New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[MrBeefy]

Someone is having growing pains with their positive new look on life. Atari even went through cleaning up his posts they were so numerous.

 

 

He doesn't have any empathy to understand those who have backed have a right to be mad at the news. He also lacks the understanding that we are mostly having fun at this charade. 

 

ALSO they don't get it that we think they should be able to get this out to backers. We think they are just a joke for making so many mistakes along the way. Also in order for us to be 'wrong' you still need the item in hand, AND it needs to work wonderfully. NEITHER of which have happened yet.

 

 

[Agillig]

30 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Someone is having growing pains with their positive new look on life. Atari even went through cleaning up his posts they were so numerous.

 

 

He doesn't have any empathy to understand those who have backed have a right to be mad at the news. He also lacks the understanding that we are mostly having fun at this charade. 

 

ALSO they don't get it that we think they should be able to get this out to backers. We think they are just a joke for making so many mistakes along the way. Also in order for us to be 'wrong' you still need the item in hand, AND it needs to work wonderfully. NEITHER of which have happened yet.

 

 

Werner doesn't seem like someone who's enjoying the news, that's for sure.  He seems like an angry, bitter person who knows things aren't going his way.  But hey, he'll show us.  He'll enjoy our suffering because we can't get an Atari VCS...which does nothing that my 2 year old lap top doesn't already do.

[Osgeld]

2017 is when this shit bang started, they should be working on gen 2 at this point and yet, Next spring, we really really promise this time (idiots) 

[PlaysWithWolves]

4 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

.

 

 

Even if Atari ships a console, it doesn't negate the many bad actions they took to get there.   They got the money by hook or by crook.  They even put out videos before Indiegogo making it look like they had a working prototype--before they started adding "for illustration purposes only" to everything.

 

I guess I fail to see how this medium.com blog makes us wrong about everything.

 

[carlsson]

I don't doubt that the Atari VCS will be realized one day. I just doubt it will have much content, and in particular very little exclusive content that gives a reason to own one instead of any other system that both has been around for longer and is cheaper or more powerful for the same money. Over at the Modern Gaming section, a couple of people repeatedly have asked for a dedicated subforum for the Atari VCS, long before it even has shipped, and long before there is any content at all to discuss other than pure vaporware for which there already exists one thread over there plus of course the master of all threads (this one).

[OCAT]

Imagne if this is just an elaborate hoax, just like Mike Kennedy with the SNES jammed inside the Jag shell.
At this point we are still at the same level as Chameleon, no demo, prototype working, just this time we have moar Shells!
It still is doing nothing at all. I would not put it past them to put on a little lab show for the people.
As someone else put it "If they do indeed intend to mass market this, they should have started adds for the system already"
I would have already started teasers on social media, viral campaigns that cost nothing to develop, this is not like the old days where you HAD to print adds, buy TV airtime, anyone can market anything for little to nothing. when this thing arrives, it will be dead, people will think it is just another @Games flashback.
I Highly doubt Videogame stores, (Toys "R" Us in Canada) Walmart will be giving floor space for demo units unless Atari is giving them exclusive sales & an insane cut of each console sold. Dont forget Xbox, Nintendo & Playstation are big players that have worked out territory, no way are they going to stand by and let someone else come up without nasty anti-competitive tactics.

All I know if this thing is sold at Sears & K-Mart I am going to have major flashbacks (pardon the pun)

[Paul Slocum]

Some press is starting to roll in and it ain't looking good.  They're not really buying Atari's BS 'interview', and a lot more writers are picking up the stuff about Rob Wyatt leaving and various concerns of backers:

 

https://mspoweruser.com/atari-claims-no-news-is-good-news-after-months-of-atari-vcs-silence/

 

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-11-29-atari-vcs-enters-final-stages-of-pre-production-following-series-of-delays

 

https://www.pcgamesn.com/atari-vcs-console-update-2019

Edited November 29, 2019 by Paul Slocum

[JBerel]

The only value to Atari's project now is the comedy relief of mocking it and its relentless supporters. It has already failed, and now everyone involved continues to squirm and do their best attempts to pervert reality into the best possible looking alternate reality. It's just a sad, sad display at this point of hacks and zealots feeding off each other. I weep for the species.

 

Also, It's worth noting again what everybody already knows but chooses to ignore. The terms of use for Indiegogo or any crowdfunding platform require regular communications, at least monthly, to avoid the exact situation Atari is in with their backers. They are in complete disarray with serious problems, they admit nothing, and continually lie or go silent for cover. They remain in breach of contract, but the sites know how to deprive backers of any real remedy, so you can argue they were scammed the minute they put in their card.

Edited November 29, 2019 by JBerel

[Agillig]

4 hours ago, PlaysWithWolves said:

 

Even if Atari ships a console, it doesn't negate the many bad actions they took to get there.   They got the money by hook or by crook.  They even put out videos before Indiegogo making it look like they had a working prototype--before they started adding "for illustration purposes only" to everything.

 

I guess I fail to see how this medium.com blog makes us wrong about everything.

 

You know what would shut me up?  Games.  Not Biffy games, not compilations of retro games, and certainly not a streaming service of retro games.   Good games I can't get anywhere else.  Since Atari is obviously unable to show gameplay, there's no reason for me to have any interest in this thing.

 

People are paying 300 bucks for a logo.  Considering:  

 

1.  The company behind this system has a history of unethical behavior.

 

2. The product they are offering does nothing new.

 

3. Even if the system does ship someday, it's pretty unlikely they're using quality parts, and getting the system repaired by Atari would likely be a nightmare. 

 

I'd say that's 300 bucks wasted. 

[digdugnate]

7 minutes ago, Agillig said:

You know what would shut me up?  Games.  Not Biffy games, not compilations of retro games, and certainly not a streaming service of retro games.   Good games I can't get anywhere else.  Since Atari is obviously unable to show gameplay, there's no reason for me to have any interest in this thing.

 

People are paying 300 bucks for a logo.  Considering:  

 

1.  The company behind this system has a history of unethical behavior.

 

2. The product they are offering does nothing new.

 

3. Even if the system does ship someday, it's pretty unlikely they're using quality parts, and getting the system repaired by Atari would likely be a nightmare. 

 

I'd say that's 300 bucks wasted. 

you bring up an interesting point on repairing them/their longevity (assuming it, in fact, ever releases).

 

So in the 2049 when we are inevitably Miners that are on some space colony that have to jump from platform to platform collecting stuff, will the nascent nu-VCS be able to be repaired?

[JBerel]

1. Let me gauge interest by asking people to pay me up front.

 

2. I collected millions of dollars from backers before what I sold them exists.

 

3. Let me bend over backwards to develop a killer product with the best components possible at the lowest possible margin or even a huge loss, just so all my backers are happy with what they bought.

 

4. Everybody's happy because I'm such a good and talented individual.

 

Seems legit.

[OCAT]

^^^ Lol at those articles,

here is a quote "Atari will always prioritise delivering a high-quality product over a self-imposed deadline," says Atari VCS COO

See, this does work when you are in the Tech industry, you wait a month, your product is already obsolete! Heck you wait in line for an Smartphone, by the time you get to the cash another one just came out!

Self-Imposed Deadline, sooo you are basically saying you are incapable of keeping your word. Thanks I'll never lend you a $20 cuz I aint getting it back.
Also if this was "self imposed" then it is YO Fault! (oh no he said it!)
This is what happens when you dont have to deal with investors.. or a boss that will kick you out & hire someone else to get the job done.. ON TIME!

This is EXACTLY the mentality of Mike Kennedy, remember that crap he was selling? "Oh I want to go back to the good 'ol days where games were finished, flawless & did not need updates"
Ya OK M.K that time never existed, this is why you can blow through E.T in like 60 seconds, Sonic the Hedgehog levels in 30 seconds by warping. They released the games because they had to. Same thing with modern consoles, just to meet a deadline they even shipped out Blank CD's with just a title screen, the entire game was a patch! (skateboarding crapy game Tony hawk?)

You were suppose to release the hardware, software can always be updated over this little thing called the Internet.
These Trilobites got nothing substantial to show after they took all that dough, now they know they are gonna have to eat Crow, so they put on this show...
yes I know it rhymes :)

[toneinblack]

In the photo showing the white object behind the right hand side grill , it looks like a piece of plyboard to me with the different layers .

[Zoyx]

I just discovered this long-ass thread. So many conspiracy theories. The Atari VCS will come to market, it is the only way Atari will make money off of this.

[OCAT]

^^^Update to my comment



Atari and Spielberg haggled over rights and money until the end of July 1982. To get the game out in time for the Christmas holiday, Warshaw would have to build it from scratch in five weeks. The CEO of Atari called him directly.


"Atari will always prioritise delivering a high-quality product over a self-imposed deadline," says Atari VCS COO

I can go on but I digress

[Agillig]

31 minutes ago, Zoyx said:

I just discovered this long-ass thread. So many conspiracy theories. The Atari VCS will come to market, it is the only way Atari will make money off of this.

Quite the optimist.  It probably will come out in some form, eventually.   Whether they make any money is a different story.   I'm a huge believer in Occam's Razor, but at this point, there's no simple, rational explanation for Atari's behavior. 

[OCAT]

^^^ Lol Occam's Razor..

Remember the "Skarp Laser Razor"
That got kicked off of Kickstarter (pardon the pun)because the prototype was a joke, so they scuttled over to.. guess who! Indiegogo! The crowdnfunder that has no scruples as long as they get a cut. (pardon the pun again)

My assumption is that they just wanted the cash & had no plan to deliver a viable product... oh wait!

Edited November 29, 2019 by OCAT

[Zoyx]

10 minutes ago, Agillig said:

Quite the optimist.  It probably will come out in some form, eventually.   Whether they make any money is a different story.   I'm a huge believer in Occam's Razor, but at this point, there's no simple, rational explanation for Atari's behavior. 

Well, to continue with the Occam's Razor theme, the rational explanation is, they are making mistakes. No grand conspiracy needed. Releasing your first console is hard. Just look at the gaffs that Google is making with Stadia.

[jaybird3rd]

Now that "Atari" looks to be getting closer to putting something in a box, and the True Believers are no doubt champing at the bit to crow about it and rub it in our faces, I think it would be useful to remind them of what our argument has always been:

 

On 6/11/2019 at 5:11 PM, jaybird3rd said:

The argument hasn't been that they will release *nothing*, but that what they finally *do* release will fail to live up to the hype, because KookyFrenchGuyAtari does not have the necessary talent or resources to create anything sufficiently different from other alternatives to justify the $3M that they raised from crowdfunding. When "that Ataribox?" finally does ship—whatever it ends up being—and when the True Believers inevitably claim that this somehow "proves the naysayers wrong," they will only be setting up a straw man.

 

"Living up to the hype" means creating a steady flow of new and exclusive high-quality software, and an entire delivery ecosystem, which can give the users the kind of experience that "Atari" has been promising (which, as their supporters have been insisting, will be totally different from the RPi and other lower-cost alternatives).  Although the True Believers will try to claim that "Atari" is totally in the clear if they can only manage to ship the hardware, fulfilling the initial obligation of putting working hardware in a box and shipping it is only the starting point, and in some ways is the simplest part of the process.

[MrBeefy]

4 hours ago, OCAT said:

Imagne if this is just an elaborate hoax, just like Mike Kennedy with the SNES jammed inside the Jag shell.
At this point we are still at the same level as Chameleon, no demo, prototype working, just this time we have moar Shells!
It still is doing nothing at all. I would not put it past them to put on a little lab show for the people.
As someone else put it "If they do indeed intend to mass market this, they should have started adds for the system already"
I would have already started teasers on social media, viral campaigns that cost nothing to develop, this is not like the old days where you HAD to print adds, buy TV airtime, anyone can market anything for little to nothing. when this thing arrives, it will be dead, people will think it is just another @Games flashback.
I Highly doubt Videogame stores, (Toys "R" Us in Canada) Walmart will be giving floor space for demo units unless Atari is giving them exclusive sales & an insane cut of each console sold. Dont forget Xbox, Nintendo & Playstation are big players that have worked out territory, no way are they going to stand by and let someone else come up without nasty anti-competitive tactics.

All I know if this thing is sold at Sears & K-Mart I am going to have major flashbacks (pardon the pun)

I don't think this is an outright hoax. I think they were going for an easy cash grab amd trying hard to actually make themselves relevant. They were smart in the sense they were going to do an off the shelf linux computer that should easily have been put together and shipped.

 

The problem is they overestimated their ability. They wanted to make a console and have done a horrible job of it. They misled people with footage and evidently did not do the research to see what it took to initially do this. 

 

This isn't a scam in the sense of the Chameleon. It's a scam in what they advertised and in what you paid for it. Will it play games? Yes. Will it be able to play the newest stuff pushing hardware? No. Emulators? Sure, but I can do that with my Pi for cheaper and and cam still get a cool case.

 

4 minutes ago, Zoyx said:

I just discovered this long-ass thread. So many conspiracy theories. The Atari VCS will come to market, it is the only way Atari will make money off of this.

Welcome and grab a taco. Most of us think it will come out. They've already made $3M without it coming out or even shown to be working. If they really wanted to make money they would have licensed their name to a computer company who was more competent in making computers.

[Zoyx]

25 minutes ago, jaybird3rd said:

Now that "Atari" looks to be getting closer to putting something in a box, and the True Believers are no doubt champing at the bit to crow about it and rub it in our faces, I think it would be useful to remind them of what our argument has always been:

 

 

"Living up to the hype" means creating a steady flow of new and exclusive high-quality software, and an entire delivery ecosystem, which can give the users the kind of experience that "Atari" has been promising (which, as their supporters have been insisting, will be totally different from the RPi and other lower-cost alternatives).  Although the True Believers will try to claim that "Atari" is totally in the clear if they can only manage to ship the hardware, fulfilling the initial obligation of putting working hardware in a box and shipping it is only the starting point, and in some ways is the simplest part of the process.

Gigging them for "not living up to the hype" is too easy of a target. All console makers have oversold their consoles. That's part of marketing. There is no way that what Atari initially drew up on the drawing board was going to make it to the final product. You are forced to move with market and technology changes during development.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Zoyx

[Zoyx]

5 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Welcome and grab a taco. Most of us think it will come out. They've already made $3M without it coming out or even shown to be working. If they really wanted to make money they would have licensed their name to a computer company who was more competent in making computers.

That $3 million is gone. They burned through that in development. They are firmly in the red with the VCS. Any hope of profit is to bring it the rest of the way to market.

[Flojomojo]

1 hour ago, Zoyx said:

I just discovered this long-ass thread. So many conspiracy theories. The Atari VCS will come to market, it is the only way Atari will make money off of this.

Hardware isn't a moneymaker, and never has been, especially at the low end. Software is where the money is, along with licensing to allow others to put software on your platform. Without compelling software content, there's no reason for hardware to exist. Give away the razor, sell the blades. 

44 minutes ago, Zoyx said:

Gigging them for "not living up to the hype" is too easy of a target. All consoles have oversold their consoles. That's part of marketing. There is no way that what Atari initially drew up on the drawing board was going to make it to the final product. You are forced to move with market and technology changes during development.

The original Indiegogo pitch from summer 2018 was perfectly feasible, not overhyped. All they offered was a commodity PC in a cute 1970s clock-radio style shell, a little app store full of games, and some Atari-branded controllers. Their failure to deliver is a failure of execution, not of concept or marketing. 
 

The only real success here, if there is one, is one of marketing, convincing about 12,000 people to put up good faith money on this up front. Not bad for a run of T-shirts, but laughably inadequate for consumer electronics. 

40 minutes ago, Zoyx said:

That $3 million is gone. They burned through that in development. They are firmly in the red with the VCS. Any hope of profit is to bring it the rest of the way to market.

Atari said they didn't need the money, that they were trying to build a crowd, not fund anything. $3M isn't much to develop and build this, and we know that the company has had issues paying their vendors in the past. 12,000 people isn't enough to build a platform. Remember that Ouya was in a stronger position in a more favorable market, and flopped hard. Atari has shown nothing that would change this analysis. 
 

The best hope for Atari is an acquisition from a stronger, better-run company with more ability to finish something. This all-for-show project seems like it's aimed at potential buyers of the company, not the product. 

[Zoyx]

32 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Hardware isn't a moneymaker, and never has been, especially at the low end. Software is where the money is, along with licensing to allow others to put software on your platform. Without compelling software content, there's no reason for hardware to exist. Give away the razor, sell the blades. 

The original Indiegogo pitch from summer 2018 was perfectly feasible, not overhyped. All they offered was a commodity PC in a cute 1970s clock-radio style shell, a little app store full of games, and some Atari-branded controllers. Their failure to deliver is a failure of execution, not of concept or marketing. 
 

The only real success here, if there is one, is one of marketing, convincing about 12,000 people to put up good faith money on this up front. Not bad for a run of T-shirts, but laughably inadequate for consumer electronics. 

Atari said they didn't need the money, that they were trying to build a crowd, not fund anything. $3M isn't much to develop and build this, and we know that the company has had issues paying their vendors in the past. 12,000 people isn't enough to build a platform. Remember that Ouya was in a stronger position in a more favorable market, and flopped hard. Atari has shown nothing that would change this analysis. 
 

The best hope for Atari is an acquisition from a stronger, better-run company with more ability to finish something. This all-for-show project seems like it's aimed at potential buyers of the company, not the product. 

Nintendo sells their consoles for a profit, but you are right... Sony and Microsoft sell their hardware for a loss. Atari VCS's goal was to make a profit off the hardware, but that is going to be really tough. For the most part, they are hitting their goals. I suspect they will have a disappointing software selection at launch, but they will have a store and some games and apps. The ecosystem grow.

[MrBeefy]

58 minutes ago, Zoyx said:

That $3 million is gone. They burned through that in development. They are firmly in the red with the VCS. Any hope of profit is to bring it the rest of the way to market.

Development? If you go under the assumption Fred's $1mil did not come from the VCS funds then where did it all go? Rob? Non-existent software? In recent history they've only shown a screenshot of Ubuntu. These things were sold at a profit. They even admitted to that themselves.

 

I think there's still some funds. I just think they are stalling in hopes the low pre-orders jump up in number. Mass producing the shells would save some $$$. Longer they delay the backers the less time people have to back out of their pre-orders.