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Atari, Inc. was founded by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in 1972. Its first major product was Pong, released in 1972, the first successful coin-operated video game. While Atari continued to develop new arcade...
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14 Nov 2025

Getting Older? Slow Down Your Favorite Atari 2600 Game!

Getting Older? Slow Down Your Favorite Atari 2600 Game!

Author: OC Host  /  Categories: Atari 2600, 2600  /  Rate this article:
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Well, it's been a few years (50+) since I played on a real Atari 2600 game console. So I've been using emulators ever since they were released. The most popular (and with the most features) is Stella. It provides a perfect emulation experience while allow you to adjust a wide variety of features. You can run games on Windows, Linux and other platforms. It will work different TV types, attach different controllers, etc. But most importantly, for the purpose of this video, Stella allows you to change the speed of emulation.

Back in the day, I was considered a pretty good gamer. Good enough to irritate most of my friends as I beat most of them. But now, as with many things, I've slowed down a bit. Slow enough that my favorite games have become my worst nightmare. I have slowly declined to where my best 2600 games have become my adversary rather than a fun time to enjoy. Enter STELLA! By making a single adjustment, Stella will slow its emulation so you, if you are ancient like me, you can respond in time and save the day! Don't be mistaken, the game doesn't make your ship or gun or whatever faster against its adversaries. But it does give you time to see what's happening on screen and react to it. For example, if you see your ship being shot at, you can't move it away any faster than the projectiles coming at it. But does give your slow, ancient brain time to react to the threat by either dodging an attack or launching your own in time. So, take a look. Here's Defender and the two ways to adjust your Stella emulator to fit your capabilities. You'll find out, instead of being frustrated, you'll enjoy those games just as much as you once did!

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