New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[+frankodragon]

I thought Infogrames is out of business. Or did they just simply change their name? o 3 o

They changed their name. But not their "attitude" unfortunately.

[Pink]

Just look at the massive write up Brad at Best did on the new 7800 power supply that got created, a freakin' power supply of all things. The updates he posted blow just about all of the updates from any crowdfunded project that i've seen out of the water, by a long shot. Now that's a true fan with real passion & dedication and someone I can get behind and support. It makes me want to buy one just to support him and his business, even though I don't have the need for another 7800 power supply (And you need a minimum of $50 to order anyways)

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/New%20Best%207800%20Power%20supply.htm

 

The dumpster fire of ridiculous-ness and stupidity that Nutari has going on, it's obvious they're not true fans, nor do they have any passion or dedication. Even if they get something into stores, I don't even want to buy one even if I see one on clearance for $5 down the road just based on how incompetent, unprofessional, and arrogant Nutari is.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Pink

[Dr Manhattan]

Even for those of us who backed this project, it's pretty obvious that the people running NuTari are a bunch of clowns, maybe even borderline criminal. So let's say for the sake of discussion that NuTari hired you to help improve company PR. What's the first thing you would do? Your primary goal is to sell this product to the people who hate this company and project the most. You have to look through this very thread and discover the most vocal critics, and then find a way to sell the product to them. To make them actually want it.

 

How do you do it? No complaints, no taco posts. Come up with a real plan if you can.

[onemoretime]

Even for those of us who backed this project, it's pretty obvious that the people running NuTari are a bunch of clowns, maybe even borderline criminal. So let's say for the sake of discussion that NuTari hired you to help improve company PR. What's the first thing you would do? Your primary goal is to sell this product to the people who hate this company and project the most. You have to look through this very thread and discover the most vocal critics, and then find a way to sell the product to them. To make them actually want it.

 

How do you do it? No complaints, no taco posts. Come up with a real plan if you can.

 

At this point, I think only a video showing the build team standing in a warehouse of units ready to ship, playing one in the background, in the process of stuffing them in boxes and into trucks to go to their destination, then having honest reviews here from folk that have been around would be the only convincing thing to do.

[pacman000]

Develop a prototype & give some major websites hands-on opportunities to review it. Shouldn't be too hard, but I have other requirements before I get hopeful:

 

Invest about $500 million in game development. I'm not joking; this will need software to be worth anything.

 

Then have nightly TV ads in the most popular shows from now till Christmas. Still not joking; people will need to know that this is out there for it to be successful.

 

That's why I can't support it; Atari SA simply doesn't have the resources.

[Flojomojo]

Even for those of us who backed this project, it's pretty obvious that the people running NuTari are a bunch of clowns, maybe even borderline criminal. So let's say for the sake of discussion that NuTari hired you to help improve company PR. What's the first thing you would do? Your primary goal is to sell this product to the people who hate this company and project the most. You have to look through this very thread and discover the most vocal critics, and then find a way to sell the product to them. To make them actually want it.

 

How do you do it? No complaints, no taco posts. Come up with a real plan if you can.

I'm not really interested in providing free consulting advice to the "Atari" brain trust. They have three million dollars, they can buy their own ideas. The burden of proof is on them, as it's always been.

[Lodmot]

Develop a prototype & give some major websites hands-on opportunities to review it. Shouldn't be too hard, but I have other requirements before I get hopeful:

 

Invest about $500 million in game development. I'm not joking; this will need software to be worth anything.

 

Then have nightly TV ads in the most popular shows from now till Christmas. Still not joking; people will need to know that this is out there for it to be successful.

 

That's why I can't support it; Atari SA simply doesn't have the resources.

 

I don't really see this thing being successful quite honestly. But something about Atari's quirky history, and the fact that an older brand is throwing their hat into the console ring again is really pretty appealing to me.

I really wish Sega were the ones doing the console, but this is still interesting to me. If anything, I will still have use for it when I get a house, as a media streaming/light gaming console. I don't plan on having cable TV since I never watch regular TV anyway. And it would be a cool little conversation piece.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Lodmot

[Dr Manhattan]

I'm not really interested in providing free consulting advice to the "Atari" brain trust. They have three million dollars, they can buy their own ideas. The burden of proof is on them, as it's always been.

 

Are you implying the folks at NuTari are lurking these forums? I wonder how they feel about all the taco posts?

[Flojomojo]

Are you implying the folks at NuTari are lurking these forums? I wonder how they feel about all the taco posts?

Based on what they've done so far, I don't even know if they can read. But they're using an off the shelf board, a FOSS OS, and old games, so it's safe to say they're not exactly brimming with innovation.

[Dr Manhattan]

Here's part of my plan:

 

Build a prototype: Remind people that we're not Sony or Xbox. We don't have the same deep pockets. So we're going to strike a balance between power and value. We're going to do the best with what we've got. I'm going to let the right people have hands on time with the machine. Even if it's a bug filled mess and it's just a box with wires coming out of it. I want input and support from the community. Being completely transparent on this issue is how I hope to gain public trust. The end goal is creating a product that strikes the perfect balance between power and affordability.

 

Define the Box: I'm going to clearly define what we want to do with this box. Yes, it's a PC that connects to your TV. But it's also a streaming device, a media player, an emulation station, and a game box. I will call each of these things my pillars, and I will define clearly how each pillar will work.

 

The Atari Legacy Under One Roof: This is the most important thing to me. That this machine is the box that will unite entire history of Atari in one console. I want this machine to play everything from Pong to Jaguar, to licensed Atari titles from the Hasbro era.

 

Courting the Emulation Community: This is how I'm going to unite the brand. I'm going to ensure that the console ships with functioning and easy to use emulators for all Atari consoles and even some of the PCs. I'm going to do this by going directly to the best programmers in the emulator community. In the best case scenario I'm going to pay them. If I can't pay them I will ensure that they are given credit as being part of the Atari VCS team. That their images and bios are featured on our site and their work is celebrated as a great contribution to the cause.

 

Emulation Part 2: Electric Boogaloo: Now the only games I'm going to include in each emulator is safe, license free stuff. But with a wink and a nod to the fan community, I'm going to imply that you can easily ad your own software. Obviously there's a reason we included all those USB ports and SD card slots.

 

Courting the Homebrew Community: The next thing I'm going to do is court the homebrew community. I will give them a platform to sell their games on my machine and to share in the profit. These people will be celebrated, like people such as David Crane and Carol Shaw back in the glory days of Activision.

 

Courting Indie Developers: The Indie Developer community is a brilliant crowd. They're also a bunch of hipsters. I'm going to play on the nostalgia of our brand to bring them on board. If Ouya can get 5000 games, so can we.

 

The Media Box: This damn thing will play any video file you throw at it. I will make sure of it. Maybe we'll use an open source media player. Perhaps we'll contract the creator of that media player to help with compatibility. The end result will be a media player that will run any file you throw at it. music or video. From the oldest divx files, low res flash stuff to modern HD video files. If you can put it on a SD card or USB device, it's going to play on our machine.

 

Live Video Streaming: From TV channels to live web cams. This machine will be a window to all the video content we can find on the internet. For an example of what I mean look up an Android media app called Mobdro. I will also try to include DTV content. This will be the ultimate cord cutter box.

 

​High Compatibility For USB Controllers: Some people like the PlayStation style analog stick layout, some people prefer the off center analog stick layout found on Nintendo and Xbox controllers. I honestly don't care which you prefer. I'm going to do my best to make sure that any USB controller will work with our machine. Got an awesome 6 button fight stick? Plug it in and kick some ass!

 

There's a lot more that I want to say, but this post is already way too long. Obviously the make or break of this console is original content. Unfortunately that's a subject that requires it's own topic. What I've posted here are just a few starter ideas. These are cheap and simple ideas that can easily be made part of the Atari VCS game plan.

[Flojomojo]

And what part of that "needs" to be done by a for-profit company, under an old brand? Everything you describe already exists elsewhere, as discussed about 300 pages back. There's still no unique selling point.

 

I don't mean to tear you down, I mean that's all very thoughtful, but step zero "why should this even exist?" hasn't been addressed by any of the players. It's a solution in search of a problem.

[Dr Manhattan]

And what part of that "needs" to be done by a for-profit company, under an old brand? Everything you describe already exists elsewhere, as discussed about 300 pages back. There's still no unique selling point.

 

Of course, but every house needs a foundation and this is where I will start.

[JBerel]

Even for those of us who backed this project, it's pretty obvious that the people running NuTari are a bunch of clowns, maybe even borderline criminal. So let's say for the sake of discussion that NuTari hired you to help improve company PR. What's the first thing you would do? Your primary goal is to sell this product to the people who hate this company and project the most. You have to look through this very thread and discover the most vocal critics, and then find a way to sell the product to them. To make them actually want it.

 

How do you do it? No complaints, no taco posts. Come up with a real plan if you can.

 

 

I took the time to note that quite a while back, for all the good it did.

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/266480-new-atari-console-that-ataribox/page-110?do=findComment&comment=3896098

[racerx]

Even for those of us who backed this project, it's pretty obvious that the people running NuTari are a bunch of clowns, maybe even borderline criminal. So let's say for the sake of discussion that NuTari hired you to help improve company PR. What's the first thing you would do? Your primary goal is to sell this product to the people who hate this company and project the most. You have to look through this very thread and discover the most vocal critics, and then find a way to sell the product to them. To make them actually want it.

 

How do you do it? No complaints, no taco posts. Come up with a real plan if you can.

 

I don't, because that's completely ass-backwards from how a legitimate product is developed.

 

This isn't a real company, it's an undead beast run by grave robbers. Even you more or less see this, even if more casual people don't. I'm a 47-year-old guy who's never left Atari. I still have my original consoles, I have arcade machines, I spend a lot of time at conventions and with arcade collector friends. We know the company's history, we have friends that were with the company. We are the most vocal critics, and we can't be "marketed" to.

 

If this incarnation of "Atari" was a real company, with real engineers, real programmers, and a real plan, I think a lot of us would have already naturally had an interest. But most of us have no interest in a generic linux box that has no real raison d'être. It offers nothing to us. No unique software, uninteresting hardware, and to those of us who know better, not even a legitimate claim to the brand. It's just another attempt by Chesnais to cash in. The people that have shown legitimate excitement for the VCS are literally the ones that have followed the company the least.

 

 

Why get mad at the backers? It's their money. Get mad at Atari SA, if at anyone, for running a sloppy campaign. Or don't get mad at all; just laugh; this is a comedy of errors.

 

 

I get mad at the backers because they're the ones throwing money at this ridiculous sham of a company, and into the pockets of the morons responsible for it.

[JBerel]

 

I get mad at the backers because they're the ones throwing money at this ridiculous sham of a company, and into the pockets of the morons responsible for it.

I don't get mad at them because it's all just so sad and pointless at this point, but these people do tend to legitimize this horseshit from poser companies with nothing in the way of legitimacy, history, capability, experience, market knowledge, you name it. It just further entices scumbags to pretend to be something they are not while making it less likely any legitimate innovations in retro inspired tech will find an audience. Infotarigrams deserves all the abuse heaped on them when they knowingly and unabashedly claim reputation and heritage where they have no right. They may as well lean on some silver stars and Purple Hearts they were never awarded in WWII while taking credit for winnning the war and saving the free world. Bunch of cheese eatin' surrender monkeys.

[MrBeefy]

Even for those of us who backed this project, it's pretty obvious that the people running NuTari are a bunch of clowns, maybe even borderline criminal. So let's say for the sake of discussion that NuTari hired you to help improve company PR. What's the first thing you would do? Your primary goal is to sell this product to the people who hate this company and project the most. You have to look through this very thread and discover the most vocal critics, and then find a way to sell the product to them. To make them actually want it.

 

How do you do it? No complaints, no taco posts. Come up with a real plan if you can.

Well show what's under the hood. However, if that isn't possible then lots of updates. Even if it seems small. We are working on shells. Here is the board. Here is a partner. Anything other than. It is going to happen. Small updates about small things is way better than this. Especially since it loomed as though they were lying and got caught at the beginning.

[8Bitjunkie]

But there is one thing Nutari isn't lying about:

it's "years in the making"

nearly 14 month ago there was this - where are they now?

 

[+frankodragon]

If they are watching this thread, which I highly doubt it, then you could say in french:

 

"Tout ce que vous obtenez de nous sont des tacos, Atari."

[RugglesTx]

And what part of that "needs" to be done by a for-profit company, under an old brand? Everything you describe already exists elsewhere, as discussed about 300 pages back. There's still no unique selling point.

 

I don't mean to tear you down, I mean that's all very thoughtful, but step zero "why should this even exist?" hasn't been addressed by any of the players. It's a solution in search of a problem.

It should exist if enough people want it and will support it enough to be a viable consumer product. 90% of all the consumer items on the shelf today are just there because people want them, not need them. This is no different.

 

I would like one if the final product is what I envision it to be. I would like a Atari branded box that does what they say it would sitting in my room. I do not want a low price emulator or PC that is on the market today just because its cheaper or already available.

 

Its not a solution in search of a problem to me and to others. I still have no ideal why others continue to feel the need to dictate what I and others need/want. Its as straight forward as can be...want one, buy one...dont want one, dont buy one...post whatever you want about it but saying its a solution in search of a problem is not true. People clearly want this thing, and have put their money where their mouth is :0

[Mr SQL]

Here's a crowdfunded project that pays homage to an 1980s toy in a smart, innovative way, bringing something demonstrably new and interesting to the table.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1928372437/gocube-the-classic-puzzle-reinvented

 

A networked rubix cube, that's really cool!

 

I like the plans to use it as a 3D controller.

 

I'm guessing you cannot cheat and pop it apart to solve it like with the original.

[toiletunes]

Here's that shirt from Target. There were several styles, but I chose subtly and nerdy...

[Lodmot]

And what part of that "needs" to be done by a for-profit company, under an old brand? Everything you describe already exists elsewhere, as discussed about 300 pages back. There's still no unique selling point.

 

I don't mean to tear you down, I mean that's all very thoughtful, but step zero "why should this even exist?" hasn't been addressed by any of the players. It's a solution in search of a problem.

 

One reason why I'm inclined to support the VCS is that I would rather not support the PS4/Xbox One.

 

I'm pretty bored of the realistic/dark/gritty art style that encompasses most games on the PS4. It was interesting for a little while on the PS3, but it's pretty plain to look at nowadays at least for me. At this point I'd rather go back to bright, colorful, cartoony graphics that we saw in video games in the 90's. I'd also rather see some more pixel art, or cel-shaded styles. Thankfully games like that are very much existent today with the likes of Crash Bandicoot N'Sane Trilogy, Cuphead, Limbo, Retro City Rampage, Super Lucky's Tale, Minecraft, etc. And guess what? I don't need a PS4 or Xbox One to play those games. As far as the console itself goes, I've never actually owned the PS4, but it looks like trash. My friend always runs into hurdles like the console running out of disk space, requiring updates before you can play, and even the games and the OS running sluggish. It's funny, because the PS4 controller is actually the best gamepad I've ever held in my hands. Hard to believe the same company made both the controller and the console itself...

 

As for the Xbox One, I've literally never owned an Xbox console in my life (and don't plan to). One of my good friends gave me an original Xbox console, but I never used it. Ever since Sega left the console industry I just never got used to Microsoft being in the race. To me, they're a computer software company-- not a gaming company. That's just the way I see it. At any rate, Microsoft made the brilliantly stupid decision to make all Xbox One titles compatible with Windows 10, so no inclination for me to get that console either.

 

Nintendo is really the only major player I'd buy a console from, but I don't even care about Nintendo all that much. They make some awesome content for sure, and the Switch is an amazing device. Nintendo clearly has a lot of in-house talent, but their business practices are what irk me and make me not want to support them. Quite frankly, since I bought a Switch, I've only ever seen myself using it during plane trips to go see my girlfriend in Canada. I guess that's a good thing considering all the talk I hear about the case overheating and cracking, lol... I might've used the Switch more often if it had more conveniences like the ability to browse the web and watch YouTube, etc.

 

The only thing I actually spend a lot of time gaming on these days is a custom PC that I bought parts for and built myself. It's in a little Dr. Zaber Sentry case so it's really small, and I loaded Bigbox on it to make it feel more like a game console.

Edited July 23, 2018 by Lodmot

[racerx]

Here's that shirt from Target. There were several styles, but I chose subtly and nerdy...

WP_20180722_21_23_52_Pro.jpg

Great minds...

 

[Andromeda Stardust]

Uh huh. There's one of two things you can do here.

 

See if Atari Age has an ignore feature and put me on it.

 

Or...

 

Put your money where your mouth is. I've said many times in the past that we should have a betting pool related to the Atari VCS. Everyone who thinks it won't see the light of day, put your money down. Put some cash on the line. Because in the past year I've won $520 on freaking scratch off tickets and I'm feeling HOT! Let it roll baby! Put up or shut up.

 

I have $33 bet placed on the table right now that it will deliver a joystick to my door. And I'm not a gambling man, but at this point, I might as well have bid on a horse race, because I feel like my odds of winning on the track are equally good/bad right now...

[Andromeda Stardust]

Here's part of my plan:

 

Build a prototype: Remind people that we're not Sony or Xbox. We don't have the same deep pockets. So we're going to strike a balance between power and value. We're going to do the best with what we've got. I'm going to let the right people have hands on time with the machine. Even if it's a bug filled mess and it's just a box with wires coming out of it. I want input and support from the community. Being completely transparent on this issue is how I hope to gain public trust. The end goal is creating a product that strikes the perfect balance between power and affordability.

 

Define the Box: I'm going to clearly define what we want to do with this box. Yes, it's a PC that connects to your TV. But it's also a streaming device, a media player, an emulation station, and a game box. I will call each of these things my pillars, and I will define clearly how each pillar will work.

 

The Atari Legacy Under One Roof: This is the most important thing to me. That this machine is the box that will unite entire history of Atari in one console. I want this machine to play everything from Pong to Jaguar, to licensed Atari titles from the Hasbro era.

 

Courting the Emulation Community: This is how I'm going to unite the brand. I'm going to ensure that the console ships with functioning and easy to use emulators for all Atari consoles and even some of the PCs. I'm going to do this by going directly to the best programmers in the emulator community. In the best case scenario I'm going to pay them. If I can't pay them I will ensure that they are given credit as being part of the Atari VCS team. That their images and bios are featured on our site and their work is celebrated as a great contribution to the cause.

 

Emulation Part 2: Electric Boogaloo: Now the only games I'm going to include in each emulator is safe, license free stuff. But with a wink and a nod to the fan community, I'm going to imply that you can easily ad your own software. Obviously there's a reason we included all those USB ports and SD card slots.

 

Courting the Homebrew Community: The next thing I'm going to do is court the homebrew community. I will give them a platform to sell their games on my machine and to share in the profit. These people will be celebrated, like people such as David Crane and Carol Shaw back in the glory days of Activision.

 

Courting Indie Developers: The Indie Developer community is a brilliant crowd. They're also a bunch of hipsters. I'm going to play on the nostalgia of our brand to bring them on board. If Ouya can get 5000 games, so can we.

 

The Media Box: This damn thing will play any video file you throw at it. I will make sure of it. Maybe we'll use an open source media player. Perhaps we'll contract the creator of that media player to help with compatibility. The end result will be a media player that will run any file you throw at it. music or video. From the oldest divx files, low res flash stuff to modern HD video files. If you can put it on a SD card or USB device, it's going to play on our machine.

 

Live Video Streaming: From TV channels to live web cams. This machine will be a window to all the video content we can find on the internet. For an example of what I mean look up an Android media app called Mobdro. I will also try to include DTV content. This will be the ultimate cord cutter box.

 

​High Compatibility For USB Controllers: Some people like the PlayStation style analog stick layout, some people prefer the off center analog stick layout found on Nintendo and Xbox controllers. I honestly don't care which you prefer. I'm going to do my best to make sure that any USB controller will work with our machine. Got an awesome 6 button fight stick? Plug it in and kick some ass!

 

There's a lot more that I want to say, but this post is already way too long. Obviously the make or break of this console is original content. Unfortunately that's a subject that requires it's own topic. What I've posted here are just a few starter ideas. These are cheap and simple ideas that can easily be made part of the Atari VCS game plan.

 

Dr Manhattan, your post makes too much logical sense. Sounds like you need more tacos in your diet.

 

We already know Atari SA, like the the RVGS/Chameleon fiasco, put the cart before the horse by designing (or repurposing) the shell first, then later on determining whaf to stuff it with. Literally putting the cart before the horse. Or a taco shell with no meat.

 

I would like to see Chris Cardilio try to run a taco food truck.

 

Waiter! I ordered tacos, and you give me a folded over tortilia on a plate. Please send it back and explain to the chef that a taco shell needs meat filled in it before it can become a taco. You know what? Keep yourempty taco shells. I want a refund...