Atari Zombie: Centipede NFT Raises $110,000 Overnight

There was a time when Atari was critical to the gaming sector's development when it was a company that produced fantastic products. It was the 1970s era. Atari's contemporary reincarnation has revealed, among several other things, a new Linux-based edition of the VCS system, an Ethereum-based crypto-casino, and the recently revealed Atari Token payments mechanism.

The latest incarnation of Atari has published a declaration promising a re-structuring of the firm into two segments: Atari Gaming and Atari Blockchain, indicating that the crypto aspect of affairs has the executives thrilled. The former will concentrate on the past collection, whilst the subsequent will be all about the crypto kid.

The sale of ten cryptographically verified NFTs, each depicting a 3D representation of an Atari 2600 Centipede cartridge, generated 47.582 ether (approximately 92,000 USD at the present rate) in Atari's inaugural NFT auctions, which ended Wednesday night on OpenSea. The lowest of the 10 NFTs was bought for 3.25 ether (about 6,300 USD), while the costliest (digitally marked “1 of 30” although only 10 have sold thus far) was purchased for a staggering 9.4395 ether (approximately 18,300 USD).

As per a spokesperson, a different batch of 100 NFTs depicting red Centipede cartridges was purchased for the equivalent of $180.78 apiece on the Harmony One marketplace, raising an extra 18,000 USD in only one and a half hours.

For comparison, a genuine, factory-sealed version of Centipede for the Atari 2600 could be bought on eBay in April for 52.99 USD, inclusive of shipping, and comes complete with packaging, manuals, and a mint-condition cartridge, which can be used to enjoy the game on actual hardware.

Each of the ten “cartridge” NFTs serves as a type of proof of validity for the core digital asset, with miners on the Ethereum blockchain confirming the token's possession and distinctiveness. Animoca Brands and NFT collectible firm Quidd collaborated to produce and sell the 3D models, with Quidd hosting the required data on their servers.

The Ethereum blockchain's NFT merely acts as a transferrable, verifiable, and possesses an able digital link to the server-hosted information. Quidd, on the other hand, claims that holders of its NFTs would be capable of storing their things in the future on the blockchain indefinitely. “Having a high-value corporeal trading card, say a Michael Jordan rookie card, and choosing to verify and rate it, ‘slab it' to safeguard it from harm, protect it with an insurance provider, and store it in a vault or other safe space”.

Atari's six-figure NFT jackpot is only the beginning of a larger Atari capsule series, which will commence by minting and selling off “limited edition” digital artifacts inspired by Centipede and Pong. There are 60 more Atari 2600 Centipede cartridge NFTs, as well as three NFTs portraying “the first quarter implanted into the first Pong arcade game at Andy Capp's Bar in 1972, centered on the real physical quarter possessed by Al Alcorn”

A 3D model of a Centipede arcade cabinet carrying co-creator Dona Bailey's digital signature will be packed with a “wonderfully repaired and operating genuine Centipede Coin-Op hardware console” for the victor of the inaugural bidding. If that were not enough to obliterate the border between tangible and digital collectibles, the game's possessor would be capable to access “a distinctive augmented reality experience” by simply waving a smartphone at the cabinet.