New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[Clint Thompson]

Guys.... I honestly just don't have the energy for today's latest Indiegogo update... good grief.

[TACODON]

I thought it was some good word salad.

[Agillig]

59 minutes ago, Clint Thompson said:

Guys.... I honestly just don't have the energy for today's latest Indiegogo update... good grief.

Lots of softball questions, and Artz didn't really say anything new.  Looked like an infomercial as opposed to an interview.

[Agillig]

15 hours ago, Tidus79001 said:

Intellivision can put out cornball videos each week that have no value at all towards informing us as to the production status of the Amico console, and you guys have wet dreams over that project, but when Atari on a regular basis is giving detailed production updates, news about partnerships and content on the upcoming Atari VCS you crap all over them saying there is no transparency to the how the project is being conducted.  Before you call me an shill being paid to promote the Atari VCS I want all of you to know that I have a pre-order for the Intellivision Amico Founder Edition console as well as being a backer of the Atari VCS on the day its Indiegogo campaign launched, so I have a vested interested in seeing both consoles reach production and succeed.  I truly feel that both consoles are a big win for retro gaming enthusiasts, indie developers and homebrewer's should either of these consoles succeed, let alone both.  It just comes across as a double standard when legitimate serious news from one project is treated with scorn, distrust and disdain, while comedic non news from the other project is treated like gospel.

Some of us look down on both products. The difference is that TT is producing a product no one asked for.  Atari is claiming to be producing a product no one asked for, and has been deceptive the entire time.   

 

They're both DOA, but one is clearly worse than the other. 

[OCAT]

^ The problem is that they are trying to sell products that most people own already, in multiples.

Amico = Cell phone gaming in a box with controllers (rasberry Pi)

VCS = Laptop or Desktop computer we already own capable of running Steam, Antstream, JokeBox & Native Sandbox mode ?

They need to realise that they are asking for substantial amounts of money at a time of severe uncertainty.

Edited July 29, 2020 by OCAT

[Bill Loguidice]

29 minutes ago, Agillig said:

Some of us look down on both products. The difference is that TT is producing a product no one asked for.  Atari is claiming to be producing a product no one asked for, and has been deceptive the entire time.   

 

They're both DOA, but one is clearly worse than the other. 

I agree that both have a dubious reason for existing and the VCS in particular doesn't even have an idea of what it's actually offering, but I disagree about the DOA thing. Either or both are DOA if your metric of success is a Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony product (not to mention all the other top brands outside of consoles), but the market, as crowded as it is, is far more nuanced than that. There are always niches that can be carved out, and, if a business is run correctly, that niche can be sustainable. Clearly, the Amico people have thought of that as their very public statements in that regard indicate. That's a good sign.

 

[MarioMan88]

21 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

I agree that both have a dubious reason for existing and the VCS in particular doesn't even have an idea of what it's actually offering, but I disagree about the DOA thing. Either or both are DOA if your metric of success is a Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony product (not to mention all the other top brands outside of consoles), but the market, as crowded as it is, is far more nuanced than that. There are always niches that can be carved out, and, if a business is run correctly, that niche can be sustainable. Clearly, the Amico people have thought of that as their very public statements in that regard indicate. That's a good sign.

 

Games, good games will be key to both. I didn’t back Atari(love how it looks) but lack of compelling content(games) kept me away. 
 

I’m an Amico backer and while games aren’t visually stunning, they do look fun and something my family can enjoy. 
 

If the machine is readily available and games are fun, people will find a way to each system.

 

My bet is VCS won’t even make it out of the gate really...3 years and they have 90 some machines out there, not a good sign.

[Tavi]

2 hours ago, Clint Thompson said:

Guys.... I honestly just don't have the energy for today's latest Indiegogo update... good grief.

You did not miss much. But then when you are basically interviewing yourself you tend not to ask (or answer) the hard questions.

I found two things of interest out of the entire thing. One; Arzt made mention of the pricing for Atari Box titles: ranging from 3$ to 25$.

The second is at the end Arzt said ' Our long-term vision is to make a full assortment of affordably-priced classic emulators and game ROMs accessible from the Atari VCS store.' and made mention they are working with unspecified partners on this. Which to me sounds like they are looking at emulation and ROM packs for other classic gaming systems, provided this is not just another wishful thinking pipe dream (Atari and Arzt are pretty vague on details concerning what games will be available for the system).

[digdugnate]

3 hours ago, Clint Thompson said:

Guys.... I honestly just don't have the energy for today's latest Indiegogo update... good grief.

this sums up exactly how i feel about the update.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

I am kind of amused by the new FAQ. Notice how much of it is responding to points that we've legitimately raised in this thread? The shills should be thanking us for making Atari actually consider these things, but they won't, since they think that greatness comes out of a circle jerk of Yes Men.

 

You're welcome!

 

And LOL again at Atari being "transparent," but RacerX already addressed that. 

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It would be great to see Atari and Intellivision pool their talent to be one viable retro gaming platform so that this concept gets off the ground and stays alive. 

Since you're backing both, you should have seen the various Atari remakes that Amico has already shown? The Amico, for any faults it has, has much more appeal in new-retro gaming than the VCS does, as it will have certain Atari games on it. In that sense, they are "pooling talent" - however, you are operating under a very false assumption that Atari has any talent to speak of. They have no coders, no engineering department. It's a small collection of marketing people who know how to license out their IP and how to sue people.

 

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- The Atari VCS has the better architecture. but we don't know much of what sort fire party titles we might see on the console.

Not by much, but the problem isn't power - it's what you are asking for. With the VCS 800 coming in at $100 more than a Nintendo Switch, and at the exact same price as a PlayStation 5 digital, Atari is competing with those devices, like it or not. They are far superior in power, games, services and support.

 

As for first party titles, again, Atari doesn't have a coding department to create anything with. They have to hire 3rd parties to create things for them. But to stretch the definition, the Mega Vault and Missile Command (which I'm tired of pointing out are already available on PC or phone) are those first party titles.

 

If you are seriously expecting Atari to bang out a brand new Yars Revenge themselves, then good luck with that fantasy.

 

On the Amico, I did see that their price point is edging close to $300 as well (latest update I had read). I think that's a mistake on their part too, although they are probably running into factors driving that price up. Still, for anything as niche as these non-mainstream consoles are, if pricing isn't well-below the Big Three, it's going to be extremely difficult to surpass the initial sales of early adopters. 

 

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 We do know that there be a few third party retro gaming services such as Antstream (retro arcade titles), Airconsole (apps that of the type found on Android and iOS), and Game Jolt (indie platform)

See above: "Tired of pointing out that these are already available on better existing devices." Granted, it's better than nothing, but the only reason it's a selling point for the VCS is because the VCS has nothing else on it to drive sales.

 

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- The Intellivision Amico seems to have a better grasp on remaking retro titles and a passion to reinvent and innovate for a new era of 2D gaming

This is because they figured out what they wanted to do before announcing a console. They also do appear to have a vision for what they are doing, which cannot be said for Atari. Atari has taken almost 4 years to finally articulate who the VCS is for, but that still won't change the fact that they know licensing - and nothing else.

15 hours ago, Tidus79001 said:

I wish I had the resources to build such a dream platform as the model I describe above.  It would be everything I as retro gaming enthusiast could ask for.

I think many of us wish we had the resources for such a thing, but unfortunately it's not realistic. Even the successful Wii was unable to be the "every man retro console" with their eShop offerings that brought Sega and Turbografx-16 games to the mix with Nintendo ones. The rights to many retro IPs are all over the place, which makes having an "all-in-one" retro box that is perfectly legitimate too expensive to offer. It would have been far more realistic for Atari to have approached a company like Nintendo or Microsoft to offer their games piecemeal on their existing platforms, which Atari sort of did back in the Xbox 360 days, then they gave that up when they figured that crowdfunding was an awesome way to Get Rich Quick!

[Clint Thompson]

So who wants to place not actual bets on when they pull the life support plug (and the inevitable radio silence from Atari to follow) once it actually ships/released , 3-months in? 6-months max? A PC-compatible using an entry-level chip introduced in April of 2019 shipping in December of 2020 already pushing close to two years and to think that cutting edge tech is already obsolete by the time it's released, makes this obsolete by a factor of two once it actually ships. Ships in December 2020 (they've already missed their target launch date by 3 times now right? or was it more...), discontinued by Spring of 2021 and I do mean early spring... like March.

 

There's a reason the Alienware Alpha doesn't exist anymore and there's a reason why the VCS Mega 800 will not last beyond 2021, permitting it makes it in the hands of backers in the first place. I mean it does actually have to ship first.

 

Next up, SHAMWOW!!!

[keithbk]

I see absolutely no reason to give the Atari VCS a second glance. It offers NOTHING.

 

Meanwhile, the Amico looks interesting and I'd be a buyer upon release. I don't see why anyone would denigrate it, but maybe I missed something somewhere.

[Bill Loguidice]

2 minutes ago, keithbk said:

Meanwhile, the Amico looks interesting and I'd be a buyer upon release. I don't see why anyone would denigrate it, but maybe I missed something somewhere.

Nostalgia for old rivalries is probably part of it, although in this case you'd have to work pretty hard to find more than a superficial connection to the original.

[keithbk]

I had an interest in the Intellivision back in the day for two reasons: Dungeons and Dragons (all variations) and the Tron games.

 

I absolutely DETESTED the controller.

 

Amico, on the other hand, just appears to be a fun little system worth playing with the family. I don't know that I'm nostalgic about it, but it looks fun.

[godslabrat]

1 hour ago, keithbk said:

I see absolutely no reason to give the Atari VCS a second glance. It offers NOTHING.

 

Meanwhile, the Amico looks interesting and I'd be a buyer upon release. I don't see why anyone would denigrate it, but maybe I missed something somewhere.

I don't find the Amico to be a compelling concept... on any level, to be honest.  But I'm confident it will actually be released and represents a real effort to build a platform... so there's no need to give it the taco treatment.

[Tidus79001]

9 hours ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

Since you're backing both, you should have seen the various Atari remakes that Amico has already shown? The Amico, for any faults it has, has much more appeal in new-retro gaming than the VCS does, as it will have certain Atari games on it. In that sense, they are "pooling talent" - however, you are operating under a very false assumption that Atari has any talent to speak of. They have no coders, no engineering department. It's a small collection of marketing people who know how to license out their IP and how to sue people.

 

As for first party titles, again, Atari doesn't have a coding department to create anything with. They have to hire 3rd parties to create things for them. But to stretch the definition, the Mega Vault and Missile Command (which I'm tired of pointing out are already available on PC or phone) are those first party titles.

 

If you are seriously expecting Atari to bang out a brand new Yars Revenge themselves, then good luck with that fantasy.

 

On the Amico, I did see that their price point is edging close to $300 as well (latest update I had read). I think that's a mistake on their part too, although they are probably running into factors driving that price up. Still, for anything as niche as these non-mainstream consoles are, if pricing isn't well-below the Big Three, it's going to be extremely difficult to surpass the initial sales of early adopters. 

 

See above: "Tired of pointing out that these are already available on better existing devices." Granted, it's better than nothing, but the only reason it's a selling point for the VCS is because the VCS has nothing else on it to drive sales.

 

It would have been far more realistic for Atari to have approached a company like Nintendo or Microsoft to offer their games piecemeal on their existing platforms, which Atari sort of did back in the Xbox 360 days, then they gave that up when they figured that crowdfunding was an awesome way to Get Rich Quick!

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https://medium.com/@atarivcs/atari-vcs-july-2020-q-a-with-coo-381f121f664c

Our game offerings will also be different. Instead of focusing on a narrow set of expensive AAA titles, our store will promote games made by smaller studios and treat indie developers like “triple A” publishers, allowing users to discover some of the really creative work that is more likely to be lost in the mix on larger platforms. These games will help revive the spirit of independent 3rd party development that is part of Atari’s DNA and also be relatively inexpensive compared to big-budget console games, many of which may land in the $70 price range as the new console generation begins. Titles in Atari’s store are expected to be much more affordable, with prices ranging anywhere from $3 to $25, with no fees imposed by Atari for online access.

We are also working with several studios to introduce reimagined versions of Atari classics optimized for the VCS and its new Wireless Classic Joystick. The Joystick itself is a key differentiator for Atari. There is nothing else exactly like it right now and the possibilities it creates for new and reimagined gameplay is quite significant. The recently-announced Missile Command: Recharged is a good example of this, with other games like it in the pipeline. So, while the Atari VCS is also capable of running AAA titles, and we expect to add some to our store over time, it’s not our focus right now.”

Atari is primarily interested in promoting new games from independent developers and creators, modern reinterpretations of classic arcade and home console games, PC, arcade and console games that may have been unavailable to mass audiences for many years, and anything else that expands the platform in the ways the community would like to see. Unfortunately, we’re not ready to unveil anything else specific here today, but there is a lot to look forward to.

Our goal plan is to treat indie games like our AAA content. So, if by “Triple-A” games you are asking if the Atari VCS will feature titles similar to “Halo” or “Last of Us,” then the answer is “not at the moment.” But we know the Atari VCS can run many AAA titles, and we expect some of them to make their way into our Store over time. What the Atari VCS game library looks like on day one, day one-hundred, and day one-thousand are going to be three very different things.

Atari and its partners do have several games in development that will start as “Atari VCS Exclusives” or offer “Atari VCS Optimized” versions with exclusive content and/or features. Not all of these will be in place on day one, but we look forward to announcing them.”

“Antstream Arcade is just one way to access retro games on the Atari VCS, but it represents the quickest and most comprehensive access point for large amounts of retro-gaming content at system launch. Our long-term vision is to make a full assortment of affordably-priced classic emulators and game ROMs accessible from the Atari VCS store. We are working on this with some great partners and will all have a lot more to say about it as we get closer to implementing this feature.”

On 7/28/2020 at 11:01 PM, Tidus79001 said:

- The Atari VCS has the better architecture. but we don't know much of what sort first party titles we might see on the console.  We do know that there be a few third party retro gaming services such as Antstream (retro arcade titles), Airconsole (apps that of the type found on Android and iOS), and Game Jolt (indie platform)

- The Intellivision Amico seems to have a better grasp on remaking retro titles and a passion to reinvent and innovate for a new era of 2D gaming

 

Here is how I see that ideally Atari and Intellivision if so inclined to do so could pool their talent for the greater benefit of such a retro gaming platform:

-Let Atari produce the hardware and manufacture the console as they have more capital, resource and connections to retail and other bushiness to promote and run that sort of operation as well a huge library to classic title many of which were big hits back in to day

- Intellivision can be the innovators in providing kick ass titles.  Remakes of classic tittles (both Intellivision and Atari owned titles as well as other retro titles then can get licensed to remake) and original 2D HD games)

• I know that pooling of talent and resources wont' happen between Atari and Intellivision but pooling resources in this many would help to make a better product for all involved as each company has different things they are bringing to the table that would make a the venture more viable of and increase the odd of successful for building a thriving retro gaming console more as each of them are attempting to do.
• I like that Atari is putting a huge focus on indie titles and setting up the Atari VCS development as a platform to promote development of that type original content and making development for the console easily accessible to these developers looking to get these game off the ground and in front of an audience of gamers who might not otherwise ever play these titles if the only way to access them was to sit in front of a PC.
• I applaud Atari for wanting to get back to their roots of being a video game hardware platform.  I have always rooted for them even when the odd were against them and while they was letting us down under the Tramiel's as well as during it Golden Era under Nolan Bushnell.  I have always been an Atari fan and love their legacy they created and that is still impacting video games even today,

 

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20 hours ago, juansolo said:

Looks at the MiSTer project and Retropie. Both of which exist and have established communities continually developing for them...

 

Good luck with that.

20 hours ago, Matt_B said:

RetroArch is the dominant platform. You've just already got a huge selection of hardware to run it on.

18 hours ago, juansolo said:

I was mainly pointing out MiSTer and the Pi as they're hardware platforms. Which is the market the VCS is now trying to enter with it's 'sandbox' mode.

 

  The MiSTer and Raspberry Pi are both fine platforms, but for many setting it up is going to be a bit of a technical challenge.  The Atari VCS out of the box is designed for retro gaming by just plugging it in, and that make it accessible to a less tech savvy crowed or those who just want who might want experience retro gaming without any in depth process to get it up and running. A person doesn't have to know what hardware to buy, how to assemble it, how to configure and how to get ROM's in order to enjoy retro gaming content with the Atari VCS since out of the box it will include many retro times and gaming services for retro and indie content.  Also MiSTer and Raspberry Pi are both are very limited in overall power and what they can do since they are ARM devices and running customer Linux OS's.  The Atari VCS is much more powerful flexible for letting you purpose to many uses just than dedicated retro gaming such as those other platforms.  As they said in their QA& update today on the topic of comparison to the Raspberry PI, the Ouya or even an ARM hardware devices. 

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https://medium.com/@atarivcs/atari-vcs-july-2020-q-a-with-coo-381f121f664c

Comparing the performance of the VCS to devices designed to run basic operating systems is not appropriate either. Even the Raspberry Pi, which is certainly a great device (we are big fans), has a processor that tops out 1.5 GHz, less than half the base performance of the AMD Ryzen R1606G chip in the Atari VCS.

The mobile phone comparison is also puzzling to us. Mobile phones are designed to do very, very different things from what an Atari VCS will do, and they use immense processing power for very different tasks. While mobile phones have certainly seen significant increases in processing power in recent years, this power has also come with a high price tag. Take Apple’s new A12 processors, for example. The cheapest new iPad with an A12 now retails for $799. The cheapest new iPhone SE starts at $399, and the iPhone 11 models start at $999 and quickly escalate. Many of Samsung’s new phones run from $799 to well-over $1,000. You can pre-order a base Atari VCS 800 right now for $299, or with the wireless joystick and controller for just $100 more.”

 

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14 hours ago, OCAT said:

^ The problem is that they are trying to sell products that most people own already, in multiples.

VCS = Laptop or Desktop computer we already own capable of running Steam, Antstream, JokeBox & Native Sandbox mode ?

• The Atari VCS makes the games accessible to anyone including those who aren't PC gamers.
• The format that Atari VCS is offering and services are attractive me and many other games who would like to play these game from the luxury of our sofa by just plugging in the console having immediate access and all this is available.
• The Atari VCS is also flexible enough to allow those such as myself who are inclined to do so the capability to configure the console to do more and be much more than what it is pre-configured to do out of the box running in its native the Atari World OS mode
• The ability to enhance the performance of the Atari VCS by adding additional DDR4 RAM and M.2 storage is a huge feature for expanding the abilities of the console.

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https://medium.com/@atarivcs/atari-vcs-july-2020-q-a-with-coo-381f121f664c

This customer will also be thrilled to have the Atari VCS as a single source for all their streaming services so they no longer have to juggle two or three remotes and devices.

 

But we fully expect some of those PC owners will also buy an Atari VCS, connect it to their TV and boot it in PC mode because sometimes they just want to play their Steam games on the couch, and they don’t mind dialing back the settings a little on their more demanding games when they do it. Or they can also choose to locally stream games from their gaming PC directly to the VCS and play on their big TV.

 

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14 hours ago, OCAT said:

They need to realise that they are asking for substantial amounts of money at a time of severe uncertainty.

The Atari VCS price was announced long before the COVID crisis even existed.  Most people reserved their console during the Indiegogo campaign and pre-order window prior to the one just announced this month and both of those were long before this current crisis.  Your same argument can be made towards Microsoft and Sony releasing high priced premium consoles which are "substantial amounts of money at a time of severe uncertainty".

 

The Atari VCS It is a fair price for what they are offering, but you probably didn't both to read the update today that went over the topic is of is MSRP.  As for delays I am happy that they delayed in order to build the Atari VCS with cutting edge hardware for mini PC class device instead to releasing it with an older architecture just to get it out faster.  The Atari VCS will be one of the first devices to use the R1606G which AMD developed in conjunction with Atari to meet the requirements of the Atari VCS.  The performance of the Atari VCS is going to be on par with a mid range gaming laptop and a price point far below what it would cost to build a high end gaming PC that will run well over $1,000 and put it out of range of what many people are willing to pay or can afford for gaming device.  The architecture of the Atari VCS puts in the perfect sweet spot of performance vs affordability.  That level of performance, small form factor, low noise and design and functionality of the console is very attractive to many as a retro gaming platform and emulation console that fits into our entertainment center setup and looks sleek.

 

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https://medium.com/@atarivcs/atari-vcs-july-2020-q-a-with-coo-381f121f664c

“Yes, we think consumers will find value in the Atari VCS. The VCS is powered by a R1606G AMD Ryzen™ Embedded processor with integrated “Vega” graphics. AMD created these processors to power “Mini PC” class devices, which are small-but-highly-capable computers that don’t take up too much space and can easily fit into an existing media or gaming setups. In spite of such a small form factor, the R1606G processor used in the Atari VCS allows for HD gaming and supports a variety of video codecs for 4K HDR videos and streaming.

 

At our anticipated MSRP we see tremendous value in the Atari VCS All-In bundles when compared to comparable mini-PCs on the market, which typically require you to and an operating system, RAM, storage and peripherals. We will essentially be at parity based solely on the PC hardware, before adding in the additional value of two controllers, the native console experience and the diverse content. And because we are in a special partnership with AMD, we are one of the first mini PCs using the new AMD Ryzen R1606G, while most of the market is still using the older R1505G.

The Atari VCS features an AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606G “Zen” processor with onboard Vega 3 Radeon graphics. The chip was just introduced in April 2019, and the VCS is one of the first commercial products to feature it. It is extremely quiet and energy efficient, which is important in a device designed for the living room.

 

We designed the Atari VCS with an AMD X86 PC processor from the start, with a goal to blend performance and price point in a stylish, TV-centric computer for the family room. We wanted to hit a performance threshold that supports a wide variety of games and apps, 4K streaming, and also support running as a more-traditional PC — all without breaking the bank. Our engineers, in collaboration with AMD, put a lot of time and effort into delivering on that, and even pushed back our launch when presented with an opportunity to make a better product by upgrading to a newer, higher-performing processor.

 

Atari’s goals never included competing with full-on gaming PCs that have dedicated, high-end graphics cards and powerhouse processing. If you are the kind of gamer that wants to play the dozen or so most-graphically demanding video games that utilize ray-tracing you would need to spend at least $400 on your graphics card to hit 60fps. The entire machine is going to cost well north of $1,000. And that is a great gaming experience; a bunch of us at Atari have just that kind of rig.

 

For gaming, the Atari VCS delivers performance similar to many mid-range gaming laptops and mini-PC’s. Out of the box the VCS will easily run the vast majority of PC games perfectly well, and for some of the most demanding games you may need to tweak the video settings down, but they will absolutely be playable.

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by Tidus79001

[+frankodragon]

I never read so much technical vomit in my life in that last update.  If they want a pitch man, maybe they should try that guy who likes to damage things and uses Flex Seal to repair them.

 

[Osgeld]

8 hours ago, Tidus79001 said:

• blah blah blah

 

 

except you ignore the fact that there are a pile of (even more powerful) consoles on the market that do exactly that, and you can go to any local reseller and buy one right now today, plug it in and get AAA games, indy games and all your media center needs fulfilled with a simple to use plug in tv box

 

for the same price

 

atari isn't exactly inventing the home media center console here, they have been out for 2 (going on 3) generations now

Edited July 30, 2020 by Osgeld

[Tidus79001]

10 minutes ago, Osgeld said:

except you ignore the fact that there are a pile of (even more powerful) consoles on the market that do exactly that, and you can go to any local reseller and buy one right now today, plug it in and get AAA games, indy games and all your media center needs fulfilled with a simple to use plug in tv box

 

for the same price

 

atari isn't exactly inventing the home media center console here, they have been out for 2 (going on 3) generations now

The Atari VCS isn't try to be the most powerful console on the market.  They are trying to carve out a niche for themselves in a crowded console market and cannot compete toe to to with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo since the don't have a resources or money for such battles.  It isn't how powerful you console is but what you do with it, as the old saying goes the software makes the hardware.  Many time in video history as less technically advance console have been more successful while consoles with higher spec and vastly improved capabilities have fallen flat on their face.  Nintendo is prime example that you don't need to have the most powerful and most technically advanced console on the marker to be a successful gaming platform and carve out niche in which to thrive.

[MarioMan88]

9 minutes ago, Tidus79001 said:

The Atari VCS isn't try to be the most powerful console on the market.  They are trying to carve out a niche for themselves in a crowded console market and cannot compete toe to to with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo since the don't have a resources or money for such battles.  It isn't how powerful you console is but what you do with it, as the old saying goes the software makes the hardware.  Many time in video history as less technically advance console have been more successful while consoles with higher spec and vastly improved capabilities have fallen flat on their face.  Nintendo is prime example that you don't need to have the most powerful and most technically advanced console on the marker to be a successful gaming platform and carve out niche in which to thrive.

Nintendo has the gold standard of IP...Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong...and the list goes on and on. 
 

Atari has Asteroid and other old IP’s they can’t even spell right. This argument is laughable.

[godslabrat]

30 minutes ago, Tidus79001 said:

The Atari VCS isn't try to be the most powerful console on the market.  They are trying to carve out a niche for themselves in a crowded console market and cannot compete toe to to with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo since the don't have a resources or money for such battles.  It isn't how powerful you console is but what you do with it, as the old saying goes the software makes the hardware.  Many time in video history as less technically advance console have been more successful while consoles with higher spec and vastly improved capabilities have fallen flat on their face.  Nintendo is prime example that you don't need to have the most powerful and most technically advanced console on the marker to be a successful gaming platform and carve out niche in which to thrive.

But they aren't doing anything with it.  The most ambitious thing l'Atari has announced is porting subscription streaming services that can already be found on cheaper, better devices.

 

 

[Osgeld]

51 minutes ago, Tidus79001 said:

The Atari VCS isn't try to be the most powerful console on the market.  They are trying to carve out a niche for themselves in a crowded console market and cannot compete toe to to with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo since the don't have a resources or money for such battles. 

But they are competing with Microsoft Sony directly, Joe consumer wants a game console, and has 300$ in his pocket, here is his choices

 

XBOX One X, 299$

Nintendo Switch lite, 250$(ish)

Playstation 4, 299$

Atari VCS, 299$

 

 

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It isn't how powerful you console is but what you do with it, as the old saying goes the software makes the hardware. 

Yea OK where's the list of software, we know the vault, but you can get the vault on every single platform that has existed since it came out and ...?

 

 

[godslabrat]

4 minutes ago, Osgeld said:

 

Yea OK where's the list of software, we know the vault, but you can get the vault on every single platform that has existed since it came out and ...?

 

 

 

See, at this point, Tidus crossed the line (IMO) to clear trolling: ignoring counter-points.  He's saying that the 'box will be "driven by software", ignoring the many, many times we've pointed out that the software offerings by l'Atari are terrible, and only a notch above nonexistent.

[racerx]

1 hour ago, MarioMan88 said:

Nintendo has the gold standard of IP...Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong...and the list goes on and on. 
 

Atari has Asteroid and other old IP’s they can’t even spell right. This argument is laughable.

 

People have been clamoring for the next installments of 3-D Tic Tac Toe and Surround for decades.

[RedWolfJC]

12 hours ago, keithbk said:

I see absolutely no reason to give the Atari VCS a second glance. It offers NOTHING.

 

Meanwhile, the Amico looks interesting and I'd be a buyer upon release. I don't see why anyone would denigrate it, but maybe I missed something somewhere.

It's funny, I think the VCS looks interesting.  Just *looks* interesting.  Like if I saw it on a shelf somewhere I'd be like "Hey what is that, it looks interesting!"  I wish they spent more time on what it is and less on how it looks...

 

I was never really hot or cold on the Amico, but I will say in a few posts here, Tommy was pretty hostile to a few people who questioned his vision.

I'm not going to get into whether he was justified or not, as I'm sure people have opinions both ways, but when you're trying to sell a product, it's best to try to maintain a level of professionalism, even when others don't show you the same courtesy.  

I know that put me off of it quite a bit.  Not to the point of denigrating it, but I assume others felt the same way, and some probably had a stronger reaction, than I did.

Ultimately I didn't preorder it, but I suppose once it hits retail, I'll probably pick it up.