CATS AND DOGS LIVING TOGETHER: Atari just resurrected its most potent foe in the console wars from 45 years ago, the Intellivision Spirit — $149 console comes with 45 games, was brought into the Atari fold through IP acquisition last year.

Atari’s promotional video, above, reminds viewers about “the First Console War,” back in the 1980s. More usefully, the video highlights the different strengths of each system. I remember the Mattel Intellivision was definitely more desirable for advanced graphics and sound when it came out, but it was newer, and more expensive… Now, in 2025, the Atari vs Mattel ‘war’ has been over for a long time, and the two rival systems are ‘friends,’ according to the promo video.

No word yet if Atari will be programming an AI George Plimpton to promote their new box, along the lines of Mattel’s original ads in the early 1980s: