Mockduck

I am a Karateka player from way back in the day on the Apple IIe; it was one of the things that tipped me over to getting this bundle. Yeah, controls aren't great, but I've been able to make it work. Also played a ton of One on One on the IIe, while different looking both versions play the same, which is nice. The 7800 has a lot of great games on it! Good ports of big games of the era.

I too have joined the 7800 club. Discovering and playing 7800 games on the new Atari VCS got me interested despite me not having any personal history with the 7800. I missed out back in the day, I bet I would have liked it more than the NES.

Looking at MicroProse Soccer:

Unfortunately not. I think the best bet would be to scour the medium blog along with the design videos done by the contractor who helped design it. It's an interesting project!

It works out of the box in AtariOS and on Stella for PC. It works without twist function in Steam, and I can't speak to MAME as my version is too old. So, as a stick it pretty much works with anything but the twist is pretty limited in compatibility on the PC side.

Also Tempest and Danger Scavenger are great with the Classic, just want them to get mentioned too. Overall there are quite a few games that utilize the spinner, but there could always be more, and a few could use some tweaks, in particular additional sensitivity control. It lives up to its promise and then some, though, in my opinion. The last step needed is wider driver support on the PC side.

I have a theory that in 2022 times Gamestop maybe has some kind of system in place where they essentially auto-clear out old stock, and also a system that re-stocks based on # of sales over a certain period, so that would explain why Gamestop would suddenly dump all of their VCS stock at below rock bottom prices then restock and try to sell at full price... Then again, someone somewhere said they bet Gamestop meant to sell the Onyx All-In at $199 since they'd sold the standalone at $150 and typo'd it to $99, then never corrected it, and that too sounds totally plausible to me...

In this case the average consumer is a retro games enthusiast with a history and knowledge of old Atari games, so yeah, I'd actually say the spinner is critical to reaching the VCS' audience.

I've long beat the drum of $300 with an included Classic myself, but that has been a lost cause. It seems clear that if Atari felt they could take a price cut they would, but for whatever reason (presumably actual cost of production) the idea of a price drop seems to be a nonstarter. It's also the number one reason why the console hasn't sold, although even with a price drop most of the negative folks on the Internet would just find another reason to bash it. Still, doing something to change Internet minds is dumb, doing it to actually start selling through to customers who then buy games in AtariOS is the reason to do it.

Heh since we seem to be living in crazytown over at Gamestop (thank you by the way, killer deals!) maybe it's time to FINALLY bring out that Gamestop Exclusive VCS with the stripes.

Tailgunner is a pretty simple game, really, it is pretty good for what it is but it is mostly just a casual shooting gallery style game. There's a bit of gameplay with the choices you can make as you move on but I mostly found it fairly short and simple. That's fine, though, for what it is. Also yeah - tough! I feel like this game would be easy in VR, but maybe not.

Relevant to the thread: How to Break a Classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eY5EBsSyA8

They don't have much resistance, and no travel to speak of I have noticed, but they aren't loose, either. While they tend to encourage a lighter touch than the jamming of the old sticks, the stick snaps back and is nice and responsive. Is great for games like Cosmic Ark, for example, in addition to more regular use of the stick. They aren't delicate exactly, but you don't want to treat it like a CX-40 that's for sure.

I get that for Atari and people who presumably own stock in Atari how many units sold and such are important, but the relative success in the wider market is of little interest to me, and never has been. More important that they get the device right than it sells big, at least this time around, and I think they largely did better than expected by a mile. If the thing truly died today with no further support I will have had my money's worth and then some, and I get no personal worth out of the like or dislike of a thing by others, so I'm good. Would - I - buy a VCS 2.0 with more RAM and a significantly better CPU/GPU? Heck yeah. Bring it on. There's at least a few thousand of us that will as well.

This thread has the potential to be interesting what with all the $99 Onyxs out there...we'll see if it bumps up sales.

I should add that I used the words "plugged in" but the Classic works over Bluetooth in AtariOS and the VCS' PC Mode without issue as well. It works fine in my regular PC as well, although some users have reported the need to wire the controller into their computer through the supplied USB cable.

Stella was integrated into the AtariOS a few months back, so it works like default when booting up one of the VCS Store's 2600 ROMs. There is a way to hack it to add your own, someone in the Discord knows more about that. Seemed complicated. While I haven't been able to get to the menu in Stella, the Function Keys seem to still do their thing. The Classic is just recognized in Stella these days without issue.

Yes, the Classic works killer with Stella, just works when plugged in currently. Both in AtariOS and PC Mode or on PC or whatever.

I've been thinking about this topic a bit and I think this is a device that will have a traditional let's call it "eCommerce" life and then a period where the tech gets used for a while longer. I think the TECHNICAL end of the VCS' life will be when it is no longer a realistic option for Windows 11 use; since it is Win11 compatible it should in theory at least be able to stick around through that OS' life, at least until general benchmark tech rises to the point it no longer makes sense. In terms of "When will Atari stop supporting the VCS Store in AtariOS", I think we'll have a strong 2022, and we've had a great 2021, and I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't at least a trickle in 2023. BUT, I wouldn't be surprised if 2022 ends up being the biggest year in terms of Atari support; they'll at least keep it going through this year for the 50th and because they've got a nice core community buying things, even if the numbers aren't enough to sustain it beyond the year. It seems - possible - that the Gamestop sales have brought in a few thousand more people at least; the social media comments on "I got one" have been fast and furious in recent weeks. So, maybe that'll give AtariOS enough boost to keep 2023 decent as well? Hard to know, but we'll know more as we see individual game sales positions in the coming few months. I think Atari will keep selling the console for as long as they have stock; hard to know how long that'll be as we just don't know what their inventory is. They are still selling Speakerhats after all.

Thanks for the reminder. I too ended up fairly recently doing a refresh of the Windows 10 installation on the SSD and didn't do the additional driver download. I can't say that it solved many of my problems; the games I want to run still don't run, including Rocket League. But in general I think you are onto something to probably not update those drivers unless you have a specific problem with your installed drivers.

It's true, RCA cables work in a pinch but a good shielded RF cable is usually better.

I wonder how much this is just automatic messaging: X number sells out in Y time it says "Awaiting Availability" instead of "Sold Out" or something. Does seem odd they'd be bringing more in, unless they know they have more stock but it is in a warehouse or something.

I have an RCA to HDMI adapter I run through a VCR for my Atari, but this one looks like it might be nicer. Do you get much ghost imaging with this device?

I recently decided to sell a block of wood for 10 cents to someone even though I paid a dollar for it. The lumber industry must be in big trouble!

My take: It's a buck, you probably shouldn't spend it. But, if booting the VCS and going straight to the game enough times adds up to worth a buck, go for it.