Atari Flashback Classics for the XB1/PS4

[bojay1997]

Wal-Mart is listing the Nintendo Switch version at $40 with a November 6th release date.

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Atari-Flashback-Classics-AtGames-Nintendo-Switch-742725911819/334027687

 

Box art:

6d4e0481-5b97-4c32-9ebc-4be929463d34_1.adc0cf682f1c45f25d493dda02087b0a.png

 

Gamestop.com is now showing November 9th for the Switch version and they added the PS4 and Xbox One Volume 3 listings for the same date.

[Atariboy]

Getting closer and closer to early November, and no word yet on a Vita version.

 

With that trophy list popping up, I was wondering if some surprise was happening here that perhaps wasn't directly involving AtGames since Bill didn't know anything about such a thing (Digital exclusive, perhaps?). But assuming it would release in early November, I would think we'd know a little more about it at this point than we do.

 

Assuming it's now not real, I'd love to know the story behind that fake trophy list. Was a decently done fake, with trophies cherry picked from all three volumes and the focus on the first two where most of the big names are. Seemed logical enough to take it for granted as genuine.

 

Do fake trophy list typically make the rounds at these sites that cater to providing that information?

Edited October 30, 2018 by Atariboy

[JeffVav]

Getting closer and closer to early November, and no word yet on a Vita version.

 

With that trophy list popping up, I was wondering if some surprise was happening here that perhaps wasn't directly involving AtGames since Bill didn't know anything about such a thing (Digital exclusive, perhaps?). But assuming it would release in early November, I would think we'd know a little more about it at this point than we do.

 

Assuming it's now not real, I'd love to know the story behind that fake trophy list. Was a decently done fake, with trophies cherry picked from all three volumes and the focus on the first two where most of the big names are. Seemed logical enough to take it for granted as genuine.

 

Do fake trophy list typically make the rounds at these sites that cater to providing that information?

 

The story is that we at Code Mystics have always been a fan of the Vita and appreciative of the Vita community, and when we had a client unexpectedly cancel a project we were working on, our staff decided to bring AFC to Vita "for fun" while we waited for them to be reallocated. (They included a number of people who had worked on AFC for the Switch.) When it was fairly far along, we showed it to Atari.

We know the Vita is in its twilight but on the chance we could get it released, we considered it a "parting gift" to the community. "One more for the road," as it were. (Get it? Because the Vita can be taken on the road... )

We'll see where Atari takes it from here...

Edited November 16, 2018 by JeffVav

[moycon]

Still not available? Weird. Wish I had bought it when I first noticed it.

[bojay1997]

Still not available? Weird. Wish I had bought it when I first noticed it.

Volume 3 is available for shipping through Gamestop. Stores haven't received copies yet but likely will in the next day or two.

[boog]

Volume 3 for PS4 arrived at most Gamestop stores yesterday/today. All of the stores near me only received one copy, so I had to call around to find one that hadn't already been gutted for store display. It doesn't seem to be available from amazon or any other retailers yet.

 

It still isn't available on the US PSN... maybe on Tuesday? Hopefully the Vita version makes a surprise appearance.

Edited December 8, 2018 by boog

[Bill Loguidice]

Hopefully the Vita version makes a surprise appearance.

 

That would be quite the surprise.

[Flojomojo]

That would be quite the surprise.

December 14th.

https://blog.us.playstation.com/2018/12/07/the-drop-new-playstation-games-for-december-11-2018/

[boog]

Yay!! Remote play from the PS4 volumes is fine, but I'll spend the extra to get the dedicated Vita release too. Portability and more Atari trophies!

[Flojomojo]

The cover makes me think it will be like the Switch version, with 150 games in one volume.

[Atariboy]

The cover makes me think it will be like the Switch version, with 150 games in one volume.

 

All signs point towards that. Shared ESRB listing with the Switch version and a trophy selection featuring trophies from all three volumes.

Edited December 9, 2018 by Atariboy

[negative1]

1 review:

 

1 playback:

 

 

later

-1

[Flojomojo]

Am I a horrible person for wanting to punch that YouTuber in the throat? His "enthusiasm" reminds me of Crazy Eddie.

[Atariboy]

While I didn't want to hit him, I did give him a down vote when I glanced at it last night. Youtube videogame content creators should focus on delivering their content as themselves rather than creating cringe worthy internet personas.

[negative1]

Am I a horrible person for wanting to punch that YouTuber I in the throat? His "enthusiasm" reminds me of Crazy Eddie.

i think it's awesome that someone likes the sucky 5200 more than the 2600, despite the

terrible controls.

 

other than that. i was on the same wavelength, and enjoyed the look through many of the games,

and the standout 'maze invaders' arcade prototype.

 

still waiting for other people to do reviews, and i don't see many more out there from anyone.

 

if you can do better, post it.

 

later

-1

[Flojomojo]

if you can do better, post it.

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/253262-atari-flashback-classics-for-the-xb1ps4/?p=4132830

[Atariboy]

i think it's awesome that someone likes the sucky 5200 more than the 2600, despite the

terrible controls.

 

other than that. i was on the same wavelength, and enjoyed the look through many of the games,

and the standout 'maze invaders' arcade prototype.

 

still waiting for other people to do reviews, and i don't see many more out there from anyone.

 

if you can do better, post it.

 

later

-1

 

There's a lot of AtariAge video uploaders like Austin and Atarileaf that produce good content.

 

That said, nothing wrong if you like his style. Just like anything else, what's right for someone else isn't necessarily right for the next person. We all have our own unique tastes. That said, one doesn't have to have produced their own videos or outperform someone else in order to have a right to express an opinion on whether or not they enjoy something.

Edited December 10, 2018 by Atariboy

[boog]

Not really a review, but I spent a lot of time with Volume 3 this weekend and have some comments to expand on flojo's take.

 

Overall

Emulation is solid, and the menus are intuitive, but the game selection on this volume was a little disappointing to me. First impression is that this volume seems overloaded with sports games. Arcade versions of baseball, basketball, football, and soccer; 2600 versions of international soccer, super challenge baseball, and super challenge football; 5200 versions of real sports baseball, real sports basketball, real sports football, real sports soccer, and real sports tennis. So, 12 of the 50 games are sports titles. Add in a few 2-player only M Network strategy games and almost 1/3 of volume 3 isn't geared towards single player gaming.

 

The remaining games offer a decent mix of early B&W arcade games, M Network 2600 games, 5200 games, and several obscure/unreleased titles. While there are some games here that I enjoy playing, there isn't a single game that stands out as having mass appeal... this collection definitely caters to hardcore Atari fans with only a few recognizable classics included via 5200 ports.

 

Some of the standouts for me were Maze Invaders (an unreleased 1981 Atari arcade game by Ed Logg... challenging maze style game with varying mazes and enemies that can shoot at you), Poolshark (simple billiards style game where you try to nudge all the balls into pockets as quickly as possible... addictive), Saboteur (excellent HSW developed 2600 game that Atari never officially released), and Xari Arena (unreleased 5200 game with an interesting breakout/warlords style). Flashback console 'exclusives' like Adventure 2 and Yars Return, as well as unreleased protos from the Flashback consoles like Aquaventure, Frog Pond, and Wizard are also on this volume. Overall, lots of 'new to me' Atari games and obscure Atari history on volume 3... just wish there was more diversity and fewer sports/2-player games.

 

Controls

Games that originally used rotary spinners/paddles, trackballs, or steering wheels have the same sensitivity issues as previous volumes. They're a nuisance to control accurately but I guess they're implemented as well as possible. The new control issue that pops up is 5200 games that use the keypad. Star Raiders in particular uses a lot of keypad controls. Volume 3 lets you pop-up a sidebar menu with all the keypad controls for 5200 games, but it's a little clunky to use and changing speed/view during Star Raiders battles is frustrating. Again, probably implemented as well as possible but the control limitations make it hard to play that game well.

 

Trophies

One last sidenote about the PS4 trophy list. The trophy difficulty seems similar to previous volumes, with a few extremely difficult trophies that are currently at 0.0% on the PSN trophy status. The Star Raiders control scheme is probably going to make it very difficult to achieve a Commander rating, and it looks like Air Raiders requires shooting 65 enemies with your initial 99 bullets. Getting the platinum will take some dedication.

[Flojomojo]

The new control issue that pops up is 5200 games that use the keypad. Star Raiders in particular uses a lot of keypad controls. Volume 3 lets you pop-up a sidebar menu with all the keypad controls for 5200 games, but it's a little clunky to use and changing speed/view during Star Raiders battles is frustrating. Again, probably implemented as well as possible but the control limitations make it hard to play that game well.

I wonder if the Vita and Switch versions, coming in less than a week, will use touch controls? That would make things a little nicer, as will having the contents of all 3 "volumes" inside of one program.

 

I'm surprised nobody has taken on the task of a nice modern Star Raiders reboot. It's quite possible the market isn't there, but I wouldn't think it would need to be a big budget-busting production to be fun.

[Bill Loguidice]

The Switch version is already out at certain retailers like Target. It's hit or miss to get them, though. The stock roll-out has been going slow, so if you want the Switch version, you may have to keep an eye out for it.

 

I still don't have word on the Vita version, but if it's indeed actually coming, then obviously it's digital only (as I said, AtGames handles the physical releases). Presumably, since it was pretty much done for "free" it was trivial for Atari to just release it. I'm sure since Sony is pretty much stopping PS3/Vita digital stuff by March (at least with PS+), it's probably easy to get a good deal on publishing on the platform (or maybe it's practically a throw-in with the PS4 vol. 3?). I'm still a big Vita fan, so it would be nice to see this get released for it and hopefully be properly optimized, etc.

[Bill Loguidice]

Overall

Emulation is solid, and the menus are intuitive, but the game selection on this volume was a little disappointing to me. First impression is that this volume seems overloaded with sports games. Arcade versions of baseball, basketball, football, and soccer; 2600 versions of international soccer, super challenge baseball, and super challenge football; 5200 versions of real sports baseball, real sports basketball, real sports football, real sports soccer, and real sports tennis. So, 12 of the 50 games are sports titles. Add in a few 2-player only M Network strategy games and almost 1/3 of volume 3 isn't geared towards single player gaming.

 

The remaining games offer a decent mix of early B&W arcade games, M Network 2600 games, 5200 games, and several obscure/unreleased titles. While there are some games here that I enjoy playing, there isn't a single game that stands out as having mass appeal... this collection definitely caters to hardcore Atari fans with only a few recognizable classics included via 5200 ports.

 

Even working behind-the-scenes on this (at least in the planning stages), I can say I'm still surprised and impressed it got released like this. Usually this kind of thing, especially one with a physical component, doesn't get a connoisseur's treatment, but it basically became that because that's all there was that was literally left in the IP pool after the first two volumes (I was strongly against re-use of any vol. 1/2 games, as was a suggestion for a while). That's also why you see the third party assists from the M Network stuff to fill out the volume.

 

Frankly, I would have preferred to see 7800 stuff instead of 5200 stuff because of the latter platform's wonky controls, but it just wasn't practical at this time for various reasons. Still, it's nice that the calls of why isn't some Atari platform other than arcade or 2600 seeing release on these types of products can at least finally be addressed, even if it is with the modest available 5200 library. Hopefully that can lead to some other platforms getting a similar treatment. Goodness knows it would be nice to leave the usual arcade, 2600, NES, Genesis, and SNES comfort zones for a while.

[negative1]

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/253262-atari-flashback-classics-for-the-xb1ps4/?p=4132830

i don't like the style of this post.

 

i think this guy is wrong is his explanations.

 

there's something about this post that makes me want to smack him. am i the only one that thinks that?

 

see, i can post like that also.

 

later

-1

[Flojomojo]

see, i can post like that also.

[AtariLeaf]

 

Frankly, I would have preferred to see 7800 stuff instead of 5200 stuff because of the latter platform's wonky controls, but it just wasn't practical at this time for various reasons. Still, it's nice that the calls of why isn't some Atari platform other than arcade or 2600 seeing release on these types of products can at least finally be addressed, even if it is with the modest available 5200 library. Hopefully that can lead to some other platforms getting a similar treatment. Goodness knows it would be nice to leave the usual arcade, 2600, NES, Genesis, and SNES comfort zones for a while.

 

I wasn't that interested in the first two volumes for just the reasons you mentioned - same old games done a million times. Volume 3 however has a great mix of the obscure and forgotten games from the arcade and 5200. Actually as someone who doesn't own a 5200 due to those wonky controls, this is something I've looked forward to. To be able to play games for a system I don't own. Centipede 5200 alone had me interested, even though I play it on my 800XL via Atarimax cart. This looks like a well done product that I look forward to picking up.

 

What do you think the chances are of 7800 titles making the cut on a future volume?

[billford123]

I might get people yelling at me for this, but would AtGames consider building Atari 2600 joysticks/paddles or Atari 5200 controller with USB for the Switch/XB1/PS4? I think having replica hardware to play some of the games with would be great. And they already have the molds/joysticks in production, would just be changing the connector and maybe programming a board to let the console think it is a regular controller