In the early 1980s, video game consoles were experiencing a tremendous boom, with American company Atari at its forefront. So much so that when the bubble burst, some dubbed the video game crash ‘the Atari shock’.

This 1981 advertisement for the Atari Video Computer System shows the company at a point where gaming consoles were becoming increasingly sophisticated. Viewers can see the seeds of modern video gaming: the ad prioritises a sense of immersion, the novelty of an interactive television screen, and genre variety in games.

The ad was created by Futuretronics, an Australian distribution company wanting to reach a local audience. A notable feature is the focus on a whole family gathered around the console, emphasising the communal nature of new tech.