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New Atari Console that Ataribox?


Goochman

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2 hours ago, Clint Thompson said:

And actually had games developed for it. Or actually showed the hardware working in full order instead of hidden in a box.

 

Or.... oh, who cares anymore


They’ve got jokes. Little over an hour after I say that they post an update. And test number 30? Yeah, ok. *edit; I see the video states test build #30 now. 

 

 

Edited by Clint Thompson
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36 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

They look great in promotional photos! 

https://www.boredpanda.com/fast-food-ads-vs-reality

 

fastfoods-ads-vs-reality-taco.jpg

 

Maybe someone can make a poster about expectations vs. reality for some on-topic things. 


I am always a little disappointed when eating at my local Taco Bell by how the tacos I get actually look.

But they are cheap and do taste good, which are the truly important factors I suppose.

... and now I want some Taco Bell!

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9 minutes ago, Clint Thompson said:


They’ve got jokes. Little over an hour after I say that they post an update. And test number 30? Yeah, ok. *edit; I see the video states test build #30 now. 

 

 

Why is everything always so awkwardly filmed with no talking? Also, why does the Netflix app use a cursor? Is this windows?

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18 minutes ago, Clint Thompson said:


They’ve got jokes. Little over an hour after I say that they post an update. And test number 30? Yeah, ok. *edit; I see the video states test build #30 now. 

 

 

It whizzes by quite quickly, but I'm glad to see that Asteroids has found its "S".

 

Bizarre that an unlisted YT video shows more to us than the entirety of their social media did during the CES.

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21 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said:

Why is everything always so awkwardly filmed with no talking? Also, why does the Netflix app use a cursor? Is this windows?

Yes, it's Windows 10. Look at the top right when they start it. 

10 minutes ago, D Train said:

This is basically the video that everyone has been waiting for, no?

Proof that the thing can actually boot? Yeah, that's something a person can reasonably expect from a home computer. That's literally the minimum viable product. 

 

It's hard to get excited about the old collection of the very old games that can be played on other, better hardware. 

 

 

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23 minutes ago, D Train said:

This is basically the video that everyone has been waiting for, no?

Yep. I'm happy that this shows a competent ability to load various apps. And yes, it was quite quick, thankfully. Would be worried if it didn't go too fast. Yes the silence thing is weird, but it seems to be their thing, like they are still selling this product as an amateur adventure. Plus points for finally showing the wires going in and it all working without cuts though, I'm still of the impression that previously this was done to hide things - but this shows it working.

 

Just need to considerably drop the price now.

 

Edit:

 

Quote

Next steps in China

The Chinese government has extended the New Year holiday an extra week until February 10. We are in close contact with our teams in China, and when the factory reopens, they will gauge the impact that the Coronavirus may or may not have on the next few weeks of production.

Don't think this surprised anyone though.

Edited by Mikebloke
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6 minutes ago, Mikebloke said:

Yep. I'm happy that this shows a competent ability to load various apps. And yes, it was quite quick, thankfully. Would be worried if it didn't go too fast. Yes the silence thing is weird, but it seems to be their thing, like they are still selling this product as an amateur adventure. Plus points for finally showing the wires going in and it all working without cuts though, I'm still of the impression that previously this was done to hide things - but this shows it working.

 

Just need to considerably drop the price now.

but it's not even listed on their channel. Without the direct link, you wouldn't find it. Why would they hide something that proves that at least they wee able to have a computer in a box that boots (which at this points seems to be enough for backers still defending the system, nobody seems to care anymore about "new" games let lone "reinventing" gaming) ??

 

edit: who thought that this UI was a good idea, those awkward boxes trailing behind for ages .. ?

Edited by Zor
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42 minutes ago, Clint Thompson said:


They’ve got jokes. Little over an hour after I say that they post an update. And test number 30? Yeah, ok. *edit; I see the video states test build #30 now. 

 

 


I have to admit to being a little impressed. I honestly had some serious doubts that they were anywhere close to having a functional Atari Box.

They still have absolutely no chance of meeting their March delivery deadline, and my 5 years old laptop can do everything the Atari Box just showed; but it seems Atari does at least have built an operational product.

This is the the kind of meat-and-potatoes update they should be producing for their backers rather then 'No news is good news'. There would be a lot less worried and angry people if they did so.

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3 minutes ago, Zor said:

but it's not even listed on their channel. Without the direct link, you wouldn't find it. Why would they hide something that proves that at least they wee able to have a computer in a box that boots (which at this points seems to be enough for backers still defending the system, nobody seems to care anymore about "new" games let lone "reinventing" gaming) ??

 

edit: who thought that this UI was a good idea, those awkward boxes trailing behind for ages .. ?

I think many of us questioned why advertising and marketing for the product is so bad. Given their recent history of cancelling things, a lot of us assumed this was a premonition not only that it would happen again, but that it was perhaps planned - and perhaps planned previously too - as a form of intentional scamming akin to Nigerian money scams etc. We still obviously haven't seen any produced for backers, but this video is genuinely the first thing to suggest its actually real. Given it was revealed in June 2017, its nearly taken 3 years to convince us its a real product, that is seriously flawed.

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13 minutes ago, Zor said:

but it's not even listed on their channel. Without the direct link, you wouldn't find it.

 

Has anyone grabbed a copy of this video for preservation purposes in case (when) it is deleted?

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30 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said:

(Please note that all IP and marks included on the Atari VCS dashboard are depicted for demonstration purposes only and are the sole property of their respective rights owners.)

 

https://medium.com/@atarivcs/atari-vcs-manufacturing-update-cdec2835afa7

I wonder how much time was between this and the previous two updates? This definitely shows a lot more, even if the finishes are still super shiny. It's odd they haven't moved their IndieGogo past the Prototype milestone. 

 

The backers are getting super itchy feet. 

532628706_ScreenShot2020-02-04at3_52_47PM.thumb.png.ff12ce46c6feeaf1ae01c99df05219d6.png

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1 hour ago, D Train said:

This is basically the video that everyone has been waiting for, no?

I'm convinced!

 

This has completely changed my mind. I would now, and I'm stating this for the record, actually buy an Ataribox.

 

If it came with a licensed version of Windows, pre-installed.

 

And cost $149. For the 8GB RAM "all-in" bundle. Including both controllers.

 

Mainly because I'd like a cheap PC to run Phrase-a-lator on.

 

Actually, I guess I don't really need the controllers.


Call it $99 then, and I'm all in. Make it happen Atari - you've got a convert!

9 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

I wonder how much time was between this and the previous two updates? This definitely shows a lot more, even if the finishes are still super shiny.

To be fair, the Medium post does say:

Quote

The plastic housings in this new batch have still not been updated to final finishes.

Clearly, the guy with the sandpaper had the day off.

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15 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

I wonder how much time was between this and the previous two updates? This definitely shows a lot more, even if the finishes are still super shiny. It's odd they haven't moved their IndieGogo past the Prototype milestone. 

 

The backers are getting super itchy feet. 

532628706_ScreenShot2020-02-04at3_52_47PM.thumb.png.ff12ce46c6feeaf1ae01c99df05219d6.png


In reading the text from the update, it seems they have a functional design but are limiting the production so far to some 'dev kits'. I presume so the GUI can be built and tested on the actual hardware; and so that any  ̶h̶o̶r̶r̶i̶f̶i̶c̶ ̶f̶l̶a̶w̶s̶ undocumented features of the unit itself are hopefully discovered before they go into full production.

It does appear while they do have an operational system (which was certainly my big shock of the day), they are still not advanced enough with it to move out of the prototype stage and into production.

Atari is quite a bit further ahead with the Atari Box then I thought; but I still cannot see them meeting their latest deadline for manufacturing and delivery.

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1 hour ago, 1001lives said:

Does anyone take this guy seriously?

 

image.thumb.png.f92a6efb03eb1eabe36bc73600f356c2.png

I sincerely hope not.

 

 

 

Hey, at least we've now seen their front end doing SOMETHING. Not sure why they aren't trumpeting this to the world. "We've done something we promised we would do somewhat adequately!" 

Edited by dj_convoy
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2 hours ago, Clint Thompson said:


They’ve got jokes. Little over an hour after I say that they post an update. And test number 30? Yeah, ok. *edit; I see the video states test build #30 now. 

 

 

And the only reason this video exists is because backers on IGG were demanding (in VCShill speak, "whining") to see the thing plugged in and being used. 

 

Had they done this a year ago, they'd be in a much better position. Of course, they obviously had nothing to work with then, so it was more fun to pretend that awesome things were happening.

 

Of course once this passes, there's still the reality that there are no compelling reasons to spend any money on an unconsole. 

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I'm going to be the cynical guy here. I remain unconvinced. 

 

My first thought was that it's running Windows 10, as Antstream runs in windowed mode, which is what @Flojomojo mentioned as well, though since I'm currently on my phone, I can't see it very well.

 

I think it might actually be Linux with Netflix running in a browser (off the top of my head, that looks more like the browser interface than the Windows 10 app), and the pop-up in the corner of Netflix looks like a Linux notification (such as KDE) to me, but it might just be a Netflix thing. Haven't used Netflix much recently so I'm not 100% on this. Will have to double-check later. If it's Windows, that's a big problem. 

 

Then there's the fact that this video exists. Why? I don't think it's a coincidence that the Indiegogo backers have suddenly and collectively lost it with Atari - the demands for showing it all being plugged in have been met... finally.

One has to wonder why it took so long and was showcased in such an unprofessional way - I've made better videos in my spare time inside rooms with terrible acoustics, let alone anything I've done professionally. 

 

Also consider we still haven't seen what's inside this working box, and even if it's exactly what they claim, it's still completely worthless. 

 

The UI stuff is pretty basic for any marginally competent programmer, and we know the art assets were made for them by another company a while ago. 

 

As for the Medium update, it's a complete enigma to me. Other than about half of the photos not loading properly for me (no idea why, but I'll figure it out when I'm back at my computer), there's a lot that I'm still highly sceptical about:

- We've still only seen about half a dozen units (NOW WITH RED BOARDS! WOOO RED! But I actually prefer blue). 

- Following on from that, we still don't know for a fact that they produced 100 pre-production units last year, and now they want us to believe they've done another batch (seemingly of the same size), despite still not being a final product, not being shipped to backers, and being made in such a miniscule amount that making 200 pre-production units would seriously eat into their budget for this thing. 

- Who are these mysterious developers getting these units, assuming they exist (I doubt it)? Shouldn't we know who at least one of them is by now? 

- Now that I can see the rest of the photos: why are supposed dev units going into what could potentially be retail packaging? It's Atari-branded so certainly not generic. You don't spend that sort of money on dev units, usually. So then these pre-production units must actually be for backers. 

- Why is the FCC and other information on the stickers covered up? Has this thing actually been certified and this is just for legal reasons... or is it something more nefarious?

- Reading between the lines, it's abundantly clear that they know people aren't happy and, more specifically how unhappy they are. That's not a good sign. These updates have become reactionary over the past few months for a good reason (or bad reason, depending on your outlook). 

 

I guess the TL;DR is this:

Assuming everything they're FINALLY showing is completely legitimate, who actually gives a damn?

Backers will get a toaster-quality PC (almost literally - that smart microwave I posted will undoubtedly be using an embedded chip of some description, as those are the sort of appliances they're designed for), IF Atari brings them to retail (doubtful), it'll be financial suicide, and regardless of any of that, this will crash and burn both harder and faster than the OUYA. 

 

If Atari's end goal is bankruptcy, they're on the right track.

If they want a marketable, reputable product, they should have made anything but this.

I joked about it before but an Atari-styled taco holder would legitimately sell better at this point. 

After three years, I still have no idea what the hell Atari are doing, and frankly, neither do they. 

Edited by TankedThomas
Added yet another point
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