New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[racerx]

Feargal Mac is suing Atari Gamebox LLC.https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/25065990/Mac_Conuladh_v_Atari_Gamebox_LLC

This is possibly the awesomest news that's ever awesomed.

[vcoleiro1]

Sounds like he is claiming that he went to atari with the Ataribox idea, then after a while working on it, Atari dumped him and kept the idea without paying him anything
I must admit , the story does line up to what we overserved at the time if true.

 

Edited November 1, 2018 by vcoleiro1

[tschak909]

[Flojomojo]

Our friend Stop Drop & Retro has the documents and released that first page for now. He says he's going to make a video soon, which is always a treat.

 

https://twitter.com/StopDropRetro/status/1057770363151470592

 

"Blockbuster of an idea" seems a bit far fetched. Not sure about "hard work" either. To say nothing of "well regarded executive in the tech industry." And that's just a portion of one page. What delights are in the rest of this thing? I'm tempted to go to the courthouse and watch the show.

[cybercylon]

I don't think there is a snow ball's chance in Hades that this arrives on time.

 

Tempted to say there snow ball's chance in Hades that this arrives at all..

 

whoops, I just said it

[Lodmot]

 

Tempted to say there snow ball's chance in Hades that this arrives at all..

 

whoops, I just said it

 

The backers should sue Feargal for suing Atari for stealing his idea, in effect causing Atari to have to pay Feargal large sums of the backers' money and therefore disallowing the promised system to get released.

 

Or they could go on strike--

 

"What do we want? CONTRACT! When do we want it? RIGHT NOW!"

[toiletunes]

Conspiracy theory: atari 'fires' Feargal, who then 'sues' atari. The box gets delayed indefinitely as a result, and the 3 million is split behind closed doors.

Simple as that!

(actually not likely as this plan requires thought to execute. )

[+frankodragon]

Oh, darn! I was hoping Judge Judy would be the presiding judge over this one.

 

[JBerel]

How long until we see the tired old refrain of the backers, who are always bitching about this thread, catching onto the latest actual bad news about the project they blindly love as a result of the very thread they love to hate? The final nails in the gameband cluster, and news of Feargal's firing from the Ataribox were both exposed in this thread despite all the denials, and their "insider's" best efforts to BS their way out and around the truth. The critical thinkers in this thread have connected the dots on both those ridiculous project trip-ups pretty consistently amidst a flurry of sicophant denials, assinine pie-in-the-sky theories from dough-eyed supporters, and the companies' whitewashing attempts. It was this thread that effectively notified gameband that their Atari license was pulled, when they weren't even aware of it themselves.

 

To quote Harley Quinn, "A thank you would be nice."

 

[Shawn]

Well here is the scapegoat for not having the prototype done. I can hear it now: " We can't get any work done while this litigation continues to hold back the awesome stuff we had planned for the VCS". Meanwhile back at the ranch, they already missed all these deadlines without being subject to a lawsuit. Just imagine how much less than nothing they will be doing now that they have a place to point the finger for their incompetent lack of progress.

[Lodmot]

Indiegogo is done as a crowdfunding platform if all this spirals to a cancelation. I certainly wouldn't put my trust in that website again, what with all the advertising and promoting I saw for the VCS on not only their website, but around the rest of the internet.

Atari will share the same fate too. I hope they can afford that $1 million they're being sued for.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Lodmot

[Shawn]

Indiegogo is done as a crowdfunding platform if all this spirals to a cancelation. I certainly wouldn't put my trust in that website again, what with all the advertising and promoting I saw for the VCS on not only their website, but around the rest of the internet.

Atari will share the same fate too. I hope they can afford that $1 million they're being sued for.

 

You should have listened to your father (and all the folks here on AtariAge telling you not to throw your money into this fraud pit).

[PlaysWithWolves]

I've always held the position that Atari's tactics sucked, they didn't know what they were doing, and didn't deserve a successful campaign. I also figured they'd produce something. With this lawsuit news, I'm not so confident in the latter.

Feargal Mac is suing Atari Gamebox LLC.
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/25065990/Mac_Conuladh_v_Atari_Gamebox_LLC

I don't have an account to see the whole lawsuit, but like vcoleiro1 observed, it sounds in line with what Curt Vendel warned (originally quoted from YouTube):

As for you comment below, you seem to ignore the fact that Atari was attempting to execute a contract whereby they got Dreamgears controller, electronics design and firmware for free and then would take that design elsewhere giving ZERO compensation to Dreamgear, thats called THEFT and a scam.

 

Sounds like he is claiming that he went to atari with the Ataribox idea, then after a while working on it, Atari dumped him and kept the idea without paying him anything
I must admit , the story does line up to what we overserved at the time if true.

[Lodmot]

 

You should have listened to your father (and all the folks here on AtariAge telling you not to throw your money into this fraud pit).

 

Pretty sure I only threw in 60 bucks for a set of controllers, for this very reason. I wanted to support it and keep an optimistic attitude about it.

I found it extremely unlikely that several industry professionals would associate their name with a fraudulent (and questionably illegal) project.

I wholeheartedly believe if this thing turns into nothing, their careers are done with, including Fred Chesnais. Many people will look at other projects these guys take part in, but then remember about this campaign and say "fuck that". I'm actually surprised they revealed individual team members in the Indiegogo page.

 

That's why I had confident there'd be a final project, and found it extremely illogical/unlikely that they would scam us, or do anything illegal. Apparently legalities and careers don't mean shit if they're so engrossed in making a ton of money, even if they're industry-leading professionals...

[Lodmot]

***had confidence that there would be a final product

-is a grammar nazi- x u x

[JBerel]

Exactly how many f-ups are required for naive consumers to realize, "Hey, this might be a bad idea", 1, 2......15?

People were screaming at the top of their lungs about this latest scamola, and only when it starts to fall apart do a few folks start cluing in. It's not like they had anything but total clusterf#@kery on their lead up, but people were still willing to hand over their money. Just proves you can't fix stupid, even with duct tape.

[Flojomojo]

I have feelings about lots of this. " Ah, the Information Superhighway, showing the public what some nerd thinks about Atari" -- Homer Simpson, paraphrased

 

The backers should sue Feargal for suing Atari for stealing his idea, in effect causing Atari to have to pay Feargal large sums of the backers' money and therefore disallowing the promised system to get released.

 

Or they could go on strike--

 

"What do we want? CONTRACT! When do we want it? RIGHT NOW!"

 

You really should read the IndieGogo Terms of Service. "Backers" have no rights, and IGG carries no risks. That's why the crooks at Atari SA spun off a little holding company and used them.

 

 

Conspiracy theory: atari 'fires' Feargal, who then 'sues' atari. The box gets delayed indefinitely as a result, and the 3 million is split behind closed doors.
Simple as that!
(actually not likely as this plan requires thought to execute. )

 

It would also require money to hire lawyers on both sides, in addition to court costs. Hardly worth it. They could discharge the 3M without explanation much more easily by simply walking away. For all we know, that's what they've already done. None of their partners have ever said anything about this project, and of course the campaign has been silent since August 29th.

 

 

How long until we see the tired old refrain of the backers, who are always bitching about this thread, catching onto the latest actual bad news about the project they blindly love as a result of the very thread they love to hate? The final nails in the gameband cluster, and news of Feargal's firing from the Ataribox were both exposed in this thread despite all the denials, and their "insider's" best efforts to BS their way out and around the truth. The critical thinkers in this thread have connected the dots on both those ridiculous project trip-ups pretty consistently amidst a flurry of sicophant denials, assinine pie-in-the-sky theories from dough-eyed supporters, and the companies' whitewashing attempts. It was this thread that effectively notified gameband that their Atari license was pulled, when they weren't even aware of it themselves.

To quote Harley Quinn, "A thank you would be nice."

 

Harley is cute, but it's not like we did anything. Atari SA and Atari GameBox LLC have been hoisted on their own petard yet again. Maybe we amplified some of the fear/uncertainty/doubt, but it seems to me that everyone here opted into following this nonsense because it was fun to watch, not to acquire information to make decisions. The vast majority of the public doesn't care, never did. The vocal minority on here would likely not take an Atari Box as a gift at this point. As for the fans and backers? It would seem that once one's brains are replaced with sawdust, there's no going back.

 

 

Well here is the scapegoat for not having the prototype done. I can hear it now: " We can't get any work done while this litigation continues to hold back the awesome stuff we had planned for the VCS". Meanwhile back at the ranch, they already missed all these deadlines without being subject to a lawsuit. Just imagine how much less than nothing they will be doing now that they have a place to point the finger for their incompetent lack of progress.

 

I think that would be foolish, and could undermine their countersuit against Feargal. If I were F-Mac, I would point out that these guys beached themselves, and without my leadership, couldn't even launch an unimaginative, derivative product.

 

There's nobody at "Atari" with this guy's charisma. Whether or not he's a con artist, and as adorable as I am, I wouldn't want to be up against him in a jury trial.

 

 

Indiegogo is done as a crowdfunding platform if all this spirals to a cancelation. I certainly wouldn't put my trust in that website again, what with all the advertising and promoting I saw for the VCS on not only their website, but around the rest of the internet.

Atari will share the same fate too. I hope they can afford that $1 million they're being sued for.

 

You're not paying attention. IndieGogo has never had a good reputation, and this is just another data point on a rather obvious trend. The most relevant example has been the RetroVGS, which did a hard bellyflop on IGG more than 3 years ago.

 

Mike says hi, by the way.

 

Pretty sure I only threw in 60 bucks for a set of controllers, for this very reason. I wanted to support it and keep an optimistic attitude about it.

I found it extremely unlikely that several industry professionals would associate their name with a fraudulent (and questionably illegal) project.

I wholeheartedly believe if this thing turns into nothing, their careers are done with, including Fred Chesnais. Many people will look at other projects these guys take part in, but then remember about this campaign and say "fuck that". I'm actually surprised they revealed individual team members in the Indiegogo page.

 

That's why I had confident there'd be a final project, and found it extremely illogical/unlikely that they would scam us, or do anything illegal. Apparently legalities and careers don't mean shit if they're so engrossed in making a ton of money, even if they're industry-leading professionals...

 

 

Again, you're not paying attention. The T-shirt company known as "Atari" has whored out its brand to all manner of stupid things since Fred Chesnais took over, from hundred dollar speaker hats to casino games to crypto currency to multiple attempts to squeeze more out of RollercoasterTycoon, its last respected franchise that it doesn't even own. This is just the dingleberry cherry on a giant shit sundae.

 

 

It won't hurt their careers, they've already demonstrated MANY times that they're beyond shame. This is just another episode of the sad clown parade that is Atari SA.

[Lodmot]

I have feelings about lots of this. " Ah, the Information Superhighway, showing the public what some nerd thinks about Atari" -- Homer Simpson, paraphrased

 

 

You really should read the IndieGogo Terms of Service. "Backers" have no rights, and IGG carries no risks. That's why the crooks at Atari SA spun off a little holding company and used them.

 

 

 

It would also require money to hire lawyers on both sides, in addition to court costs. Hardly worth it. They could discharge the 3M without explanation much more easily by simply walking away. For all we know, that's what they've already done. None of their partners have ever said anything about this project, and of course the campaign has been silent since August 29th.

 

 

 

Harley is cute, but it's not like we did anything. Atari SA and Atari GameBox LLC have been hoisted on their own petard yet again. Maybe we amplified some of the fear/uncertainty/doubt, but it seems to me that everyone here opted into following this nonsense because it was fun to watch, not to acquire information to make decisions. The vast majority of the public doesn't care, never did. The vocal minority on here would likely not take an Atari Box as a gift at this point. As for the fans and backers? It would seem that once one's brains are replaced with sawdust, there's no going back.

 

 

 

I think that would be foolish, and could undermine their countersuit against Feargal. If I were F-Mac, I would point out that these guys beached themselves, and without my leadership, couldn't even launch an unimaginative, derivative product.

 

There's nobody at "Atari" with this guy's charisma. Whether or not he's a con artist, and as adorable as I am, I wouldn't want to be up against him in a jury trial.

 

 

 

You're not paying attention. IndieGogo has never had a good reputation, and this is just another data point on a rather obvious trend. The most relevant example has been the RetroVGS, which did a hard bellyflop on IGG more than 3 years ago.

 

Mike says hi, by the way.

 

 

 

Again, you're not paying attention. The T-shirt company known as "Atari" has whored out its brand to all manner of stupid things since Fred Chesnais took over, from hundred dollar speaker hats to casino games to crypto currency to multiple attempts to squeeze more out of RollercoasterTycoon, its last respected franchise that it doesn't even own. This is just the dingleberry cherry on a giant shit sundae.

 

 

It won't hurt their careers, they've already demonstrated MANY times that they're beyond shame. This is just another episode of the sad clown parade that is Atari SA.

 

Well, at least I didn't spend that much money on it. :3

[Flojomojo]

Well, at least I didn't spend that much money on it. :3

 

You were a backer, then you weren't? What's the story there, were you able to change your pledge while the campaign was still active, or did you get a refund after it closed?

[Curt Vendel]

That is EXACTLY what Feargal did. The Atari box was his idea. He presented it, got it started. In Typical Chesnais fashion, he back stabbed Feargal, pushed him out and basically took what wasnt his and stole it.

 

Ive spoken with Feargal on this matter personally... last year.

[tschak909]

I wish I could say, this is the end, but, this is in all likelihood the first real crack in the dam. Now it's going to get _really_ interesting.

 

-Thom

[PlaysWithWolves]

Has it really only been four months?

Exactly. And that's what made the decision so difficult.

Part of me is fucking pissed that I cancelled my Day 1 pledge, because the general consensus seems to say that they're likely going to at least ship the console to backers. So I lost out for sure on one of the rarer numbered units.
Not that the system won't probably turn out to be rare/obscure anyway. xD

The other part of me is glad I pulled out, and just got the joystick/modern controller duo instead. That way I'm still supporting the underdog, but not breaking the bank to do so. So if this thing really DOES flop, I'm only out $60.

Technically I could still go for the woodgrain model tonight, or one of the black models (though I'd really prefer the wood model instead xD).
If this thing hits retail/Amazon, I know for a fact I'm getting it. So either way, I'm supporting the cause. Not like us developers could even get the console earlier anyways.

Yeah, and now im really regretting it.... I keep flip flopping back and forth because im hearing people say "Its a scam, get your money back!" So i did, and now you have people like Smash GT coming out and saying "Weeeelllllll......."

I should never participate in any forums for advice because i keep getting all these mixed viewpoints and its confusing the fuck out of me. Everyones throwing around meatless arguments, "It's a scam!", "No! It's real!" And neither side backs their claims up with any proof. Now i feel like ive been gypped for pulling out of the Day 1 pledge. Thanks a lot internet... Lol

Dude, cowboy the hell up. My 15-year-old is more decisive than you.

godfather.gif

Alright, then ill get the woodgrain model with the two controllers. Face it, im going to be trolled no matter what i do xD

[Flojomojo]

That is EXACTLY what Feargal did. The Atari box was his idea. He presented it, got it started. In Typical Chesnais fashion, he back stabbed Feargal, pushed him out and basically took what wasnt his and stole it.

 

Ive spoken with Feargal on this matter personally... last year.

 

 

It would be great to see a followup interview to this. I'm torn between wanting it on video (so we can watch them squirm) or in writing (so we can search and quote it).

 

On the other hand, why show this hardware now, without having those details?

 

Michael Arzt: Because this is an important milestone, especially after we hit the pause button in December. The first few people said, 'Vapourware' and so on. We felt it was really important [to show we were] continuing to work on it now we've got many more pieces in place since then. The pause was a really valuable thing for us, because we were able to fix the one thing that was the show stopper, which was quite frankly was, the controller.

We did not like the controller we had before, we did not like the partner we were working with, we did not like the business plan, we did not like the design. It did not fit with the other stuff. That was the thing that ultimately paused it there, but it was a great opportunity to [say] hey, we're paused now, we'll take a breath, let's do a top-to-bottom audit of everything else, right? There were things that were good, but we felt like if we do this to it, it'll be even better. Timing wise, we realised we're going forward with this, but it's not baked yet, so let's bake it so more.

[Lodmot]

Oh well. o u o

Even you guys were saying you were sure I'd at least get a final product from the campaign:

 

 

Lod, I think you'll get your system, and you'll be able to have some Basic Fun with it. I don't find it fascinating, but different people like different things. :-) A person can get a similar effect right now by installing Ubuntu onto an old PC, then running Atari Vault from Steam.

 

As far as I can tell, nobody was aware of this lawsuit going on. And even if the project is delayed until like 2020, that's fine by me. Gives me more time to work on my game.

[Lodmot]

 

You were a backer, then you weren't? What's the story there, were you able to change your pledge while the campaign was still active, or did you get a refund after it closed?

 

Actually as it turned out, I did end up pre-ordering the tribute edition in the end. I just remembered flipping back and forth between wanting to buy it and not wanting to buy it. Checking back at my indiegogo campaign, looks like I ended up buying it anyway. XP

It's fine. If this thing is cancelled then I learned the hard way, what can I say? :B