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New Atari Console that Ataribox?


Goochman

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28 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said:

They didn't fall for it.

 

780122474_ScreenShot2020-02-06at9_53_57AM.png.503c02f118dafe1913ff957fa453b27f.png

I don't understand why they're upset at The Register.   Shouldn't they be mad at Atari for "exploiting" the virus?  What grounds would there be for a lawsuit?

 

And most importantly, when Andrew Werner says, "And yes, this is a trash-piece", is he referring to the Atari VCS?  I have so many questions!

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On the topic of that dire "demo", I've finally had a closer look. It may indeed be running Windows, but I still think it's likely running Linux.

 

Then again, even if it isn't running Windows, people should probably be concerned because Anstream doesn't have a Linux app whatsoever. The only thing you could remotely class as a Linux app is the Android app (TL;DR Android uses the Linux kernel but the OS itself is quite different - think of it as a rather irregular and unique Linux distro). You can't just take an Android apk and run it on x86(_64) Linux.

 

Now, aside from Anstream's installer taking about 5 minutes to download (with my connection, it should have been done in seconds, possibly single digits even - this is a bad sign for their streaming service), I don't appear to be getting a UI that looks quite the same (the one in the video is missing one of the three buttons - I think it's the Minimise icon, but it's hard to tell, and heck, maybe it IS there but impossible to see). It's not running with borders for me (except for the title bar). Granted, I'm not logged in, but it's curious nonetheless.

Also, the window name in the title bar is centred - that's common on Linux, but that doesn't happen on Windows 10, and Windows 10 usually has squared borders, so unless it's Windows 7, it's probably Linux. 

I'm thinking it might be running on Linux under Wine, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

Another red flag that we've missed so far is that it says there's no network connection when they boot, and yet somehow they go into Antstream and start playing. Netflix seems to work too, even though it's only a brief clip, and the network selection doesn't pop up like it did at CES (maybe because it's plugged into ethernet rather than on WiFi).

There are three main possibilities here:

1. The demo is fake (perhaps they're running a ROM or the Steam version of Metal Slug or what have you). Considering how well Antstream performs for them... maybe.

2. The demo is legitimate. This would mean the network connection is slow to be made upon boot. I've found this to be one of the things that bottlenecks boot speed for Linux sometimes, but there are ways to optimise it. It shouldn't take this long.

3. Either of the above, with the caveat that said network error message is faked in some manner (bug in the UI software would be my first guess). Notice how it only disappears once they move away from the Home tab, and then it no longer appears again. If it was still missing a network connection at that point, you'd think it would persist until they fixed that.

 

Something else of interest is that they have "#30" in the bottom right corner, to go with their supposed "build version number". Here's the problem: this bit of text is persistent. Not just after the machine has booted, but during the boot as well. It's the first thing that appears on the screen, before the boot-up sequence (what I would assume is just a fancy splash screen which Linux can do with add-ons such as SDDM). To my knowledge (I should reiterate that I'm no expert, just a hobbyist), this shouldn't be possible.

A BIOS logo (usually your motherboard's manufacturer, though it can be changed to other things) is interrupted if you have a bootloader (GRUB, rEFInd, etc.) but you can have it persist. If anyone here has a Windows machine (I'm sure plenty of you do), you'll probably notice that the BIOS logo remains whilst the little spinning Windows icon appears on boot. You can do this with Linux too. However, once the OS is loaded, that BIOS screen is cleared and your main UI appears (or doesn't, if you're not booting to a UI, but you get the point).

In other words, there shouldn't be text that persists all the way from the moment you switch it on until you turn it off again, and whilst you play games.

 

Again, I'm no expert, but to me this would say that this whole demo is a self-contained app of some kind (I wouldn't be so bold as to suggest it's a video, but you never know at this point). That is, imagine having a game on Windows that hides all the borders but still shows the Windows taskbar. For anyone who didn't know any better, that taskbar could just be part of the game. That clock and calendar in the bottom right-hand corner? Totally from the game. Except it's not. But if people didn't know any better, you could pretend it was.

 

The ONLY time "#30" disappears is when Netflix is loaded (then comes back when it's closed), but pay attention here too: there's more to scrutinise.

Let's start with "it's Netflix in a browser". It is. I finally figured out what that pop-up message is in the top-right corner. It says "Restore pages". As in, the message you get when you force quit a browser with tabs/windows open, and then it asks you if you want to restore them the next time. Add to that the flickering (white>black>Netflix UI) as it loads, this smacks of a browser, possibly being loaded in another Desktop space with transition animations disabled, which would explain why the clearly overlayed "#30" magically appears then disappears.

Now notice that when they close Netflix, it's just magically gone instantly. No flickering. Combined with the previous pop-up, this tells me they're probably force-quitting the browser. Meaning you'll see that pop-up every time you open it. This is simple to fix, but it seems they decided to just hard-code a "kill" command instead of something a little more graceful. I think it's Firefox but I'm not 100% sure because I'm on Windows at the moment and it seems they've added a redundancy for the process being killed on Windows (restores tabs on start-up after being killed by Task Manager, even when the option is disabled). I could look into this more but I don't really think the browser they're using is important - just that they are using a browser.

And yes, something I didn't notice on my phone but someone else pointed out is that they're literally controlling a cursor (they've made it black so you can't see it easily) with the analogue stick to select stuff on Netflix.

 

One final thing is gleamed from watching the controller - the A and B buttons are off-screen almost entirely, but the guy seems to be using his fingers to press the right trigger (the one they made red because reasons) as a selection button instead of "A".

The UI navigation appears poor - you can see he moves between icons with the stick, but has to use the bumpers to change tabs. This appears much worse when he exits Netflix - at about 3:50 in the video, he switches to the tab with Antstream, but then has to press the left bumper a second time for it to highlight Anstream, before he then presses it a third time to change tabs again. It seems he also has to select Netflix before changing to the Games tab - at about 3:47, he seems to touch the stick very briefly, but it's hard to say for sure, even going frame-by-frame. When he's then back on the Home tab, he flicks the stick down which then selects Netflix (the one at the top).

I feel like the one in the top corner should be selected by default - this is the sort of thing that some of Nintendo's consoles did with motion sensing or touch screens, where it'd select the first item when you press a button because they expected you to select it differently (motion/touch), so there's no need for a default selection. Here, there's no motion nor touch input, so there should be a default selection.

No shenanigans with button presses not lining up though, best I can tell.

 

Still, this paints a bleak picture. If the thing does come out, it'll be worse than a dumpster fire - at least you can cook stuff in a dumpster fire, though I'm not sure if that's very hygienic.

 

Anyway, I should probably have put a bunch of screencaps with these so that people can see what I'm talking about, but screw you guys, go frame-by-frame the video instead. I stayed up all night so I'm too lazy/tired to do it.

 

Instead, I've taken up the offer to create a new meme (even though it's terribly uncreative). You can have that instead of effort on my part.

 

bombdiggeditytacos.png.4496893ab10a79669adfc9e1240e9a8d.png

Edited by TankedThomas
Rewrote the first line multiple times. Still ended up posting it with major suckage. Now it has less suckage.
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Dammit, I spelt bomb-diggety wrong. I'm an idiot. 

 

And my paragraphs look too wall-of-text-y on mobile. 

 

Bleh, whatever. 

 

Anyway, the most important takeaway here is that there is no native Linux app for Antstream, so they must be (unofficially) running it through Wine. 

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1 hour ago, TankedThomas said:

...

Another red flag that we've missed so far is that it says there's no network connection when they boot, and yet somehow they go into Antstream and start playing.

...

Something else of interest is that they have "#30" in the bottom right corner, to go with their supposed "build version number". Here's the problem: this bit of text is persistent. Not just after the machine has booted, but during the boot as well. It's the first thing that appears on the screen, before the boot-up sequence (what I would assume is just a fancy splash screen which Linux can do with add-ons such as SDDM). To my knowledge (I should reiterate that I'm no expert, just a hobbyist), this shouldn't be possible.

A BIOS logo (usually your motherboard's manufacturer, though it can be changed to other things) is interrupted if you have a bootloader (GRUB, rEFInd, etc.) but you can have it persist.

...

Hey I love a good Internet sleuthing gotcha as much as the next guy, and I hate to be a downer but.... there's clearly an Atari logo that comes up at 0:36 and disappears. The "#30" doesn't come up until 10 seconds later. That first logo is probably your missing BIOS logo and the black screen that follows is probably the bootloader interrupting it. Also the "no network connection" thing showed a WiFi symbol but they clearly plugged in an Ethernet connector. Maybe it was doing all its Internet through the wire and whatever triggers the notice was broken and only looking for WiFi? Or maybe it took a while to connect? Like I said I don't want to be a downer but there comes a point where you gotta believe faking it is more work than it actually doing it. Occam's Razor... it's just a bunch of boxes launching browser bookmarks right? Does Antstream run in a browser too? I always believed they'd eventually muddle their way to something. Monkeys and typewriters and all. With luck in another 8 months or so maybe they'll have something they can put into production!

 

Oh, second edit to add: I just rewatched and that popup on the right of Netflix says "Restore pages? Chrome didn't shut down correctly" so you don't have to guess what browser. Apparently it's Chrome.

Edited by JaqenHghar
prognostication
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5 hours ago, ColecoJoe said:

They didn't fall for it.

 

780122474_ScreenShot2020-02-06at9_53_57AM.png.503c02f118dafe1913ff957fa453b27f.png

If you want people to understand that something is wrong, you need to be capable of articulating a refutation of the piece. 

 

Instead, they just keep the circle jerk going over it being "trolling" because the Reg points out the obvious.

 

 

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What is really gross is that Atari is using a viral epidemic as an excuse for anything.

I would not be surprised if the factory they are using is up and running without

a hitch. Is it known which place did those 6 test run units they have been 

flaunting? If that place is up and running, Atari really should be called out

for it. Clearly they have no bottom to the depths they will sink to.

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9 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

John doesn't understand how pandemics work, and you don't understand how much he wants Atari to come back. You can find his channel on YouTube easily enough, and maybe after seeing some of his videos, you'll stop picking on him. 

John doesn't understand Pandemic because he doesn't know anything about the board game that Amico is porting to its console. He cares nothing for Intellivision, he's an Atari guy through and through!!!!

 

(Pandemic has NOT been announced as an Amico game. But it would be cool addition if they did. Only 4 players but it is a co-operative boardgame. Fun stuff.)

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21 hours ago, Spriggy said:

I don't blame you ...... with that hair-do.

 

LOL, you are balding and hate that someone that is nearly 51, has cool hair like that.  In fact, I bet a lot of you old farts are starting to have hair issues. :P

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2 minutes ago, CPUWIZ said:

 

LOL, you are balding and hate that someone that is nearly 51, has cool hair like that.  In fact, I bet a lot of you old farts are starting to have hair issues. :P

Doesn't make us any less sexy. Your tin foil hat may mess up your hair though.

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8 hours ago, TankedThomas said:

On the topic of that dire "demo", I've finally had a closer look. It may indeed be running Windows, but I still think it's likely running Linux.

 

Then again, even if it isn't running Windows, people should probably be concerned because Anstream doesn't have a Linux app whatsoever. The only thing you could remotely class as a Linux app is the Android app (TL;DR Android uses the Linux kernel but the OS itself is quite different - think of it as a rather irregular and unique Linux distro). You can't just take an Android apk and run it on x86(_64) Linux.

 

Now, aside from Anstream's installer taking about 5 minutes to download (with my connection, it should have been done in seconds, possibly single digits even - this is a bad sign for their streaming service), I don't appear to be getting a UI that looks quite the same (the one in the video is missing one of the three buttons - I think it's the Minimise icon, but it's hard to tell, and heck, maybe it IS there but impossible to see). It's not running with borders for me (except for the title bar). Granted, I'm not logged in, but it's curious nonetheless.

Also, the window name in the title bar is centred - that's common on Linux, but that doesn't happen on Windows 10, and Windows 10 usually has squared borders, so unless it's Windows 7, it's probably Linux. 

I'm thinking it might be running on Linux under Wine, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

Another red flag that we've missed so far is that it says there's no network connection when they boot, and yet somehow they go into Antstream and start playing. Netflix seems to work too, even though it's only a brief clip, and the network selection doesn't pop up like it did at CES (maybe because it's plugged into ethernet rather than on WiFi).

There are three main possibilities here:

1. The demo is fake (perhaps they're running a ROM or the Steam version of Metal Slug or what have you). Considering how well Antstream performs for them... maybe.

2. The demo is legitimate. This would mean the network connection is slow to be made upon boot. I've found this to be one of the things that bottlenecks boot speed for Linux sometimes, but there are ways to optimise it. It shouldn't take this long.

3. Either of the above, with the caveat that said network error message is faked in some manner (bug in the UI software would be my first guess). Notice how it only disappears once they move away from the Home tab, and then it no longer appears again. If it was still missing a network connection at that point, you'd think it would persist until they fixed that.

 

Something else of interest is that they have "#30" in the bottom right corner, to go with their supposed "build version number". Here's the problem: this bit of text is persistent. Not just after the machine has booted, but during the boot as well. It's the first thing that appears on the screen, before the boot-up sequence (what I would assume is just a fancy splash screen which Linux can do with add-ons such as SDDM). To my knowledge (I should reiterate that I'm no expert, just a hobbyist), this shouldn't be possible.

A BIOS logo (usually your motherboard's manufacturer, though it can be changed to other things) is interrupted if you have a bootloader (GRUB, rEFInd, etc.) but you can have it persist. If anyone here has a Windows machine (I'm sure plenty of you do), you'll probably notice that the BIOS logo remains whilst the little spinning Windows icon appears on boot. You can do this with Linux too. However, once the OS is loaded, that BIOS screen is cleared and your main UI appears (or doesn't, if you're not booting to a UI, but you get the point).

In other words, there shouldn't be text that persists all the way from the moment you switch it on until you turn it off again, and whilst you play games.

 

Again, I'm no expert, but to me this would say that this whole demo is a self-contained app of some kind (I wouldn't be so bold as to suggest it's a video, but you never know at this point). That is, imagine having a game on Windows that hides all the borders but still shows the Windows taskbar. For anyone who didn't know any better, that taskbar could just be part of the game. That clock and calendar in the bottom right-hand corner? Totally from the game. Except it's not. But if people didn't know any better, you could pretend it was.

 

The ONLY time "#30" disappears is when Netflix is loaded (then comes back when it's closed), but pay attention here too: there's more to scrutinise.

Let's start with "it's Netflix in a browser". It is. I finally figured out what that pop-up message is in the top-right corner. It says "Restore pages". As in, the message you get when you force quit a browser with tabs/windows open, and then it asks you if you want to restore them the next time. Add to that the flickering (white>black>Netflix UI) as it loads, this smacks of a browser, possibly being loaded in another Desktop space with transition animations disabled, which would explain why the clearly overlayed "#30" magically appears then disappears.

Now notice that when they close Netflix, it's just magically gone instantly. No flickering. Combined with the previous pop-up, this tells me they're probably force-quitting the browser. Meaning you'll see that pop-up every time you open it. This is simple to fix, but it seems they decided to just hard-code a "kill" command instead of something a little more graceful. I think it's Firefox but I'm not 100% sure because I'm on Windows at the moment and it seems they've added a redundancy for the process being killed on Windows (restores tabs on start-up after being killed by Task Manager, even when the option is disabled). I could look into this more but I don't really think the browser they're using is important - just that they are using a browser.

And yes, something I didn't notice on my phone but someone else pointed out is that they're literally controlling a cursor (they've made it black so you can't see it easily) with the analogue stick to select stuff on Netflix.

 

One final thing is gleamed from watching the controller - the A and B buttons are off-screen almost entirely, but the guy seems to be using his fingers to press the right trigger (the one they made red because reasons) as a selection button instead of "A".

The UI navigation appears poor - you can see he moves between icons with the stick, but has to use the bumpers to change tabs. This appears much worse when he exits Netflix - at about 3:50 in the video, he switches to the tab with Antstream, but then has to press the left bumper a second time for it to highlight Anstream, before he then presses it a third time to change tabs again. It seems he also has to select Netflix before changing to the Games tab - at about 3:47, he seems to touch the stick very briefly, but it's hard to say for sure, even going frame-by-frame. When he's then back on the Home tab, he flicks the stick down which then selects Netflix (the one at the top).

I feel like the one in the top corner should be selected by default - this is the sort of thing that some of Nintendo's consoles did with motion sensing or touch screens, where it'd select the first item when you press a button because they expected you to select it differently (motion/touch), so there's no need for a default selection. Here, there's no motion nor touch input, so there should be a default selection.

No shenanigans with button presses not lining up though, best I can tell.

 

Still, this paints a bleak picture. If the thing does come out, it'll be worse than a dumpster fire - at least you can cook stuff in a dumpster fire, though I'm not sure if that's very hygienic.

 

Anyway, I should probably have put a bunch of screencaps with these so that people can see what I'm talking about, but screw you guys, go frame-by-frame the video instead. I stayed up all night so I'm too lazy/tired to do it.

 

Instead, I've taken up the offer to create a new meme (even though it's terribly uncreative). You can have that instead of effort on my part.

 

bombdiggeditytacos.png.4496893ab10a79669adfc9e1240e9a8d.png

 

2 things ....

 

1.  Jesus Tank.  Stay away from the keyboard.  I ran outta coffee!

2.  F#ck that's a big head! ?  ... and yes.  It's uncreative.  You could have at least given me green drinking straw glasses.

 

37 minutes ago, CPUWIZ said:

 

LOL, you are balding and hate that someone that is nearly 51, has cool hair like that.  In fact, I bet a lot of you old farts are starting to have hair issues. :P

 

Negative. ?  I'll use the above 48 year old boof-head pic as proof.  And it's not grey ... somehow!?  I've probably got more hair in my Polish eyebrows, literally, that most old farts. 

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8 hours ago, JaqenHghar said:

Hey I love a good Internet sleuthing gotcha as much as the next guy, and I hate to be a downer but.... there's clearly an Atari logo that comes up at 0:36 and disappears. The "#30" doesn't come up until 10 seconds later. That first logo is probably your missing BIOS logo and the black screen that follows is probably the bootloader interrupting it. Also the "no network connection" thing showed a WiFi symbol but they clearly plugged in an Ethernet connector. Maybe it was doing all its Internet through the wire and whatever triggers the notice was broken and only looking for WiFi? Or maybe it took a while to connect? Like I said I don't want to be a downer but there comes a point where you gotta believe faking it is more work than it actually doing it. Occam's Razor... it's just a bunch of boxes launching browser bookmarks right? Does Antstream run in a browser too? I always believed they'd eventually muddle their way to something. Monkeys and typewriters and all. With luck in another 8 months or so maybe they'll have something they can put into production!

 

Oh, second edit to add: I just rewatched and that popup on the right of Netflix says "Restore pages? Chrome didn't shut down correctly" so you don't have to guess what browser. Apparently it's Chrome.

Whoops, I knew I missed something. My bad. Still, it's an oddity that probably shouldn't be there. 

 

Not sure how you saw the pop-up so clearly but yeah, that makes sense since they appear to have Chromium installed. Was going to mention that. Apparently forgot.

 

But I agree that it's most likely just a bunch of stuff running in a browser (Antstream seems more likely to be the Windows app running under Wine though - I don't think it has a browser interface but I'd have to double-check). 

 

That was basically my conclusion too but... I think I wrote it more like a conspiracy theory instead. Sorry about that. I probably should have written it when I wasn't so tired... :woozy:

1 hour ago, Spriggy said:

 

2 things ....

 

1.  Jesus Tank.  Stay away from the keyboard.  I ran outta coffee!

2.  F#ck that's a big head! ?  ... and yes.  It's uncreative.  You could have at least given me green drinking straw glasses.

 

 

Negative. ?  I'll use the above 48 year old boof-head pic as proof.  And it's not grey ... somehow!?  I've probably got more hair in my Polish eyebrows, literally, that most old farts. 

Apologies, I should have edited it a lot more. I was going to wait until I was awake again but my half-asleep brain decided it was a good time to post. Evidently not. I'd go back and edit it down but I can't edit it any more so... oh well. 

 

For what it's worth, I was going to put a huge taco by your mouth but I was craving sleep so I couldn't be bothered looking for one. :lol:

Maybe I'll fix it up later. 

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2 hours ago, CPUWIZ said:

Ha, I thought it was a random pic.

 

From memory, it was a reply to one of the whinging pigeons about memeing Atari etc  Reciprocated by chucking up my fat head and said go for it. :roll:

 

2 hours ago, CPUWIZ said:

 Expect a PM from Shawn, asking for nude pics.

 

How many pics did you send him boss?  :D

 

2 hours ago, MrBeefy said:

Long night in hospital. Now time to sit down drink from my jigger and eat some Mexican. Sorry no bacon.

 

 20200207_004201.thumb.jpg.d79569a292679fbf0b20472a10453e65.jpg

 

Glad the little bacon monkey is better mate. :thumbsup:  Read him some Atari SA stories my friend.  That'll put him to sleep.

 

 

meanwhile.gif.06324d49024a836a0d642f5ef1179e7a.gif

 

on the Ashoebox front today ....

 

nothing.gif.0626c68f94f2f6fb0bb82082eec823c4.gif

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