Just thinking about Atari brings up nostalgic feelings for many. Now imagine if you could totally immerse yourself in the world of Atari.

Sure, you could dust off your own console and fire up a game, or play one of the classic titles on your phone. But those of you who want to live and breathe all things Atari may yearn for something more, well, tangible. Perhaps a full-on, Atari-branded hotel will suffice?

Atari, which has long licensed its brand name through several partnerships, has inked a new deal that will see eight Atari-branded hotels be built. The company announced a licensing agreement with US real estate developer True North Studio and GSD group to build hotels in Austin, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle. Construction will kick off this summer.

Atari will receive 5 per cent of hotel revenue. It's describing the new hotels "video game-themed" destinations complete with VR and AR playgrounds for families and business travelers. It sounds like some of the hotels will be equipped with halls specifically for e-sports events, though they'll also have the usual amenities like meeting rooms, restaurants, and bars. Some will even house theatres.

Atari-branded hotels for nostalgic gamers are coming to the US image 2
Atari

If this whole project is making you think about the Atari VCS, check out our guide on that upcoming retro console. It first went on sale via a hugely successful IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign. That is now closed, however, so pre-orders are being accepted through GameStop and Walmart in the US, plus the Atari VCS webpage itself. The retail price of the Atari VCS 800 is $390.

The official Atari VCS website says "early 2020" for a ship date, although the Walmart listing says 20 March 2020. Keep in mind it was originally meant to launch in 2019, so we can't help but wonder if Atari's new hotels will also suffer from repeated setbacks and delays.