While the brand has fallen by the wayside in recent years, Atari will always hold a special place in the hearts of gamers of a certain age. A new iOS game download called Atari’s Greatest Hits is bound to appeal to them and to many others with an eye towards videogame history.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]Atari’s Greatest Hits is a free download that comes with the classic game Pong, and for 99 cents more, you can download one of 25 separate game “packs” that include classic Atari coin-op arcade games and games originally designed for the Atari 2600 home game console – one of the first popular home consoles. If you want to buy them all in one fell swoop (18 arcade games, 92 Atari 2600 games) you can get them discounted for $14.99, all managed through in-app purchases.

Many of the games include Bluetooth-based multiplayer support, and Atari has also scanned original cabinet and box art to add an authentic look.

What’s more, these games will work with the iCade – one of the oddest (and neatest) peripherals we’ve ever seen for the iPad.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year, Ion Audio revealed plans to build the iCade, a $99 desktop arcade cabinet for the iPad, complete with joystick and buttons. Originally conceived of as an April Fool’s Day 2010 prank by ThinkGeek.com, Ion Audio decided to actually build it, and has partnered with Atari.