Ferris

I think it's pretty obvious that the third installation of the Flashback series systems will be an Atari 8-Bit based system with lineage dipping into the 400/800/XL/XE and 5200. Making my case.... We know what Atari still has rights to, and we know how Curt thinks. That's all you need to know to understand that we're prepping for an 8-Bit system. There Flashback deal that was cut with Atari was for 3 systems to be developed, so long as the first one could be rushed to market for Christmas 2004, hence the lousy FB1. First a hybrid 2600/7800 that would be rushed to market, second a genuine 2600, and the third was to feature interchangable media. I've always suspected it would be a 400/800/XL/XE/5200 type thing. That format has some pretty nice graphics as compared to the 2600, and there's wayyyy too much software written for that general format that Atari is still sitting on NOT to take advantage of. To many people, the 8-Bit line was the "real" Atari. Just try to put yourself in Curt's shoes and think of what he would do. Consider this if you will... - The 8-Bit line encompasses many Atari systems. The 400, the 800, the 5200, the ENTIRE XL line, the ENTIRE XE line, including the XEGM. - Atari still owns the rights to many 8-Bit games. Think Centipede, Star Raiders II, Crystal Castles, 5200 Tempest, etc. If Atari is venturing into the whole "lets re-release these classic game titles on new machines" why would they pass all of these titles up in favor of ANYTHING else? - The 8-Bit line can utilize the CX40 joystick, which Atari seems to have perfected. Plus, most any 5200 game could be converted back to standard 8-Bit to use the CX40 so that covers the 5200 base. - Plenty of new 5200 and 8-Bit homebrews have been created in recent months... I'm sure one or two of them could make graet candidates for FB3. Haunted House 3D, Koffi Yellow Copter, Beef Drop, and Castle Crisis which could legally be converted to Warlords. The Lynx would be nixed because its portable, has a very small library of games, many of which Atari does not have license to any longer, and I know of other things privately which would immediately lead me to believe that FB3 is NOT a Lynx. The Jag is a gorgeous system that could still be modern if money was sunk into it, but it hardly has any real Atari titles and I just cant see infrogrammes doing anything with it at this juncture. All that leaves is the 8-Bit and the ST. Do you think its possible they would do anything with the ST line? It's possible, but I doubt it. At least for now. Maybe one day there will be an FB4 featuring all sorts of ST games, but I highly doubt it. Okay, so... the only real question left to ask at this point is will there be an adapter or easy hack to go between FB3 cartridges and 8-bit cartridges? Or whatever format it may be? What is the target date for release? What does Atari ask if you wish to submit a homebrew title? I'll bet anyone here $100 dollars that we're going to see an 8-bit based machine. Werd. Justin

Suggestion - allow Regan to design this one. He's available and he digs the Flashabck projects.

You know the original design of the Lynx called for this same screw-in type stick in the d-pad. Let's all be thankfull we never had to live with that too!

Hey anything's possible. I tried to build a nuclear powered 7800 once.

LOL funny to think Warner was still trying to boss Atari around after they turned it over to Tramiel.

Dude, I'd settle for a really cool poster and a set of Atari stickers. That is if they got rid of that bastardized "Flarebottom" Fuji. History booklet would have been nice too. Something along the lines of the original booklets that used to come with 2600 games in the early 80's but with some historical content.

MADE IN AMERICA - New USA Network reality show featuring Atari's Nolan K. Bushnell Didn't see this posted yet and wanted to pass it along. Look's like Nolan is going to be a reality TV star

How soon before you think you can release this in the 7800 version? Sure would love to have it by Christmas

Agreed. I see brand new CX40's go for as much as $29.95 from some of the retailers. They way I look at this, it's like buying a new and improved CX40, buy one get one free! Best of all you only have to go to Wal-Mart. Still, I would have liked to see more on the FB2 unit its self. I get the point that some of these games may have been out on the last version, but they were sorta crummy and emulated, whereas the FB2 is a solid 2600 as far as I see it. I wish they would have included Solaris, Crystal Castles, Gravitar, and some type of Midnight Magic style pinball game, even if they couldnt use the original. I just would have liked to see more. As for Quadrun, this is the first time I've ever been able to play this game. I've been looking for an original copy for a few years but I always get outbid, etc. Once I learned how to play the game, it was actually quite challenging! I think it's a great pick, not only for its historical significance but for its continued play value. Thumbs up to FB2 in this category!

Did you know that suicide rates among males ages 14-32 have gone up 48% since G4 hit the airwaves in 2002?

Wow will you pick some of those up for me? I'll send u money via pay pal.

Yeah I probably should add that Ray Kassar was a self-centered well manicured bag of hot air, and that even Nolan was a shyster who would have run Atari into the ground had he not had wonderful management working at that time. At least Nolan was a creative risk taker with an imagination. Kassar, the Tramiels, JTS, Hasbro, and Infogrammes were anything but. James Morgan did some good for Atari in the short while he was in play but that was to little to late. (1983ish) From wild-eyed Nolan to the frenchies at Infogrammes, Atari has spent most of its life under horrific management and stands where it is today as a result. Still, that doesn't stop Jack from being a huge douche, nor does it change the fact that he left Atari to hemorrhage for a decade while Nintendo, Sega and NEC redefined the home consumer video game market. Jack always kept changing game plans half way through the game. The plan from Summer 1984 on was to re-launch Atari as a home computer company a la Commodore, and all efforts were thrown behind the ST. Jack knocked the 7800 to the floor and called it garbage when he took over, and wanted nothing to do with video games. Two years later the ST is getting NO promotion what so ever, and Jack is trying to capitalize again on the home game market by re-issuing the 7800 and 2600 two or three years to late. That would be like Sega popping back up saying “oh yeah hey, Dreamcast is back!” It doesn’t work like that. Then they had to re-design the Lynx. Then it was the Panther. Then it was the Jag. Then it was JagVR which he was unwilling to take a risk on. (could have saved the Jag) Then they were going to do Jag Duo and Jag 2. Then instead of supporting these systems they refocused back to home computers again. Then they sold out. That’s just schizophrenic as hell. This whole thing just pisses me off. What a waste of time these people have been. I will never forgive them.

You know at the very least, even if Nintendo does not release it in the classic NES style, I could have some skins made up that could create the exact same effect.

That's really dissapointing. I have to say I think I may be one of the very few people that was dissapointed with the FB2. It's a solid little system for $29.95 and it's nice to be able to stroll into any Wal-Mart in the country and pick up an Atari and at the very least have some nice new CX40's. The things I was most excited for was Thrust+, Lunar Lander, Secret Quest, Quadrun, Climber 5, and some of the great 2600 games that werent that great on the original Flashback such as Crystal Castles. In my opinion, Thrust+ was going to MAKE that system. Unfortunately that game was dumped for Battlezone. (Yeah that makes me feel better.) Lunar Lander is next to impossible, Quadrun doesnt talk, Dennis' Climber 5 has been bastardized although its a REALLY fun game, (one of my fav's on there actually) and Crystal Castles which was crappy on the FB1 wasn't even present, nor were standard versions of Asteroids, etc. Secret Quest is present and plays wonderfully... it's the closest thing we have to a "Space Zelda" adventure game and I really love it. The other thing that bothers me is theres no history with this unit. Even the FB1 had an on-screen history page that talked about the 2600 and 7800 series systems. Infogrames could have included a little something extra as a pack-in to bolster Atari history, be it on-screen history lesson, pack-in poster or history booklet. After all they are marketing nostalgia here. All that aside, the FB2 is a solid system, I just wish there was more there. It still feels lacking. I do appreciate solid CX40's, a classic looking system, hackability for a cart port, etc. Just my two cents. I'm ready for FB3.

I beg to differ. The Tramiels did not "keep Atari alive for another ten years" they helped facilitate its slow and painful death through some very dimwitted decisions. That's all there is to it. To Jack Tramiel's credit... - He put out a wonderful line of computers with the ST. - He brought the Handy over from EPYX and gave us the Lynx. - He gave us a 64-Bit game system years ahead of anyone else. However that's just Jack. His three sons were asses. They did nothing to advance Atar. At all. They lived in their own little world, pretending they were senior executive level types when infact they had simply been brought in by their dad to help him with his new project like kids helping their dad paint the garage. I have no problem with a business owner bringing his family into the company. Sounds nice on paper. But once in, you should help PROMOTE your company, not work against it by pissing in the eye of Atari Coin-Op and allowing Nintendo to use la costa nostra tactics to gain an 80% market share foothold. Gary was the biggest ass in the building. He spent two hours a day at Atari and the rest of the day being manicured at the spa. (seriously.) Leonard would make the case to developers that they should get out of the business because video games were evil. Meanwhile they are touting Primal Rage. The sons were always infighting, Jack never had things organized well and morale was low among many employees at this time due to Atari's dismal position compared to their industry leadership of five and ten years prior, as well as Jack's unwillingness to invest hardly anything in marketing to push for a comeback. Atari was nothing but relic of its once glorious self, meanwhile Jack, Leonard, Gary and Sam are all screaming at each other in the hall while Larry Segal tries his damndest to keep things moving forward. Everybody I know that knew Jack on both a personal and professional level all use similar language to describe him. "Oh now HE was one arrogant motherf****r!" .... "Boy was this guy arrogant, WOW!" .... "He thought he was GOD! Unbelievable!" Meanwhile they still admired his cunning business tactics that were used during Commodore's heyday. Jack brought over a sleazy mentality from his days at Commodore. Before he was at Atari, Jack had a "work out room" at Commodore where his staff could excercise, except for the two hours a day where Jack would be in there with alone with any given female employee. You wanna cheat on your wife? Fine. Meanwhile your company is going down the toilet while your sons sit at their desk dicking around snorting coke. Nice. That's how you fail. Yep! So thanks Jack for twelve glorious years before you fold the once great Atari into a reverse merger with a tiny hard-drive manufacturer and piss away a great empire! Thanks for engineering some of the worlds fines computers and game hardware, and doing EVERYTHING you could to promote it both in America and abroad. Your leadership was like a beacon sending out a shining light of hope to all those who believed in Atari. You are the MilliVanilli of the business world, you ass. BTW, if anyone wishes to contact the Tramiels, they are publicly listed. You can find them very easily on switchboard.com just by typing in Tramiel and searching CA. Nothing secretive about that. Switchboard

Looks like I have one of the bum units. It doesnt say anything at the opening stage.

John Hardie is the Osama Bin Laden of the Atari world. Offering up money and begging for him to be merciful with MIA is just going to appease him and allow him to go even further. I say we liberate his ass! Who'se with me?

I do blame that on the Tramiels. I think people that follow my posts on a regular basis know I blame *everything* on the Tramiels, so I didn't even bother pointing out the obvious. Blaming the Tramiels is a good rule of thumb. Lose your job today? Blame the Tramiels! Burger King eff up your order? Jack's fault! Seriously though, it's because of Jack and the way Warner handled things during the very last days that we never were graced with such wonders as 7800 RoadBlasters, 7800 Tetris, 7800 Paperboy, etc. Whatever.

I don't want to put down a game that I loved on the 7800 and I'm sure I will enjoy on FB2, but to this day I'm dissapointed that I was stiffed with Fatal Run when we should have had RoadBlasters. The 7800 could have handled RoadBlasters just fine. It's a shame that the rift between coin-op and home consumer was so deep by the late 1980s that we never got these great titles on the 7800. Same goes with Paperboy, Marble Madness, Indiana Jones, Peter Pack Rat, and Tetris.

Fatal Run was released in Europe for the 2600 late in the system's life sometime I think in 1991 or 1992. Not a bad game.

The Atari game I wish to put in my every day sentence is Missile Command. : )

My vote goes to... BEEF DROP 2000 !!!!

I attempted unsuccessfully to hack Pole Position II to use a driving controller for the 7800 that I had created, essentially a two-buttoned paddle controller. Paddle worked great but I never finished up PP2. This must have been three or four years ago when we had all these projects going on. I have to say though, 7800-style paddles looked great

boing.

What site exactly did that come off of? I know you said it was linked from Google but I'd like to know what the source was. I have a feeling that's just someone's hopeful idea...