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racerx

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Posts posted by racerx

  1. Posted

    1 hour ago, Lord Mushroom said:

    What I am saying is that it is unfair to say Atari is a weak brand because they make less money on clothing than Nike.

    No, it's a weak brand because Atari makes less money on clothing than Nintendo. I wouldn't judge Nike's strength on its console sales, so I'm not sure what you're going for there. Nintendo's juggernaut IP library dwarfs Atari's, and that directly translates to apparel licensing revenue. 

     

    In 2021 Atari is a niche brand, which is a polite way of saying "weak."

    • Like 4

  2. Posted

    1 hour ago, Lord Mushroom said:

    Yes, and you can have such rooms even if the hotels are called Atari.:)

    No, you couldn't. 

     

    Each of those would be a separate license, and everything Atari is done as cheaply as possible. 

    • Like 2

  3. Posted

    2 hours ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

    Because they do things like they did with PowerA - throw them under the bus the moment a problem pops up instead of admitting that they didn't want to pay the extra cost to make something work/to live up to their promise.

    Let's not forget that PowerA got the contract after Atari SA tried to screw over dreamGEAR, the initial controller contractors.

    • Like 5
    • Thanks 1

  5. Posted

    14 minutes ago, Atarick said:

    True. And it overheats, the controls lag, there are glitches all over, and the software is laughably incompatible with 3rd party titles. Also, Nintendo has essentially given up on support for it. They are as guilty of what Atari SA are (marketing a flawed device on brand name recognition), the only difference is they had a broader and more mainstream target audience. 

    What on earth are you on about?

     

    It's arguably underpowered, but it's only real hardware problem is controller drift, something my kid's PS4 has also suffers from. And the dock possibly scratching the screen if we're really picking nits, I guess.

     

    Ultimately, hardware is just a means of running software, Nintendo's is top notch, and the market reflects it.

    • Like 6

  6. Posted

    4 hours ago, zzip said:

    When you look at the fact that the old Atari demographic is primarily gen-Xers that are now in their peak earning years with disposable income, it makes more sense.   What do you get the Gen-X tech-head dad who already has a PC, Switch, PS5,  big screen TV, etc?   VCS would be great if they were an old Atari fan.

     

    I am that that Gen-X dad, and am a fan down to an Atari tattoo and a basement arcade full of Atari consoles and Atari arcade/pinball machines, and no...it doesn't make sense.

    • Like 8

  8. Posted

    I'm just not a brand guy. I truthfully just don't care if there's an Atari moving forward. If they make great compelling stuff, I'll buy it. Early Atari constantly did. Later Atari increasingly did not. I didn't buy the Jaguar, because it was a laughable attempt by a death spiralling company. I didn't care what it was branded.

     

    Then, I'm not a sports superfan either. Field a great team and I'll watch...but I don't have any kind of loyalty to some rich guy's team of rich guys just because we're in geographic proximity.

     

    So in answer to your original question, I simply don't need a future venture named "Atari." I'm going to buy the most compelling product, whether in be Atari, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, or anything else.

    • Like 6

  9. Posted

    1 hour ago, Atarick said:

    Leave it for dead forever?

    Yes, since you've asked.

     

    If it can't be a legitimate company with it's own in-house design and development, what's the point? Just to say the name exists? What's the joy in watching profiteers like Chesnais try to squeeze blood out a long dead turnip?

     

    My life is full of enjoyable things and moments that are long gone. I enjoy them for what they were, and have no compulsion to try to ghoulishly hang on to their remnants. I was a big Atari fan because they were a unique company at one time...but I'm not so obsessed that I need a zombie brand on life support.

    • Like 9

  12. Posted

    11 minutes ago, zzip said:

    Let's take it back a step further.

     

    1984-  Atari is the king of video games.  consoles & arcades.  Their main competition Mattel & Coleco were leaving the market.  They have the option to license the NES and sell it as an Atari system because Nintendo was actually afraid of them.

    Atari was losing titanic amounts of money by 1984, which is why Warner was desperate to get out from under it.

     

    Nintendo was only looking to partner with Atari for the brand recognition and Atari's distribution channels in the North American market. Atari considered it because at that point they had little left in the tank...the deal was set up to be ridiculously in Nintendo's favor.

    • Like 3

  13. Posted · Edited by racerx

    1 hour ago, MrBeefy said:

    True. I was just really thinking of old IPs altogether.

     

    I like old games but not many of them have translated well into modern gaming. A game like Adventure could be like a Zelda or JRPG, but with it being neglected it wouldn't be recognizable as Adventure. Might as well start a fresh IP.

    That's the problem with a lot of Atari's old IPs, though. Because of the technology, they were just generic games built around a concept, or simple arcade games. You were literally a square wandering a basic map in Adventure. Any modern action RPG could be considered a follow-up to Adventure. Are people interested in a modern Food Fight?

     

    Something like Yars' Revenge is a better bet, and the comic even fleshed out a back story. Major Havoc? Bentley Bear was an identifiable character, but again...they just withered on the vine. Beating the dead horse, that's what separates Nintendo from Atari. Nintendo has carefully nourished and developed their properties so that people look forward to new entries. Atari may still technically own a library of IPs, but it's simply not comparable when a good deal of them are things like "Football" or "Casino" or "Haunted House." Atari has been trying to reimagine a lot of these since the Hasbro days and the greater buying public just doesn't care. Night Driver? Centipede: Infestation? Haunted House: Cryptic Graves? Asteroid Outpost? Even with something as popular here as T4K I'd be interested in seeing the actual, cross-platform sales figures.

     

    Their best path forward at this point is to stress the indie gaming aspect of the console. I just think even that's an uphill battle when there are thriving indie markets already in the likes of Steam and Switch's eShop.

    • Like 5

  14. Posted

    14 minutes ago, Nall3k said:

    With that said, I've read, like any PC, it can be upgraded if desired.

    But here's one of those claims that has to be corrected. It's not hate, it's reality.

     

    It can't be upgraded like any PC. Yes, you can add memory, and boot to a different OS. But on a PC I was using for gaming, I'd be looking at the processor and graphics card...and the VCS is stuck with what's it's got.

    • Like 5

  15. Posted · Edited by racerx

    35 minutes ago, MrSeven said:

    Does it have to be that much of a tough road?

    Yes.

    35 minutes ago, MrSeven said:

    A few well made exclusive games to get things going. Perhaps a Swordquest game remade in 3D world like a Tomb Raider type game. Adventure as an open world game. Haunted House as a survival horror type game. The hardware doesn't have to be cutting edge. Breath of the Wild was a wonderful game on less for example.

    Nintendo likely spent more on that one game than Atari has spent on everything for the past ten years. The Switch also sold hundreds of thousands of units before that's game's release, because it was preceded by other top-notch AAA titles that also cost tens of millions of dollars. Nintendo also had the advantage of a reputation earned by steadily releasing quality first party software without interruption for the last 35 years. The fact that some NES and SNES games are on the Switch is just an added plus...it certainly didn't drive many sales in the beginning. Atari doesn't even own the rights to many of the games on Lynx and Jaguar, and outside of our little circle there just aren't that many people interested in them anyway. Basketbrawl simply isn't in big demand.

     

    I keep seeing posts saying it's okay to like the VCS, and it certainly is.  But when people start talking about how the machine is going to be a big success, or that all it needs is something it can't possibly get, or that the stock will break a euro per share, or that now's the time to jump on Atari Token, or that Atari hotels will be a big draw in any major city, that's just ignoring reality.

     

    I hope every backer enjoys the hell out of their VCS, but on a discussion board these kind of pie in the sky dreams are going to generate a lot of discussion.

    • Like 4
    • Thanks 2

  16. Posted

    22 minutes ago, OldSlabSides said:

    There’s a reason the taco thread was nuked. Nothing good came out of that thread.

    I wasn't aware every thread needed profound philanthropic intent.

     

    I'd argue that locking that thread served only to bring the merriment to the previously relatively dour FAQ thread.

    • Like 6

  17. Posted

    1 hour ago, Solomon_Man said:

     

    godslabrat,

    I think the possibility of this being a one-off/abandonware destiny is the responsibility of the target group (Atari/Retro Fans).

     

    That's...not how the market works.

     

    The brand superfans have already ordered theirs. Anything after that Atari needs to earn with a compelling product. "Retro fans have a responsibility for its success" is a hopelessly backwards attitude.

     

    Successful companies generate fans. Fans don't generate successful companies.

    • Like 11

  18. Posted · Edited by racerx

    9 hours ago, Atarick said:

    Maybe one of the most odd driving reasons I remain interested in this thing, classic Atari or non, is that I genuinely wonder if anything we could describe as a "new console" from Atari will ever happen again.

     

    I have a pretty healthy sense of nostalgia, but I'm not utterly driven by it.  I simply don't care if there's a new console from a company called Atari ever again.

     

    I'm a big fan of a lot of the products the old Atari made...I'm not beholden to "Atari" the brand name. I don't buy a Honda just because it's a Honda, and I certainly don't place any importance on brand names that have been passed around to the point of irrelevance.

     

    I'm almost 50, and well past brand name attachments. Pitch me a superior product, and I'll buy it. I've yet to see how this is a superior product in any way.

    • Like 10

  19. Posted · Edited by racerx

    1 hour ago, Mockduck said:

    But sure: Should you buy a VCS? Nope. Should you buy a PS5? Nope. Should you buy a new PC? Nope. Buy what you want, for the reasons you want it. 

    I keep waiting for a rational VCS fan to come forth, and am continually disappointed. Hope springs eternal, I suppose...

     

    Yes, obviously people should buy what they want. That's been more or less how capitalism has worked since its inception. I'm sure some people thought the Edsel was the greatest car ever, and good for them if they picked one up.

     

    For those of us with our screws properly torqued though, we've been talking about marketplace relevance since the very beginning of this adventure. Is there a meaningful audience for it? Does is appeal to anyone but the most hardcore label devotees? Does your average 18-year-old gamer even know it exists, let alone desire one? You know, actual scepticism of and debate about the success of the product. Along the way, we ended up having a lot of fun thanks to Atari's incompetence and some of the more unhinged supporters.

     

    But instead of anyone positing anything resembling a convincing case for success, we got a handful of zealots crying about haters, and trolls, and eChildren, they'll buy it because they want it, and desperately shilling stock.

     

    I called it a couple of years ago, but when this thing inevitably shits the bed, the zealots will blame the haters and trolls for its failure instead of its utter, abject, and total failure to carve out an actual market.

    • Like 11

  22. Posted · Edited by racerx

    1 hour ago, Chopsus said:

    And Power Dubbs is not an employee of FArtari? He does it for love of it?

     

    I have real problems believing he and the other 5 Shills aren’t being remunerated in some way ... they are too prolific to just be fans ... it has to be a bargain basement Social Media Team. 

    He's apparently sunk money into their stock, and probably their token as well. He's trying to make/not lose money.

     

    It seems like a crap ton of work to make a few hundred/thousand bucks, but yeah. If you look at when he started posting here and trying to get people to invest, Atari SA hovered around .40€, from a peak a little over half a euro right after the Ataribox announcement. It cratered to .17€ during the depths of the VCS development nonsense, and as I predicted, is seeing a bump now at release, closing at .45€ today. If he really went in hard at .17 he might be doing okay, but that's a long time to (vigorously) pump a penny stock to see a return.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1

  24. Posted

    33 minutes ago, Mikebloke said:

    Lol, Says pong. Displays Tennis. For the Magnavox Odyssey. Is this video on any kind of official vcs media or is it just on this random botaccount channel?

    It was posted by our good friend PowerDubs, so hopefully it's just something he whipped up.

     

    Because otherwise, even if I was firmly Team VCS, it's embarrassingly amateurish.

    • Like 3
    • Haha 2
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