TankedThomas Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 5 hours ago, digdugnate said: I really think they need to revisit the 'Asteroid' idea. One. Giant. Asteroid. Think about it! Asteroid Asteroids Asteroid3 The possibilities are endless! If you shoot space rocks, that is. Since this is their big comeback, they should call it Asteroid: Resurrection. 1 hour ago, 1001lives said: The main reason I ask... I worked in manufacturing circuit boards for boat engines for a while (and marine electrical systems.) I saw similar PCB assembly tables. And the time I spent in Ningbo, China was limited, but from the production tables I saw in Atari's update they are equipped to, perhaps, produce 50-100 units a month, with 10 or so units a day. And they list this as "pre-production" so these aren't even production units they were showing. And they have at least 11,000 orders to fulfill. The facilities (sorry 3 tables) they pictured are in no way designed or equipped to manufacture 10,000 production units of anything. Not before 2022 anyway. And currently I'm hearing that a lot of facilities are not going to be fully open for at least another 2 weeks according to what the government is having them do due to the flu. You're right, of course - there's no way they're producing even thousands of units, let alone tens of thousands, and they're nowhere near production. Or, to put it in perspective with one of the articles posted previously: Apple has finished designs ready to produce but have to wait because of the delays in China. They've already made millions of those new AirPods, too - this is just the latest batch. They've got a month's wait on them on Apple's website, with estimates that, due to component shortages (which won't just be affecting Apple), production could resume at only about 50%, meaning that month could easily become two for some customers (and perhaps longer). And that's Apple, one of the world's biggest and wealthiest companies. They may not have anything new out until the end of March. Atari, therefore, is screwed. @Paul Slocum's estimate of June at best is probably accurate right now. But I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed even past that. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1001lives Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 (edited) 33 minutes ago, TankedThomas said: Since this is their big comeback, they should call it Asteroid: Resurrection. You're right, of course - there's no way they're producing even thousands of units, let alone tens of thousands, and they're nowhere near production. Or, to put it in perspective with one of the articles posted previously: Apple has finished designs ready to produce but have to wait because of the delays in China. They've already made millions of those new AirPods, too - this is just the latest batch. They've got a month's wait on them on Apple's website, with estimates that, due to component shortages (which won't just be affecting Apple), production could resume at only about 50%, meaning that month could easily become two for some customers (and perhaps longer). And that's Apple, one of the world's biggest and wealthiest companies. They may not have anything new out until the end of March. Atari, therefore, is screwed. @Paul Slocum's estimate of June at best is probably accurate right now. But I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed even past that. Yeah - just being honest, the pictures that Atari showed were very suspicious. Because anyone who has been in that industry will know straight away that those facilities weren't set up to manufacture everyone on Indiegogo's orders like they seem to be trying to pass off. Those look like a temporary setup for a custom (and small) order. It's pretty deceptive all around. Edited February 18, 2020 by 1001lives 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 They should just call it "Space Hemorrhoid." Fight off the giant, evil hemorrhoid with large squirts of Preparation H. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+xucaen Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 I'm just getting caught up here... Asteroids RPG... where you land on planet hurtling towards the earth, and you have to drop bombs into craters to blow it up.. But in true RPG fasion, first you have to walk into town and kock on some doors, talk to the towns folk. There to discover the mystery of the First Crater(tm). But not any old bomb will blow it it. You must now quest into the Fire caverns(tm) to locate the Eternal Explosive(tm). But first you need a guide. So you go looking for someone who knows their way around in the caverns... and someone finally tells you about poor Tzhaa'Akk, who's father used to work in the Mines but was killed by a Aawd'kk quake. So you venture out into the wilderness in search of poor old Tizzy... and when you find him, he tell you of the L'gzthpah monsters that moved into the caverns after the miners left. and only one person know how to kill them. Tizzy joins your party! Now you both go off in search of the great warrior Nar'lphthopt! Of course when you find Nar, you find he does indeed know how to kill the L'gzthpah, but you need a special sword, the sacred Womk'la hidden long ago by the Omalonsttha tribe.... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 ^^^put that into a procedurally generated loop (think Nethack) with rewards for repeated grinds, and I think I could get into that. Problem is, "Atari" doesn't have any game designers, coders, or artists on hand. All they have is ASTEROIDS (c)1979 and they can't even spell that right consistently, or maintain a paid contract to keep the mobile version in the store. The good news is, nobody needs "Atari" to make a good game. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy the Atarian Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 16 hours ago, Spriggy said: Doh. ? I guess they missed the memo, being TRUE Atari fans and all, that Atari already tried to do a reboot of Asteroids a few years ago that had elements of what they are proposing here; It had nothing more to do with the Asteroids game other than having the name and taking place on an asteroid. Turning one of the most iconic games of all time into a generic FPS with RTS and RPG elements got people so pumped, that... it never reached beta and is no longer listed on Steam. 2 2 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 7 hours ago, digdugnate said: I really think they need to revisit the 'Asteroid' idea. One. Giant. Asteroid. Think about it! Asteroid Asteroids Asteroid3 The possibilities are endless! If you shoot space rocks, that is. 1 hour ago, TankedThomas said: Since this is their big comeback, they should call it Asteroid: Resurrection. They can also do a crossover with a better known IP... Asteroid Vs. Pac-Man 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Better stick with IP they appear to have the rights to, so Asteroid Vs. Centipede it is! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 15 minutes ago, Shaggy the Atarian said: I guess they missed the memo, being TRUE Atari fans and all, that Atari already tried to do a reboot of Asteroids a few years ago that had elements of what they are proposing here; It had nothing more to do with the Asteroids game other than having the name and taking place on an asteroid. Turning one of the most iconic games of all time into a generic FPS with RTS and RPG elements got people so pumped, that... it never reached beta and is no longer listed on Steam. All true of course, but it's not like these cultists want to play new games. They want to relive 1982. 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzamess Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 1 hour ago, frankodragon said: They should just call it "Space Hemorrhoid." Fight off the giant, evil hemorrhoid with large squirts of Preparation H. Assteroids 3 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazball Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 4 hours ago, TankedThomas said: @Paul Slocum's estimate of June at best is probably accurate right now. But I wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed even past that. I think we all know the coronavirus will be the excuse Atari desperately needed to shut the whole project down, while offering their sincerest apologies to the backers in that really hard-to-write email. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonGrafx-16 Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 4 hours ago, monzamess said: Assteroids No that's A55teroids (AKA Asteroid 55). 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8Bitjunkie Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I think Atari has changed the wording in the campagn description. Has anyone made screenshots from the original text? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spriggy Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 9 hours ago, 1001lives said: What are the odds from people in the know (you guys) that this thing actually launches soon? The production photos seem like a very small limited run, like hundreds of units, and not set up for large numbers of orders (like, in the thousands or tens of thousands). All I can say is, you should be glad you have 1001 lives. It's a waiting game and you may need them! 6 hours ago, xucaen said: I'm just getting caught up here... Asteroids RPG... where you land on planet hurtling towards the earth, and you have to drop bombs into craters to blow it up.. But in true RPG fasion, first you have to walk into town and kock on some doors, talk to the towns folk. There to discover the mystery of the First Crater(tm). But not any old bomb will blow it it. You must now quest into the Fire caverns(tm) to locate the Eternal Explosive(tm). But first you need a guide. So you go looking for someone who knows their way around in the caverns... and someone finally tells you about poor Tzhaa'Akk, who's father used to work in the Mines but was killed by a Aawd'kk quake. So you venture out into the wilderness in search of poor old Tizzy... and when you find him, he tell you of the L'gzthpah monsters that moved into the caverns after the miners left. and only one person know how to kill them. Tizzy joins your party! Now you both go off in search of the great warrior Nar'lphthopt! Of course when you find Nar, you find he does indeed know how to kill the L'gzthpah, but you need a special sword, the sacred Womk'la hidden long ago by the Omalonsttha tribe.... Brandon? Is that you? ? "... kock on some doors ..." ? Now that I want to see! ? ............. NO!!! Just for the laughs fella's. Just for the laughs! 5 hours ago, Flojomojo said: All true of course, but it's not like these cultists want to play new games. They want to relive 1982. Red suits you Flo! ? No news is ..... well .... no news ...... and still quiet on the Ashoebox front. Hence, once again resorting to the bottom of the IGG barrel to keep tacoland rolling along. ? Buddha Taco with a wise-ass wise-man quote. Factual retort. Jessie ... still smoking extra-large rolled-up pink bubble-wrap. 4 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 34 minutes ago, 8Bitjunkie said: I think Atari has changed the wording in the campagn description. Has anyone made screenshots from the original text? I see what you mean, from the Q&A section (not the FAQ), where they changed some text to past tense. Instead of "you are helping to build," it's "you helped to build," and so on. I think they softened some of the promises about streaming Twitch while gaming ("we are working on it") that were in the pitch video. Wayback archives might not be able to show the original versions, but if anyone took screenshots, they would be here on this thread. They've repeatedly said that everything is subject to change and is for illustration purposes only, so anyone putting money into this (for an idea, not a product, remember) won't be able to point and say "Gotcha!" at Atari. The backers are the ones who will have been gotcha'ed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 43 minutes ago, 8Bitjunkie said: I think Atari has changed the wording in the campagn description. Has anyone made screenshots from the original text? I'm sure it's here somewhere... What do you think changed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spriggy Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 5 minutes ago, MrBeefy said: I'm sure it's here somewhere... What do you think changed? My omrojas quote above references changes he recalls. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spriggy Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 12 minutes ago, Spriggy said: My omrojas quote above references changes he recalls. I found omrojas's quote here ... https://backit.com/project/478647/atari-vcs-game-stream-connect-like-never-before/campaign "Browse countless new and classic games from both Atari and a host of partner studios and publishers. While we can’t list all the great partners we will have just yet, gamers will be thrilled on day one. By Spring 2019 when Atari VCS ships, we plan to have new and exclusive games for you to download* or stream, including reimagined classic titles from Atari and other top developers that are ready-to-play, with even more to come! (*Subscription required for advanced services and cloud storage.) Tempest 4000 will be there, along with other all-new, modern Atari games currently in development for VCS!" 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I was wrong, wayback is working fine. It doesn't change anything, but it's fun to see them alter the story. One nice thing about Indiegogo is how they have a tiny bit of accountability for what they say, unlike YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook comments that can be removed at any time. Then (as of Sept 15, 2018): https://web.archive.org/web/20180915145454/https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/atari-vcs-game-stream-connect-like-never-before#/ Now: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/atari-vcs-game-stream-connect-like-never-before#/ 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 11 hours ago, 1001lives said: The main reason I ask... I worked in manufacturing circuit boards for boat engines for a while (and marine electrical systems.) I saw similar PCB assembly tables. And the time I spent in Ningbo, China was limited, but from the production tables I saw in Atari's update they are equipped to, perhaps, produce 50-100 units a month, with 10 or so units a day. And they list this as "pre-production" so these aren't even production units they were showing. And they have at least 11,000 orders to fulfill. The facilities (sorry 3 tables) they pictured are in no way designed or equipped to manufacture 10,000 production units of anything. Not before 2022 anyway. And currently I'm hearing that a lot of facilities are not going to be fully open for at least another 2 weeks according to what the government is having them do due to the flu. I have a feeling it will be a fair bit longer than two weeks before things fully open again. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankedThomas Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I still swear this has Vega+ written all over it. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roots.genoa Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 5 hours ago, Spriggy said: gamers will be thrilled on day one Well it could still be true since they don't mention when day one is... 5 hours ago, Spriggy said: By Spring 2019 when Atari VCS ships My bad. -_- 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roots.genoa Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 3 hours ago, TankedThomas said: I still swear this has Vega+ written all over it. If backers don't get their VCS, I'll be angry at Atari. If they do, I'll be angry at you! >_< 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I don't think we've seen this letter from Feargal before. You can find this (document #10) and other related documents on the CourtListener page for the Feargal vs. Atari lawsuit, which has since been settled. Here's a local copy "for the record" or something. Not that we need to build a case about why someone might not want to "invest" in this. Feargal letter.pdf It's saved as an image rather than machine-readable text, so here are some screenshots for easier reading. Basically "Atari" used it to show that Feargal didn't meet the terms of his contract (deliver the AtariBox and its accessories under a tight deadline) and didn't communicate to the mothership about their progress (or lack thereof) before asking for more time. They also say that they advanced him $50K and that he wasn't entitled to any more compensation until the Box came out. "Atari" says that Feargal damaged their reputation and stock price by not pooping out this thing fast enough. It's really something seeing these mighty titans duke it out. It stands to reason there is similar correspondence between Rob Wyatt and "Atari." We will never see it, unless Rob feels like blabbing to the press more than he already has, which would bring "Atari" lawyers back into the mix. I wouldn't think anyone would want to be dragged through another lawsuit like this. Since Feargal's departure, and since Rob left too, we have seen them attempt to "craft a positive message on why we are delaying." As for "reignite the community with a clear plan of information release between announcing the delay and Spring launch," well, maybe not so much. That would have been Spring 2018, almost two years ago. Feargal makes a convenient scapegoat, but I wonder if anyone honestly thinks he was the one who put their stock in the toilet? They seem to do about the same with or without him. They got a wee boost after this letter was sent, probably for unrelated reasons. Rob Wyatt wasn't announced til June 27 2018, and left in October 2019. 4 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy the Atarian Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 So Fergal worked on it for nine months "effectively for free" and Rob Wyatt did the same for about six months before jumping ship. Atari sure sounds like an amazing "partner" to work with! 4 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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