ColecoVision Flashback 2 Wish List Ideas

[Bill Loguidice]

Come on, Bill, the entire business of the "Flashback" is built around nostalgia and appeals to a generation that fondly remembers it and attracts them to buy it. Most kids today have not even heard of it and if they did it was because their parents have one or they read about it somewhere and might find it to be something of a historical "curiosity" at best. I get what you are saying from a business and marketing perspective but the truth is those who are buying these "Flashbacks" are going to be in the majority Gen-Xers and Babyboomers looking to rekindle that thrill of their youth. AtGames should know their audience and what "they" want to see included in the FB if they want to attract their support of any future consoles. Our feedback should be considered invaluable to them in determining what it should or should not have.

 

Yes, our feedback is considered invaluable to them. I can tell you that from first-hand experience working for them that they listen and consider quite a few things to make their products "better," whatever form that may take. However, what WE want (or may deem "logical") may not be doable for very practical reasons, like the ones I stated previously, including cost, bang for the buck, licensing, etc.

 

You're also confusing who their target market is. Again, it's ultimately not us. If they get us and we can say nice, rather than negative things about their products (our community is nothing if not spectacularly picky), that's a bonus. What they're targeting are the "average" individuals who may have a vague recollection of a system and specific games (it's always a big discussion about what games to feature on the box, for instance), but zero active interest in it presently. If they see it in the store, they'll see something like ColecoVision/Atari/Intellivision/Sega/Sonic/Mortal Kombat, etc., on the box and trigger a "hey, I remember that!" response, then they see that it's only $40 to relive some of that childhood fun, and bam, you have a sale. Their first thought is not something like "does it have a cartridge slot." There's a reason why these systems pack in so many games, i.e., so they're a complete (self contained) and final purchase. If next year's model offers more or different games, hopefully that translates into another impulse buy at the impulse price of $40.

 

Anyway, I can't state it any clearer that that's where the vast majority of sales come from. As much as we'd like to think we should matter most, we really don't and can't. We're better served by the homebrew community that can sell maybe a few hundred copies of a game cartridge (if lucky), because then we get exactly what we're after as particularly well informed and discriminating consumers in this area.

[Tron Unit]

Well then it's sad that they're only in it to make a quick buck. If the CV FB2 comes out and has like 10 more games and nothing else, they sure won't be getting my money and that's really a shame when they pass on an opportunity like this to get the support of Colecovision fans who would continue to support the product if they just took it a step further.

[Bill Loguidice]

Well then it's sad that they're only in it to make a quick buck. If the CV FB2 comes out and has like 10 more games and nothing else, they sure won't be getting my money and that's really a shame when they pass on an opportunity like this to get the support of Colecovision fans who would continue to support the product if they just took it a step further.

 

I don't know about a "quick buck," but yes, they're a company and are in it to make money like any other. Surely they'd like your money too, but if they lost you and people like you, it almost certainly wouldn't be noticeable sales-wise. It's not a slight, just reality. You simply have to look at how the Atari Flashback evolved (we're up to the Atari Flashback 6) - or didn't - to see the logical path for future Flashbacks. Every few revisions you do get improvements to the hardware, but the usual "improvement" is just a different mix of games.

 

Again, as a superfan of something you can't expect your needs to be met by a mass market product. That's what homebrew efforts that can target products to a dozen to a few hundred very interested individuals are for.

[Tron Unit]

Which begs the question, why do you need to have 6 iterations of the Atari 2600 FB? Who wants to have all of those units taking up space just to get all of the functionality of ONE original 2600? That's the evils of marketing. Give them a little bit more with each "upgrade." It's no different than Apple or any other corporation. Keep the consumer strung along and backfiries when they just end up alienating their intended audience.

[Bill Loguidice]

Which begs the question, why do you need to have 6 iterations of the Atari 2600 FB? Who wants to have all of those units taking up space just to get all of the functionality of ONE original 2600? That's the evils of marketing. Give them a little bit more with each "upgrade." It's no different than Apple or any other corporation. Keep the consumer strung along and backfiries when they just end up alienating their intended audience.

 

Every company does it because it works. If it didn't work, they wouldn't do it. No mystery there. The Atari Flashback, even after more than 6 iterations, is still their top seller. If there's a 7th, surely that will continue to sell well. Again, no company has to market to you personally. They need to market to the biggest possible audience.

[Tron Unit]

 

Every company does it because it works. If it didn't work, they wouldn't do it. No mystery there. The Atari Flashback, even after more than 6 iterations, is still their top seller. If there's a 7th, surely that will continue to sell well. Again, no company has to market to you personally. They need to market to the biggest possible audience.

Who's side are you on, Bill? Lol!

[Greg2600]

Don't forget that by introducing an SD slot, you also open yourself to complaints over game compatibility for games not pre-installed. What if they do it, and idk, Donkey Kong has issues. The few "thousand" people Bill mentioned with high SD interest will bring out pitchforks.

[ColecoDan]

It is a genius business model that has reached every inch of the stupid consumer market. Oh the new phone has 2 more megapixels than my old phone, bam new phone bought. The new consumer market is gotta have newest revision and be the talk of facebook or twitter. This is in fact the correct path. Look these companies can make a huge jump technology wise or feature wise but if they do that then what are they going to do for the next product. So they just inch along every year and get the gerbils to keep buying the next new item.

 

I am glad I didn't grow up like that and don't do that. I save a lot of money that way so I can buy my 30 year old high priced coleco CIBs.

[Bill Loguidice]

Who's side are you on, Bill? Lol!

 

I'm just trying to ground things in reality. Naturally, I'd prefer the pie-in-the-sky/they-should-do-x kind of stuff to be viable (I'm as big of a fan of our videogame/computer/technology interests as anyone, obviously), but I think if you know the reasons behind why something is, you don't have to like it, but at least can understand it and think about the issues in a different manner.

[Bill Loguidice]

Don't forget that by introducing an SD slot, you also open yourself to complaints over game compatibility for games not pre-installed. What if they do it, and idk, Donkey Kong has issues. The few "thousand" people Bill mentioned with high SD interest will bring out pitchforks.

 

We have every right to demand better, but the reality is our community sometimes has exceedingly high expectations (which I haven't been shy about calling out). I think the best recent example is the brouhaha over the RetroN 5. As an owner I can say it's just about a near perfect "wonder" device, yet there was (and is) a vocal minority in our community who acted like they were physically assaulted by Hyperkin when they delayed the product and ended up raising the prices post launch (among other relatively nitpicky complaints). If you read some of the comments, you'd think the Hyperkin folks should be tried for war crimes against humanity for their actions, despite the challenges they overcame to ultimately deliver what was promised (and then some). It's no wonder some companies don't cater more to enthusiasts, because even if you nail things better than anyone else, you'll still be lambasted for the flaws.

 

Certainly AtGames is not immune to this. For $40 or less, they deliver an SD-based Genesis handheld with 80 built-in games or a cartridge-based Genesis-compatible console, yet a good portion of the comments you read at places like Facebook is "this is (expletive) because of the sound," "don't buy that garbage," "it doesn't save games," "it doesn't run game x," etc., instead of "hey, it has some issues you should be aware of, but for the price, it's actually pretty cool and does x, y, and z." In other words, it would be nice to have some nuance from certain members of our community now and again, instead of a seeming entitlement to perfection.

[ColecoDan]

 

We have every right to demand better, but the reality is our community sometimes has exceedingly high expectations (which I haven't been shy about calling out). I think the best recent example is the brouhaha over the RetroN 5. As an owner I can say it's just about a near perfect "wonder" device, yet there was (and is) a vocal minority in our community who acted like they were physically assaulted by Hyperkin when they delayed the product and ended up raising the prices post launch (among other relatively nitpicky complaints). If you read some of the comments, you'd think the Hyperkin folks should be tried for war crimes against humanity for their actions, despite the challenges they overcame to ultimately deliver what was promised (and then some). It's no wonder some companies don't cater more to enthusiasts, because even if you nail things better than anyone else, you'll still be lambasted for the flaws.

 

Certainly AtGames is not immune to this. For $40 or less, they deliver an SD-based Genesis handheld with 80 built-in games or a cartridge-based Genesis-compatible console, yet a good portion of the comments you read at places like Facebook is "this is (expletive) because of the sound," "don't buy that garbage," "it doesn't save games," "it doesn't run game x," etc., instead of "hey, it has some issues you should be aware of, but for the price, it's actually pretty cool and does x, y, and z." In other words, it would be nice to have some nuance from certain members of our community now and again, instead of a seeming entitlement to perfection.

don't worry the US only tries other countries war criminals. They don't touch USA war criminals.

[+LS650]

Wow - off topic or what?

[+GoldenWheels]

I don't think incremental upgrades is the real sales strategy for these things, though they surely feel they need to add something each year. I bet the majority of the target consumers never buy more than one of these for each system.

 

They are cheap, easy, kitschy holiday gifts, that most normal users probably have in the closet 3 weeks after Christmas. I expect to see them every year.

[+LS650]

I have to agree with GoldenWheels - these are novelty products to cash in on nostalgia and amuse kids. I think small incremental improvements with a handful more of games added is about the most that can be reasonably expected. Expecting SD and/or cart slots is an unrealistic expectation.