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Hasbro Inc. has announced that it has acquired the rights to an array of popular Atari video games of the early 1980s for reissue in updated formats. Centipede will be the first title to be brought back in an updated format. The tentative title is Centipede 3-D, and the bug blastin' shooter is expected to be released this fall. Missile Command and Pong will follow shortly thereafter. As was the case with Frogger, Hasbro's first foray into classic gaming revitalization, it's expected that Centipede will be jazzed-up with fancy three-dimensional graphics and other enhancements. Whether the additions will enhance or detract from the gameplay that made Centipede fun remains to be seen, however. The total number of games (and their rights and patents) is more than 75, with some of the more notable titles being Breakout, Combat and Tempest. The acquisition comes at a time when Hasbro and other companies have been enjoying tremendous success with re-issuing and updating classic games from yesteryear. It is reported that Frogger for the Playstation and PC CD-ROM has sold over 900,000 copies since it was released last Christmas, with a sales reaching a million considered a major success in the gaming industry.
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