HOOKED ON ATARI

A Youtuber’s foray into picking up historical consoles and games

This month’s collector is Youtuber Rees Stephenson, an Atari fan with a difference. “My first gaming experience was on an Atari 2600 Jr that my cousin got one Christmas,” begins 38-year-old Rees from the Midlands. “I begged my parents for ‘an Atari’ after that, but they weren’t keen on games consoles and wanted a computer that I could also use for homework.” Not to worry; Rees was soon in possession of the Atari STE Discover Xtra pack. “Some of those pack games have stayed with me – Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters, Final Fight and Sim City. I also remember spending months exploring the original Monkey Island.”

Narrowly missing out a special mention is Rees’ collection of ST Format magazines. “My dad would regularly pick [it] up from the newsagents,” he explains. “And through it I discovered games like Revenge Of The Mutant Camels, Fire & Ice and Endurance, which was a full-blown first-person virtual reality game. The irreverent writing style also shaped my sense of humour for years to come.” Rees’ complete collection of ST Format mags, complete with cover disks, in binders and safely ensconced in binders is truly an enviable sight.

Also approaching completion is Rees’ set of Atari Jaguar games. “ST Format hyped [the Jaguar] up when I was a kid, and I thought it was the best thing ever,” he remembers. “Of course, as with Atari at the time, a lack of funding and poor developer relations led to its downfall – but it does have some nice exclusives as well as some very strong ports.”

Strangely, despite all this Atari love, Rees’ favourite game of all time is renowned chiefly on another platform. “My dad used to bring his full desktop Amstrad 286 home at weekends to work on his sales reports. I was blown away by Wolfenstein 3D and when we eventually got a 486, it came with the shareware episode of Doom.” Like many a young gamer in the Nineties, Rees was hypnotised by id’s classic FPS. “There’s just something about it – the tightly-focused gameplay, the sounds, music, level and enemy designs. It’s the complete package and I can’t fault it.” As you can see, Rees has a number of rare and lovingly cared-for items in his collection. Having begun a Youtube channel in 2019, initially documenting hardware repairs and upgrades, today it features game reviews and tours of his impressive collection. “It’s grown quickly with over 7,000 subscribers,” he says very proudly.

But whatever is on show on his channel, it’ll always be Atari for this retro fan. “Atari is one of those iconic brands, and it arguably invented gaming as an industry,” he smiles. “I find the whole history of the company, from its meteoric rise to its downfall in the mid-nineties to be absolutely fascinating.” Whatever your opinion of the famous company, one thing is for sure: it’s been a roller-coaster ride for Atari fans.