PlaysWithWolves Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Anyone who questioned Rob Wyatt's motivations to speak about Atari, please pick up your prize at the front desk: Gameboard-1 digital board game console launches Kickstarter campaign Pretty bold for him to list working with Atari on the Kickstarter. ? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 It's interesting skimming through all of the speculation, comments, doomsaying, re-posting, etc. Pointless, but interesting. The bottom line though, is: Atari was a game company. But they still haven't shown it playing any games. Nothing. Not once. The Medium blog, Atari's own state news outlet, confirmed this: Quote There’s still much to do before the team feels it can change the Indiegogo status from “Prototype” to “Production,” but we get closer each day. "It still doesn't work." Quote You’re probably wondering what happens when you turn on one of our pre-production Atari VCS units. To be honest, while these machines boot up using our Atari BIOS, they operate more like a computer than a fully-functional game system at the moment. "It still doesn't work." Quote In other words, Atari Sandbox Mode is fully functional and the machines will play games beautifully through a standard Linux or Windows installation. "Unless you install your own operating system, it still doesn't work." Quote The custom Atari operating system is functional, but various consumer-facing software elements like the front-end graphics interface we teased at E3, along with with our Atari VCS store framework and apps, including Antstream Arcade and other native entertainment and game applications, are still in varying stages of development and not yet ready to be shared or installed into these particular units. "It still doesn't work." Quote We have all of this working in other environments and it will be working in concert on the Atari VCS soon. "We have a Windows computer that Rob hooked up for us before he left." Quote We can’t wait to show it to the world because it all looks incredible. In fact, we are very much looking forward to hosting a series of hands-on preview events later in the fall for a select group of press and partners as soon as we are ready. "Just like we did with our 'summer' announcements." Atari doesn't make games. No amount of Kool-Aid* can change that simple fact. *Actually, it was Flavor-Aid. 12 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I don't think Bon Jovi wants any part of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBerel Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I've only been skimming this thread, so maybe somebody had this revelation already, but a thought occurred to me over the past couple of days. Some people say this is nothing like the Atari we used to know. I say, this is exactly like the Atari we used to know. Okay, maybe not exactly, but consider: In the early '80s, Atari Inc. dominated the video game market, until hubris and mismanagement caused them to destroy themselves and the rest of the market almost singlehandedly. In the late '80s and early '90s, Atari Corp. was hanging on decently well even if they weren't exactly making spectacular waves. The 7800 sold enough to keep the company afloat, and the Atari Lynx was earning critical praise even if players weren't flocking to the console like the company would have hoped. Then Atari bit off more than they could chew with the Atari Jaguar and pretty much destroyed what was left of the company. In the early 2000s, the company that became Atari wasn't exactly what the original Atari used to be, but between retro nostalgia and a publishing infrastructure that saw the Atari name put on several not-bad new games like NeverWinter Nights and the "Backyard" sports series, the company was doing all right for itself. And now, thanks to more hubris and mismanagement, we're going to see the Atari VCS destroy this particular flavor of the company. Makes me wonder how the company will manage to reinvent and destroy itself next. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 1 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 49 minutes ago, FujiSkunk said: Makes me wonder how the company will manage to reinvent and destroy itself next. There's no company left. Just a brand name. Skills, development, and innovation are in short supply at "Atari." They can rent out their name, and their portfolio of aging intellectual property. They're strip mining any value the brand had left, until there won't be any left. Some say that's already happened. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled_Pink Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Going back to the quality of The Register as a news source, one of the most respected sources of information, Tom's Hardware, have picked up the story and run with it as well with one extra piece of information (unless I missed it in the Reg article). Atari already have a replacement for Wyatt. That was quick. I imagine it's possibly a company they've used before? If not, then it may suggest that they knew Wyatt was leaving or likely to leave some time ago and had put a contingency plan in place. Shame they haven't seen to have much of a plan up till now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 You mean this from 2 days ago? It's just a rewrite of the article from The Register. We haven't heard confirmation that Surfaceink is the new partner and I wouldn't necessarily believe it until we hear it directly from either Atari or Surfaceink themselves. Heh, contingency. Heh, plans. I think you've forgotten who we're dealing with here. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled_Pink Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 1 minute ago, Flojomojo said: You mean this from 2 days ago? It's just a rewrite of the article from The Register. We haven't heard confirmation that Surfaceink is the new partner and I wouldn't necessarily believe it until we hear it directly from either Atari or Surfaceink themselves. Heh, contingency. Heh, plans. I think you've forgotten who we're dealing with here. I haven't. Trust me. ? Anyway, I know I'm REALLY late with this question, but it's a little embarrassing to ask. When did Tacos come into this thread and why? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Somebody should make another index of posts before we get up to page 900. Pink, the answer to your shameful question is within. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 A semi-serious question. Obviously, if Atari fails to provide anything (or, as I find more likely, basically just ships something that meets the absolute bare minimum), how badly does this hurt them? It's not like they have much "face" to lose. Goofball evangelists and casuals who don't understand when they're buying a product that says Atari, they're giving money to the zombie corpse of Infogrames aren't going to care. Most people think Atari is dead and gone anyway, right? You'll still be able to buy Atari t-shirts somewhere. Sure, they probably wouldn't be able to pull a crowdfunding scam again... but their stock is already a joke... the company is basically just a company on paper... so what if they don't ship or ship an extremely subpar product? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 @dj_convoy We should know by April 2020. "Stay tuned!" 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amstari Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercoupe91 Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 4 hours ago, Lodmot said: > u > Lol. Hey thanks for the reply. Been hiding here from the fact that I'm a backer. Mostly out of shame. But hey, might as well come out and face the music since the writing is on the wall 5 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 28 minutes ago, Tickled_Pink said: Anyway, I know I'm REALLY late with this question, but it's a little embarrassing to ask. Hide contents When did Tacos come into this thread and why? Right here: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/266480-new-atari-console-that-ataribox/?do=findComment&comment=3898856 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DurradonXylles Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Tickled_Pink said: Going back to the quality of The Register as a news source, one of the most respected sources of information, Tom's Hardware, have picked up the story and run with it as well with one extra piece of information (unless I missed it in the Reg article). Atari already have a replacement for Wyatt. That was quick. I imagine it's possibly a company they've used before? If not, then it may suggest that they knew Wyatt was leaving or likely to leave some time ago and had put a contingency plan in place. Shame they haven't seen to have much of a plan up till now. 1 hour ago, Flojomojo said: You mean this from 2 days ago? It's just a rewrite of the article from The Register. We haven't heard confirmation that Surfaceink is the new partner and I wouldn't necessarily believe it until we hear it directly from either Atari or Surfaceink themselves. Heh, contingency. Heh, plans. I think you've forgotten who we're dealing with here. As I've said before: there's zero indication from SurfaceInk that they've taken on Atari SA (more specifically, Atari Gamebox LLC) as a client, and they wear each client's logo like a tattoo on their site. Even OUYA's. Atari will likely make a bombastic Medium article when the paperwork is done if they've contacted SI and aren't spinning their wheels like I think they currently are. 1 hour ago, dj_convoy said: A semi-serious question. Obviously, if Atari fails to provide anything (or, as I find more likely, basically just ships something that meets the absolute bare minimum), how badly does this hurt them? It's not like they have much "face" to lose. Goofball evangelists and casuals who don't understand when they're buying a product that says Atari, they're giving money to the zombie corpse of Infogrames aren't going to care. Most people think Atari is dead and gone anyway, right? You'll still be able to buy Atari t-shirts somewhere. Sure, they probably wouldn't be able to pull a crowdfunding scam again... but their stock is already a joke... the company is basically just a company on paper... so what if they don't ship or ship an extremely subpar product? Honestly, not much. I imagine if things end up bad enough, Fred and the individuals who helped him make Atari Gamebox LLC will get the pants sued off of them and potentially get some legal penality for fraud if the state of Delaware thinks they aren't above board. I think the worst that happens is that Atari as a whole goes bankrupt again, and we could potentially see WB Games end up buying it wholesale for licensing purposes of the catalog of games (second biggest reason they bought Midway behind Mortal Kombat), thus making both halves of the former company under Warner ownership once again after about forty years. Or, we could potentially see an even less scrupulous company than Inforgrames or GT Interactive buys them up and once again dances the brand's corpse around with another set of get-rich-quick schemes and the cycle starts over with a different guy running the show. Edited October 10, 2019 by DurradonXylles 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 The only "progress" Atari (formerly Infogrames) was to make an LED light turn on. Think of all the other possibilities they could have with LED's. Like...toasters. 3 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lodmot Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, supercoupe91 said: Hey thanks for the reply. Been hiding here from the fact that I'm a backer. Mostly out of shame. But hey, might as well come out and face the music since the writing is on the wall Hey dude, no worries. Also, I don't think there's any reason to feel ashamed; you and I were in the same boat. > w < We both were excited about Atari coming back, and it just snowballed in a bad direction. I'm just chalking this up as a learning experience. Hopefully we at least get something, even if it's just a Linux box. Lol. Edited October 10, 2019 by Lodmot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 2 hours ago, FujiSkunk said: I've only been skimming this thread, so maybe somebody had this revelation already, but a thought occurred to me over the past couple of days. Some people say this is nothing like the Atari we used to know. I say, this is exactly like the Atari we used to know. Okay, maybe not exactly, but consider: In the early '80s, Atari Inc. dominated the video game market, until hubris and mismanagement caused them to destroy themselves and the rest of the market almost singlehandedly. In the late '80s and early '90s, Atari Corp. was hanging on decently well even if they weren't exactly making spectacular waves. The 7800 sold enough to keep the company afloat, and the Atari Lynx was earning critical praise even if players weren't flocking to the console like the company would have hoped. Then Atari bit off more than they could chew with the Atari Jaguar and pretty much destroyed what was left of the company. In the early 2000s, the company that became Atari wasn't exactly what the original Atari used to be, but between retro nostalgia and a publishing infrastructure that saw the Atari name put on several not-bad new games like NeverWinter Nights and the "Backyard" sports series, the company was doing all right for itself. And now, thanks to more hubris and mismanagement, we're going to see the Atari VCS destroy this particular flavor of the company. Makes me wonder how the company will manage to reinvent and destroy itself next. The hubris began when Nolan Bushnell himself ran Atari in the 70's, he was more interested in hot tub parties than actually running the business so he ended up having to sell to Warner which set off this unfortunate chain of events. I really like the guy and the company he made but that's the sad truth. And this incarnation of Atari is a lot like the Tramiel version where they had a history of screwing over developers, customers, dealers and consulting engineers (see the history of the Lynx). But at least they released computers with operating systems included... Right now I just wish this curse of people trying to bring back "the brand" only to end in disaster would just end, all it's doing is making the Atari name become even more of a joke than it already is. As the guy from Pet Semetary said, sometimes dead is better. 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lodmot Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 3 minutes ago, MrMaddog said: The hubris began when Nolan Bushnell himself ran Atari in the 70's, he was more interested in hot tub parties than actually running the business so he ended up having to sell to Warner which set off this unfortunate chain of events. I really like the guy and the company he made but that's the sad truth. And this incarnation of Atari is a lot like the Tramiel version where they had a history of screwing over developers, customers, dealers and consulting engineers (see the history of the Lynx). But at least they released computers with operating systems included... Right now I just wish this curse of people trying to bring back "the brand" only to end in disaster would just end, all it's doing is making the Atari name become even more of a joke than it already is. As the guy from Pet Semetary said, sometimes dead is better. Lol xD 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoJoe Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Hey fellow kids, Karl would like you all to know : also: does anybody know a good lawyer? real Colombo’s at work here It’s Talarocko 1 15 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 All together now He's not WRONG, he's just an ________! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 6 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said: Hey fellow kids, Karl would like you all to know : also: does anybody know a good lawyer? real Colombo’s at work here It’s Talarocko Libel is print, slander is spoken. 3 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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