New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[leech]

STOP MAKING FUN OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE MODEMS!

I LOVED my USRobotics modem. Actually worked where they were being manufactured for a very short time. I can't recall though if it was before or after 3Com bought them.

[Keatah]

Maybe atari know not to come here and face the hard questions..?

[leech]

May have to order some of these for my Steam Controller! https://www.decalgirl.com/skins/291087/valve-steam-controller-skin-wooden-gaming-system

[zzip]

Ataribox is currently the hottest trending story over at gaming news aggregator N4G. That's significant because that site's user-base is heavily skewed towards modern PS4/PC/XBOX/Nintendo gaming, and articles about Atari never get any traction there.

 

So I'd say whatever you think of the marketing strategy behind this thing, it is clearly getting attention.

[Inky]

Well, if it looks like the pictures, I'll buy one, regardless of what it does, just to have a spiffy case for my RPi.

[Flojomojo]

Getting attention -- just like Coleco Scameleon!

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

My expectations on this have been and remain very low since the first mention of "Ataribox". At best I expect some type of Android emulation box, at worst well....Coleco Chameleon anyone? Been burned too many times with promises, hype and fancy rendered images, I wait until something people can get their hands on before I allow any excitement to build.

[high voltage]

Wow, excellent news even in the UK:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4703158/Atari-revealed-images-new-games-console.html

[Flojomojo]

STOP MAKING FUN OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE MODEMS!

 

 

Ebony

 

and Ivory

 

live together in perfect harmony

 

side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord, why can't we?

 

we all know that people are the same wherever you go

there is good

 

and bad

 

in everyone

 

we learn to live, we learn to give

each other what we need to survive, together alive

 

 

Ebony

 

and Ivory

 

Live together in perfect harmony

Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord why don't we?

[high voltage]

So basically you're saying as US Robotics were the best, so is the new Atari Box, thanks mate.

[zzip]

STOP MAKING FUN OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE MODEMS!

Lol, I always hated the design of the USR Sportster modems. They always reminded me of an old office intercom where you'd press the button and say "Mr. Jenkins? Mr. Honcho will see you now!" Not only that, you really couldn't stack them with anything due to the weird shape, so they took up more space on your desk than was necessary.

 

My favorite were the SupraModems.. they were so tiny and compact.. and cute

[Keatah]

Still have my Supra 2400. And the Hayes Stacker modems. Those aluminum ingots to die for!

 

But I do dislike overall a lot of the 90's "unstackable" designs. That rounded aeromelt crap. And even worse, the square shit with rounded bumps.

 

The inside of the last sportster variety is rather simple IIRC. Even simpler and smaller than a flashback. So you could stuff a Pi in there AND retain full original modem functionality. Program the Pi to be a terminal, a buffer, and god knows what else.

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by Keatah

[zzip]

So you could stuff a Pi in there AND retain full original modem functionality. Program the Pi to be a terminal, a buffer, and god knows what else.

Or an intercom

 

I've been trying to remember what kind of 2400 baud modem I had. I remember it was white or whitish, had a small knob on the front that not only turned it on but controlled the volume. Not overly large. I know it wasn't a Hayes or USR, but that's all I rememeber.

[AlecRob]

STOP MAKING FUN OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE MODEMS!

I love that modem too. I own three different USR modems, a 2400e 1988 courier, a 56 k courier, and the 56k fax modem pictured in this thread

[Andromeda Stardust]

I love that modem too. I own three different USR modems, a 2400e 1988 courier, a 56 k courier, and the 56k fax modem pictured in this thread

I wish I still had mine. Would make an awesome PI case.

[leech]

Ha, my modem history... Atari XM301 300 Baud (still have it), some 1200 Baud thing.. damned if I can remember the model... 3 days straight of trying to download a 1mb demo on my ST... just to have it not work... (Dark Side of the Spoon, doesn't work on the Mega STe... ) and then went to a 19.2 Supra (still have that one too), then my USRobotics 56k modem, lent it to a friend because he needed one and I had 1mb DSL by then. Pretty sure I can type faster than the 300 Baud could send, and possibly close to how fast a 1200 Baud will....

[reverendshoebox]

This is the first thing that went through my mind when I saw the Ataribox.

 

 

[JDTAY]

This is rather unimportant, but Atari put out another French press release.

 

Click

 

Just says, "We put out images of our Ataribox. We're still making money from other stuff too. Things looking good on all fronts, investorinos." As far as I can tell, anyway...

Edited July 18, 2017 by JDTAY

[djour]

Sooo conflicted! I feel like the mini-wheat commercials of the 80's. My adult side says this will most likely be another android type box I don't need or really want, but the kid in me wants that wood grain goodness with the smooth white light Atari symbol on my shelf right now.

[AtarinDave]

Wow, my hype lowered after hearing about the ataribox being crowdfunded... I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but I think this thing is dead already. Seriously, I keep hearing about broken promises with kickstarters. I don't find them reliable.

[Keatah]

Kickstarters and crowdfunding, forget it. Not interested.

 

There are only 2 cool ways of genuinely enjoying the Atari games we knew and loved as kids, today.

 

1- Buy original hardware from ebay, and learn how to fix and maintain it.

2- Get into the emulation scene. Some nice advancements are being made as we speak.

 

I would hesitantly add a #3 in here for the AtGames stuff because I've seen them around at quite a few stores in my daily travels. They're not perfect, but they succeed in bringing home some of the classics without a lot of fuss.

 

Anything "atari" releases that involves the classics will be immediately compared to the above items. Instantly. And it will have to measure up.

 

There's really a lot of cool things this corporation can do with the name, I just don't see the initiative being taken.

Edited July 18, 2017 by Keatah

[Keatah]

Sooo conflicted! I feel like the mini-wheat commercials of the 80's. My adult side says this will most likely be another android type box I don't need or really want, but the kid in me wants that wood grain goodness with the smooth white light Atari symbol on my shelf right now.

 

Worshiping the woodgrain, eh? Just be aware there's a lot more to it than a woodgrain-finished console. A lot of ineffable qualities and emotion revolves around the "woodgrain". It is "atari's" task to capture that. I personally don't believe they know how to do that. Or that they even understand what it all means. And it's for certain they do NOT have the resources and intellectual prowess to build a console that'll capture the spirit of the halcyon days.

 

A lot of things came together back then. A lot of those are missing today. However..

 

There are projects right here on AA that do capture yesteryear's good times. The anticipation, the discussion, the end results. It is pretty self-evident which ones those are. So I don't need to name them. And one of them is a rather surprising underdog that has impressed a lot of people - so I've been told.

 

---

 

Maybe it would be best to forget about the past 1970's & 1980's Atari altogether? And to that I say show me something better!

[djour]

I get being cautious, but there has got to be a little excitement and optimism left. Those are two of the things that keep my interest and wallet in this hobby.

 

While I'm not clearing a spot for this system on my shelf yet, it seems a lot of people on this site are pissing on this fire before it truly sparks.

 

I understand there are a lot of things that need to go into a good system, and we haven't seen any of it yet. But at least these guys realize the woodgrain, the black Vader, and the ribbed top are iconic, and they are going in that direction. We have a couple of modeled pics, that's it. But at least they are great modeled pics.

[Keatah]

3D renders are great and all. But back in our time, we didn't give a hoot as to what the system looked like. Oh sure we'd discuss it after we bought it home. But it was not a selling point. Today everything seems focused on it, with the great modeled pics.

 

A lot of the vintage discussion was what games would come out, what ports, what entirely new games would this new hardware be capable of.. Would it be "just like the aaaarrrrr-cade?" How much memory in K did it have. More K meant a more powerful machine!

 

Will atari be bringing out original ataribox content available only for it? Will they extend the original titles from back in the day? Are we going to have an android tablet repackaged into yet another set-top-box?

 

Again I'm sorry. I just don't see the creativity like we had in the halcyon days. If it's there right in front of me and I'm not seeing it, please be kind and gently and point it out to me and my senile brain once again.

[AtariLeaf]

My expectations on this have been and remain very low since the first mention of "Ataribox". At best I expect some type of Android emulation box, at worst well....Coleco Chameleon anyone? Been burned too many times with promises, hype and fancy rendered images, I wait until something people can get their hands on before I allow any excitement to build.

 

Rob speaks truth. This screams of another Coleco Chameleon fiasco. Why crowdfunding? Does the current Atari not have enough cash to fund this thing themselves? This screams that they don't have a lot of confidence to stand behind the product themselves. Also, who exactly is the target audience for this? Diehards like us use real hardware and like real carts. The casuals will have the flashbacks and now throw the possibility that the Retron 77 will fill that in-between niche and I can't understand who exactly this thing is for.