GAMING

IF YOU WERE a kid in the late 1970s, an Atari 2600 under the Christmas tree sparked a kind of euphoria normally reserved for kissing your crush or seeing your team win the championship. Unlike earlier home video consoles—those limited to monotonously batting a light blip back and forth across the TV screen—Atari took cartridges, each with a different game and what seemed like infinite possibilities.

Despite the huge progress in video game systems over the years, many Gen Xers have never forgotten the simple joy of pressing a “cart” into the old Atari and seeing its blocky graphics fire up.

This year, the console is being re-released in a new unit called the Atari 2600+. It plays any old Atari cartridges you may have hung on to, plus new ones the company is publishing. And the unit connects to modern high-definition TVs.

“The people who are going to buy it right away are exactly our crowd,” says Ryan Burger, publisher of Old School Gamer Magazine, “people who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s who want to go back to the day.”

You can find old Atari cartridges at some used-game shops as well as thrift stores and garage sales. And with this new-old console, the company envisions a repeat of that holiday euphoria—with a generational twist. “I guarantee you there are going to be households like my dad and me, where we’ve bought each other the same thing,” says Atari spokesperson David Lowey. “Because he wants me to experience what he grew up with, and I knew he grew up with it, so I want to buy it for him.” —Jim Lenahan

RELATIONSHIPS

Goodnight, Sweetheart

14 percent of Gen Xers surveyed say they “consistently” sleep in a separate room from their partner because of differing sleep needs. In addition, 29 percent go to bed earlier or later than they would like to in order to accommodate a partner.

SOURCE: ONLINE SURVEY BY THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF SLEEP MEDICINE

IS YOUR CHILD NO LONGER COVERED?

Hand them this story when they shop for their own health insurance

MOST STATES allow kids to stay on their parents’ health coverage until age 26. Yet even before that age, many young adults go without. Nearly half of American 19- to 34-year-olds skipped coverage in 2022, according to the Commonwealth Fund. That’s often because they assume health insurance is unaffordable, says Laura Adams, spokesperson for personal finance site Finder.com. But there are affordable plans out there. In case your child is uninsured, or about to be, we’ve tracked down some advice.

• Learn the lingo. Before shopping, your child should “understand the concepts of deductible, premium, copay, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum,” counsels Kim Buckey, vice president of client services at Optavise.

• Research options early. Most parental coverage ends during or shortly after the month of a child’s 26th birthday. Start comparing options and discounts several months ahead of time.

• Check job coverage. Typically, employer-based coverage, if available, is best. Confirm that it covers needed services such as reproductive health care.

• Shop the federal marketplace. Check the Exchange (healthcare.gov) for tiered Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans. Many young workers qualify for subsidies.

• Explore alternatives. Full-time students should check rates for any insurance offered by their institution. As for just buying a policy directly from a private health insurer: It’s important to scrutinize what they’re actually covering at different prices. Make sure any plan your child is considering complies with the ACA or they may end up with very limited coverage. —Joanna Nesbit