The Bizarre Soda-Themed Atari Game That's Actually Extremely Rare
Avid gaming collectors go out of their way to procure the rarest consoles, games, and other memorabilia associated with the hobby.
One of the machines that's still being collected for is the Atari 2600, a system that's been entered into The Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame. According to IEEE Spectrum, the console sold decently enough after its launch in 1977. "But sales really soared in 1980, when the company began marketing a licensed version of the game Space Invaders, " the site noted. "Atari built on that success with the release the following year of two of its own titles, Asteroids and Missile Command.
There's a good selection of Atari 2600 titles that are super hard to find and also fetch a high price. Racket Boy listed some of those noteworthy games, which include Air Raid ($2,800 – $33,000), Birthday Mania ($6,500 – $16,000), and Red Sea Crossing ($10,400 – $14,000). In addition to those, the Atari 2600 was home to a rare Superman game. Another title that's considered among that group of valuable 2600 games is a Space Invaders reskin.
That game is the Atari-developed and The Coca-Cola Company-published Pepsi Invaders.
Pepsi Invaders is practically a reskin of the Atari 2600's Space Invaders
Pepsi Invaders was released back in 1983. And just like Space Invaders, players flew their ship around the bottom of the screen as they shot the enemy UFOs floating above them.
But this time around, the aliens were repurposed to appear as the letters P-E-P-S-I. And every time the game's mystery ship popped up onscreen, it would appear as the actual Pepsi logo. What made Pepsi Invaders a bit more interesting when compared to Space Invaders was its implementation of a time limit mechanic and unlimited lives. Retro Gamer noted that "the addition of a three minute time limit changes the game a little and adds a nice sense of panic I often wish upon Coke representatives[.]"
Price Charting listed Pepsi Invaders' asking prices and they're about as high as you'd expect for a hard-to-find game. A loose copy of the game can go for $670.45, while a complete boxed copy of the game can cost as high as $3,500.