x=usr(1536)
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Posts posted by x=usr(1536)
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It's a trade show with crowds of people around. Maybe he had to wait in line to get a close look, and didn't realize that pic was blurry until it was too late? It can easily happen.
Skepticism is one thing, but I don't understand why people are going to such great lengths to try to disprove this thing. Face it, they have more than "just renders". Accept it and move on. Are they fully functioning prototypes? Who knows? But many companies go to trade shows with prototypes that aren't fully functioning or just barely functioning, so even that doesn't indicate anything.
One thing I will mention in relation to this: it's not uncommon for manufacturers to have prototypes moulded in colours that aren't 100% representative of the final product, generally because it's cost-prohibitive to do so in small runs. That could have happened with this unit.
Having said that, four USB ports, an Ethernet port, HDMI output, and an SD card slot aren't exactly groundbreaking. Expected to be there, sure, but nothing special. It doesn't reveal (or say) anything about the hardware, or give any impetus to start drooling over it.
As for skepticism: well, they certainly showed something - there is a case, at least, and I'll grant that. But what I don't see running to it is power, or AV output. Sure, it could have been disconnected for the photo, but I'd like to see one actually doing something before I'll give them credit for having something that might potentially become a saleable product.
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Atari's sales activity for 01/01/88 - 01/01/89 shows that 15,084 units were sold, but Computer Entertainer claimed that Sprintmaster wasn't shipped until March of 1989. How could 15,084 units of Sprintmaster be sold in 1988 if it wasn't shipped until March of 1989?
Computer Entertainer claimed the same thing for Super Baseball and Super Football, but the sales figures for 1988 show that they were also sold in 1988.
I'd lean towards Computer Entertainer having got it wrong. It would've been in Atari's best interests to report the numbers and titles of games sold both timely and accurately, since those would have had a direct bearing on quarterly and annual earnings.
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Even if Atariboxcorp, Inc. shows hardware to the press and/or public, it doesn't matter unless there's a strong value proposition attached to that hardware. Based on what they've announced about it so far, there still doesn't appear to be one.
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Cyan on black. I've always found it the easiest to work with for long periods of time, and have used it as my standard colour scheme in terminal windows for decades because of the CRT experience.
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Tape recorder hooked up to the headphone jack on your device, and YouTube. Just sayin'.
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I'll just leave this here
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The problem with that is is relies on people re-(re-re-) buying those games. And if they already have them on a current-gen system, that probably isn't going to happen. The "muggles" who are just interested in the nostalga factor don't care about Minecraft and Terreria. They just want to play old "Atari" games. You know, those "Atari" classics like Pac-Man and Space Invaders.
The one thing related to this that always seems to amaze me: re-publishers of old games never really seem to understand that it's a very finite market. Everyone who wants to play Combat already has multiple ways of doing that... And once you get everyone sucked in who doesn't yet have a way of doing so, it's not as though there will be tons more customers beating a path to your door (or app store).
My guess is that Atariboxcorp, Inc. is using the tacocoin gambling platform / service / application / whatever as a hedge against their device being a one-trick pony, but if that is the case, it's a poor choice: the amount of crossover between people wanting to play old video games and people looking for online gambling has to be pretty small.
Beyond the looks of the Ataribox, nothing about it adds up to much that's a compelling reason to buy one.
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Maybe they could take Nintendo's strategy. Include just one of the two controllers, with the system. And sell all the accessories you'd want to buy anyway, separately. That way you spend the money unconsciously, but the system price seems low which increases sales potential. I see this all the time with the Switch. People buy the system thinking it's a good deal, then days later they whine and complain that joycons and Pro controllers cost too much, but they're already stuck in the system so they buy it anyway. Had Nintendo sold the Switch with two controllers and a Pro pad for 500 though, no one would touch it... despite the fact most people paid that much anyway for the same very accessories and system.
True, but this is really no different to what every console manufacturer has done from the 2600 on up. That's not to say you don't have a valid point (and you do), but peripheral sales tend to make up a much smaller part of overall sales than the units themselves or the software that they run.
Case in point: the Atari CX22 trackball. Sure, you could play Missile Command without it, and the game was arguably better with it. But was it worth the cost of the game plus the cost of the controller (which typically ran more than the game itself)? Evidently the market didn't seem to think so, and relatively few were sold. The same arguments still apply today.
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Just out of the idea for extra information, I originally learned how to write gr. 0 text to a gr.8 screen from Page-6 magazine issue 8 (the 1st issue I ever bought).
I remember that listing as well! Used it in a few graphing programs that I wrote, mainly for labelling the axes.
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Why is this being traded at all? Because of buzzwords? Because it's cheap?Probably both - and given that they're an IP licensor, someone in the company probably thought that this would be a good way to show the market value of their IP. And it is, but just not in the way that they were likely hoping for.
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Honestly, I don't even know why they're publicly listed right now. Not cheap enough for penny stocks, not impressive enough for high risk investors, too volatile to be safe. I don't want to knock on other people's financial decisions, but outside of really passionately thinking that a come back is imminent, I can't imagine investing in Atari.
The one and only reason I can think of for why they're listed: someone told them that they needed to be. It's an image thing.
Never mind that the image being projected is akin to seeing one's own reflection in a funhouse mirror, but it seems that in today's climate it's more important to BRAND BRAND BRAND than it is to actually do anything that suggests that the company might be competent and able to follow through on a plan to bring a product to market.
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I believe that is entirely the purpose, to connect as closely as possible to the history. Previously the Xbox One was mentioned as an example when people would confuse it with the first Xbox, which some previously might've referred to as Xbox 1. There is also the sadly malhandled Commodore brand which Tulip, Yearohnimo and whatever the owners were called tried to breathe new air into by releasing MP3 players called mPET, eVIC etc, more or less a disgrace to those brands they may have had the rights to.
The name Atari VCS may also tie it closely to be an Atari 2600 emulator only, at a price tag several times higher than the Atari Flashbacks. Even if it got new and/or exclusive content to go with emulating the old games, the well recognized product name might turn out to be a hindrance as much as it a door opener if the general public doesn't understand that the 2018 edition of the Atari VCS indeed plays state of the *cough* 2018 games as well, not only 40 year old content.
IMHO, it comes down to one thing and one thing only: Atariboxcorp, Inc. has no past accomplishments to build this device's reputation on, so they're riding the coattails of the original. It's sort of an inverse guilt-by-association approach.
The problem with this approach, however, is that greatness isn't something that's achieved through clumsy marketing exercises and inept social media campaigns. The original was a success because (after an initially-lukewarm launch) it was the right thing at the right time, and that's not something that can be designed, engineered, manufactured, or marketed.
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Recommendation additional to the above: popcorn with Kraft shake-it-from-the-tube parmesan cheese on it. Just put it on after the butter.
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You can find the link in the official public release of it here: https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/03/19/1442311/0/en/Atari-Officially-Introduces-the-Atari-VCS-Its-All-New-Video-Computer-System-Inspired-by-More-Than-40-Years-of-History.html
I didn't include it in mine since I got it before the globenewswire link was active, and I was afraid some of our more taco-friendly trolls are so upset by this thing they might be willing to DDoS it to prevent the press from writing about the console. That said, if globenewswire feels comfortable enough to put the link out there publicly, that's on them to deal with.
DDoS it? Oh, man, you really are stretching.
Seriously... Before you start casting any further aspersions on anyone expressing an opinion which happens to be contrary to your own, just step back, take a deep breath, and chill. No need to start making inferences of possible criminal activity on their behalf because you happen to not agree with them.
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"Join the Revolution" is a new tagline. I guess it's nice, since this is a French company now.
Just remember that when the Bastille was stormed, there were only seven prisoners inside, one of whom was a barking mad Irishman...
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Most of us are pretty confident we will not even have the opportunity to buy it. Feargal Mac does not exactly have a good past. As I stated before if it actually ships I'll buy it when it's on clearance for under $50.
Points taken, but we might at least get the opportunity to throw money at it without actually receiving anything in return.
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I'm looking at a dude who needs some tacos right here.
Here's one - and it's ready to give a nice, soothing hug, too!
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I know some of your mothers didn't give you enough attention as children, but it's ok to like things.
Liking things is A-OK in my book.
Being cynically marketed to by a company who views a community that I'm a part of as an open wallet to be emptied by way of playing the nostalgia card, however, is not.
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Valid Conduit of Sharts
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Vexatious Chump Seducer
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Virulent Commentary Starter
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Less. I was expecting an appearance from the otter-like (charming, slippery) Feargal Mac.
True, but by the same token I'm giving them the 'more' side of the equation for actually managing to take it this far.
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In all honesty, I am trying to muster up the interest to write a reply to this announcement that has some degree of useful analysis... But I just can't.
Atariboxcorp, Inc. hasn't announced anything they haven't already shown, and they still don't have a product in a box ready to deliver to customers. And even if or when that product may be ready, it won't do anything that any number of other devices already on the market don't do.
Meanwhile, they're continuing to ride the coattails of Atari's past glory because they have absolutely no substance on which to build their own.
This is more or less exactly what was expected of them, right down to the continuing lack of an actual product to put on the market.
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I keep looking for which games it plays.
I keep finding nothing.
Dude, like, tacocoin casino, bro! #atarilifestyleyo
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Preferred Monochrome Color?
in Classic Computing Discussion
Posted
We had one! It was monochrome amber, not cyan, but it had a button on it that would invert the video. Seem to recall that it came with an IBM XT clone that one of my parents bought.