Atari 2600 Tribute: Missile Command! Traditional Geocache
FrancisScottKey: I am regretfully archiving this cache since there's been no response from nor action by the cache owner within the time frame requested in the last reviewer note.
Regards,
FrancisScottKey
Volunteer Cache Reviewer
Atari 2600 Tribute: Missile Command!
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Size: 
(small)
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Please keep an eye out for muggles while attempting this cache. This cache series pays tribute to the home video gaming console released in October 1977; the Atari 2600! The cache hide may be familiar to geocachers however the container is indeed unique. Parking is not allowed at GZ; observe parking signs. Parking is available off of Henderson west of the cache. Once located, gently tug on the gold ring to release the cache’s contents. Reassemble the cache and replace as found.
In July of 1980, game developer Atari released the arcade game Missile Command. In 1981, Atari ported the popular arcade game to the Atari 2600. Per Wikipedia, Missile Command was one of the most popular and notable games of the golden age of arcade games.
The plot of Missile Command is simple: the player's six cities are being attacked by an endless hail of ballistic missiles, some of them even splitting like multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), and in later levels smart bombs which can evade a less than perfectly targeted missile. As a regional commander of three anti-missile batteries, the player must defend six cities in their zone from being destroyed.
Cool fact: When the game was originally designed, the six cities were meant to represent six cities in California: Eureka, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego. While programming Missile Command, the programmer, Dave Theurer, suffered from nightmares of these cities being destroyed by a nuclear blast.
The Atari 2600 is available for the PC. Stella (released for free under GNU Public License and available at http://stella.sourceforge.net/index.php) is one of the more popular (and stable) emulators out there. Atari 2600 games (including this one) are available legally for free from several websites including http://www.atariage.com.
I hope that you have enjoyed this piece of video gaming history and web resources should you decide to relive a memorable portion of your childhood.
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