New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

8 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said:

 

 

Gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, they're definitely not the same,  lol.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

4 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Late edit: they're not the same board.  The standoff spacing on the PCBs doesn't match up, and there should be PCB visible between the rear panel where the USB, HDMI, etc. connectors are located and the ducting since the connectors are hard-mounted to the new PCB.  There isn't any board to be seen in that space.  They aren't the same thing; any comparisons between the two are invalid.

 

Didn't actually see this last part until now.

Mind pointing out where the differences are? I checked those two pictures pretty thoroughly and the standoffs/screw holes/etc. seemed to match right up. Not saying you're wrong, but I'm just curious where you're seeing those differences. 

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

7 minutes ago, aramis said:

Regarding the "white board in the clear shell", I think it's pretty obvious that it wasn't a PCB...just bare board material, used to physically lay out components. No circuits.

 

Pic from E3 attached...

Yeah, it's very possible that's all it was.

I just used the other over-head picture of the clear shell because that was the most clear picture I could find of the insides. o w o

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

Man, dude..... the fucking "Coleco Chameleon"... That was horrible. At least the Atari VCS seems like it could still be a real thing... It will suck like a steaming pile of goat shit, sure, but I'm 60% confident I'll get a final product delivered to my doorstep around Christmas time... That's more than anyone can say about the Chameleon, lol.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

5 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

More giveaways that these are not the same boards:

 

Looking again at the connectors on the back panel of the translucent case, the rear of the rightmost USB 3.0 port is visible (note the strip of blue plastic showing).  Directly beneath it, there's no PCB showing; the grey that you're seeing is the lower interior (i.e., bottom) of the case.  Frankly, all of the ports in that row appear to have been attached to the rear wall of the case with no cabling or PCB connecting them to anything.

 

To the right of that same USB connector on the new board, there's a small blue switch.  On the translucent case, it should be sandwiched between the USB port in question and where the ducting exits at the rear of the case.  It's not present on the translucent case.

 

There's an entire strip of PCB that should be visible South of the fan and ducting if the new PCB were in use; compare positioning of the fan and ducting standoffs for reference.  That's not present.

 

I'm not going to go so far as to call either one fake, but I am going to say that the two are definitely not the same.

 

 

I noticed that too about the missing 2nd blue switch. I'm still curious what that's actually going to be for. Best I could tell, it seems like when the whole unit is together, that switch would be accessible through one of the vent holes. It's probably just a reset switch though, lol.

 

On a side note-- hardware is fun as balls. xD

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

22 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

When did Tomshardware take the photo of the translucent case?  Haven't been following things over there, so the timeline isn't really clear to me.

 

Remember that the Ryzen board was a relatively late-in-the-game hardware change.  If the photo they have was of a device with the original PCB in it, it may not apply to the board that was shown a few days ago.

 

The two boards don't look comparable to my eyes.  Fans are usually placed directly over the CPU (or APU, in this case), and looking at the location of the fan plus the ducting, it appears to be located on the opposite side of the PCB in relation to the one shown recently.  That would put it in the middle of the blank space, which would be the worst location on the board for a cooling fan - it would pass over the CPU entirely, and unless that part of the PCB is constructed of mesh won't do anything to cool the RAM.

 

That was actually back in June, during E3. o:

Original article here: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/atari-vcs-raspberry-pi-gaming-desktop-pc,39647.html

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

6 minutes ago, frankodragon said:

To me it looks like the fan is way off.  Shouldn't the fan be directly underneath the processor?  Instead it looks like the cooling shaft is on top blocking any airflow to the processor.

Yeah, I agree the fan is placed in a funny spot. Not sure why they went with that decision...

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

Did another comparison between two images this morning, one of the motherboard pic and another picture from Tom's Hardware, when they took pictures of that see-through version of the case.

Comparing the two side by side, I can clearly tell that all the holes and components line up with each other in the two shots. So I guess this can be a confidence-builder for those of us that did back it. The overall layout actually makes sense when you see it this way, and you can tell that the motherboard was definitely designed for the casing. There's a fan in that "big space" where we thought the RAM should go-- so the RAM has to be on the underside of the board.

 

The best theory I can come up with is, if you look on the Indiegogo page, both the 400 and 800 models are listed as being "upgradeable" for their RAM. Having the RAM on the bottom actually makes a lot of sense in that regard, because the underside of this motherboard would be the bottom side of the console's casing, and there's probably going to be a removable panel to give you easy access to the RAM (hopefully). 

 

That.... would actually be pretty neat, from a hardware standpoint... Does it change my opinion about the company behind this project or the notion that it would fail? Nope, not at all. xD This is just merely some observations I was able to make just now.

 

 

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

This is probably a waste of time (I know), but just for fun...

I've been analyzing the picture of that board very closely in Gimp, and I'm trying to see whether those indents to the left of the CPU are the underside of where the RAM is on the back... 

 

It's really hard to tell, but those indents seem to be lined up neatly vertically, so it's possible I suppose... If that is indeed a working motherboard, and if Atari would've just posted a fucking VIDEO rather than giving us one vague picture to go off of, a lot of the speculation on that "prototype board" would be completely unnecessary. But once again, leave it to Atari to be exponentially vague.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

32 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

At last, the update everyone has been waiting for: an exclusive look "behind the scenes" video of Mike "Bloom" Arzt and Rob "Bialystock" Wyatt, hard at work with the AtariBox. 

 

 

Dude, is that Jackie Gleason? xD omg

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

8 minutes ago, Clint Thompson said:

If they ever go as far as trying to shut down Atari Age (which is still more Atari than Atari could hope to be) then there simply will no longer be Atari at all. It will be the ultimate self destruct for their brand. I mean, you see how suing Jeff Minter over TXK worked out so well for them. 

Yeah... 

I'm still baffled that they just simply don't even care, lol. 

It's like their actual mission statement WAS to destroy the Atari brand in the first place. It's pretty ridiculous...

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

5 hours ago, Spriggy said:

 

 

Tidus, if I may make an observation and ask some questions?  Just honestly shooting the shit, as I'm genuinely curious to hear from certain backers perspectives (such as your own).   I'm obviously covering ground that has been flogged to death on our thread, but it's needed to answer my simple queries.

 

Your stating you want the VCS for retro gaming and to be more powerfull that a Pi.  Great.  Do you own a laptop?  If not, then my answer won't be as relevant as what I'm enquiring, however still could be.  If you do, why don't you just HDMI plug your lappy into your TV, set it up with any OS you like, then set-up all your retro emulators to your hearts content.  By a USB to DB9 adapater (as an adapter example.  Not expensive) and use original controllers for an original feel.  Or, buy a good quality retro styled bluetooth gamepad, like the awesome 8bitdo N30 or F30 pro's.  More powerfull and a completely open ended (sandbox) set-up, without spending $300 on the VCS.

If you don't have a laptop, again you can get some kickass little lappys for $300 and under, which again would be better than what Atari SA are stating, at this time.  Oh, and upgradeable.

I could maybe understand getting the "unconsole", if it was a console competing with the other big boys and had exclusives, including the other niceties and niches of the big consoles, but for a use to play retro games is just so confusing.  Did you expect more from the Atacobox VCS, but have now resigned to the fact that it's not, so you'll just use it for retro fillanderings?

 

With that in mind, surely you can understand why this thread is 850+ pages.  If the VCS was real (after 2 years), running , showing huge potential, with exclusives and something different to other systems or at least on par or more ... this thread may still be 850+ pages, likely praising Freddy and the teams efforts, definately throwing around innocent memes and jabs at others and ourselves, people getting pulled into line (Dah.  It is the interwebs ) definately throwing up debate, indepth chat on the company itself and its finances .. yadda yadda.  What's your answer on why so many pigeons backers are defending Atari SA so vehemently, after all this time?

 

Cheers.

 

In fairness to @Tidus79001, I've connected my gaming laptop to my TV on a few different occasions-- it's still remarkable how awkward it actually is trying to find room for the laptop to comfortably sit on an entertainment unit without hanging over the edge, since a laptop often is a bit wide in its length and width. Also, the HDMI port and power adapter are almost always on the side, making things even more awkward in terms of cable management... And then mucking about with the power settings in Windows so the laptop screen doesn't take over as the primary screen, or the thing doesn't suspend on you, and so on... The Atari VCS, while still going to be a spectacular failure and deserves all the ridiculing it's getting, is at least an interesting piece of hardware and is also purposefully designed as a device for your TV. 

 

I actually like the idea of a gaming PC in a console form-factor (and I've said this before). It's just that a more competent company needs to do it and actually market the damn thing better. I personally think it would've been cool to see Sega try this, especially since in recent years Sega have been focusing more on PC anyway.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

Dude I'd actually be really fascinated to watch a documentary of the behind-the-scenes of making the new Atari VCS. That would be quite a story to hear. xD

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

7 minutes ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

I stand corrected. Interesting that he was kept after Atari launched the Feargal lawsuit action. 

I guess Atari never really had a problem with Rob-- just with Feargal. o 3 o

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

5 minutes ago, Tidus79001 said:

That is why I haven't been following this thread on a regular basis.  This isn't much of value to be learned in this thread and listening to people trolling and pissing & moaning is not a productive use of my time.

I actually just kinda came back from a long break from here too, but that's because I had just had a honeymoon with my Sega Genesis Mini-- a beautiful device made by my #1 favorite video game company that is in fact a real console.... even if it is just a mini.... STILL-- It's brand new Sega hardware, made by Sega!

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

1 minute ago, Tidus79001 said:

The specs on the Atari VCS blow away any of the Raspberry Pi models.   My reasons as stated above and the better specs on the Atari VCS make Raspberry Pi a very unappealing alternative.

 

Honestly dude, I've been driven to the point where I don't really care about this thing anymore... I've long ago accepted that I might not even see anything at my doorstep this December. My $400 or whatever the hell it was is gone now. But, if I do get some kind of product-- then it will be a pleasant surprise. And it will be a nifty little gadget I can mess around with and customize to my own liking and use case.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

1 hour ago, Osgeld said:

We own our emc chamber and a couple months is still a fast track and nothing as complex as a computer 

 

Even if it passes everything and works perfectly on development board(s) they still have a steep hill to climb to produce anything in quantity ... Should be interesting to see how this floats

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

26 minutes ago, OldSchoolRetroGamer said:

New Atari Console that Ataribox?
By Goochman, June 9, 2017 in Atari 2600   😆

 

Does Goochman even still visit this thread? I sometimes think, man, could you have possibly thought this thread would evolve into 

the 850+ pages of Taco Goodness? When will it end? HOW will it end? 😛

 

Come on guys, we can make it to 1000! o u o

 

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

5 minutes ago, TheVgaTv said:

 

The whole point of branding it with Atari was to get the Atari fanbase involved.  If they had just done a min-PC without the branding nobody would have cared and it wouldn't have generated much of anything with the IGG campaign.  And if they actually had competent people in charge this could have been a success, instead of the train wreck that has alienated the vast majority of people who would have considered supporting this project.

Imagine if in an alternate timeline, Tommy Tallarico was actually the founder of the Atari VCS, and he led the project to success? o    w     o

 

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

8 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Seeking opinions: 

Would the brand holder of "Atari" been better off had they just worked up their mini-PC in silence, with self-funding, without pretending to involve anyone else? Sure, they got an interest-free loan, some publicity (of dubious value), and a sense of how many they should make. But was it worth the hassle? 

I think so.

They should have never made it an indiegogo campaign to begin with, because clearly they don't know how a crowdfunding platform is usually supposed to work.

It would've made more sense to just set up a "pre-order" page right on atarivcs.com and call it a day. By trying to get the "community involved", all they did was impose on themselves the responsibility of having to give us regular updates (which they clearly never wanted to do).

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

13 minutes ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

If the board was a last minute rush, I'm pretty sure they'll experience a high failure rate. So place your bets - assuming the VCS actually ships - How long until the first "Red Fuji of Death" pops up on the internet?

Actually I was wondering about this too-- what's their testing/QA procedure for this thing? They need to make sure these consoles don't set on fire when people plug them in/start doing heavy gaming on them (or what would constitute as "heavy gaming" on an AMD Ryzen).

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

5 minutes ago, TheVgaTv said:

 

That is just some straight comedy from the Reddit page.  They are actively encouraging emulation, which I'm sure their new partner is just going to be thrilled with since you can get every single of of their games for free via emulation.

 

Hell, you don't even need to obtain games really. There's a number of websites that have built-in browser emulators where you can just literally play the games for free directly in your browser. Lol. And, they're compatible with gamepads too.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

5 minutes ago, AtariNerd said:

Anyone able to peep at the version of the Ryzen chip they're using on that board, just to see what kind of performance users might get out of it? 

Tried to, but it's just a tad too far away from where the camera took the picture. Really wish they gave us more than one picture (or better yet, a video...).

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

15 minutes ago, TheVgaTv said:

So in order to run this software it looks like you're going to have to be in Sandbox mode, which is basically either Windows or Linux.  So if it's running those operating systems, why not just instal emulators and play all these games and a whole lot more for free?  This doesn't seem like they really thought this through.

100%. No thought process behind the marketing for this thing whatsoever. A better idea would've been to market this as an entry-level gaming PC for people that are used to console-gaming on their TV. Forget "AtariOS" and just ship it with either a copy of Linux, or Windows 10, and include a controller with it.

[New Atari Console that Ataribox?]

16 minutes ago, Clint Thompson said:

Considering everyone has been bitching nonstop that they haven’t shown any prototype hardware up until this point and then they very quietly just chuck it in at the bottom of a press release based around a game subscription service stating: “oh in case you have missed our hardware updates” like they even had any updates since well, never.... seems highly suspicious. 

 

That would seemingly be a far more important update, would it not? 

 

If it’s so hot off the press then what indeed WAS in the shoebox? Not that any of that matters, as already mentioned they don’t have it connected to a power source, TV or even a heat sink attached. 

Totally agree.

It's as if Atari was locked in a 4-wall room with no access to the outside world or the internet, and they absolutely never heard our requests. 

The whole operation with this "iteration" of Atari is just bizarre. The hardware itself looks relatively neat, but that's about it... Everything else about the product is just wrong. The company is completely mismanaged, the product is mis-marketed, and they ignore everyone's feedback. It's probably a family-owned operation that happened to get the opportunity to buy the Atari brand, and they're just riding off the name at this point.