Barnstorming isn't hiding secret levels or days of gameplay under its hood. It is what it is. Almost every game here has that quality, which betrays the philosophy at the time about gaming as a brief pleasure rather than some epic, lifestyle centerpiece.

The greatest addition to this compilation comes from multiplayer options that allow for an opponent to share a wireless connection via game sharing or with another copy of the game in true multiplayer fashion. To do this wirelessly is what pushes Activision Hits Remixed over the line between "antique curiosity" and "retro pleasure." Because whatever else you remember about the Atari 2600, the two-player games and competition were a huge part of the fun. Single-player adventures or player swapping games are here, but the ad-hoc multiplayer makes this a game that even Atari neophytes should check out.

Just because games like Pitfall or Laser Blast are simple doesn't mean they're easy. Go and Chess are pretty easy games to learn, but they can take a lifetime to master. Don't quote me saying that Barnstorming takes a lifetime to master, but you know what I mean. Oh, you don't? Well, let me just say that for anyone who spouts anything about modern games being too hard, I challenge you to work through some of these old classics. The mechanics are easy, but the A.I. is unforgiving. Shields, partial damage? Not likely. In almost every case, you get one chance to time your jump or shot right and if you blow it, you have to start over. Some games actually have waypoints, but in most you'll just have to go back to the beginning and do it over again. This may frustrate some gamers who come in thinking these are casual games. These are not casual games. These were the progenitors of games that we see now as epic titles, and the creators of many Atari 2600 titles were making the absolute most out of the hardware they had at the time. There are some ways to modify the games and either make them harder or easier, but you'll mostly have to muddle through with reflexes turned soft on too many power-ups, shields and life meters. Much like what they tell you in Colonial Williamsburg, life was tougher in the old days.

There are some nice options available in Activision Hits Remixed that don't involve actual gameplay. The supporting material really makes the compilation feel like a historical document. You get game manuals and photo or video promotions from the early days of Atari and Activision. Tips and tricks are documented for each game (if available) and the history of each game is interesting for those of us who just played them at the time and never thought about where they came from. The interface is a cool, "game room" concept and gives a retro feel with a modern twist. The content mentioned above is not all open at first. Devoting some time to playing each game will unlock special items and this becomes the "game within a game" that adds replay value. When you select a game, you see a condensed screen that allows you to change and tweak options that suit your preferences or ability. The screen can be modified in size with the touch of a button and the gameplay mechanics are always no more than a button or two to perform all the actions in each game.

Like anything "old that's new again" there will be people who get very excited and have nostalgic connections and people who just don't get it. I'm probably somewhere in between, so I'll say that I had a good time playing these games but found them shelf material too quickly. Let's face it, even for those of us who were around at the time, gaming has grown up to be pretty damn good. The games of yesterday remind me of the good times at home or with friends. There is no question that within this compilation are the seeds of our modern home console industry. If you come looking for some revelation in Activision Hits Remixed, you won't find it. If you are looking for the video game equivalent of watching Pretty in Pink with some old friends, you will have a perfect experience.