The Historian

Given that I wasn't paid at all, you're 100% correct. That was what life was like with Chesnais. He had no vision for Atari. He just wanted to milk everything he could out of the IP; why it stagnated for years...

I mentioned it to the team, when I first got these mockups.

Hello all.. it's been a long time. Like all good historians I've been digging into the past.. and I don't know if I've shared this before. In light of the 2600+ I thought you might find this interesting. @Albert I don't know if you were aware of this, so given that you are now Atari's historian, I hope this adds to your knowledge. The idea of course was to make legacy carts playable on the VCS. But, I could see it becoming a device that would be hacked to allow for dumping and programming carts, so I don't expect it would have come to life in any official way. It is however a well thought out design and deserves a place in Atari's design history. If you have questions about this, I'll try to answer. Atari PORT concept.pdf

I got one from gamestop when they dropped to $99. Some day I might even unbox it or I might just send it to @ferghead like I did with the rest of my 2600 collection.

Just a heads up... https://www.gamestop.com/consoles-hardware/retro-consoles/retro-sega-hardware/products/atari-vcs-800-onyx-all-in-system-bundle/202627.html

Who doesn't love a good port? We've seen some cool ports come out of this community, but that not the Port I'm talking about. At one point there was discussion of a USB device that you could drop a 2600 cart into and it would allow you to play it on your Atari VCS. The Temple of Atari Family Extension Building on the language of the Box, the Port provides an altar to games that have been kept for 40 years. Cartridge Hero With a successfully read cartridge, an LED bar illuminates - highlighting the game art during play even in darker gaming environments. For the Fans. Players who have kept their 2600 cartridges for 40 years are the die-hards and deserve something unusual. Unique game footage laser etched onto the wood bottom label offers the die hard fans something to post about. Atari Box and Atari Port

@Flojomojo Sorry I don't know. I've got a Pac-Man watch face for my Android smart watch and I would love some of those bands. I appreciate the questions. It help me remember things, like the medium post I mentioned above. Totally forgot I had the video with Nolan.

Have these ever been posted?

Yes, sorry for the delay. I've moved since this all began and I cannot find the notes. I'm digging through old emails and finding a few gems.

Game Band... uh bands...

The new post on Atari's medium reminded me of something from Dec. 2nd, 2017

Indie-No-Go The design goal was to capture the design aesthetics of the old Atari 2600, but to modernize with sleek lines. Initially the case was being developed as individual fins to help with cooling, but that would have been cost prohibitive and they went with the current shell. Honestly I think they did an amazing job, it's a very nice looking case that clearly evokes the old within the new. As much as people want to say the prototype of the classic controller in the demos was fake, it really did work. Obviously the Box hardware wasn't legit but that controller was. It didn’t have the spin paddle feature, but it was work as a generic Bluetooth controller. Dec 2017, just prior to opening for pre-orders for the VCS, Atari announced that they needed to address "issues with the hardware", and decided to postpone the pre-orders. That issue... was the modern controller. As I understand it, the controller design and manufacturing were being handled by a well known gaming hardware company. They wanted to partner with Atari on the controller, but Atari wanted full rights to the controller design which caused the negotiations to break down in the day before the launch. Behind the scenes the Indiegogo was set for launch and that's what happened. But it shouldn't have, the launch was contingent on a "go ahead" by Feargal, but the marketing firm launched it anyway. At this point I don't know what was happening behind the scenes... but we do know Atari pulled the launch and then put the delay in place citing "hardware issues"… I do remember seeing a proof of concept for a multiplayer Yars' Revenge. The Qotile was in the center middle with 4 Yars around it.

Will do.

The following is a personal account of my time as a volunteer working with Gameband and Atari Box, all statements are my personal opinions and to the best of my memory accurate descriptions of events. I have, unfortunately, lost a lot of my notes and screen captures on all this... but I'll do my best. If I find them I'll update where I can. Gameband… this isn't about that saga but it was my way into the VCS. I still really want that watch. I reached out the Fergal Mac to offer my help with the Game Band watches and started working to build a community around those products. I'd imagine if things had gone differently we would have seen "Fortnite" watches out there too. Not long after I signed an NDA for Gameband, the Atari Box was first mentioned. A modern VCS with a library of classics and remakes of classic games, this could be pretty cool right? Of course I was onboard to help, sure I'll sign another NDA. We're calling it Atari Box... Okay... but let's hope that's not final. Fergal begins to pull in resources for the "Box". Hardware developers and Design teams to start building renders and images… pulling his time and efforts (and possibly money) away from Gameband for Atari Box. This will ultimately kill Gameband, though there were working prototypes. There legitimately was a design issue with the USB port being to large for the original design specs. I think it was a structural support issue where the port would fail after repeated plugging and unplugging and adding additional support would make the watch uncomfortably thick. Regardless, Gameband is not a thing today and I'm out $100. Notes: Please ask questions, they will help me remember things and there might be things that I don't think are interesting or important that you might want to hear about... Mods: One thread or a post for each "Chapter"?