New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[MotoRacer]

Anyone hoping the numbered systems just have like silver sharpie on the bottom tagged by some Chinese worker in a factory?

 

#354

[Lodmot]

Anyone hoping the numbered systems just have like silver sharpie on the bottom tagged by some Chinese worker in a factory?

 

#354

 

Wait a sec.... How do you find out what number you are? xD

[RainbowCemetery]

 

pretty entertaining interview. if i were atari, the process of preparing to update would involve quietly maneuvering their pr firm in the direction of the bus.

[Matt_B]

If I may offer some sort of "consolation" to those Atari fans dismayed by this whole trainwreck, well, at least it's not as bad as the Sinclair Vega+ horror show. I - a ZX Spectrum kid through & through - just had a peek at the latest from that debacle and it involves bitter infighting, tax evasion claims, going from 1000 games to 18, convicted criminals, "erotic chatbots" (no, really), backer's refund drives, meetings in champagne bars and so on.

 

But that's on par, shall we say. But, by far the worst and disgraceful thing is that Sir Clive Sinclair himself, who's old, of very frail health and apparently unable to participate in person, has become an object of a pathetic tug-of-war between the shareholders fighting over his vote. And it seems it's not the first time that has happened.

 

Trying to use and manipulate somebody who's infirm and ailing for the advancement of your personal fraudulent scheme is just about as low as you can go. The fact that this person is also a microcomputing legend just adds insult to the injury. At least you don't have to watch your heroes being dragged through the mud, it's "just" the more impersonal brand.

 

I'll hold my hand up as having put money down on that one.

 

Still, that was largely based on the involvement of Chris Smith who was, and still is, one of the most trustworthy and knowledgeable guys in the Sinclair scene and totally the sort of person you could trust to get a project like that delivered. However, within a month of the crowdfunding campaign being wrapped up, he - and Paul Andrews, the guy who would be handling the business side of things - had been shown the door, and the whole project and half a million pounds was in the hands of the "erotic chatbot" people.

 

It's at that moment I knew I'd f**ked up. Because no strings crowdfunding, especially Indiegogo, gives you absolutely no comeback against that, and the only thing I was going to get for my money was some quality eDrama.

 

Maybe that's some more food for thought for anyone still wavering on the VCS?

[VladR]

I just really want this thing to be real, and I'm doing the best I can to actually make sure it's real.

[carlsson]

I'm sure that erotic chatbots would handle PR for far less than $5000 per month.

[roland p]

I was wondering, is Kristen Keller still involved?

[PlaysWithWolves]

Also, "bomb-diggity"? xDD Didn't see that one. LOL

 

Here ya go. It was shortly after the "Tribute Edition" became available:

 

 

Search tags: bomb-diggety, bomb-diggity.

[Matt_B]

I'm sure that erotic chatbots would handle PR for far less than $5000 per month.

 

Somewhat ironically, it was a dispute over the continued employment of a PR consultant, who was since made managing director because that's totally the skill set you need to replace an experienced games publisher, that led to the fatal split in the Vega Plus project.

 

I'm not sure quite how much they were paying for her services, but it probably in the same ball park.

[carlsson]

So Sir Clive Sinclair seems to own 4.63% of the shares in Retro Computers Ltd. In comparison, how many percent of Ataribox LLC or even Atari SA does Nolan Bushnell own? Is it more than zero? Sure he can give his blessing to the product without owning any stake in the company, but so could Alan Alda though he might be more associated with Atari 8-bit computers than the 2600.

[Matt_B]

So Sir Clive Sinclair seems to own 4.63% of the shares in Retro Computers Ltd. In comparison, how many percent of Ataribox LLC or even Atari SA does Nolan Bushnell own? Is it more than zero? Sure he can give his blessing to the product without owning any stake in the company, but so could Alan Alda though he might be more associated with Atari 8-bit computers than the 2600.

 

That was his share of the erotic chatbot company, whatever it was called. He's got a 25% stake in Retro Computers Ltd. and we've all got our fingers crossed that he'll use it to vote out the current directors on Monday.

It's obviously going to be far too late to get the product finished or any money returned to the backers, but at least nobody gets to walk away without the company finances coming under full scrutiny.

 

And yeah, I don't think you can count on there being a potential white knight among Atari's shareholders who'll stick up for the backers if the VCS project goes South, be it Nolan or anyone else

Edited June 27, 2018 by Matt_B

[PlaysWithWolves]

Screenrant: Now We're A Little Worried About The Atari VCS

 

***

 

 

pretty entertaining interview. if i were atari, the process of preparing to update would involve quietly maneuvering their pr firm in the direction of the bus.

 

 

At ~9:15 Kieren McCarthy says, "I don't think it's a scam; I just don't think they know what on Earth they're doing."

 

I found the interview pretty interesting, as McCarthy gives his general feelings of the interview and the proposed product itself.

 

***

 

The fanboy-made "AtariAge Magazine" has a sneak peek. So it's pretty much going to be as-if Atari themselves produced it:

 

[Matt_B]

If anyone's not cancelled their VCS orders yet, maybe they should talk a look at this as an alternative:

 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-world-s-most-powerful-pocket-sized-pc

 

Basically, you can have a pocket-sized PC running Windows 10 with an M3 CPU, 16 GB RAM and as 128GB SSD all for a mere $189. That's totally legit, right?

 

How can Indiegogo sleep at night with campaigns like that on their site?

[JBerel]

 

How can Indiegogo sleep at night with campaigns like that on their site?

Quite comfortably on large piles of cash I'm guessing.

[carlsson]

Which is the existing, large community mentioned in the VCS advertisement? From what I have understood, Atari to this point have shown a very small interest in indie developers wanting to contribute games, so it would seem like a major turning point if a such indie developers' community within a year goes pro-Atari.

[8Bitjunkie]

It seems, that the number of backers is nearly stable,
but the amount of money is slightly falling down...

i think, backers begin to refund their console (bundle)
and opted in again for an joystick instead...

 

[8Bitjunkie]

as one can't cleary see the numbers on Backerkit...

i have done the math.

 

27th of june is floating stil, of course...

 

[carlsson]

Seen on Facebook. I wonder if this individual is among us on AA?

 

[Matt_B]

I see the numbers have fallen off a cliff twice. The first after June 11 would roughly coincide with the fake footage story and the second, after June 21, with The Register posting up the full audio of that interview.

 

I'm sure Atari will be thinking that their PR money was well spent.

[8Bitjunkie]

I'm sure Atari will be thinking that their PR money was well spent.

 

They will get away with aprx. > 2,5 million bucks, so i would say, the PR Money was well spent...

[Flojomojo]

If anyone's not cancelled their VCS orders yet, maybe they should talk a look at this as an alternative:

 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-world-s-most-powerful-pocket-sized-pc

 

Basically, you can have a pocket-sized PC running Windows 10 with an M3 CPU, 16 GB RAM and as 128GB SSD all for a mere $189. That's totally legit, right?

 

How can Indiegogo sleep at night with campaigns like that on their site?

 

 

That's cute ... the same thing is already available on AliExpress, except as a direct sale, no waiting for the crowdfunding.

 

 

Maybe Atari should just pick some existing tech, and rebrand it as their own? Oh wait, that's exactly what they're already doing.

 

Edit: Oh, and like AtariBox, it contains technology from 2016.

 

[roland p]

I think the biggest problem of these projects would be the software. Without software it's worth nothing.

[carlsson]

Perhaps in the end they will produce empty VCS shells and then place one of those "Higole" mini computers inside, so you get to open the VCS like a jewellry box to find your gift inside.

[youxia]

Did you get in on the ZX Spectrum Next? That project seemed to be handled really well from start to finish.

Nah, I move a lot atm so can't lug anything bigger then Pi with me and also was a bit stingy at the time. Now I see what foolishness it was since you will not find a better designed and reasonably priced retro-gaming machine out there. Faithful FPGA recreation + extra speed and gfx modes + cracking design + community support + REAL bells & whistles such as VGA or ability to use RPi as an accelerator. And, they delivered A blueprint for this kinda operation.

 

Just wish Sir Clive threw in with this lot instead of the conmen.

[pacman000]

 

That's stupid, it's Atari, obviously telekinesis is the preferred delivery method. Did you get any signals from your fillings?

They're bringing back the Mindlink!?