New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[thetick1]

Exactly how did the controller hold up the release? Did it take two months to call up China and order a batch of knockoff Xbox controllers, in black?

 

Agreed the limited details we have seem like utter bullshit or completely clueless PMs / spokesman. Again I'm 90% chance of this being complete bullshit and only 10% the Atari spokesman is dumber than a common grapefruit.

 

Sorry for repeating myself about the 90% bullshit as I'm getting worried when I see our Atari SA fanboys liking my posts .. Argh!

Edited March 22, 2018 by thetick1

[leech]

 

NDA, means non-disclosure, you are not allowed to confirm or deny.

I asked my ecobee4 (it's the one with built in Alexa) "Do you collect data for the NSA?" and it said "Amazon takes privacy very seriously, please go to amazon.com.... something something" But it NEVER said NO!!!

[leech]

 

I don't think so. The joystick has a skinny, braided cable coming out of it. The cable going into the "console" is a thick, solid one. Unless they plugged the skinny cable into the thicker one. For some reason.

 

fun-with-usb-cables.jpg

 

Close-ups:

 

braided-and-skinny.jpg

 

The heavier cable looks very much like what's going into the wall.

 

solid-and-fat.jpg

 

Anyway, CNET confirmed it's nothing but a mockup.

I have that exact same USB cable!

[thetick1]

I have that exact same USB cable!

 

Me too! I got mine at sams club:

https://www.samsclub.com/sams/usb-type-c-cable-2pk-fall-2017/prod21392917.ip

 

 

Likely same Chinese manufacturer. I bet they are cranking out millions of these C-type USB cables worldwide as they are fairly new but come with all the new electronics.

Edited March 22, 2018 by thetick1

[+frankodragon]

If they really wanted to sell hats, then they should of instead sold hats with a more "Be Prepared" initiative.

 

 

"Yes, now you too can not only look stylish, but you're prepared for just in case anything coming your way including apocalypses with tasty, flavored popcorn. Watch zombies eat others while you watch while snacking."

 

*Also available in Taco Flavor

[leech]

 

Mods, brother

https://steamcommunity.com/app/49520/discussions/0/864977025916708574/?ctp=4

Dude! Sweet!

[+kevtris]

I don't think this has been posted. Tom's Hardware has several more pictures from GDC. As an aside, I think it's kind of funny the Atari representative's first name is Michael.

 

Not much new on the picture front, except maybe this one of the back. And is it really grey or is that just bad lighting?

 

 

SpaceAtariVCS.jpg

 

Add to Post

Going by the picture, at least now I know why there's a giant bulge on the top. It's so those double stack connectors will fit inside the case. I have to wonder if this is just a stock/standard mobo or dev board inside there. If you were designing a PCB you would most likely not use those "stacker" double height capacitors to get the form factor down. Those are super popular on motherboards and things like the orange pi. I did a bit of poking around on google images but didn't find a lot of things that had the exact set of connectors.

 

It is possible they used some extension cables to get signals to the back though, like the USBs and power. Because only power was plugged in, it is possible they simply glued connectors over the holes and just hooked the LEDs up to the power socket with some resistors too. Kinda like an RVGS with plastic instead of cardboard?

[Battlezone]

This wait remember me the long long wait for the Guns n Roses album called Chinese Democracy. Announced many times and finally released years later in the indifference of the fans. I hope in a different finale for the ataribox

but waiting too long could kill interest on a thing.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Battlezone

[Clint Thompson]

IF the Bristol Ridge path is true, which is an entry level dual-core under performer, I'm not sure how they would incorporate adequate cooling as the box is just far too small. Not saying something tricky heatsink-wise couldn't be devised but I would certainly hope all those lines equate to some sort of legitimate ventilation on the underside.

 

While the same problem would present itself with the 2200G, I could at very least respect it if they go with an actual newer Ryzen chip, being the much better choice of CPU and still realively low wattage. Want a real news worthy headline? Tell them the Atari VCS is not just AMD powered, but Ryzen powered.

 

I'm with the group of hardest/impossible to sell to for reasons already outlined in the 250+ pages in this thread as to why, but proving you're not going to completely cheap out would seriously have me consider taking a look at it in a more positive light moving forward, should it actually ever materialize.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Clint Thompson

[+Nathan Strum]

Because only power was plugged in, it is possible they simply glued connectors over the holes and just hooked the LEDs up to the power socket with some resistors too. Kinda like an RVGS with plastic instead of cardboard?

 

Pretty sure that's all this is. Because...

 

So the LEDs are glowing as if by magic, unless the wired controller has a battery pack in it

 

I don't know about the controller, but the Ataribox has a battery in it.

 

Looking at CNET's video, there are multiple shots of it with the LEDs on, but it isn't plugged into anything:

 

 

So the USB cable was just there to charge up the battery in it.

 

They also had a better shot of the back. The thing on the left turned out to be a Reset button. Make up your own jokes about how many times Atari will have to hit it before this thing ever ships.

 

[+frankodragon]

Ugh. If that's one of those proprietary power sockets, forget it.

[CPUWIZ]

[JBerel]

So, they made a plastic box and marketed the hell out of it. Now all they have to do is find some electronics to put in there and make it run without burning up. It's just that simple.

 

I wonder who the hardware partner they had problems with is, and what triggered the "full audit" of the project. I just hope for their sake they have dropped their game band loving partner and the Indiegogo BS. If they want any credibility at all, they need to do better.

[vcoleiro1]

I believe the Atari VGS was being powered by a cable directly underneath it. Feeding in through a hole in the table and being powered by a Coleco Chameleon under the table

Edited March 22, 2018 by vcoleiro1

[JBerel]

We sent a vulture to find the relaunched Atari box – and all he got was this lousy baseball cap...

 

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/22/atari_lempty_box/

[Flojomojo]

Ugh. If that's one of those proprietary power sockets, forget it.

With a big transformer brick, no doubt.

 

If the controller supports wireless, why have so many ports? I certainly don't have 3 other friends who would play this with me, but maybe that's because of my toxic personality.

 

It was a few pages ago so it's hard for me to quote it from my phone, but someone claimed that RetroArch could be used in a commercial product. I think that person has not been following libretro's constant bitching on the topic. Recent example ... https://www.libretro.com/index.php/tag/non-commercial-license/

... which makes me think that there's no commercial license for the thing. That doesn't mean a person couldn't set it up for themselves, but no one needs an Atari[box] VCS to do that.

 

Forgive my Q-bertism, but why the *%%$&@ is "Atari" publicizing this project when there's been so little progress towards anything worth showing? Just abuse of brand names we used to like, and breaking web searches forever.

 

So, is VCS behind or ahead of VGS/Chameleon? It feels like we are at the Toy Fair "prototype" stage, but without the video or promises. April is almost here.

[carlsson]

I keep reading about connecting keyboards and mice, in order to use the VCS as a gaming computer. Whether you need one USB port for each device or could connect both through a hub is beyond me, but perhaps that is partly the intended use of four USB ports.

[Flojomojo]

We sent a vulture to find the relaunched Atari box and all he got was this lousy baseball cap...

 

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/22/atari_lempty_box/

That's worth a visit, thanks for posting it. Unlike the bland CNET piece, The Register (which is sometimes given to paranoid ranting) performs a solid analysis of what isn't there.

 

My favorite bit:

 

"Mike explains that the situation is the hours before the final countdown to a NASA rocket launch. Sometimes, even in the last few seconds, they have to call it off because of one small issue. We point out that a games console is literally nothing like a rocket launch."

[PlaysWithWolves]

We have again reached part of the program where the people that were chastising the skeptics suddenly go silent--until the next Big Atari Announcement™️.

Please help yourselves to tacos in the lobby.

[JBerel]

Even fully understanding what kind of company the current iteration of Atari is, I feel bad for them. Every time they make an effort to try something new, they f#ck it up. That's not being critical, that's just reality. They're breaking the rule that "even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while." Sure they stir the pot of ignorant hipsters and fanboys, but their impact on the industry and a meaningful customer base is always...

I bet you look at that box and controller a little differently now that you know one's got a lump of clay with a few LEDs in it, and the other is a solid lump of plastic. It's one of them 1 pound LCD TVs at the furniture store or those stacks of books that are actually an empty box. At the rate they keep embarrassing themselves, I really can't see this ever reaching production. I have also heard nothing about Fergie, so I'm assuming he's out. Still, with the idiotic moves they're making, it's possible they're continue to use him. They'll almost certainly go back to the crowdfunding route if they move forward at all. This showing may end up killing it for good. Sad all around.

Edited March 22, 2018 by JBerel

[vcoleiro1]

I know the register like to do snarky articles , still doesn't make that Atari VCS article they put up any less funny.

Edited March 22, 2018 by vcoleiro1

[carlsson]

I understand that the VCS was presented past the European stock market closed on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday morning, the share had jumped overnight from 0.78 EUR to 0.80 EUR. By Tuesday lunch, it dipped to 0.75 EUR, recovered some during Wednesday but by Thursday lunch it has dipped again to 0.72 EUR which equals the rate on Thursday one week ago and indeed is much higher than the rate three weeks ago (0.61 EUR). So while the share is increasing slowly as long as Atari are doing nothing, the introduction of the VCS doesn't seem to immediately have skyrocketed the interest in the mother company, rather a decline once it became obviously what they had to show.

[redsteakraw]

How many of you want to bet the prototype they showed is some existing board they dropped in their plastic case?

[vcoleiro1]

Well I guess they didn't lie when they said this in the press release

 

"The Atari VCS, Classic Joystick and Modern Controller prototypes will be shown in-person at pre-scheduled press appointments during GDC 2018 on March 21 and 22, 2018. Please contact [email protected] to reserve your spot."

 

They never said they would be at GDC.

 

Sad though, having to show a non working console in a hotel room a block away

Edited March 22, 2018 by vcoleiro1

[atarifan88]

Personally I find all these taco references as annoying as the lack of info on this "soon-to-be-released" console. The thing they both have in common: they just add to the nonsense of this thread. Enough said!