New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[nick3092]

Oh my god, I can't wait for the memes.

 

1-u3r99Vid0pmWs5sL_cPmpw.jpeg

This looks like their "studio" is someone's home garage. A different picture shows some mopeds parked there as well, furthering that possibility.

[ColecoJoe]

 

You know what's even more hilarious? When Atari realizes they could probably have made 20 million dollars instead of 3 million dollars if they actually gave people what they had asked for and handled the campaign better. If you give people what they actually ask for or want, people will buy it. If you tell gamers what games would be coming out on your game console, more people might be more interested.

Can you remind us all what exactly we wanted that would make them 20 million? Besides tacos of course!

[ColecoJoe]

I still think Sega could put out a better console than Atari xD

 

I think you would get similar results. As far as I know, Sega hasn't dealt with hardware in a long time right?

[ColecoJoe]

Oh my god, I can't wait for the memes.

 

1-u3r99Vid0pmWs5sL_cPmpw.jpeg

 

Well, at least that fake wall behind them can easily be converted into a glory hole set when the 3 million dries up.

[ColecoJoe]

WAIT A SECOND!!!! Is the table the monitor is on made out of cardboard boxes????

[PlaysWithWolves]

Does switching AMD-supplied test boards and an all-expenses-paid workcation to an undisclosed "summit" locale really count as an update? I know I'm a cranky old goat, but I didn't see anything that couldn't have been written during the campaign. Well, unless we count that this time there are actual pictures of the test board.

[Shamus]

 

I'm not a huge fan of the "Nutari" sobriquet...it's rather too close to NuAtari, who are a godsend to those of us masochistic enough to try and keep Atari pins up and running.

 

www.nuatari.com

 

Honestly had no idea that nuatari was a thing. How about Not-tari?

[godslabrat]

Judging by those scowls, I might almost be tempted to believe that Monitor was turned on and plugged into something.

[ColecoJoe]

Judging by those scowls, I might almost be tempted to believe that Monitor was turned on and plugged into something.

 

You are correct. It's plugged into the Mac that keyboard is plugged into

[toiletunes]

I have an announcement, too:

Breakfast.

[Flojomojo]

[Flojomojo]

[JBerel]

So did they just confirm what we all suspected back in March and before, that they never had the first bit of information about how electronics were supposed to fit and perform inside their pretty box? It seems to be a historical fact now that they are starting from square zero as of now. And they're running centipede on a Linux test board. Let me guess, the supporters are gonna be jumping for joy with all the new progress.

 

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/266480-new-atari-console-that-ataribox/page-256?do=findComment&comment=3991173

[godslabrat]

All that's missing is John Carlson sweating bullets on camera.

[racerx]

Let me guess, the supporters are gonna be jumping for joy with all the new progress.

[digdugnate]

So did they just confirm what we all suspected back in March and before, that they never had the first bit of information about how electronics were supposed to fit and perform inside their pretty box? It seems to be a historical fact now that they are starting from square zero as of now. And they're running centipede on a Linux test board. Let me guess, the supporters are gonna be jumping for joy with all the new progress.

 

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/266480-new-atari-console-that-ataribox/page-256?do=findComment&comment=3991173

yup -

[Flojomojo]

All that's missing is John Carlson sweating bullets on camera.

 

Yes, they certainly have the stagecraft down for posed photos. A video would be more convincing. And isn't Moak their software guy? The Medium update, which was written without a byline, didn't mention it at all. Their "competitive concerns" are right out of Chameleon's playbook -- they've literally not shown a single thing that isn't already present on other, currently available consoles, computers and set-top boxes.

 

I guess they're on track with their timeline, if we consider the "giant AMD board on bubblewrap running Centipede" to be "Design Validation Testing." Surely they're working on more impressive things "behind the scenes."

 

Anyone convinced they have what Kickstarter would call a "working prototype?"

 

[Lodmot]

 

Yes, they certainly have the stagecraft down for posed photos. A video would be more convincing. And isn't Moak their software guy? The Medium update, which was written without a byline, didn't mention it at all. Their "competitive concerns" are right out of Chameleon's playbook -- they've literally not shown a single thing that isn't already present on other, currently available consoles, computers and set-top boxes.

 

I guess they're on track with their timeline, if we consider the "giant AMD board on bubblewrap running Centipede" to be "Design Validation Testing." Surely they're working on more impressive things "behind the scenes."

 

Anyone convinced they have what Kickstarter would call a "working prototype?"

 

timeline.jpg

 

I agree that I wish they had shown us an in-depth video rather than just an article with pictures, especially with how long they took to actually put out the next update.

I've been skipping over the bubblewrap comments, because it's like, who the hell cares? Lol.

One thing that's a bit strange is that they seem to have blurred out some text printed on the board. Not sure why they would want to do that-- nobody is going to USE those numbers/codes for any malevolent intentions.

That shot of Michael Artz holding the game controller looking at not the TV is freaking hilarious though. XDD

[lifemadesimple]

To be fair, I've definitely seen worse crowdfunding updates. Although I wish they had been more upfront with backers about not having a prototype or, better yet, actually waited until they had one.

 

Still, this brand new fad of "drop one massive update every blue moon" that seems to be sweeping the kickstartin' youth of a nation has to go. The easiest way to not look incredibly sketchy is to just give quick, intermittent updates.

[Lodmot]

To be fair, I've definitely seen worse crowdfunding updates. Although I wish they had been more upfront with backers about not having a prototype or, better yet, actually waited until they had one.

 

Still, this brand new fad of "drop one massive update every blue moon" that seems to be sweeping the kickstartin' youth of a nation has to go. The easiest way to not look incredibly sketchy is to just give quick, intermittent updates.

 

Totally agree with this. > u <

When I'm working on an ambitious game project, I'm always eager to show people what I've been working on or the progress I've made, even if it's not anywhere near the final product.

[Flojomojo]

I agree that I wish they had shown us an in-depth video rather than just an article with pictures, especially with how long they took to actually put out the next update.

I've been skipping over the bubblewrap comments, because it's like, who the hell cares? Lol.

One thing that's a bit strange is that they seem to have blurred out some text printed on the board. Not sure why they would want to do that-- nobody is going to USE those numbers/codes for any malevolent intentions.

That shot of Michael Artz holding the game controller looking at not the TV is freaking hilarious though. XDD

 

Perhaps there is a long gap between updates because they probably don't bring "the team" together very often. Hence the "summit."

 

Are you kidding about the bubblewrap? They made such a point of their thermal tests, with bold lettering when they used big words, because people who crowdfund video game consoles from dead brands need all the help they can get.

 

One of the most critical aspects at this stage is calculating thermal load under various power draw scenarios. The VCS engineering team ultimately needs to determine how much horsepower they can fit “under the hood” given the planned design and dimensions of the Atari VCS. The goal is for the AMD APU to run as fast and with as much consistent power as possible, without overheating inside the Atari VCS cabinet.

Our engineers are currently tackling the thermal solution task by studying it from two directions: 1) empirically, by taking actual power measurements and recording performance on the AMD boards, and 2) analytically, through thermal modeling of various operating scenarios. These power measurements are fed into various thermal models to validate and increase confidence in the simulation results.

 

It's both empirically and analytically stupid to leave your one-of-a-kind test board on the bubble wrap used to ship it to you. It might not catch fire, but it will melt and stink and make a mess if the CPU is doing anything more rigorous than emulating 1980 Centipede.

 

Maybe they didn't leave it on the shipping materials the whole time, but that's how they show it in every single picture, across 2 costume changes if not 2 days of actual work. They had time to stage something less stupid, but they didn't.

 

They blurred out the text on the board because the internet is good at sniffing out bullshit. If their dev board is not what they say it is, not revealing part numbers will slow down the discovery of the truth. Or they can hand-wave it away with

This is our standard obligatory disclaimer, due to competitive concerns and/or subject to the various non-disclosure agreements that we have in place.

 

 

That's one way of looking at it. Or, it's kind of sad that a once-legendary brand has stooped to this level.

[Dr Manhattan]

Is it me or does that prototype board seem huge? I also gotta think that the low rent setting of the dev office was done on purpose. Perhaps NuTari thinks it gives them a certain sincerity? After all, Apple made computers in a family garage.

 

I'm going to give them credit. They showed us "something." Exactly what is a different story.

[ColecoJoe]

 

One thing that's a bit strange is that they seem to have blurred out some text printed on the board. Not sure why they would want to do that-- nobody is going to USE those numbers/codes for any malevolent intentions.

 

Were you around for the Chameleon? If not, look it up and how the fraud was uncovered.

[ColecoJoe]

 

 

 

Screen Shot 2018-08-29 at 1.06.12 PM.png

 

That's one way of looking at it. Or, it's kind of sad that a once-legendary brand has stooped to this level.

 

Why would I be impressed with a company doing things out of a "garage" unless it was a startup company which even then, the garage would not impress me. I have a garage, I do stuff in there and I'm not impressed by the stuff I do in my garage

[nick3092]

I would hesitate to call that a prototype board. That implies they are close to a final design. Based on the update, this is more of a pre-prototype (with extra sensors - justifying the large size, apparently) so they can figure out how to clock things and balance it with the thermals.

 

Which, if that is the case, why do they have a giant heat pipe and fan that won't be included in the final design? If the point is to see what you are going to squeeze out of it, wouldn't you want the cooling to match the final cooling design?