New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[+Nathan Strum]

I AM GOING TO SAY SOMETHING NICE ABOUT MODERN ATARI

 

I think the Flashbacks are great. Also, Roller Coaster Tycoon Pocket is a nice mobile game. It seems to be selling strongly.

 

Not only that, I'm moderately interested in Jeff Minter's Tempest 4000, this new published by Atari. I'm sure it will feel very familiar, but sometimes (not all the time), that's okay.

 

I mostly agree with Nathan's numbered rant, though I suspect he's not following mobile very closely. Atari has Code Mystics' "Atari's Greatest Hits" on mobile, though it's not well supported, particularly in Android. Plus I think Atari shouldn't even think about touching the Williams/Midway games, which are perfectly fine (if somewhat underexposed) at Warner.

 

The Flashbacks are okay. But they're the same product over, and over, and over, with only minor variations. They have too many different ones in their current lineup, which only serves to frustrate consumers (I've been following the threads on AtariAge, and people here are confused about the options and where to buy them). I have an FB2 and a portable. I see no reason to ever buy one again unless it offers something genuinely new. Like arcade games. And lots of them.

 

Admittedly, I haven't played Roller Coaster Tycoon Pocket. But good for Atari. They also have Pong World. I've downloaded and tried some of their mobile efforts and found them unremarkable.

 

Certainly, I hope Tempest 4000 is a good game, and if so, I hope it's successful. This speaks to my point about updating their IPs. But there is room for so much more - look at what Bob did with Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest. What could a modern take on Major Havoc be like? I still can't figure out why they haven't brought Quantum to smartphones - the play mechanic is perfect for touch screens.

 

Over the years, I have picked up literally hundreds of mobile games for my iPhone/iPad, including Atari Greatest Hits. But not all of Atari's arcade titles are available in that collection, and many of its 2600 titles are throwaways. I'm just waiting for the inevitable update when I'll suddenly find they've removed Battlezone. My point about them acquiring other IPs is precisely because many arcade games are underexposed. Atari could assume the role of a caretaker/publisher of them - whether as owner or licensee. I'd buy an Arcade Flashback, if it had a large enough selection of games on it. I'd buy an Atari Arcade app, if I could buy and add additional games to it from other manufacturers. A virtual, build-it-yourself dream arcade. The Midway collection for iOS hasn't been updated to work in iOS 11 - so it's a dead app now. There are very few classic arcade games on iOS (I can't speak to the Android platform). But in addition to just repackaging the originals, many of those other IPs would lend themselves to being updated. Some have been already, with varying degrees of success. But if you talk to a typical modern gamer about classic arcade games - they aren't going to know the names Midway or Bally or Stern or Gottlieb. But they have heard of Atari.

 

Seems to me, there's an opportunity there. But I have MAME. So I'm set.

[Albert]

I am now frowning in your general direction.

[+Nathan Strum]

I am now frowning in your general direction.

 

 

What... am I being too bold?

[Hwlngmad]

 

The Flashbacks are okay. But they're the same product over, and over, and over, with only minor variations. They have too many different ones in their current lineup, which only serves to frustrate consumers (I've been following the threads on AtariAge, and people here are confused about the options and where to buy them). I have an FB2 and a portable. I see no reason to ever buy one again unless it offers something genuinely new. Like arcade games. And lots of them.

 

Admittedly, I haven't played Roller Coaster Tycoon Pocket. But good for Atari. They also have Pong World. I've downloaded and tried some of their mobile efforts and found them unremarkable.

 

Certainly, I hope Tempest 4000 is a good game, and if so, I hope it's successful. This speaks to my point about updating their IPs. But there is room for so much more - look at what Bob did with Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest. What could a modern take on Major Havoc be like? I still can't figure out why they haven't brought Quantum to smartphones - the play mechanic is perfect for touch screens.

 

Over the years, I have picked up literally hundreds of mobile games for my iPhone/iPad, including Atari Greatest Hits. But not all of Atari's arcade titles are available in that collection, and many of its 2600 titles are throwaways. I'm just waiting for the inevitable update when I'll suddenly find they've removed Battlezone. My point about them acquiring other IPs is precisely because many arcade games are underexposed. Atari could assume the role of a caretaker/publisher of them - whether as owner or licensee. I'd buy an Arcade Flashback, if it had a large enough selection of games on it. I'd buy an Atari Arcade app, if I could buy and add additional games to it from other manufacturers. A virtual, build-it-yourself dream arcade. The Midway collection for iOS hasn't been updated to work in iOS 11 - so it's a dead app now. There are very few classic arcade games on iOS (I can't speak to the Android platform). But in addition to just repackaging the originals, many of those other IPs would lend themselves to being updated. Some have been already, with varying degrees of success. But if you talk to a typical modern gamer about classic arcade games - they aren't going to know the names Midway or Bally or Stern or Gottlieb. But they have heard of Atari.

 

Seems to me, there's an opportunity there. But I have MAME. So I'm set.

 

In AtGames' defense, the revisions they have put out do seem to be getting better as each new iteration comes along. However, the multi-version model they went with this year has been confusing as I have been on the lookout for any of the HD versions are Wal-Mart, GameStop, etc and haven't found any except the SD version. Also, with so many variations, I am sure lots of people aren't even aware of the Activision version. Obviously Atari fans and hard-core gamers are, but the vast majority of the buying public probably are not.

 

Also, I second your call for an Atari Arcade Flashback of some kind. I like what AtGames does for the 2600, and the Sega Genesis for that matter. However, there is certainly room in the market space for this kind of product that has tons of Atari arcade game (versions), and possibly games from the 8-bit line and/or 7800.

 

Perhaps someday a company (maybe even AtGames themselves) can deliver such a product as I am sure that it would be a hit too.

[Inky]

I am now frowning in your general direction.

[Keatah]

Regarding 14, it's like they're so paranoid about doing anything with their IP.

[zzip]

Regarding 14, it's like they're so paranoid about doing anything with their IP.

 

The Arcade games? As far as I know those belong to Atari Games, which last I heard was folded into Williams or Midway. Atari SA probably doesn't have the rights.

[+Nathan Strum]

 

The Arcade games? As far as I know those belong to Atari Games, which last I heard was folded into Williams or Midway. Atari SA probably doesn't have the rights.

 

 

See this post for what Atari still owns. Atari has most of their arcade titles from before the split in '84. Atari Games owned what came after.

[+Nathan Strum]

One thing I forgot to mention which ties into the idea of Atari becoming a conduit of sorts for classic arcade games, is that this is exactly what Atari used to do.

 

As I mentioned way back here, Atari used to license other properties in huge numbers.

 

If we look at just arcade games, Atari published these 2600 versions, which were their own IPs at the time:

 

Asteroids

Basketball

Battlezone

Breakout

Canyon Bomber

Centipede

Crystal Castles

Gravitar

Millipede

Missile Command

Night Driver

Outlaw

Road Runner

Sky Diver

Steeplechase (Sears)

Super Breakout

Warlords

They also produced some under different names, like: Video Olympics (Pong), Indy 500 (Sprint 2), Combat (Tank), and probably a few others.

But Atari produced even more arcade ports licensed from other companies. Many of which were bigger hits than Atari's own:

Berzerk

Crazy Climber

Crossbow

Defender

Defender II (AKA Stargate)

Dig Dug

Galaxian

Ikari Warriors

Joust

Jr. Pac-Man

Jungle Hunt

Kangaroo

Klax

Mario Bros

Moon Patrol

Ms. Pac-Man

Pac-Man

Pengo

Phoenix

Pole Position

Space Invaders

Track and Field

Vanguard

Xenophobe

The 2600 was the platform for other companies to port arcade games to, most of which were licensed from someone else anyway:

Activision Commando

Activision Double Dragon

Activision Kung-Fu Master

Activision Rampage!

CBS Electronics Blue Print

CBS Electronics Gorf

CBS Electronics Omega Race

CBS Electronics Solar Fox

CBS Electronics Wizard of Wor

Coleco Carnival

Coleco Donkey Kong

Coleco Donkey Kong Jr.

Coleco Front Line

Coleco Mouse Trap

Coleco Mr. Do!

Coleco Roc'N Rope

Coleco Time Pilot

Coleco Venture

Coleco Zaxxon

Konami Pooyan

Konami Strategy X

M-Network Bump 'N' Jump

M-Network Burger Time

M-Network Lock 'N' Chase

Parker Brothers Amidar

Parker Brothers Frogger

Parker Brothers Gyruss

Parker Brothers Mr. Do!'s Castle

Parker Brothers Popeye

Parker Brothers Q*Bert

Parker Brothers Q*bert's Qubes

Parker Brothers Reactor

Parker Brothers Sky Skipper

Parker Brothers Star Wars Arcade Game

Parker Brothers Super Cobra

Parker Brothers Tutankham

Sega Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom

Sega Congo Bongo

Sega Spy Hunter

Sega Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator

Sega Tac/Scan

Sega Tapper

Sega Up'n Down

Starpath Frogger (The Official)

Tigervision Espial

Tigervision Polaris

Tigervision River Patrol

Tigervision Springer

Atari was the arcade at home.

[Hwlngmad]

Atari was the arcade at home.

 

 

Yes, the 2600 was the first home video game console to take the arcade hits into the home. Future consoles would follow this game plan up until the Sega Dreamcast. I don't think any console after that has championed bringing the arcade to home like that one did. However, that being said, I would imagine that an Atari Arcade Flashback with 8-bit and/or 7800 arcade ports sprinkled in would be an easy sell to a lot of the buying public.

[+frankodragon]

I'm wondering what it'd be like if that kid from YouTube that was heavily into Sonic instead was a diehard supporter for Ataribox. It'll probably something like this:

 

[Flojomojo]

 

One thing I forgot to mention which ties into the idea of Atari becoming a conduit of sorts for classic arcade games, is that this is exactly what Atari used to do.

 

As I mentioned way back here, Atari used to license other properties in huge numbers.

 

If we look at just arcade games, Atari published these 2600 versions, which were their own IPs at the time:

 

Asteroids

Basketball

Battlezone

Breakout

Canyon Bomber

Centipede

Crystal Castles

Gravitar

Millipede

Missile Command

Night Driver

Outlaw

Road Runner

Sky Diver

Steeplechase (Sears)

Super Breakout

Warlords

They also produced some under different names, like: Video Olympics (Pong), Indy 500 (Sprint 2), Combat (Tank), and probably a few others.

But Atari produced even more arcade ports licensed from other companies. Many of which were bigger hits than Atari's own:

Berzerk

Crazy Climber

Crossbow

Defender

Defender II (AKA Stargate)

Dig Dug

Galaxian

Ikari Warriors

Joust

Jr. Pac-Man

Jungle Hunt

Kangaroo

Klax

Mario Bros

Moon Patrol

Ms. Pac-Man

Pac-Man

Pengo

Phoenix

Pole Position

Space Invaders

Track and Field

Vanguard

Xenophobe

The 2600 was the platform for other companies to port arcade games to, most of which were licensed from someone else anyway:

Activision Commando

Activision Double Dragon

Activision Kung-Fu Master

Activision Rampage!

CBS Electronics Blue Print

CBS Electronics Gorf

CBS Electronics Omega Race

CBS Electronics Solar Fox

CBS Electronics Wizard of Wor

Coleco Carnival

Coleco Donkey Kong

Coleco Donkey Kong Jr.

Coleco Front Line

Coleco Mouse Trap

Coleco Mr. Do!

Coleco Roc'N Rope

Coleco Time Pilot

Coleco Venture

Coleco Zaxxon

Konami Pooyan

Konami Strategy X

M-Network Bump 'N' Jump

M-Network Burger Time

M-Network Lock 'N' Chase

Parker Brothers Amidar

Parker Brothers Frogger

Parker Brothers Gyruss

Parker Brothers Mr. Do!'s Castle

Parker Brothers Popeye

Parker Brothers Q*Bert

Parker Brothers Q*bert's Qubes

Parker Brothers Reactor

Parker Brothers Sky Skipper

Parker Brothers Star Wars Arcade Game

Parker Brothers Super Cobra

Parker Brothers Tutankham

Sega Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom

Sega Congo Bongo

Sega Spy Hunter

Sega Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator

Sega Tac/Scan

Sega Tapper

Sega Up'n Down

Starpath Frogger (The Official)

Tigervision Espial

Tigervision Polaris

Tigervision River Patrol

Tigervision Springer

Atari was the arcade at home.

 

When I was a kind, the list of arcade ports seemed limitless, and I could never have them all. Now, that little list seems like a finite little box, a good appetizer but not enough for a full meal.

 

Hey, if anyone wants official Atari arcade ports on the big screen, don't forget about the Atari Flashback releases on Xbone and PS4, they're perfectly fine, in line with Atari Vault on PC/Mac/Linux. I think they go on sale a lot, and they're cheap to start with, so if you have a current console there's really no excuse not to dip into them. More should be on the way too.

[Jinks]

With emulators and free roms who needs any of this. Try next year I guess..

[JBerel]

With emulators and free roms who needs any of this. Try next year I guess..

Tru dat. I just got a new smart tv. I've loaded up emulators on it and have more going than the raspberry pi will run. Only one old USB drive required.

[tschak909]

Fred Chesnais after Thursday:

 

[mckafka99]

There is one update that the iOS app has needed forever to make it 'THE' mobile app Atari-Goto collection - MFi Controller support. I really like this app and the iCade support works fairly decently but at this point I have really moved away from iCade controller to MFi controllers; I especially like the Gamevice line of controllers. If I could use a Gamevice with the Atari app, that would be awesome.

 

Also, I really like the AT Games portable and use it fairly frequently. However the one thing I feel it needs is a much larger screen; it's getting harder all the time for my aging eyes to do gaming on tiny screens.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

 

Excellent points. Personally, I like point #14 the best. Putting an Atari Arcade Flashback console along with 8-bit and/or 7800 titles would be a easy to sell item. I don't think they should put 2600 titles on there, since AtGames has that covered pretty well with their own Flashback line. Just my opinion though. However, trying to do a $250 to $300 Linux console is stupid as you can get an Xbox One S or PS4 Slim for under $200. Sorry, it won't work. However, something in the $60 to $80 dollar range (like the range for the SNES Classic, upcoming C64 Mini, Retro-bit Super Retrocade, etc ) would be a much better proposition.

 

Everyone I've talked to outside of these forums about the Ataribox (a small sample size, but still something) has thought it was either something along the lines of the Flashback or the Nintendo classics with games built in, or a console that plays original 2600 carts. And they were disappointed to learn that it wasn't going to be either of those things.

 

The general buying public doesn't want a new console from Atari. But they would buy the crap out of a reasonably priced Arcade Flashback. The problem would be recreating all the varied control schemes from those early arcade games. So many of the games on the Flashback collections for the PS4/Xbone just aren't any fun because the controls don't translate well to a modern controller.

[godslabrat]

 

Everyone I've talked to outside of these forums about the Ataribox (a small sample size, but still something) has thought it was either something along the lines of the Flashback or the Nintendo classics with games built in, or a console that plays original 2600 carts. And they were disappointed to learn that it wasn't going to be either of those things.

 

The general buying public doesn't want a new console from Atari. But they would buy the crap out of a reasonably priced Arcade Flashback. The problem would be recreating all the varied control schemes from those early arcade games. So many of the games on the Flashback collections for the PS4/Xbone just aren't any fun because the controls don't translate well to a modern controller.

I do wonder if that is contributing to the Box's failure... the fact that it was announced at the same time as the new Flashback (and, to a lesser extent, the Retron 77). No one knew what the Box was, so it was natural to confuse it with the Flashback.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

I do wonder if that is contributing to the Box's failure... the fact that it was announced at the same time as the new Flashback (and, to a lesser extent, the Retron 77). No one knew what the Box was, so it was natural to confuse it with the Flashback.

 

Based on the "Atari is trying to copy the NES mini with the Ataribox" type comments I've seen out there, the Flashback and Retron 77 aren't even on some people's radar, so it isn't confusion. There's just an assumption that whatever Atari makes must have something to do with old games because Atari is "that old game company."

Edited December 16, 2017 by KaeruYojimbo

[+TwentySixHundred]

Release so damn specs for crying out loud, there is only so many Taco's that can be consumed until explosive results happen.

Edited December 16, 2017 by Tony The 2600

[Keatah]

The general buying public doesn't want a new console from Atari. But they would buy the crap out of a reasonably priced Arcade Flashback. The problem would be recreating all the varied control schemes from those early arcade games. So many of the games on the Flashback collections for the PS4/Xbone just aren't any fun because the controls don't translate well to a modern controller.

 

When I was 10, I knew everything there was to know about the VCS. What games were out, when the next one was coming out. All that. When I ask a 10 or even 14 year old, today, about atari, they draw a blank. That in and of itself speaks volumes.

[+x=usr(1536)]

The Flashback concept is done. It's been out there for nearly 15 years at this point, and all it really serves to prove is that there are only so many ways that the same experiences can be repackaged.

Of course, for Atariboxcorp, Inc. to find this out, they'd have to have actual hardware to show. And they don't.

Edited December 16, 2017 by x=usr(1536)

[PlaysWithWolves]

My wife was excited about the Ataribox, or at least the Ataribox case. She doesn't normally go to tech/gaming sites, so I was surprised she'd heard of it via normal news (I guess). She may not even be aware that the Flashback exists. I'll have to ask.

[high voltage]

To think it all started with Atari

 

[atarifan88]

Tru dat. I just got a new smart tv. I've loaded up emulators on it and have more going than the raspberry pi will run. Only one old USB drive required.

 

How in the world do you run emulators on a smart TV using just a USB drive? I've had to connect a laptop to the TV with a HDMI cable and went from there.