Atari pretty much spawned the video game industry, and the average game wasn't more than squares on a screen. Squares. Your game character is one giant pixel.
It was all about the gameplay, not the graphics, and sold millions.
For Atari, most of the games were written by one person, which leads to lots of potential creativity. Also, there weren't as many established games to copy.
For an AAA game, it's a big budget. To minimize risks, you have to make a game that's similar to one that already was a bestseller.
For awhile, when games were distributed in stores, the only games WERE the AAA games.
Now, with Internet distribution and better tools, it's possible for one person to make a game again.
If you work on an AAA game, you're probably working on some tiny piece of the game, and it's going to be boring like any CRUD software webdev job. However, game developers tend to work longer hours for a lower rate per hour, because games are "cool".
If you work on an indie game, you have more opportunity for creativity. But, if the game doesn't sell, you risk having no income.
If you're looking for games like the old Atari games, it's better to look at small indie games, rather than big budget AAA games.
At the time, those squares were an impressive technical achievement. Many cartridges were sold because the graphics and sound capabilities produced a new experience for many people. (I was, like, five years old at the time, so pretty much everything was a new experience for me.)
Atari pretty much spawned the video game industry, and the average game wasn't more than squares on a screen. Squares. Your game character is one giant pixel.
It was all about the gameplay, not the graphics, and sold millions.