New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[+TwentySixHundred]

They say every article is from trolls hating on the "system"... Well here's thought, if it were a good product or even one at all including communication, there would be pro-bawks articles too! They seriously have no idea, even their own backers crack the shits and just give up lol.

 

If they gave a shit about the brands heritage, man up and just give those backers their money back. Cancel the project and donate the IP to Al so he can try to recover what dignity is left of the name. Not sure if he would even want it anyway as they have tarnished the name enough already.

 

Stupid gimmicks like watches, speaker hats and unconsoles is ridiculous, who wants that crap? AA store has new games every year you can actually play on a real system.

[mos6507]

Wow.  Two years and 839 pages later and what have we got to show for it?

 

Frankly I'm surprised that consoles have soldiered on at all.  PS4 and XBOX are both essentially glorified gaming PCs now (but without the added value of being full-fledged PCs).  Any console you make is going to be all off-the-shelf.  If the hardware isn't that unique then all you gain by making a new platform is DRM and locking things up behind a walled garden.  How does the consumer benefit from that?

 

 

[Oscar Manuel Rojas Maillo]

11 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

It appears as though the, "hey, Atari SA, got anything to say to this?" article from El Reg is still up on the Atari VCS Offal subreddit.  Nine-plus hours; seems to be a record for a less-than-complimentary post on their forum.

 

Of course, nobody from Atari SA has actually acknowledged it.  But at least they haven't tried to pull a Stalin on it yet.

 

 

It'd seem to me that since they've probably invited the cult/minions/compensated mouthpieces to defend them 

[+frankodragon]

Is he yet still falling out of planes? If so, "Hey, Rob, you forgot your sandwich!"

 

[digdugnate]

boy oh boy has the official VCS Subreddit gone off the rails.  here's a brief snapshot:

 

 

if anything, Atari SA's social media team has now written the authoritative manual on 'How not to engage your paying and potential customers'.  I'm curious how long they're going to go before they burn this Sub down and salt the earth.

[Oscar Manuel Rojas Maillo]

10 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

boy oh boy has the official VCS Subreddit gone off the rails.  here's a brief snapshot:

 

 

if anything, Atari SA's social media team has now written the authoritative manual on 'How not to engage your paying and potential customers'.  I'm curious how long they're going to go before they burn this Sub down and salt the earth.

[JBerel]

Is that the Kevlar Gold edition he's holding?

[+frankodragon]

 

Couldn't say it better than anyone else , LOL.

 

 

[Flojomojo]

17 hours ago, Nathan Strum said:

Meanwhile, in other missed opportunities... Apple kicked off their Apple Arcade service, and there are a few familiar names in there: Sega, Bandai/Namco, Capcom, Konami...

 

 

But no Atari. Unless of course their logo is behind the lady standing on stage. But those don't look like Atari's logo, and surely Atari would've mentioned such a lucrative partnership in one of their many frequent, fan-centric, helpful, communicative updates.

 

So, it doesn't look like Atari is on board. But that's okay, because of course Atari is planning to dominate the living room with their console/not console/linux computer/raspberry pi/Netflix/shoebox/retro uh... thing... and they don't need to partner with one of the most valuable companies in the world to help peddle awesome IP like Centipede and 3D Tic-Taco-Toe.

 

Nope. Atari can make their own console. Atari will have their own online store, or service, or something. And no self-respecting, iconic, video game company with their own hardware platform would ever partner with the likes of Apple...

 

 

That would just be stupid.

Apple Arcade is a wonderful service, good for developers and good for gamers. And then there's "Atari."
 

The last interview I saw with Atari CEO Fred Chesnais was on something called Cheddar esports. I'm not going to link it because I'm not in the business of promoting scammers, but you can find it yourself easily enough. 
 

Behind Fred was the Apple Arcade sizzle reel, while he implied that Atari was big into casual and mobile gaming. As if they have invested the tiniest fraction of talent and innovation into that space in the last 35 years. Riding the coattails of something interesting and suggesting they deserve to even be mentioned in the same breath. 
 

It's disgusting. Fred did the same thing for at least two appearances on Stuart Varney's Fox Business show. On those occasions, they superimposed footage of Fortnite, which makes more in a single day than all of Atari does in a whole year. That's including their ill gotten gains from sketchy crowdfunding, and suing companies that infringe on their precious trademark. "Atari" isn't fit to clean the toilets at Epic Games, let alone be featured alongside them on national television. 
 

"Atari" is more interested in the appearance of being a big dog in electronic entertainment than actually doing the work or delivering a product. There are grifters all the way down. Fred Chesnais is selling the image of his media empire to his board and shareholders. Mike Arzt is selling the delusion that Atari is back in the hardware game to Fred. Rob Wyatt is selling the fantasy that "VCS" is something special, with innovative new technology, that's coming real soon now, to Mike. And their (inept) social media consultant is selling the absurd idea to the Atari VCS crowdfunding backers that their eagerly awaited electronic savior is just around the corner. Stay tuned!
 

Of course "Atari" would love to be acquired, it's the least worst strategic move available to them. They can't compete, and they've exploited all their legacy IP assets that are worth anything. 
 

If the (shambling corpse of a) company were worth acquiring, Microsoft or another player would have snapped them up years ago. Maybe that will happen during the dead cat bounce the next time the company goes bankrupt. 
 

Does anyone have any insight on preorder numbers from Walmart or GameStop? That doesn't seem like it would be a tightly held secret -- if the numbers were any good, anyway. 

[racerx]

Yikes.

 

I don't know if the UberStrategist intern has gone into hiding or what, but that subreddit's devolved into Thunderdome.

[TACODON]

I've noticed their social media minion seems to have gave up again. I guess even they have a limit. (Plus the pay is terrible I bet)

[carlsson]

The mention of Jesus above reminded me about Wisdom Tree and the Bible games on the NES. Didn't Piko Interactive release a dedicated Famicom based system the other year with those games? If so, I am sure that the Lord and His Son already are busy playing those games, leaving little or no room to bother about the new Atari VCS that anyway seems unclear if or when it will arrive.

[PlaysWithWolves]

Somebody in the Register comments posted this Dilbert comic.  Passes the smell test:

 

[Oscar Manuel Rojas Maillo]

23 minutes ago, racerx said:

Yikes.

 

I don't know if the UberStrategist intern has gone into hiding or what, but that subreddit's devolved into Thunderdome.

This going through the "lengthy approval process line"...

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Oscar Manuel Rojas Maillo

[The Historian]

Here are the Stats from yesterday on r/AtariVCS

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

10 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

"Atari" is more interested in the appearance of being a big dog in electronic entertainment than actually doing the work or delivering a product. There are grifters all the way down. Fred Chesnais is selling the image of his media empire to his board and shareholders. Mike Arzt is selling the delusion that Atari is back in the hardware game to Fred. Rob Wyatt is selling the fantasy that "VCS" is something special, with innovative new technology, that's coming real soon now, to Mike. And their (inept) social media consultant is selling the absurd idea to the Atari VCS crowdfunding backers that their eagerly awaited electronic savior is just around the corner. Stay tuned!

 

Agreed, but let's play cui bono? for a moment anyway.

 

Freddy and Mikey are known quantities in this case: as chief officers of the company, we can reasonably assume that they'll benefit in a buyout scenario.  It's rare that a C-level executive walks away from a company without something making it into their wallet.

 

It's also doubtful that Freddy and Mikey and Robbie are under any illusions as to what it is that they're attempting to do, which is create a physical product in order to stir up and/or bolster interest in a buyout.  The social media consultant is just a douchebag doing what they're told to do for as long as the cheques don't bounce and likely has no vested interest beyond that, so can probably be safely ignored.

 

So, who sits on the board?  Since that's the body that would have to approve any buyout, it would only happen if it were financially-beneficial to both the board (in terms of personal holdings, i.e., stock) and the company.  Of course, the board may be planning an exit to take place after a buyout happens: it's a way for them to leave without the public disgrace of being fired and replaced with new members post-buyout.  And, frankly, if I were buying the company, I would make sure that that's exactly what happened 5 minutes after takeover because the board appears to have done jack-all to steer the company in a long-term profitable direction.

 

Robbie's an interesting case, and I'd like to know more about his relationship with Atari SA.  Is he an employee, is he a contractor, does he sit on the board or hold a financial interest in the company, etc.  Are the development delays down to cashflow issues between Atari SA and Tin Giant, or is something else at play?  Either way, does he stand to benefit in a buyout scenario?  The company's small enough that it's almost impossible that he wouldn't know if this was the end goal or not.

 

10 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Of course "Atari" would love to be acquired, it's the least worst strategic move available to them. They can't compete, and they've exploited all their legacy IP assets that are worth anything.

 

The problem is that they have literally nothing of any real value in today's market.  Brand-whoring will only get you so far, and smart investors know that.

 

10 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Does anyone have any insight on preorder numbers from Walmart or GameStop? That doesn't seem like it would be a tightly held secret -- if the numbers were any good, anyway. 

GameStop's an interesting question; given how badly they're doing these days, they may end up in liquidation (or far enough down the slippery slope to it as doesn't matter) next year.  But, hey, if it does happen, that'll give Atari SA a weasel-out regarding distribution channel problems - just blame it on the (other) failing company!

 

Wal-Mart: no idea.  Frankly, I don't even know what their requirements are to carry a pre-order item, but I can't imagine they're particularly loose.  If there's one thing they don't want, it's the publicity from, "I got screwed over on my pre-order and Wal-Mart's doing jack about it".

[dj_convoy]

9 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

I would guess he got it to shoebox stage  

[+x=usr(1536)]

Completely off-topic: at the rate this thread grows, it's entirely possible that it will top 1000 pages before 2020.

 

And the Ataribollocks^(tm) still won't have shipped.

Edited September 26, 2019 by x=usr(1536)

[+x=usr(1536)]

1 hour ago, racerx said:

Yikes.

 

I don't know if the UberStrategist intern has gone into hiding or what, but that subreddit's devolved into Thunderdome.

No kidding.  Here's what it looks like right now:

 

 

I'm betting that Atari SA didn't count on this happening in their own backyard.  Love the Soulja Boy comparison, though.

Edited September 26, 2019 by x=usr(1536)

[Flojomojo]

@x=usr(1536) cui bono is the right way to look at this. "Who benefits?" with a side of "who cares?"

 

Rob Wyatt is a hired gun. He doesn't care whether "Atari" lives or dies. 
 

Fred and the board members are lucky to have survived this long. Based on the actions "Atari" has taken over the past few years, I'm pretty sure they are unconcerned about embarrassment or disgrace. 

[ColecoJoe]

 

[digdugnate]

as expected, the seas are red(dit) with Atari VCS Official blood.

 

[JBerel]

39 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

It's also doubtful that Freddy and Mikey and Robbie are under any illusions as to what it is that they're attempting to do, which is create a physical product in order to stir up and/or bolster interest in a buyout.  The social media consultant is just a douchebag doing what they're told to do for as long as the cheques don't bounce and likely has no vested interest beyond that, so can probably be safely ignored.

 

Robbie's an interesting case, and I'd like to know more about his relationship with Atari SA.  Is he an employee, is he a contractor, does he sit on the board or hold a financial interest in the company, etc.  Are the development delays down to cashflow issues between Atari SA and Tin Giant, or is something else at play?  Either way, does he stand to benefit in a buyout scenario?  The company's small enough that it's almost impossible that he wouldn't know if this was the end goal or not.

 

The problem is that they have literally nothing of any real value in today's market.  Brand-whoring will only get you so far, and smart investors know that.

 

Wal-Mart: no idea.  Frankly, I don't even know what their requirements are to carry a pre-order item, but I can't imagine they're particularly loose.  If there's one thing they don't want, it's the publicity from, "I got screwed over on my pre-order and Wal-Mart's doing jack about it".

The problem with Freddie is he is just an investment speculator trying to pad his pockets. He clearly knows nothing of product development or much of anything beyond stocks and finance. He's manipulating the entire business entity for his financial gain. There are a few others who have exit contracts with a similar vested interest or some paid in options or shares of ridiculously low value stock. Those folks could end up with little or nothing. He'd love to unload the brand and anything else as long as he thinks he's making money. The problem is, the brand is largely an intangible which he places way to high a value on. He's done that to artificially inflate his earnings and value, so he probably is not remotely realistic about what the market would bear for his brand bought out of bankruptcy. 

 

 

Rob's just a contract drifter who doesn't want to work for "the man." You can see him a million miles off. He probably starts a lot more contracts than he finishes.

 

I posted the WalMart e-commerce listing standards a week or so back. Basically, anybody can get stuff listed on WalMart's site if they get approval by having 100 SKUs or an exclusive edition that they think will drive traffic. They're competing with Amazon.com so it's a really low bar. Being on their web commerce site has nothing to do with being carried in their retail outlets. I'm sure the same is true with Gamestop for what that's worth these days.

 

[Flojomojo]

21 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

as expected, the seas are red(dit) with Atari VCS Official blood.

 

They left a few of them up. I guess they know that The Register will have yet another story if that question about the recent article goes missing. I wouldn't be surprised if the person who posted it is already banned. 

[PlaysWithWolves]

25 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

They left a few of them up. I guess they know that The Register will have yet another story if that question about the recent article goes missing. I wouldn't be surprised if the person who posted it is already banned. 

 

 

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