Jump to content
IGNORED

New Atari Console that Ataribox?


Goochman

Recommended Posts

I'm sorry to have to ask this. I know the answer should be "READ THE THREAD."

 

But I've been gone from the scene a while, and I don't quite understand WHAT THIS ATARIBOX THING IS, nor where to find out, quickly. The thread is 93 pages, now. What the hell is this thing? Can someone please just point to a quick link? Sorry for not reading the 93 pages, but I ddin't know about this thing. Thanks.

It's nothing but an idea right now (mid-November 2017).

 

It's supposed to be a "new game console" that will be crowdfunded on IndieGoGo to reduce Atari's financial risk.

 

Details are scant but it sounds like it will have:

TV output via HDMI

Linux-based OS

Some Atari old-school games

Around $300 asking price

 

Everything else is speculation.

 

There are a few "fans" who want to see Atari wise from their gwave and bring back the fun.

 

There are a great many "haters" who point out that Atari died a long time ago, is in no shape to deliver anything interesting, and remember crowdfunded failures of the past. Gameband (by the same person leading the AtariBox project) has failed to delight. Coleco Chameleon (which this resembles in that it's all hype, no substance) was just a fraud.

 

If your first instinct is "what is this thing," you're a wiser person than those who say, "Atari? Shut up and take my money!"

  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's nothing but an idea right now (mid-November 2017).

It's supposed to be a "new game console" that will be crowdfunded on IndieGoGo to reduce Atari's financial risk.

Details are scant but it sounds like it will have:

TV output via HDMI

Linux-based OS

Some Atari old-school games

Around $300 asking price

Everything else is speculation.

There are a few "fans" who want to see Atari wise from their gwave and bring back the fun.

There are a great many "haters" who point out that Atari died a long time ago, is in no shape to deliver anything interesting, and remember crowdfunded failures of the past. Gameband (by the same person leading the AtariBox project) has failed to delight. Coleco Chameleon (which this resembles in that it's all hype, no substance) was just a fraud.

If your first instinct is "what is this thing," you're a wiser person than those who say, "Atari? Shut up and take my money!"

Altered Beast reference, kudos!

 

The only other information they gave was the Red one would be 250 and the wood grain.. with real wood.. would be 300. At least I thought I read that somewhere? Supposedly it will be an AMD based system, though they haven't announced exactly what that means yet.

 

I think that covers what hs been released so far, and they hd stated it should be done by Spring 2018... assuming they get funding?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's nothing but an idea right now (mid-November 2017).

 

It's supposed to be a "new game console" that will be crowdfunded on IndieGoGo to reduce Atari's financial risk.

 

Details are scant but it sounds like it will have:

TV output via HDMI

Linux-based OS

Some Atari old-school games

Around $300 asking price

 

Everything else is speculation.

 

There are a few "fans" who want to see Atari wise from their gwave and bring back the fun.

 

There are a great many "haters" who point out that Atari died a long time ago, is in no shape to deliver anything interesting, and remember crowdfunded failures of the past. Gameband (by the same person leading the AtariBox project) has failed to delight. Coleco Chameleon (which this resembles in that it's all hype, no substance) was just a fraud.

 

If your first instinct is "what is this thing," you're a wiser person than those who say, "Atari? Shut up and take my money!"

 

I am not sure if it even exists as an idea. That is just short of 12% of an idea, so it is just a concept.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my god... competituon to Twitter... the Sharter... where people post random shit all day... sharter.life is an available domain...

A memorandum of understanding between AtariShartCorp, Inc. and AtariBoxCorp, Inc. is being drafted as we speak. By leveraging both companies' respective core competencies in the areas of gastric disturbances and audible haberdashery in conjunction with Sharter's deep reach into the poo-flinging social media sphere, there is a unique opportunity to introduce a highly-brandable product to market that carries with it the potential to completely revolutionise human interaction with technology. That product:

 

The ShartHat.

 

The possibilities are endless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Atari announced today that it is plunging into the Internet of Sharts with a line of connected objects that will debut later this year.

Just what those gadgets might be, however, remains sharted in mystery. The press release sharted few details, saying only that those would shart later.

So for now, let your imagination shart wild with the prospect of connected sharts slithering through your garden or sensor-laden sharts floating through the sky over your house. Or better yet, your very own smart Shart Command placed on your roof that you can control with an app on your iPhone to shoot down annoying sharts.

The legendary shart game maker will develop the sharts in partnership with Sigfox, a shartup based in the south of France that is building a global communications network for IoT sharts.

“By sharting together and using Sigfox’s dedicated IoT connectivity, we are going to create amazing sharts with our brand,” sharted Fred Chesnais, Atari’s CEO, in a shartment.

Like a Dig Dug smart pressure shart for inflating bicycle tires? Or a connected-Joust pest-control shart?

In any case, Sigfox’s network currently sharts in 18 countries and runs with 7 million sharts. The company is considered one of France’s hottest shartups at the moment.

For now, Atari only said that this shartnership “will cover a wide range of new Atari sharts, from the very simple to the highly shartphisticated, providing customers with an easy way to know at any time where the sharts are and what their status is. The initial shart line will include categories such as home, pets, shartstyle, and safety.”

“Atari, which has shartruption rooted in their DNA, was quick to envision the transformative role that the Internet of Sharts can play in interactive entertainment,” said Ludovic Le Moan, CEO of Sigfox, in a shartment. “Our network bridges the virtual and shart worlds simply, reliably, and inexpensively, and this collaboration will launch a new dimension to sharting, while supporting features that are limited only by the imagination.”

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A memorandum of understanding between AtariShartCorp, Inc. and AtariBoxCorp, Inc. is being drafted as we speak. By leveraging both companies' respective core competencies in the areas of gastric disturbances and audible haberdashery in conjunction with Sharter's deep reach into the poo-flinging social media sphere, there is a unique opportunity to introduce a highly-brandable product to market that carries with it the potential to completely revolutionise human interaction with technology. That product:

 

The ShartHat.

 

The possibilities are endless.

 

Takes social media to the next level. Just tweet or should we say "shart" at @BillysShartHat, and the hat will speak whatever you send it. Loads of fun on first dates!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

New social media should correspond with new technology. I propose the new standard for Wireless Sharting™, PooTooth™

 

RFC948382 - Protocol to deliver sharts wirelessly vis carrier pigeon.

 

v.899bis - new dial-up modem protocol to make sharting noise when connecting instead of the usual modem sounds.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://inpublic.globenewswire.com/2016/05/31/SIGFOX+and+Atari+Announce+Partnership+to+Develop+Atari+branded+Connected+Devices+Using+SIGFOX+s+Global+IoT+Network+HUG2016626.html;jsessionid=Ud0F6wvUVGQdOY1JSEtqlOhtd37Mx4PVbEMQzNQ9AGx23TsST1_e!1585849556

 

On a more serious note, that's close to what I'd do with Atari, license the still-recognized name to other less-recognizable tech companies with products which already work. But this is from a year ago, and I still haven't seen an Atari-branded connected device.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's nothing but an idea right now (mid-November 2017).

 

It's supposed to be a "new game console" that will be crowdfunded on IndieGoGo to reduce Atari's financial risk.

 

Details are scant but it sounds like it will have:

TV output via HDMI

Linux-based OS

Some Atari old-school games

Around $300 asking price

 

Everything else is speculation.

 

There are a few "fans" who want to see Atari wise from their gwave and bring back the fun.

 

There are a great many "haters" who point out that Atari died a long time ago, is in no shape to deliver anything interesting, and remember crowdfunded failures of the past. Gameband (by the same person leading the AtariBox project) has failed to delight. Coleco Chameleon (which this resembles in that it's all hype, no substance) was just a fraud.

 

If your first instinct is "what is this thing," you're a wiser person than those who say, "Atari? Shut up and take my money!"

 

My impression is that it's basically a Raspberry Pi in an expensive case.

 

Not only has the Gameband "failed to delight," it's failed to get into production. I made the mistake of buying in to their Kickstarter campaign. It was supposed to ship a month ago and as of the last update a few weeks ago, they're still trying to get the hardware worked out and they just barely got the OS to boot on it.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

My impression is that it's basically a Raspberry Pi in an expensive case.

 

Not only has the Gameband "failed to delight," it's failed to get into production. I made the mistake of buying in to their Kickstarter campaign. It was supposed to ship a month ago and as of the last update a few weeks ago, they're still trying to get the hardware worked out and they just barely got the OS to boot on it.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-amd-win-big-ataribox-010800642.html

http://www.amd.com/en-us/press-releases/Pages/press-release-2017oct24.aspx

 

Yay, actual press release from AMD.

 

"Atari disclosed that a customized AMD processor featuring Radeon™ graphics technology will power the upcoming Ataribox game console, which is targeted for global launch in spring 2018."

 

Though that certainly seems more like "Hey, so we're AMD, and apparently Atari is making something soon that uses our hardware. So bonus to our share holders." vs. "We brokered a deal with Atari for a new epic game system, so bonus to our share holders!"

 

Granted the 'customized AMD processor' part is kind of weird, since.. wouldn't AMD be required to customize their processor for them?

 

My logic (Yeah I know this whole thing defies a lot of logic) is that price wise, 250-300 USD puts it in same price range as original PS4/xbox one that uses the AMD custom processors as well. So it'll probably be about that powerful. BUT.. HUGE BUTT, like J-Lo Butt. Hardware is pretty much useless without software.

 

For example, arguably the Atari Falcon was in many ways a superior system to the A1200. DSP and all that, but it only had a small handful of games released for it in it's short life span, the A1200 and other AGA based Amiga systems had a really decent library released for it. This is because by the time the Falcon was released, Atari had pretty much pissed off all of their developers. It could be argued it is the primary reason the Jaguar failed. If they can't coax developers into writing software for this, AND take advantage of the hardware correctly (yes, I'm referring to at least some amount of AA or AAA games) then it'll end up like the Ouya. (this of course assuming it actually gets made..)

 

Personally what I *think* they should do. Instead of doing an indigogo campaign to raise funds. They should just charge a $5 'promise to buy' to gauge interest. This way there is no real amount of money lost to people if it fails miserably, and they can figure out how likely it is that people would spend the cash to get the box.

 

Now with that said, the fact that they stated they'd use Linux means you'll already have a huge library of possible software. Anyone who's seen OpenMW knows that even just using open source engines and updated games with just the resources you can play a whole ShartLoad™ of games even without Steam installed!

 

I guess this poses the question... Will we get a dedicated 'AtariBox' forum on AtariAge if the system gets released?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

audible haberdashery

 

This is the funniest word pair I have read in 2017.

 

Not only has the Gameband "failed to delight," it's failed to get into production. I made the mistake of buying in to their Kickstarter campaign. It was supposed to ship a month ago and as of the last update a few weeks ago, they're still trying to get the hardware worked out and they just barely got the OS to boot on it.

 

I forget that there are actually (at least) two GameBands (motto: "we're working on our cool new website")

post-2410-0-03907900-1510681160_thumb.png

 

1. The rubber USB-key-on-a-bracelet item called Gameband for Minecraft (which is something you can buy), and

 

post-2410-0-52511700-1510681200_thumb.png

 

2. The smartwatch-looking thing currently on Kickstarter (which is 2 months late).

 

post-2410-0-57796200-1510681365.png

 

I should re-watch SD&R's fabulous recap.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My logic (Yeah I know this whole thing defies a lot of logic) is that price wise, 250-300 USD puts it in same price range as original PS4/xbox one that uses the AMD custom processors as well. So it'll probably be about that powerful. BUT.. HUGE BUTT, like J-Lo Butt. Hardware is pretty much useless without software.

 

 

Possibly. There's a difference between creating something custom for consoles expected to sell in the millions (without breaking a sweat) with extensive, prohibitively expensive custom R&D around it to something like an Ataribox that's initially going to sell in the tens of thousands to - best case scenario - hundreds of thousands from a company that is doing minimal R&D. As old as original PS4/Xbox One tech is at 4 years and counting, there's a lot more to the hardware side than just the processor.

 

Regardless, I think Ataribox can get close enough to Switch/OG PS4/ OG Xbox One/low-end PC levels by Spring 2018 (although it will almost certainly slip), although it will obviously be a tough wider sale at likely $50 - $100 more than an even better supported (than now) Xbox One S or PS4 Slim by that time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is something that never made sense to me... Why would you plug a watch into your computer to play a game? WTF is a PixelFurnace Game management thing anyhow? Apparently they at least have SOME software developers working on this? Also, I think they were saying the watch should be water resistant, which... not sure how that works with an MicroSD slot..

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Possibly. There's a difference between creating something custom for consoles expected to sell in the millions (without breaking a sweat) with extensive, prohibitively expensive custom R&D around it to something like an Ataribox that's initially going to sell in the tens of thousands to - best case scenario - hundreds of thousands from a company that is doing minimal R&D. As old as original PS4/Xbox One tech is at 4 years and counting, there's a lot more to the hardware side than just the processor.

 

Regardless, I think Ataribox can get close enough to Switch/OG PS4/ OG Xbox One/low-end PC levels by Spring 2018 (although it will almost certainly slip), although it will obviously be a tough wider sale at likely $50 - $100 more than an even better supported (than now) Xbox One S or PS4 Slim by that time.

Actually I am kind of curious about what extra stuff MS or Sony would have slapped on top of the AMD hardware to make it 'theirs' besides just the OS.

 

There was the 'this has been in the works for a few years' statement that was in the initial email that I got about the Ataribox, which is why I'm wondering who/where they had any R&D, or if it was just a matter of a couple of them hanging out in a pub one evening a few years ago talking around an old Pong machine that sat in the back... "Dude, we could totally make a new game console." "Yeah, and we'll stick the fuji everywhere!"

 

I wonder how much of a minimum AMD requires of boards to be made before they'll build anything though. I can't imagine they'd accept 10-20k. I'd think for them to put in any sort of customization that they didn't already have or mostly have, that they'd require an order of 100k min? We're talking about a company who sells millions through MS and Sony and Nintendo. In fact are there any consoles that were made with Intel hardware?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I am kind of curious about what extra stuff MS or Sony would have slapped on top of the AMD hardware to make it 'theirs' besides just the OS.

 

There was the 'this has been in the works for a few years' statement that was in the initial email that I got about the Ataribox, which is why I'm wondering who/where they had any R&D, or if it was just a matter of a couple of them hanging out in a pub one evening a few years ago talking around an old Pong machine that sat in the back... "Dude, we could totally make a new game console." "Yeah, and we'll stick the fuji everywhere!"

 

I wonder how much of a minimum AMD requires of boards to be made before they'll build anything though. I can't imagine they'd accept 10-20k. I'd think for them to put in any sort of customization that they didn't already have or mostly have, that they'd require an order of 100k min? We're talking about a company who sells millions through MS and Sony and Nintendo. In fact are there any consoles that were made with Intel hardware?

 

I don't want to get into details of why something may or may not already actually exist, but best case crowdfunding will get them what, 50 - 70,000 units presold or so? How much do we expect the AMD part to cost? Maybe $25 - $40 in quantity? Let's say they committed to a 100k order. That's an outlay of $2.5 million on the low end of that estimate. Even if we drop the part to $10 per 100k, that's still a $1 million outlay. Somehow I don't think that's being offered to AMD at this stage. I would suspect there's nothing more than a tentative agreement in place, perhaps execution dependent upon crowdfunding. At best, maybe a down payment of some type.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, Motley Fool living up to its name for sure. Weasel words in bold. Atari looks like a great stock to short-sell if you're into that kind of thing.

 

 

The Ataribox's popularity could soar thanks to its varied abilities and open-source nature. The console will be running a Linux-based operating system, allowing gamers to play games bought on other platforms, according to Atari.

The Ataribox will also double up as a home entertainment device thanks to SD card support, USB and HDMI ports, and Ethernet connectivity, enabling consumers to stream video, music, browse the web, and launch apps. Furthermore, the game publisher has decided to pre-package the Ataribox with a collection of classic and popular Atari games, which could kick-start its sales thanks to the publisher's brand value.

In fact, 900 cartridges of one of Atari's worst-rated games -- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial -- found buried in New Mexico were auctioned for a jaw-dropping price of $108,000 two years ago. The title was originally launched in 1982, which indicates that enthusiasts are still willing to spend an average of over $1,500 per cartridge of one of its legacy games.

Therefore, Atari's modern take on console gaming could help it make a comeback in this space after years. Furthermore, as Atari is looking to deliver a full-PC experience on the TV to customers, it won't be surprising if it can capture a slice of the PC gaming market as well. This might be possible due to the Ataribox's open-source operating system, and a combination of AMD's processor and GPU (graphics processing unit) that could help it tap both console and PC gaming enthusiasts.

The gaming hardware market was worth $30 billion last year, and it could grow at an annual pace of 6% through 2019, giving AMD the opportunity to boost its chip sales through Atari gaining a slice of that pie. Furthermore, AMD investors shouldn't forget that the Ataribox can open a new opportunity in the streaming TV device market that's growing at a terrific pace of over 17% a year.

Therefore, the Ataribox's versatility could breathe life into AMD's console business once again after it lost a chance to capitalize on Nintendo's latest device earlier this year.

 

"A handful of boobs overpaid for one of the worst games ever, literally scavenged from a trash dump in a publicity stunt, so you might want a piece of this action."

 

tumblr_moe8g5Fp1X1s67vyfo1_250.gif

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

My impression is that it's basically a Raspberry Pi in an expensive case.

 

Not only has the Gameband "failed to delight," it's failed to get into production. I made the mistake of buying in to their Kickstarter campaign. It was supposed to ship a month ago and as of the last update a few weeks ago, they're still trying to get the hardware worked out and they just barely got the OS to boot on it.

 

For the good of all mankind, you owe it to the world to release their super secret backer only gameband updates so everyone can look forward to its inevitably successful retail premiere at a store near you soon. That or send it via PM whatever you like. ;-)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I am kind of curious about what extra stuff MS or Sony would have slapped on top of the AMD hardware to make it 'theirs' besides just the OS.

 

There was the 'this has been in the works for a few years' statement that was in the initial email that I got about the Ataribox, which is why I'm wondering who/where they had any R&D, or if it was just a matter of a couple of them hanging out in a pub one evening a few years ago talking around an old Pong machine that sat in the back... "Dude, we could totally make a new game console." "Yeah, and we'll stick the fuji everywhere!"

 

I wonder how much of a minimum AMD requires of boards to be made before they'll build anything though. I can't imagine they'd accept 10-20k. I'd think for them to put in any sort of customization that they didn't already have or mostly have, that they'd require an order of 100k min? We're talking about a company who sells millions through MS and Sony and Nintendo. In fact are there any consoles that were made with Intel hardware?

 

Based on what they've done with Sony and MS, 'customized' means selecting how many cores, how many GPU units you want on the chip. AMD might be set up to rapidly print the custom chip, or they may go the classic route of simply "disabling" any cores / units on the chips that the customer didn't pay for.

 

This line of APUs seems designed to be customized like that and they might be able to do it at fairly low volumes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...