AtGames Fall 2017 Flashback and Portable Lineup

[TokyoBatman]

Everyone is different, but I'd say that it's fair to state that many of those that you left off from that list are popular Activision classics where as several on your list aren't particularly beloved like River Raid II and especially F-14 Tomcat. I'll personally be disappointed if Plaque Attack (Not one of the iconic ones, but I enjoy it), Robot Tank, and Spider Fighter don't make the cut.

 

And we don't know what the additions are to this since AtGames has not made that information public. That 19 game list is merely what was left off the in-progress game list that Bill Loguidice posted weeks ago, that didn't make the cut when the finalized Atari Flashback 8 Gold game list was later posted. Many of those 19 likely will appear among the 19 Activision Edition exclusives, but some definitely won't be appearing.

 

So it's possible that none of those 7 games you selected from that list will even be included. Only AtGames knows for sure. I think Bill said on here a few days ago that at least one of the 19 additional Activision/Imagic games was still up in the air, so they even possibly don't know the exact 19 game list just yet. And don't forget that we now know that the Imagic library will have a presence here, so I imagine Atlantis and Demon Attack are solid bets at the very least.

 

And like I said, despite the presence of it on a work in-progress game list for the Flashback 8 Gold, we already know that F-14 Tomcat will not be one of these 19 games on the final product. Bill has confirmed that previously.

F17 Tomcat is out. Ouch! I agree with you, it all comes down to the games you love.

 

Without knowing which of those 19 or possible others will make the cut... I'd really be hard pressed to cancel my pre-order at this point.

 

If they confirmed that they will throw in paddles... I definitely would cancel and go with the Activision version, even without knowing which games will make it.

 

I'd be sad to give up my childhood favorites, but my paddles aren't in the best of condition... It'd be the selling point.

[atarifan88]

Bill if there is any influence you can have in this please push for paddles to be included in the Activision Gold edition!

[Flojomojo]

The Activision Edition will almost certainly have a few Imagic games, too.

 

I would count on these at a minimum

Demon Attack

Atlantis

 

These show up on other Activision collections

Moonsweeper

Dragonfire

 

I wouldn't kick these out of bed for eating crackers

Cosmic Ark

Fathom

 

Cosmic Ark is sorta hard to emulate, it seems ... we'll see if that makes it

[Bill Loguidice]

Bill if there is any influence you can have in this please push for paddles to be included in the Activision Gold edition!

 

Unfortunately, it's looking like just the extra/different games in the Activision edition at this point. That's pretty much a lock, although there IS still time for changes.

[Flojomojo]

Not that we need any more box variants, but at least a few other Atari Flashbacks have been released as "deluxe editions" with wired paddles.

 

Everyone likes extra stuff, obviously.

[TokyoBatman]

Btw,

 

What was the reasoning on getting rid of the big hitters for the Activision version:

 

Frogger

Front Line

Jungle Hunt

Polaris

Space Invaders

 

There are definitely 5 other games of lower quality that could go.

 

Hopes for people to buy both?

[Bill Loguidice]

Btw,

 

What was the reasoning on getting rid of the big hitters for the Activision version:

 

Frogger

Front Line

Jungle Hunt

Polaris

Space Invaders

 

There are definitely 5 other games of lower quality that could go.

 

Hopes for people to buy both?

 

I can't speak for the decision makers, but if you think about it, it's likely not having to pay Taito and Konami on this product. And sure, having a differentiator for each product is no doubt a factor as well (hence the Sega and Atari portables having Pac-Man IP).

[TokyoBatman]

 

I can't speak for the decision makers, but if you think about it, it's likely not having to pay Taito and Konami on this product. And sure, having a differentiator for each product is no doubt a factor as well (hence the Sega and Atari portables having Pac-Man IP).

 

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I can see the logic in that. Would that reasoning also discourage them from including a SD card slot in next year's version as well?

[Atariboy]

I would hope not, since currently the Atari Flashback consoles are the only AtGames releases with no ability to expand upon the built-in game library. The Sega consoles get a cartridge slot to accept original media while the Atari and Sega handhelds get SD rom loading capabilities.

 

At least from my perspective, the addition of this feature would guarantee a return customer in 2018.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Atariboy

[TokyoBatman]

I would hope not, since currently the Atari Flashback consoles are the only AtGames releases with no ability to expand upon the built-in game library. The Sega consoles get a cartridge slot to accept original media while the Atari and Sega handhelds get SD rom loading capabilities.

 

At least from my perspective, the addition of this feature would guarantee a return customer in 2018.

 

I definitely agree that I would love to see a SD card slot on the 2018 model. They may be hesitant to do that though... Knowing that it could be a halt for purchasing future models. Once you have the SD card slot, there would be no need to purchase another unit... Considering the reviews and how well this 2017 model is turning out.

 

Atgames will definitely need to think hard on this though, especially when the Retron 77 releases and if the harmony cart works on it... It may force them to add a SD card slot to compete or open the door into having a cart slot? Exciting stuff!

[Bill Loguidice]

There's a good chance - but not a guarantee - that an SD card slot will make it into the 2018 Atari console model. I'll of course continue to push for it. A cartridge slot is unlikely because it's actually kind of a pain even on the Sega side making sure the old cartridges work (from a contact/reading standpoint). I know when I was testing my Sega cartridge collection I had a lot that wouldn't read even on my Nomad.

 

And *if* the RetroN 77 releases. I'm not sure they worked out their legal issue (no inside info there).

[Leisure]

Am I missing something with the specs on the new portable? I thought the old one had a 3.1" screen which I found too small, and the new one is 2.8"?

I had the same question and wrote directly to AtGames for clarification. The answer I received was, "Atari Portable screen will be smaller but have overall better quality this year." I'd rather have a larger screen, it's already really tiny. Playing Millipede any smaller will be more like playing Decapede! Adding a paddle option would be a game changer too, it's impossible to play games like Astroblast and Breakout with the D-Pad. Still, having an Atari to take to the waiting room at my therapist's office will probably reduce my number of visits over time. As soon as I see the Atari logo appear on the screen I feel better. Atari therapy! (No co-pay, all re-play!)

[Bill Loguidice]

I thought I already stated in this thread about the smaller screen, but maybe not considering all the various threads scattered everywhere. The one I have now has better color saturation than last year's model. Anyway, I believe they're still tweaking the screen (at least the supplier), but it will indeed only be 2.8" (same on the Sega side). There's a good chance next year's model will have a larger screen. I'm certainly pushing for it, because I have old eyes too.

[AtariLeaf]

I had the same question and wrote directly to AtGames for clarification. The answer I received was, "Atari Portable screen will be smaller but have overall better quality this year." I'd rather have a larger screen, it's already really tiny. Playing Millipede any smaller will be more like playing Decapede! Adding a paddle option would be a game changer too, it's impossible to play games like Astroblast and Breakout with the D-Pad. Still, having an Atari to take to the waiting room at my therapist's office will probably reduce my number of visits over time. As soon as I see the Atari logo appear on the screen I feel better. Atari therapy! (No co-pay, all re-play!)

 

This is the reason I don't bother with the portable but I would assume everything needed to add a paddle controller would add too much to the cost and probably increase the size of the unit. I don't understand why they bother putting the paddles games on it at all. Are there people who can actually play Kaboom or Breakout well enough with a D-pad?

[Flojomojo]

It would be neat to have a paddle controller on a portable! Especially if it could pop down for storage like the volume button on some car stereos.

[Swami]

I wonder how popular a book with reprints of all the original instruction manuals for the 130+ games would be? I know you can download them all for free, but I would probably cough up for one as it would be cool to page through and use as a reference and newbies would probably find it useful. Granted, the book would be about 600 pages or so, if they put two manual pages to a book page. All the color would likely make it cost a small fortune.

[Atariboy]

I'd personally rather see manual scans on the device itself now that AtGames has gone HD.

 

Might be extra work to gather high quality scans for the Sega unit, but I'm sure that AtariAge would love to cooperate with AtGames for their Atari unit just like I believe they've done in the past such as with Atari Anthology or more recent Atari collections.

 

If storage constraints are a concern for including manual scans, that would end if the hoped for SD slot comes about in the future. Let the customer download a manual pdf pack off the AtGames website to stick on their SD card.

Edited August 27, 2017 by Atariboy

[Bill Loguidice]

I wonder how popular a book with reprints of all the original instruction manuals for the 130+ games would be? I know you can download them all for free, but I would probably cough up for one as it would be cool to page through and use as a reference and newbies would probably find it useful. Granted, the book would be about 600 pages or so, if they put two manual pages to a book page. All the color would likely make it cost a small fortune.

 

That would be a nice book, but is somewhat impractical and obviously wouldn't fly with a traditional publisher. Someone did actually put together a handy PDF a while back called "Atari Manual Tome V151". His name is TL Westgate and it's found at http://www.westg8.com/atari/ That's probably about as close as you'll get (at least until someone inevitably tackles such a product, but again, doubtful it would be cost-effective in print).

 

I can't go into details, but I am working on a book for Prima that solves a lot of the manual problems on the Atari side, albeit only for a hare under 70 games. Hopefully they can spill the beans on that book soon. I really like how it's coming together and it should release a little later this year.

[Bill Loguidice]

I'd personally rather see manual scans on the device itself now that AtGames has gone HD.

 

Might be extra work to gather high quality scans for the Sega unit, but I'm sure that AtariAge would love to cooperate with AtGames for their Atari unit just like I believe they've done in the past such as with Atari Anthology or more recent Atari collections.

 

If storage constraints are a concern for including manual scans, that would end if the hoped for SD slot comes about in the future. Let the customer download a manual pdf pack off the AtGames website to stick on their SD card.

 

In theory, that's a great idea. I mean, there have been lots of compilations with manual scans, including Sega ones. In practice, it's just not that practical. We kind of split that difference at AtGames. Myself and others have summarized the manuals for both the Atari and Sega HD games and included them in the game summary screen right before you run the game. Although I'm not a huge fan of the text only formatting, it's arguably more practical approach to reminding yourself how to play than a straight up manual scan that you may have to zoom in and out on (and frankly often includes a lot of superfluous content). It of course works best with the Sega games, because you can give a summary of what buttons A - X do. It's a bit more complicated on the Atari side (which sounds counter-intuitive, but it's obviously true) because you sometimes have dozens of game variations.

[Flojomojo]

I'm surprised third parties haven't run with this idea!

[Swami]

Not a big fan of the text only manuals, the "wall of text," which I believe is what makes up "The Tome", although I'm sure they usually get the job done in an efficient manner. I always download the original manual scan if I have a choice and have about 150 of the original manuals from the games that are not reproductions. When homebrewers make manuals for their games, they inevitably add the superfluous material about plugging in the console, having the console off before putting the cartridge in the console, etc. Its all a big part of the nostalgia. You can't really have the manual there while you play if it is in electronic format and you can't page through them like you could in the 80's, so their not really my favorite either. Although,with a low price point being a necessity of the Flashbacks' continued survival, it may be unlikely that most people who will buy a Flashback would share these sentimental attachments to the printed art of the manuals Even such a book would be second to the original manuals, but it would be a nice complement to them in a convenient format. I believe a likely price for such an item would be $50-$100, unless there is a lot of royalties to be paid for the manual content that is separate from licensing the games themselves, which might bring it closer to $80-$130. I don't know, but I suspect at least half of the cost of the Flashbacks goes into the licenses - $25-$35.

[Flojomojo]

Not a big fan of the text only manuals, the "wall of text," which I believe is what makes up "The Tome", although I'm sure they usually get the job done in an efficient manner.

 

I just flipped through "The Tome," and it has a few screenshots, figures, and most importantly, game selection matrices.

 

It would be pretty easy to compile a stack of scanned game manuals into a print-it-yourself PDF. I might just do it myself. Most of the Atari documents are on this site, and I suspect the Sega manuals aren't difficult to find, either.

[Bill Loguidice]

There is indeed a surprising amount of text in Atari 2600 manuals. Again, we like to think of Atari 2600 as simple creations - and in many cases they are - but the reality is there's a lot of relative complexity to how it all can work.

 

Right now, myself and other authors are delivering walls of text and images to the publisher. They're known for their visual layouts, so I'm definitely interested to see what they can do with it all to make it more appealing. Our deadline is next Thursday.

[carlsson]

I hope your publisher won't be playing Ludo with your texts and swallow the most tasty looking parts. (not quite as off-topic remark as it may look like, but it'd be a little complex to explain the context)

[onmode-ky]

At a Target store last week, I realized that if you really, really can't wait for the AFB8 line to come out, you can currently approximate some of the contents via spending a total of ~$60--same as the non-Gold AFB8 MSRP--at Target on three products.

 

- MSI Entertainment's 2016 Space Invaders plug-n-play system (hack of NES Space Invaders)

- MSI Entertainment's 2016 Frogger plug-n-play system (probably a reuse of Majesco's NOAC port from 2004)

- Basic Fun/The Bridge Direct's 2017 "Atari 2600" 10-game plug-n-play system

 

The last of the above, shown at February's NY Toy Fair in prototype form, has apparently hit stores in recent weeks. There's an overview of it on Willie's Arcade USA YouTube channel, and based on that footage, I'm pretty sure the system runs on a NOAC and mostly reuses games from the 2004 AFB1, the NOAC-based system styled as a mini 7800, developed by Legacy Engineering, and published by Atari directly (even though the form factor appears to be a reuse of Jakks Pacific's 2002 Atari TV Game system, which was not NOAC-based). Specifically, the following 8 titles probably were hacked from the AFB1: Adventure, Asteroids (7800 lookalike), Breakout, Canyon Bomber, Centipede (7800 lookalike), Crystal Castles, Millipede, Warlords. Then, there's a Missile Command whose origin I can't identify (anyone know?) but definitely doesn't look 2600-like, and also a "Realsports Volleyball" which is just the beach half of Spiker! Super Pro Volleyball for the Intellivision. By crazy coincidence, there was a beach-half-only rendition of Spiker! on Techno Source's NOAC-based Intellivision X2 15 and Intellivision 10 2nd Edition plug-n-play systems from 2005 and 2006, respectively. But again, that must be a coincidence, because who would actually hack an NES remake of half of an Intellivision game and put it onto a system marketed as "Atari 2600"?

 

So there you have it; in stores now, you can already get 12 of the non-Gold FB8's 100+ games (*cough* as reprogrammed for Famicom/NES) for the same as what the FB8 will cost. A timely value! AtGames has some stiff competition for sure!

 

onmode-ky

 

P.S. Basic Fun became a division of The Bridge Direct in late 2013.

P.P.S. Relabeling Spiker! Super Pro Volleyball as "Realsports Volleyball" is incredible. Imagine if a few decades from now, someone took Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 and sold it under the name "FIFA 09."