New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

 

There have been big book stores come and go (Books a million, Waldenbooks) but there are still small stores that are happy making a couple hundred bucks a day after expenses. The same for Atari I think. They are not going to sell millions of VCSii systems but if they can sell 50,000 a year and turn a small profit, then maybe that's good. If you go big then you have to spend big.

 

It's like Star Wars Solo. It made like 371 million dollars and Disney probably lost money. However some smaller indie movie made 20 million and turned a 5 million dollar profit. Not worth it for Disney but sure worth it for those who made 5 million. This is also why Tron 3 is not being made.

 

The problem for Atari, if that indeed is their plan, is that the margins on games consoles are pretty much negative, even when the volumes being sold are in the tens of millions. Nintendo might make a small profit because they're really good at making world class games with weaker hardware, but Sony and Microsoft are pretty much selling at a loss most of the time.

 

The way to make big money from games consoles is in licensing the software, but Atari can't realistically do that if they're only selling 50,000 units a year. Let's face it, who is going to even port games to it, let alone make exclusives if the most they can sell is a few tens of thousand of copies? Even a good indie game can cost upwards of a million to make these days, so those sales just aren't going to cut it. While it might potentially be the case that you could put Steam on it and get some games that way, that's not going to help Atari's business case much.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

Shinto -- that's an excellent example of a well written product description. Details, reasons for being, actual boards and case inside and out, real software. Shipping date much sooner. Had Atari come forth with something like that, they wouldn't be a joke. I would have considered supporting them.

 

UDOO BOLT costs more once you gear it up properly, just like any PC -- and like "Atari VCS," you could probably build something like this from available parts.

 

Meanwhile, I just got an update about a closed beta for the ToeJam and Earl Kickstarter, which is coming up on 3 years behind their original planned shipping date. Sigh.

 

Yeah, the UDOO BOLT is a realistic proposition for a media PC, but you're looking at the $400+ tiers if you want it to come with memory, a case and a power supply.

 

With Atari presumably still aiming at the sub $250 bracket, you're looking at another level of cheap and nasty.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

The target is pretty much arbitrary as, with Indieogogo's "flexible" funding, they didn't even need to meet the goal to get to keep the money.

 

It's not an all-or-nothing deal like with Kickstarter.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

 

What about sauce? I need hot sauce with that and, where is the beef?

 

The hot sauce will be supplied by Llamasoft. Be sure to let them know, because we haven't told them yet.

 

We had the beef all lined up, but someone offered a cheaper cow at the last minute we're deciding whether to switch or not.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

It's worth remembering that in 1995 Nintendo were a multi-billion dollar company with over a decade of continuous experience in the video games console business and people still gave them flak for overselling their product. Let's not forget the roasting that the Virtual Boy got around that time too for being an ill considered venture, and they actually had hardware for that to show too.

 

Atari today have barely got two beans to rub together and, even if we're to credit with them still being the same company, have been out of the business for a couple of decades. They've simply not got the scope to do anything of significance wrong, and it's only conventional wisdom that they're going to fail.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

I'd think the key thing with tacos is that you've got to work out your filling, your shell, and try the two in combination together at least once before selling them.

 

Also, when taking orders, you should at most take half an hour to serve them. Fourteen months is right out.

Oh, and pricing is key too. if you're going to charge 30% more than the quality branded outlets down the road you'd better make sure that yours have something unique going for them.

 

If that all sounds like too much, maybe get into fajitas instead?

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

I make my own tacos too. There aren't many authentic Mexican restaurants in Australia for some reason.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

I always had a sneaking suspicion that they'd keep selling it at the end of the campaign. Most do, and all the end really means is that you can't get a refund any more.

 

Also, while they might have put the prices up for now, does anyone think that this is still going to be $399 if/when it gets to retail? Sure, they had to hike the prices up again to attempt to instill some sense or regret in those who didn't back it. However, getting back to the real world, there are already two games consoles of significantly higher spec at a lower price, so that's simply just not going to fly in the long run. I'd think that $250 tops including at least one controller is the absolute most that the market could bear, and under $200 - alongside the Shield TV and existing nettops - is probably where it'll be ultimately headed.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

 

 

Wait. Have you guys checked the Atari Gameband Indiegogo page lately? They've actually changed a lot. You can no longer buy any Gameband on Indiegogo and ALL of the reward tiers are now empty aside from one droid edition watch, mysteriously. The others show 0 backers which we know isn't true, if you just look at my last video I show the campaign page and there clearly are backers listed there.

Yes, there is still an amount raised listed, but it's part of Indiegogo's old trickery. If you hover your mouse over the question mark you can see it was raised on another platform [read: Kickstarter]

But $325,996 minus $325,996 raised on Kickstarter = $0 raised on Indiegogo. So I don't know what to make of this. Did they refund all of the Indiegogo backers? Did they just erase their pledges? Did Gameband ask them to do it? Atari? Or did Indiegogo do it on their own?

Either way. It doesn't look right and once again - no update to clear it up.

 

 

That's interesting, and this would be a first from Indiegogo if they actually did something about a campaign that's already finished with the money having been handed over.

 

Some further investigation is called for.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

7 hours to go and still that third million eludes them.

 

It's pretty common to see a late rush to get in on a crowdfunded project, but in this case it seems to be almost exactly balanced out by those in a rush to get out.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

 

I'd pay to see that movie in a heartbeat!

 

Maybe someone could start a crowdfunding campaign for it?

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

 

Is this true? Atari's done a pretty good amount of editing of their VCS campaign. At least, I'm pretty sure the whole section about the "Tribute Edition" only came out mid-campaign.

 

They're allowed to add new perks and remove ones that haven't been claimed. It's just the ones that have been claimed that cannot be altered.

 

So, if you've offered up an Atari watch and someone's bought it, tough luck. It's on there for all to see.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

So...

 

Atari is saying on their forums that they canceled the license to Gameband - yet Gamebands most prevalent item on their kickstarter and indiegogo campaigns was the Atari gameband... Which is still on those campaigns...

 

So if Atari pulled the license AFTER the campaigns were funded, this means all those who bought the Atari gameband version can't get them now apparently... Hmmmm.

 

So how long before Atari will pull out of doing various promised things on Atari VCS... (oh we canceled our deal with AMD - so hey, here is a bottom of the barrel atom CPU with 256k of ram... oh and we canceled our deal with FLEX so we just used an off the shelf crappy $20 tablet motherboard and we stuffed into into shoe boxes because we canceled our deal with the VCS shell maker too.... and of course we also canceled our deal with PowerA and we bought out the Ouya inventory of controllers and you'll get those instead...

 

Sound ridiculous... I'm sure a year ago that Atari would be involved prominently with Gameband and after is generated $750k between two campaigns - now they backed out on the deal and backers don't get what they paid for...

 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gameband-the-world-s-most-powerful-smartwatch#/

 

 

Hey you could always invest in Atari Retro handheld, now (jeeeez.....................)

 

 

That's one of Indiegogo's few positives at work.

 

They allow very little in the way of retrospective editing to campaigns, so if something is part of the initial pitch it must remain up there for all to see and Atari can't just weasel their way out of their associations with the product by cancelling the license.

 

Quite what's going to happen when it comes to fulfillment is anyone's guess, but I'd speculate that they'll just be offered a non-Atari gameband instead. Failing that, Feargal may just fob everyone off with one of his Minecraft wristbands again.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

Try to think of it this way. Either it'll come out and you can buy one later, with a much clearer idea of what you're getting, or it won't and you'll have saved your money.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

Yeah, it doesn't tell us anything new.

To people who aren't already under the impression that they're a penny stock without serious prospects for the future it might come across as somewhat negative though.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

It's occurred to me that maybe they didn't mention his name until now because it's taken this long for them to put a signable contract in front of him?

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

The product on Ali Express promises a 1.84 GHz Intel Atom X5-Z8350 Quad-Core, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB ROM (SSD?) running Android 5.1 or Windows 10, yadda yadda. Passmark CPU score of 1281 at 1.44 GHz.

 

The product on Indiegogo promises a 2.56 GHz Intel Atom X7-Z8750 Quad-Core, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD running Android 5.1 or Windows 10, foldable keyboard, yadda yadda. Passmark CPU score of 1948 at 1.60 GHz.

 

I'll agree there is a significant difference between the specs, but I'm not qualified enough when it comes to modern PC hardware to say if it is massive or not. Also I didn't check Ali Express if there are more powerful specs on sale.

 

In case you are in any doubt, check out the update where everyone gets a free upgrade to an M3 CPU and 16GB RAM.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

That's cute ... the same thing is already available on AliExpress, except as a direct sale, no waiting for the crowdfunding.

 

Screen Shot 2018-06-27 at 7.47.11 AM.png

 

Maybe Atari should just pick some existing tech, and rebrand it as their own? Oh wait, that's exactly what they're already doing.

 

Yeah, it's the same hardware but at a massively lower spec. You thought you were getting a super powerful mini-PC, well here's a cheap Atom tablet instead; hope you don't notice the difference.

 

I wonder if Atari are considering fobbing backers off with a late switch to the Cherry Trail Atom too? It's about the only CPU that they could fit in that case without needing a major redesign for cooling and it'd probably have the performance to run Vault too.

 

I think the biggest problem of these projects would be the software. Without software it's worth nothing.

 

Yeah, and Atari haven't exactly given us a load of quality software in the past four years, have they?

 

If you're expecting anything more than the same Linux version of Vault that's been out for a while, a bunch of bundled free apps and some shonky launcher on top of it, you're most likely going to be disappointed. And that's assuming that they can sort out the hardware.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

I see the numbers have fallen off a cliff twice. The first after June 11 would roughly coincide with the fake footage story and the second, after June 21, with The Register posting up the full audio of that interview.

 

I'm sure Atari will be thinking that their PR money was well spent.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

If anyone's not cancelled their VCS orders yet, maybe they should talk a look at this as an alternative:

 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-world-s-most-powerful-pocket-sized-pc

 

Basically, you can have a pocket-sized PC running Windows 10 with an M3 CPU, 16 GB RAM and as 128GB SSD all for a mere $189. That's totally legit, right?

 

How can Indiegogo sleep at night with campaigns like that on their site?

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

So Sir Clive Sinclair seems to own 4.63% of the shares in Retro Computers Ltd. In comparison, how many percent of Ataribox LLC or even Atari SA does Nolan Bushnell own? Is it more than zero? Sure he can give his blessing to the product without owning any stake in the company, but so could Alan Alda though he might be more associated with Atari 8-bit computers than the 2600.

 

That was his share of the erotic chatbot company, whatever it was called. He's got a 25% stake in Retro Computers Ltd. and we've all got our fingers crossed that he'll use it to vote out the current directors on Monday.

It's obviously going to be far too late to get the product finished or any money returned to the backers, but at least nobody gets to walk away without the company finances coming under full scrutiny.

 

And yeah, I don't think you can count on there being a potential white knight among Atari's shareholders who'll stick up for the backers if the VCS project goes South, be it Nolan or anyone else

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

I'm sure that erotic chatbots would handle PR for far less than $5000 per month.

 

Somewhat ironically, it was a dispute over the continued employment of a PR consultant, who was since made managing director because that's totally the skill set you need to replace an experienced games publisher, that led to the fatal split in the Vega Plus project.

 

I'm not sure quite how much they were paying for her services, but it probably in the same ball park.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

If I may offer some sort of "consolation" to those Atari fans dismayed by this whole trainwreck, well, at least it's not as bad as the Sinclair Vega+ horror show. I - a ZX Spectrum kid through & through - just had a peek at the latest from that debacle and it involves bitter infighting, tax evasion claims, going from 1000 games to 18, convicted criminals, "erotic chatbots" (no, really), backer's refund drives, meetings in champagne bars and so on.

 

But that's on par, shall we say. But, by far the worst and disgraceful thing is that Sir Clive Sinclair himself, who's old, of very frail health and apparently unable to participate in person, has become an object of a pathetic tug-of-war between the shareholders fighting over his vote. And it seems it's not the first time that has happened.

 

Trying to use and manipulate somebody who's infirm and ailing for the advancement of your personal fraudulent scheme is just about as low as you can go. The fact that this person is also a microcomputing legend just adds insult to the injury. At least you don't have to watch your heroes being dragged through the mud, it's "just" the more impersonal brand.

 

I'll hold my hand up as having put money down on that one.

 

Still, that was largely based on the involvement of Chris Smith who was, and still is, one of the most trustworthy and knowledgeable guys in the Sinclair scene and totally the sort of person you could trust to get a project like that delivered. However, within a month of the crowdfunding campaign being wrapped up, he - and Paul Andrews, the guy who would be handling the business side of things - had been shown the door, and the whole project and half a million pounds was in the hands of the "erotic chatbot" people.

 

It's at that moment I knew I'd f**ked up. Because no strings crowdfunding, especially Indiegogo, gives you absolutely no comeback against that, and the only thing I was going to get for my money was some quality eDrama.

 

Maybe that's some more food for thought for anyone still wavering on the VCS?

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

 

Unfortunately if it ever comes out the tech inside will be outdated and streaming might not be as smooth as it could be with a more updated unit.

 

I'll leap to the defence of AMD once more and say that the A10 is more than adequate for streaming and pretty much all uses you'd put a media PC to, with the obvious exception of modern AAA gaming.

 

That's not to say that Atari won't manage to gimp it in some fashion or otherwise fail to deliver, but the underlying tech is easily good enough.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

 

Well, if the renderings they have on their own video are any indication, I don't see how they're going to work as vents:

 

when-is-a-box-not-a-box.jpg

 

when-its-a-solid-lump-of-plastic.jpg

 

Much less have enough space inside the thing for, you know... circuit boards 'n' stuff.

 

 

Maybe that's their fall back plan? If the engineering fails they'll just ship as solid plastic paperweights.

 

Ah well, they'd be about as much use that way in the long run.