Ataribox

[godslabrat]

I hear there's a crapton of repurposed Wii-U knockoffs they could adapt...

[Tickled_Pink]

I still say they should have done this. I'd snap up a PC that looked like this in a heartbeat.

[Inky]

atari_st2_by_svenart-d3fm9na.jpg

 

I still say they should have done this. I'd snap up a PC that looked like this in a heartbeat.

 

 

I would have bought that.

 

Hell, if I could figure out how to connect the ST Keyboard to an RPi, I'd build one myself.

[mos6507]

I'd buy an Atari 1200XL style keyboard that hooked up to a PC. I've never experienced better keyboard feel since then.

[Bill Loguidice]

I'd buy an Atari 1200XL style keyboard that hooked up to a PC. I've never experienced better keyboard feel since then.

 

Really, not even with a modern day mechanical keyboard? Or a classic IBM Model M keyboard? The 1200XL keyboard is quite nice (and the 800 keyboard is not too shabby either), but I don't feel like it holds a candle to any of those.

[CPUWIZ]

I'd buy an Atari 1200XL style keyboard that hooked up to a PC. I've never experienced better keyboard feel since then.

 

http://blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk/2015/08/atari-st-usb-keyboard.html

[mos6507]

 

Really, not even with a modern day mechanical keyboard? Or a classic IBM Model M keyboard? The 1200XL keyboard is quite nice (and the 800 keyboard is not too shabby either), but I don't feel like it holds a candle to any of those.

 

I don't like the "clackiness" of the original PC keyboard. I prefer the smooth and quiet travel of the Mitsumi mechanism in the 1200XL. The only noisy part of the keyboard is the spacebar but most spacebars on keyboards are noisy.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STWFKImddDI

Edited October 9, 2017 by mos6507

[JamesD]

I love clacky keyboards. I can type faster on them.
FWIW, you can get different levels of clackiness with mechanical keyboards.
Some are pretty quite after you add the rubber washers to them and they are still pretty fast for typing.

[Keatah]

I love short-throw scissors keyboards. Add to them "clickey.exe" from GSR and I'm a happy camper.

[zzip]

Really, not even with a modern day mechanical keyboard? Or a classic IBM Model M keyboard? The 1200XL keyboard is quite nice (and the 800 keyboard is not too shabby either), but I don't feel like it holds a candle to any of those.

I must never have experienced the 1200XL keyboard, but the 800XL keyboard was bad, the XE keyboard was even worse. I love mechanical-style keyboards and the old IBM ones though.

 

I love clacky keyboards. I can type faster on them.

FWIW, you can get different levels of clackiness with mechanical keyboards.

Some are pretty quite after you add the rubber washers to them and they are still pretty fast for typing.

Same, I don't know if I actually type faster, but it feels like I do. They don't have to actually be loud, they just have to have that feel though.

[MrMaddog]

atari_st2_by_svenart-d3fm9na.jpg

 

I still say they should have done this. I'd snap up a PC that looked like this in a heartbeat.

 

 

 

Yeah, that along with the made up Atari Raptor would make awesome Atari branded PC's.

[Tickled_Pink]

 

Yeah, that along with the made up Atari Raptor would make awesome Atari branded PC's.

 

Apparently AMD are launching a new series of APUs with built-in GPUs based on the Vega architecture.

 

​Please Atari ... please!

 

http://wccftech.com/amd-raven-ridge-ryzen-apu-vega-gpu-leak/

Edited October 9, 2017 by Tickled_Pink

[Bill Loguidice]

 

Apparently AMD are launching a new series of APUs with built-in GPUs based on the Vega architecture.

 

​Please Atari ... please!

 

http://wccftech.com/amd-raven-ridge-ryzen-apu-vega-gpu-leak/

 

Likely too pricey of a part for a low volume $249 box, no?

[Tickled_Pink]

 

Likely too pricey of a part for a low volume $249 box, no?

 

Not no. But I was thinking about the 'ST remake'.

[HeadClot]

 

Apparently AMD are launching a new series of APUs with built-in GPUs based on the Vega architecture.

 

​Please Atari ... please!

 

http://wccftech.com/amd-raven-ridge-ryzen-apu-vega-gpu-leak/

 

Possible but this showed up a week ago. More likely they will go the embedded solution but I would like to have the Raven Ridge Chip in an Atari box or any small form factor Linux Box.

 

 

Likely too pricey of a part for a low volume $249 box, no?

 

I would like to point out that traditionally partners with large tech companies get bulk discounts on parts. Depending on how much they order ofc.

 

I have three questions still -

 

1. What will the official Atari box controllers look like? Assuming there are any.

2. Will they offer a "Pro" or "Elite" version of the Atari box with better specs and more memory?

3. When will they just show the system specs for the atari box?

 

That said - I would buy that Atari ST2 in a heart beat.

[JBerel]

 

They're going with the authentic retro game feel and the modern minimalist approach that says Atarilife .

[zzip]

Apparently AMD are launching a new series of APUs with built-in GPUs based on the Vega architecture.

 

​Please Atari ... please!

 

http://wccftech.com/amd-raven-ridge-ryzen-apu-vega-gpu-leak/

This might be something the PS5 uses, I doubt the Ataribox will. I'm thinking they will use some version of the Jaguar APU that the original XB1/PS4 used. That series of APU is at least 6 years old at this point and should be affordable enough.

[MrMaddog]

This might be something the [PS4] uses, I doubt the Ataribox will. I'm thinking they will use some version of the Jaguar APU that the original XB1/PS4 used. That series of APU is at least 6 years old at this point and should be affordable enough.

 

Keep in mind that console makers like Sony & Microsoft sell their systems at a lost but make up the difference in game sales. Atari SA is not at that point financially right now so they have to use "off shelf parts" and keep the costs low.

 

But...if they were to make a more powerful (and costly) version that's gaming PC quality and plays Triple A games using Windows 10 then the Vega chipset would be killer.

[Flojomojo]

 

They're going with the authentic retro game feel and the modern minimalist approach that says Atarilife .

 

 

I like that image. Perhaps much like how the Atari Speaker Hat puts the speakers over your EYES, I assume you work this Innovative New Hand Controller with your butt or something.

[zzip]

Keep in mind that console makers like Sony & Microsoft sell their systems at a lost but make up the difference in game sales. Atari SA is not at that point financially right now so they have to use "off shelf parts" and keep the costs low.

 

But...if they were to make a more powerful (and costly) version that's gaming PC quality and plays Triple A games using Windows 10 then the Vega chipset would be killer.

PS4 supposedly made a modest profit from day 1, something like $17/unit. Yes Sony famously sold the PS3 for hundreds under cost to get bluray tech out there, but that isn't always the case.

 

Again, with Jaguar we are talking about roughly 6 year old technology at this point, why does everyone think it will still be too expensive? The PS4 slim is at $300 because it still sells well at that price. I'm sure they are making much more than $17/unit now. I would not be shocked to see a price cut as Christmas approaches.

Edited October 10, 2017 by zzip

[JBerel]

I already noted a few pages back that if it ever exists, it will probably use this 2+ year old SOC hardware, or something very very close.

 

http://www.fit-pc.co...LET-GI-C67-WACB

 

That uses AMD's Mullins tablet chip which is part of the Puma series from 2014. That followed the Jaguar series from 2013.

These things are already in a complete SOC board ready to buy and slap in a plastic box. The built in GPU and display ports on all those systems seem limited to just a hair over HD resolutions, so I think you're out of luck on 4K

 

Since this is a crowd funder, I expect nothing by way of actual custom anything, despite any shills, community building, or fan boy marketing. It's very possible they have something from the prior Jaguar generation on a card already, which might be had for a few bucks less. There's a slim chance they might even find an existing SOC with a single display port that supports 4K resolution, but I expect heat buildup may be a problem there, maybe not. Roku can do it in a 5x5x1 inch box.

 

In any case, this ain't gonna be about the hardware. It's going to be about how intelligently they can put this together from a cooling and user interface standpoint. Controls are a huge factor also, one they have shown absolutely nothing about so far. (like on their game watch) When you figure a controller will be part of the cost, I honestly think folks would be safer buying one of those off the shelf units now and running their own Linux or Windows OS for emulation. I hear Hasteroids and Terraria are already available on the app stores.

[Keatah]

What is the atarilife supposed to be. Old "Atarilife" consisted of coming home from school on a winter day, warming up on the beanbag watching cartoons. Then "placing my order" for a Swansons chicken dinner or similar. Then playing Atari all damned evening. And if it was a weekend. Staying up late to conduct my BBS, and read astronomy books and dream of space colonies and space travel aboard a space shuttle modified for deep space. Space Space Space!! It was everywhere. And training for spaceflight with Star Raiders was uber-cool.

[Flojomojo]

I liked space space space much more than today's focus on war war war.

[Bill Loguidice]

Here is a very good, if obviously biased, "making of" lite feature on the Xbox One X: https://news.xbox.com/2017/10/05/xbox-one-x-what-it-takes-to-build-a-console/

 

I think it highlights well the point myself and others were trying to originally make about the realities of what something like the Ataribox can actually be under even the best case scenario. There's obviously a LOT that goes into making a powerful custom modern console that doesn't melt itself. If you don't have the vast resources of a company like Microsoft (or any of the equivalents out there), there's really no way you can create something truly competitive versus a behemoth company, particularly at the target price point. That's why the value-adds and "special sauce" (services, features, etc.) are so important to a relatively small-scale endeavor like the Ataribox. It's a whole different tier/level of "competing."

[Raticon]

I stumbled over this interview a couple of days ago. I'm surprised that no-one has posted it yet.

https://venturebeat.com/2017/10/18/former-xbox-leader-ed-fries-quizzes-feargal-mac-on-ataris-new-console/

Ed Fries who we mostly know from the first Xbox and Halo 2600 interviews all our favourite dude, Mr. Mac about the Ataribox.
It's quite lenghty but they at least gave us a transcript.

Of course no info on the specs, the controller or anything really useable, but among the nuggets they supply us with:

• Gameband-backers hasn't delivered yet, despite them making 325k out of a goal of 75k and estimated shipping 1 month ago.
  
• Crowdfunding on Indiegogo was apparently chosen because Atari has an "incredible community" and "Everyone has an Atari-story", and apparently, said community can be "involved and give feedback".
  
• Very vague answers on what Atari is today vs what it was before, citing Apple as an example of a company that has "also changed hands in the past", and that Atari is "alive because people love that brand".
  
• No info on who will be making the console for Atari. That will be revealed "when we go live".
  
• Mac is excited that kids these days play Minecraft and Terraria on PC by plugging a laptop into the TV, and when they are not gaming and talking to each other over Skype and Discord they go to Youtube and watch videos about those games. Mac had an idea to bundle those ideas together in one box.
  
• Chose Linux as an OS because it is open and easy to port Unity-games and the like to. Also, Linux is apparently one of the greatest technological achievements of mankind, while not as "sexy" as man walking on the moon, according to Mac. He says that Linux is the "Bernie Sanders" of operating systems. What?
  
• Wanna have a nice drinking game? Take a swig from your beer bottle everytime he says "Open". You'll be absolutely shitfaced halfway trough the interview.
  
• Excited that he sees kids walk about in San Francisco with Atari-tshirts even though they never experienced Atari. "it’s like Ramones t-shirts, where 95 percent of the people who wear the shirt have never heard the music, but there’s something magical about the brand." says Mac.
  
• The high price of 200$ - 300$ is because they want to be "open" and not lock you into subscription services like Sony and Microsoft does.
  
• Confirming that it will have a "massive back catalogue" of Atari games together with an emulator, and have the ability for players to load their own ROMs. "Open"
  
• Still committed to launching on Indiegogo "this fall, before christmas" and shipping "in spring".

EDIT: Oh and if you go and read up on the Gameband comments section on Kickstarter they recently announced that you will be able to interact between the Ataribox and the Gameband, because AtariLife™

Edited October 22, 2017 by Raticon