Atari revives Star Raiders

Decades-old shoot 'em up Star Raiders is set to get a modern makeover, publisher Atari has announced.

A handful of grey-haired gamers might remember the original first-person space shooter, which launched on the Atari 2600 in 1979. Yes, they made videogames back then.

The remake is being handled by Incinerator Studios, whose credits include Disney tie-in Cars.

Incinerator president Joel Goodman told Gamespot, "It isn't often that a developer gets to work with a genre-defining intellectual property, and Star Raiders is just that. Great games such as X-Wing and Wing Commander were influenced by this Atari classic.

"The original game had great tension when you warped into a sector not knowing what you would be facing, and at times you were immediately thrown into combat. Having to manage the flow of the game from the Galactic Map was a very unique and exciting experience."

Atari senior producer Jonathan Moses went on to say that this isn't the only retro update the publisher has in the pipeline.

"You're going to be seeing more of this from Atari in the near future. Along with some exciting new IP that we're working with, we're not ignoring our history. We're bringing back some of the classics in a way that makes them relevant now."

"It's an exciting time for Atari," he added.

A release date for Star Raiders has not yet been confirmed, but you'll be able to play it on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.