Atari remakes gaming classics in HTML5 for browsers and Windows 8

Atari has decided that it's time to give some of its classic games a fresh coat paint, launching the new Atari Arcade. Eight of Atari's classic games have been updated using HTML5 and are playable in your browser for free. That's not the end of it though, as Atari has also teamed up with Microsoft to bring these games to Windows 8 tablets.

Though these games can be played in your browser, it seems that Atari is attempting to make the Windows 8 version of Atari Arcade really stick out. The arcade was built with Internet Explorer 10's touch-based interface in mind, and the legendary Nolan Bushnell says that Microsoft was a "natural partner" for a project like this. While the announcement of these remakes is cool enough, there's even more: developers can make games for Atari Arcade, and can earn money by displaying ads in their games or by offering in-game purchases.

It's definitely nice to see classic Atari games Combat, Pong, and Asteroids get updated visuals, but the idea of another developer-friendly platform is even more exciting. Naturally, since Atari Arcade just launched, there aren't any indie dev-made games available yet, but hopefully those are coming soon. The brains behind this project have come together to give users a behind-the-scenes look at Atari Arcade, which you can check out below.

In all, there are 8 games that can be played in the Atari Arcade right this very minute: Pong, Asteroids, Yar's Revenge, Combat, Missle Command, Lunar Lander, Centipede, and Super Breakout. With Windows 8 just around the corner and a slew of new Windows 8 tablets announced at IFA 2012 this week, expect to hear more about Atari Arcade soon. In the meantime, you can always head over to the Arcade and play these games in your browser. Stay tuned.