Jump to content
Have You Played Atari Today?
2600|5200|7800|Lynx|Jaguar|Forums|Store  

Tavi

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    296

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Tavi

  2. Posted

    2 hours ago, Tidus79001 said:

    There is the Atari store that is to have retro title and original content.  Then there a partner services retro and indie services that include:


    Antstream Arcade
    AirConsole
    Game Jolt

     

    They can charge whatever price they want.  That being said for a device that can sever as a full PC running Windows and be used to run any emulator is HUGE bonus and very attractive to many retro gamers I think it a very reasonable prices.  The design and power in that footprint and the overall aesthetic of the console as well and the controllers (Atari Classic Joystick and Atari Modern Controller)
    is big draw vs being the alternative of a clunky setup using a laptop, micro form factor desktop PC or under powered ARM device running a custom Linux OS.  There are many people to just want a device such as the Atari VCS that is already prebuilt as a retro gaming rig as opposed to finding all the parts and putting it all together themselves and the overwhelming surpassing of the target goal during the Indiegogo campaign as well as the the pre-orders proves that.

    Whatever your take on it is there is not any other console that is offering what the Atari VCS is in terms of content, services and serving as multi purpose universal retro gaming device.


    The problem I think is whatever you want of the Atari Box, you can find something already offering it; and usually better and/or cheaper.

    You want a retro emulator? Pi can do it all and for a lot cheaper then 400$. You want a Steam box? You can build one for a lot cheaper then the Atari Box (remember a SDD drive and Win 10 licence is extra on top of the units price); and you can likely then also upgrade components to it to extend the systems life. With the Atari Box, other then adding memory nothing is upgradable. A problem when as others have said the Ryzen CPU is already becoming outdated and the unit is not even in production yet.

    Games are not exclusive. You can play everything demoed so far on the Atari Box on another existing system. So again, why drop 400$ on a new system to replicate the ability of an existing system(s) you most likely already own?

    At least with the Amico, they know what customers they are going for and carving out a market niche for themselves. Atari seems to be trying to do a little bit of everything, and the problem is it is now doing nothing well enough to justify buying the Atari Box.

    In my opinion the iconic name brand is pretty much the only thing carrying Atari Box sales, and that won't last long once reviews start coming in I expect.

    • Like 3

  3. Posted · Edited by Tavi
    punctuation

    Awesome update!

    Getting MLB officially onboard with the Amico is spectacular news. I cannot wait to see what you all come up with for the game. It will have some pretty big shoes to fill for the retro gaming community familiar with the original Intellivision title; but I expect the Amico game will be just as fun and impressive.

    It is also great to get some additional information on the Evel Knievel game, coming to the Amico with with improved sounds and graphics and new content and levels. Hopefully this will take some of the wind out of the sails of their complaints over the game (probably not; but one can still always hope!).

    Honestly, I am not familiar with the 'American Cornhole League' but being in Canada that might not be as surprising. I do know it is a very popular game though, and having the backing of the official American league certainly will be a good thing for the Amico. This could become the 'Wii Bowling' for the Amico, where some will be interested in the unit just for the ability to play Cornhole without the physical space required or a need for setting up a physical board.

    This is all great news, and I cannot wait to get to be able to try out these games for myself!

    • Like 11

  4. Posted · Edited by Tavi
    Spelling

    3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:


    I don't know too much about the give-a-way stuff.  Others in the company have handled that from the start.  If anyone has any questions, please feel free to reach out to [email protected]

     

    Thanks!  Wish I could give folks more info... I'm just not too familiar with any of the contest stuff.

     

     


    I can perhaps field this one, being a Canuck myself.

    Canada is exempt from many contests originating internationally and in the US because we have rather convoluted bits of regulation concerning contests called the 'Canadian Sweepstakes Law'. Which rather then navigating these national specific regulations, most contests just prefer to bypass Canadian participation.

    As well the 'Canadian Competition Act' states that 'Luck cannot be the sole deciding factor in winning' which is why contests run in Canada always have a 'You must correctly solve the math problem to claim your prize' addendum to winning.

    Just to add the the fun, Quebec has its own additional sets of laws and regulations concerning contests. So if you want them to be included the contest must meet another additional level of Quebec provincial contest regulations.

    So the short answer is most contests exempt Canadian participation because of the extra work involved.

    1aab7f0c6483c1fe59f78da24929b8b3.png

    • Thanks 2
    • Sad 1

  5. Posted

    6 hours ago, TACODON said:

    The shills on IGG are spinning this to be the best announcement yet. Clearly this is big news for the eventual sequel console?

     

    How about you get one out before you worry about two?

     

    This is also going to revolutionize couch co-op. 

     

    Wait, isn't that what the Amico is doing? I believe the spin doctors on IGG claim that isn't a big deal for the Amico but when Atari does it, now it is a big deal? One or the other, people.

     

    I guess all I can conclude from this is if anyone needs faithful followers for any scheme see if Atari can rent you a few.


    Honestly, if it were not for it being a subscription service (God I loathe being forced into buying access to a game on a reoccurring monthly basis) a lot of the games they demoed look like things I would enjoy playing.

    I do sometimes enjoy massive world games like Zelda, Fallout and Skyrim; but sometimes you just want to pop in a game and be playing seconds later. This is exactly why my 2600 is hooked to my TV and still sees a lot of use.

    The Atari Box also still needs its 'Halo', 'Sonic' or 'Mario' system exclusive game if it is going to be a retail success. This latest announcement is more in my line of gaming interest; but certainly not to the point where I would be considering dropping 400$ on a console for it. Especially when it is locked behind 4.99 a month paywall and once again is something that can be accessed on pretty much any device with internet capabilities.

     

    • Like 4

  7. Posted · Edited by Tavi

    6 hours ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

    My bad, I forget that they are mainly adept at "licensing," but interesting that the KS page is still up and Atari's name still all over it. You'd think that a reputable company would revoke said license and make sure that their name is removed from everything related to it. 

     

     

     Ah yes, I knew I was forgetting something on those. This reeks of the phrase - Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. 

    How many times does Atari need to fool everyone before it overcomes the psyche drug of nostalgia?

     

    Yet another example: Planet Coaster Dev Frontier sues RollerCoaster Tycoon World maker Atari - Reason: Atari lied about sales, Frontier found out about it, demanded what they were owed in royalties.

     

    Another example that hasn't been well publicized is that Atari failing to pay up on their promised end led to the closure of a Wisconsin game studio.  The now defunct Human Head Studios had created the excellent game Minimum, with Atari funding development, until they just suddenly stopped. This was a major reason to instigating HHS' downfall, and left many players hanging since the online-focused game became inoperable. 

     

     

    But gotta keep giving them money, cuz they've got the rights to that name we all grew up with. 


    This was back in 2009, but I am reminded of when Turbine took Atari to court for 30 million in damages. With a rather impressive list of grievances, underhanded dealings and outright contract breaches against Atari.

    It is sad to see what was once an iconic monolith of gaming reduced to nothing more then a name being passed around between various conmen and scam artists; each one wringing just a little bit more out of the brand, not caring in the least how badly it damages the name 'Atari' in the process.

    Forty years ago, Atari = Gaming in most peoples minds. Now you mention Atari and the first thing that pops to mind is lawsuits, scams and broken promises.

    Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

    https://www.engadget.com/2009-08-26-breaking-turbine-sues-atari-over-dungeons-and-dragons-online.html

    • Like 1

  8. Posted


    It is funny, but when I got this game as a kid I played the hell out of it for quite a while, and loved it.

    But then I had also never been in an arcade at that time. It was not until some time later after I had seen and played Pac-man on a friends Intellivision and played it in an arcade that I realized how truly awful the 2600 version actually was.

    It is a shame that Atari seemed to have phoned it in on several of the big arcade hits of the time. I would say expecting the name recognition to carry them in sales, rather then doing their very best at creating a fun and faithful conversion (or at least as faithful as you can get with the 2600's hardware).

    I still fire it up and play it on occasion, but there are certainly better versions available. Even Ms Pac-man for the 2600 was a huge step up in game quality over Pac-man.

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    1 hour ago, Relicgamer said:

    It would have been cool if they had made a new pitfall like one of those 3rd person adventure games on mobile.  In fact there is alot of nice games that have come to mobile and having a dedicated console would be perfect for them. Even like the uncharted game on the vita. But  pitfall. Then made other reimagined games. River raid, Hero these alot they could have done. But I feel they had no enough money to do any game development.  Sad really.  


    A remake of 'Pitfall: The Lost Expedition' would likely go over very well I am thinking. From what I recall from the PS2 version at least, it was decent but certainly not spectacular.

    It certainly would benefit from an re-imagining/remake I am thinking.

    • Like 5

  10. Posted

    2 hours ago, jhd said:

     

    Interesting. I have not seen the actual documents, nor am I an expert in Federal Civil Procedure, but it appears that Tin Giant did not oppose the motion to set-aside the default judgement. In other words, Tin Giant seemingly wants this to go to trial.

     

    That makes little sense to me; if Atari makes an offer to settle (which is what usually happens in these types of disputes), it will be for less than what Tin Giant would receive as a default judgement. 


    I am suspecting there are a few factors here. One would be that Tin Giant feels it has a strong case and expects to win, so then why settle? Which leads right into the second point. Looking at past Atari lawsuits they seem to offer considerably less then what is owed by them and expect that this offer will be taken rather then dragging things out though court.

    If Tin Giant expects to win, I doubt they would settle for a partial payment on what is owned. Might as well go for the full amount, plus Atari paying the court costs.

    I think Atari has pulled this scam once too often, and this time Wyatt is not playing along with them.

    • Like 5

  11. Posted

    6 hours ago, OCAT said:

    I surmise that if Atari does not get a certain amount of new preorders, none of the backer systems will be filled. They need to get 2X the orders before they can scale to cut costs. Unfortunately they actually have a chance to leap forward due to the recent news that the Amico is nowhere near anything that is ready to ship. They have an add for Ziprecruter (sp) for a position and the description of what they need is someone who can actually BUILD the entire system. So what the fudge do they have now? Most of what they have shown is mobile games, this is ouya 2.0 with a Turbo.
    Usually I root for the underdog, but these 2 dogs are chewing up your wallet and slippers when you are taking a nap.


    Er, even from a purely technical standpoint both the Amico and Atari Box have shown to have at the very least working prototypes. So I am not sure where you are coming up with that the Amico is just now looking for someone to build the system?

    Both have also made mention of manufacturing delays, due to Covid throwing supply chains and Chinese manufacturing for a loop. Something that is hitting all the console manufacturers, not just these two.

    But the Amico is the one saying there is 'a possibility of delay' and still hoping to meet their 10/10/2020 release date. Unless Atari has access to a time machine, I just do not think they are going to make their December 2019 release date. Or the March 2020 release date. That is two missed releases well before the Covid problems. With their recent 'Good news Everyone!' announcement that after three months they finally managed to produce 96 units, with another 11,000 to go I expect their latest December 2020 release date is eventually not going to look terribly promising either.

    While neither system might not offer what you are looking for in a gaming console, they are still both very different from each other in pretty much every conceivable metric.

  13. Posted

    59 minutes ago, Tidus79001 said:

    Wow! Just saw the Atari VCS email today that they are guaranteeing delivery before before Dec 24th for pre-orders (not to be confused with Indiegogo orders that will ship in October).  This is a huge announcement since that they are pinning down delivery to be in time for a Christmas for the launch of the console.

     

    image.thumb.png.b65ec400bb8b0bf884a39d2b724282db.png

    I would probably have a bit more confidence in this guarantee, if only Atari had not missed three shipping dates already.

    Plus if I recall correctly the pre-order people are pretty far down the Atari Box fulfillment list. It would be almost as quick to wait for Walmart or Gamestop to stock them and pick one up from them.

    It certainly would be a lot cheaper as well as you would not be shelling out the cash upfront and then be waiting on Atari to decide if and when they will deliver. So waiting for physical stock to be available from stores would reduce a lot of the risk involved as well.

    As a year and a half behind schedule and just 96 units produced, with another 11,000 or so still needed does not instill a lot of confidence. I would be willing to bet big that if Atari does not find an investor using the 96 units they are passing around right now, they will just walk away. I expect they will remind everyone who backed the Indiegogo project that they were 'investing in a vision, not buying a product'.

    I expect between the additional year and a half of operation costs and Corona driving up component prices; they do not have the money needed to build the backer units.

    I would say these 'dev kit' units being produced are Atari's Hail Mary play; desperately hoping to find a  ̶s̶u̶c̶k̶e̶r̶ investor so blinded by the Atari name they overlook the last few years of  ̶f̶l̶a̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶u̶m̶p̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶e̶s̶ setbacks attached to Atari and to the Atari Box project.

    • Like 4
    • Sad 1

  14. Posted


    I like this little bit : 'It’s an exciting time, as the units from this pallet are now being prepared with games and apps for business-only purposes, including demos for key retail merchants, regional distributors, the Atari PR team/influencers, late-stage dev kits for game testing and other critical purposes.'

    It seems a lot of these units are being used by Atari to stump up some interest (and I presume more importantly, investment money) in their Atari Box.

    Which certainly would explain why they need 500 'Dev Kit' units.

    I am a little impressed as this is one pallet more of Atari Boxes then I had honestly thought would ever reach US shores. I half expected the few prototype and demo units to be the entire production run before they shut it down. Still it is a long, long way from the 11,000 or so additional units they need for their Indiegogo backers.

    Chesnais and Atari better be a lot better at pitching this Box to investors then they have been in so far in promoting and demoing it.

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    59 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

    Is this what you were talking about, Curt?

    7bfac87a-aaaa-42ed-b2dd-3c19436f4084.pdf 747.56 kB · 5 downloads


    Granted I am no lawyer, but I am not sure Atari has much of case here.

    Atari can talk about iconic video game images and how the Atari brand began the billion dollar a year home gaming industry, but the simple fact is they have not actually manufactured any 2600 hardware themselves (including the Atari joystick) for 30-35 years. So I am thinking it would be a challenge to make a case showing how Hyperkin is stealing business from them, or the possibility of product confusion with original 2600 joysticks.

    Again not an expert, but 'They are making something obviously inspired by something we quit making over three decades ago' is not a strong legal case.

    I would be surprised if Atari pulls a win out of this one. For a company that now derives most of their income though various lawsuits, they do not seem to be doing well in court recently at all.

    • Like 9

  16. Posted

    5 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:


    It's a good point.  And like I've said in the past...  They search every day for Amico content, watch and comment on every video, read every article, read every comment here, spend hours making videos, make fake accounts to have double and triple the voice, etc.  I don't know... sounds like a fan to me!  :)

     

    Considered "negative" or "obsessed", but they are still contributing to the community pretty much on a daily basis at this point.  That's a huge sign of future success.  If we were boring or they weren't interested, they would say their peace and go away.  Instead, like you mentioned, they are really just upset that something they really like deep down isn't exactly the way they want it for themselves.  A sign of immaturity for sure... but also a sign that they care so much about it that they feel the need to discuss and think about to the point it consumes their daily life.  Sad in one regards, but kinda cool in another. 

     

     


    This does remind me of Rob Reiner interview I saw many years ago. The interviewers had asked him something like 'Does it bother you at all over the hate mail you get for making your movies?' to which he replied 'Not at all. In fact, I would be bothered if I had just made a film and got no hate mail at all for it; then I would worry I just made a flop'.

    It seems you both agree on that point. The biggest concern would be if absolutely no-one was discussing it at all, not that some minority of people are automatically hating it.

    • Like 5

  17. Posted

    3 hours ago, Shawn said:

     

    I'm guessing they do not have or might not be willing to spend the money to produce the actual product.


    I am convinced that Atari had never intended to build the Atari Box.

    I imagine the plan was this: Run an Indiegogo for the concept of the Atari Box (keep in mind at the time the Indigogo was running Atari had no prototype, and only a handful of actual staff, none of who had any experience with or the skills required to create a new console) and get the Atari brand trending. If the project failed in its funding goal, then they could at least cash out on the increased stock prices.

    If the Indiegogo succeeded, then plan B was sit back and wait for one of the big players to notice them and buy Atari out for an obscene amount of cash (we can call this the 'Oculus Rift Effect'.), or just wait a bit of time then put out their 'This is a hard letter to write.... you were buying into a vision, not buying a product....' and ride off into the sunset.

    I really do not think they ever actually planned for having to build the console themselves.

    When the Atari Box Indiegogo succeeded, and with a surprising three million plus raised, they were now stuck. That is entirely too much money for them to pull an Atari Gameband and disappear with the cash (The US is now pressing class action lawsuits against high dollar fraud campaigns), and none of the big boys were coming to them with a giant novelty cheque for millions to buy them out.

    So now with no manufacturing capabilities, no engineers, no programmers, absolutely nothing Atari needed to actually build and design a console; Atari had to start right from square one and design then manufacture 11,000 Atari Boxes and do all this for three million dollars.

    Which brings up to a point I had mentioned a few weeks ago, the five hundred 'Atari Box 'Dev kits'. I would put my money on that Atari is now nearly out of cash; and that five hundred units is all they could afford to manufacture. 260K to Rob Wyatt, 100K or so for Feargal Mac Conuladh; add on three years worth of of salary and expenses (I bet Arzt pays himself handsomely) and top with considerably increased costs of electronic components need for the Atari box and I would think that the initial three million is now pretty much finished.

    I would bet that the majority of these five hundred units is their 'Hail Mary' throw, and they are desperately shopping them around as demo units while looking for some investor money to pay for the actual production.

    Of course this is all 100% conjecture on my part and I could be completely wrong about this. But looking at Atari's 'no news is good news' consistent silence on most aspects of the project, the repeated missed deadlines bringing them to now a year and a half past their initial delivery date with still no real idea when production is even beginning, critical staff quitting and then suing them for delinquent payment and I will certainly believe they are experiencing serious problems over believing everything is perfectly fine, but Atari just doesn't feel like keeping their backers updated.

    • Like 6
    • Thanks 5

  18. Posted · Edited by Tavi
    adding info


    As the title states, I came across a new listing on eBay this morning for an Intellivision II being sold with computer keyboard and adapter. The listing also includes a spare controller, a few games, and two rather nifty looking joystick adapters.

    It does not appear to have the original boxes, but all parts do look in excellent condition. According to the listing all parts have been tested and are working.

    Might be a good deal for someone looking?

    https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Mattel-Intellivision-2-Console-Keyboard-Computer-Adapter-Games-TESTED/274391741116?hash=item3fe305b2bc:g:y6oAAOSwyB9e3pzH

    ... as I forgot to mention it somehow, the opening bid is 80 USD.

  20. Posted · Edited by Tavi

    3 hours ago, Tommy Tallarico said:

    *snip*
     

    I totally agree.  I think it would be really cool.  Currently we don't have a game like that, but I'm definitely on the look-out for things like that... so if you know of any Steam, Mobile or Switch games that are similar, please give me links so I can check them out and have our team approach the developers to see if they would like to make something for Amico.

     


    You might consider talking to Funatics Software (a German studio) about acquiring the rights to 'ZanZarah'. It is an older game, from 2002 that they have the rights for. It has some puzzles but is at heart a collecting game where you catch, train and trade faeries and also create teams to combat them against others in an arena (No killing or graphic violence though!).

    It certainly is family friendly content, easy to learn and play, and as a relatively unknown title so it would be new to many people. The soundtrack is pure ear candy (no offence!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl5vPtL6u4o

    As it often is on Steam for 90% off, at under 1$ USD, I suspect the rights would likely also be very reasonable? https://store.steampowered.com/app/384570/Zanzarah_The_Hidden_Portal/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZanZarah:_The_Hidden_Portal

    • Like 4

  23. Posted

    On 5/30/2020 at 2:24 AM, roots.genoa said:

    WTF does that mean?? 😑


    ... well, to myself it means Atari has for a third time recycled the same bit of news concerning the 500 units as fulfilling their 'monthly' (which seems to take an average of 5 weeks now) Indiegogo backer update. Seeing they estimate completion in Mid-June, I do wonder if they are going to go for broke on four; and the end of June update will be some variation of 'We shipped the 500 units'.

    That it will have taken them three months to assemble 500 units (barring any new and additional delays) is not very encouraging. Granted this is an initial run but still at slightly under 5% completion per 3 months, it would take them a bit over five years to produce the units needed to fulfill their Indiegogo backer obligations. Let's hope they can streamline that timetable a bit.

    It is nice to see them demoing something other then Antsteam and Atari Vault; it does give hope that there may indeed actually be some development taking place for the Atari box. The addition of a disclaimer "Please also note that everything shown here is for demonstration purposes only and nothing appearing in these videos should be taken as official announcements or promises of any specific content in the Atari VCS store." is a little less encouraging.

    Seeing that all titles being shown demoed are available on Steam (except Warzone), I am highly suspecting they are playing them in sandbox mode and conveniently neglected to mention this fact.

    That said, it is impressive to see that they got COD: Warzone to run on the Atari Box. It is a modified unit of course, but still it actually runs it. Which is more then I expected of it.

    Their 'Escape from New York: Atari Box Edition' part of the dev blog was an entertaining read. I still liked the original better though I think.

    • Like 7

  24. Posted


    I have to admit the level of self-delusion coming from the Indiegogo lately is impressive.

    Sorry but system components are not like wine, and do not actually get better with age. Being years behind in production means the system specifications are now more out of date, not becoming perfected.

    In other totally-not-in-the-least-bit-surprising news; Atari has once again missed fulfilling their Indiegogo campaign requirement of providing updates on a project at least once a month by five and an half days now. Making this the third time in a row they have missed meeting this deadline.

    ... but then missed deadlines does seem to be the Atari Box main claim to fame so far!

    There does seem to be a lot of hope in the Indiegogo comment section about Atari making a big update on the two year anniversary of the project. Personally, I am thinking if Atari marks the occasion at all it is going to be with some kind of retrospective on the project, throwing in some vague 'We hope that..' non-information on where the project is at now and passing it all off as their (already late) required monthly update.

    I guess we will see what happens on the 30th?

    vcs.jpg

    • Like 6

  25. Posted

    3 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

    I imagine the most difficult part of making educational games is to make them actually fun and engaging. Who the hell wants to "play" Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (I know, it's not actually a game, it's just an example) when you can play Typing of the Dead on your glorious 32-bit Sega Dreamcast?

    This is an interesting concept. Something like Super Metroid where you need to go around finding words to learn or whatever to use them as weapons or tools or something, whether through the microphone or some other input method would be interesting.


    There is a game on Steam I have that is very similar to what you are describing. It is 'Koe', which is essentially a JRPG where you learn Japanese words and then use them in combat. I am probably failing spectacularly in explaining it well, but it does look like an interesting idea!

    It is still in development, but it does seem a lot more fun then slogging though a normal language 'read, speak, repeat' learning program.

    https://www.koegame.net/

    • Like 4
AtariAge
Forums
Store
General
Follow AtariAge

Copyright ©1998-2021 AtariAge

×
×
  • Create New...