New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[AtariNerd]

Aproaching post #24601. Atari, they're French* now, you know? Prisoners, wardens .. the scenarios write themselves. 

 

EDITED for added Sillyness: Inspired by @Flojomojo  ... Some parodied excerpts from 'Who am I' ...forgive me, Les Mis fans 

 

We played their consoles long ago

The Jag CD looks like a, well you know

...

Must they lie

...

 

Who am I

 

An - A- tar- i - faaaaaaan! **

 

*Love the French people

**oww

 

[Flojomojo]

3 minutes ago, AtariNerd said:

Aproaching post #24601. Atari, they're French now, you know? Prisoners, wardens .. the scenarios write themselves. 

and SINGING!!!

 

There's a grief that can't be spoken,
There's a pain goes on and on.
Empty chairs at empty tables,
Now my ATARI VCS is dead and gone.

Here they talked of SOME NEW GAMES,
Here it was they lit the flame,
Here they sang about THAT SANDBOX and THAT SANDBOX never came.

From the table in the corner,
They could see a world reborn,
And they rose with voices ringing,
And I can hear them now
The very words that they have sung
Became their last communion
On this lonely MEDIUM POST, at dawn.

Oh my ATARI, my ATARI forgive me
That I live and you are gone
There's a grief that can't be spoken,
And there's a pain goes on…

[PlaysWithWolves]

3 hours ago, PlaysWithWolves said:

They want VR games, guys!  

 

It's funny, but I actually missed the VR  part when I posted the email last week.

 

I think my mind blocked it out so it wouldn't explode. It was just to it's limit, boys and girls.  My brain knew that just one more bit of Atari-related nonsense would put me in a straightjacket.

 

But, I'm feeling much better now. ?

 

 

[Lodmot]

Lol, now people are calling me "whiny" on the indiegogo comments page, and Atari are responding to them.

For those of you that aren't caught up with the situation between me and Atari, I'll give you a general rundown on what occurred: 

 

Early/Mid 2017 - I back around $370 towards the VCS IndieGoGo campaign. At this point, I was very enthusiastic towards the project, and going as far as defending it in the IndieGoGo comments, and even early on in this thread. Eventually I decided I would like to help the VCS platform out and develop an exclusive game for it. I began developing level designs, art assets and a game engine for the game. I ask another person if they would like to help with character art on the game, she said "yes". As this is going on, we're not hearing anything about Atari VCS (of course), but I continue to leave pretty positive, enthusiastic comments on the IndieGoGo page. I notice the amount of negativity surrounding the console, which prompts me to leave constructive suggestions on the IndieGoGo page. Atari never responds to any of these suggestions.

 

Late 2017 - Around this time I sent Atari an email at their developer inquiries email address. Once again, I was positive and enthusiastic-- showing support for the VCS while also approaching them in a professional manner. In response, they sent me an email basically saying "stay tuned", as if I was another backer (and not a developer). I didn't respond to their email, and decided to wait it out for a little while. I also showed further support by spending around $30 on one of their Atari VCS t-shirts (which they did deliver).

 

2018 - I continue to leave politely-toned comments on the IndieGoGo campaign page-- none of which they responded to. It might have been at this point that I started expressing some concern in the fact that they didn't show any games yet. Whenever I had surveys sent to me on the VCS campaign, I would always answer them fully. I also completely filled out the BackerKit survey and gave as many details as possible in what they could do to further improve their public image with the VCS. As time went on and none of those messages received responses, it's getting to the point where I'm starting to get a feeling of "getting the cold shoulder" from Atari.

 

Late 2018 - Still no news regarding developing for the Atari VCS. I attempt to look on their website for ways to sign up as a developer and found no such registration form. I think it might have been around this point in time where I was getting fed up with Atari, and finally started seeing the light (or the taco's, whichever one you guys prefer xD). I decide around this point to put my project for the VCS on hold. I don't remember the exact way I turned away from showing support and positivity towards the VCS, but I remember I was getting mixed feelings, sometimes swaying back and forth between still being excited for it, and not being excited. 

 

2019 - Atari is delaying the project even further to upgrade their console specs. At this point, I wasn't really even committed anymore as a developer. Later in the year, I decided to make my VCS exclusive game a Steam release, and began continuing development on it under that basis instead. For a while, I stopped even going to the VCS Indiegogo page, because none of my suggestions or developer inquiries were ever responded to. Very little trickled out about the VCS, and right up until about September the console pretty much had no news about anything regarding prototypes or hardware, or the OS itself. Communication between Atari and its skeptical supporters is virtually non-existent. The company ignores anyone that merely questions their decisions, or has anything negative to say in general. I also notice OTHER indie devs experiencing similar frustrations as me:

 

 

Then just today, I'm getting called out by other backers on the IndieGoGo page, saying my comments are "whiny", and "Atari wouldn't want to work with someone like me anyway", etc. I don't know about them, but I personally find my lack of communication from Atari extremely unprofessional and insulting. Also, I am most definitely NOT the only person experiencing this. Atari should at least have the decency to write something like "We are pleased to see your enthusiasm, but we are not looking for extra developers for the VCS platform at this time. Thank you."

 

TL;DR:

Anyway, I just wanted to express my personal experiences and grievances as an Atari VCS supporter and (attempted) developer. Try as I might, and be as polite and professional as I could-- no response came from Atari, my inquiries remained never answered, and now it's like I'm not allowed to voice myself anywhere on their social media pages. Anybody that has tried to develop for the VCS or has had any similar experiences, I'd be interested to hear those. 

[Flojomojo]

It's because they're more interested in the appearance of having a console in the works than actually doing the work. 

 

[digdugnate]

10 minutes ago, Lodmot said:

Lol, now people are calling me "whiny" on the indiegogo comments page, and Atari are responding to them.

For those of you that aren't caught up with the situation between me and Atari, I'll give you a general rundown on what occurred: 

 

Early/Mid 2017 - I back around $370 towards the VCS IndieGoGo campaign. At this point, I was very enthusiastic towards the project, and going as far as defending it in the IndieGoGo comments, and even early on in this thread. Eventually I decided I would like to help the VCS platform out and develop an exclusive game for it. I began developing level designs, art assets and a game engine for the game. I ask another person if they would like to help with character art on the game, she said "yes". As this is going on, we're not hearing anything about Atari VCS (of course), but I continue to leave pretty positive, enthusiastic comments on the IndieGoGo page. I notice the amount of negativity surrounding the console, which prompts me to leave constructive suggestions on the IndieGoGo page. Atari never responds to any of these suggestions.

 

Late 2017 - Around this time I sent Atari an email at their developer inquiries email address. Once again, I was positive and enthusiastic-- showing support for the VCS while also approaching them in a professional manner. In response, they sent me an email basically saying "stay tuned", as if I was another backer (and not a developer). I didn't respond to their email, and decided to wait it out for a little while. I also showed further support by spending around $30 on one of their Atari VCS t-shirts (which they did deliver).

 

2018 - I continue to leave politely-toned comments on the IndieGoGo campaign page-- none of which they responded to. It might have been at this point that I started expressing some concern in the fact that they didn't show any games yet. Whenever I had surveys sent to me on the VCS campaign, I would always answer them fully. I also completely filled out the BackerKit survey and gave as many details as possible in what they could do to further improve their public image with the VCS. As time went on and none of those messages received responses, it's getting to the point where I'm starting to get a feeling of "getting the cold shoulder" from Atari.

 

Late 2018 - Still no news regarding developing for the Atari VCS. I attempt to look on their website for ways to sign up as a developer and found no such registration form. I think it might have been around this point in time where I was getting fed up with Atari, and finally started seeing the light (or the taco's, whichever one you guys prefer xD). I decide around this point to put my project for the VCS on hold. I don't remember the exact way I turned away from showing support and positivity towards the VCS, but I remember I was getting mixed feelings, sometimes swaying back and forth between still being excited for it, and not being excited. 

 

2019 - Atari is delaying the project even further to upgrade their console specs. At this point, I wasn't really even committed anymore as a developer. Later in the year, I decided to make my VCS exclusive game a Steam release, and began continuing development on it under that basis instead. For a while, I stopped even going to the VCS Indiegogo page, because none of my suggestions or developer inquiries were ever responded to. Very little trickled out about the VCS, and right up until about September the console pretty much had no news about anything regarding prototypes or hardware, or the OS itself. Communication between Atari and its skeptical supporters is virtually non-existent. The company ignores anyone that merely questions their decisions, or has anything negative to say in general. I also notice OTHER indie devs experiencing similar frustrations as me:

 

 

Then just today, I'm getting called out by other backers on the IndieGoGo page, saying my comments are "whiny", and "Atari wouldn't want to work with someone like me anyway", etc. I don't know about them, but I personally find my lack of communication from Atari extremely unprofessional and insulting. Also, I am most definitely NOT the only person experiencing this. Atari should at least have the decency to write something like "We are pleased to see your enthusiasm, but we are not looking for extra developers for the VCS platform at this time. Thank you."

 

TL;DR:

Anyway, I just wanted to express my personal experiences and grievances as an Atari VCS supporter and (attempted) developer. Try as I might, and be as polite and professional as I could-- no response came from Atari, my inquiries remained never answered, and now it's like I'm not allowed to voice myself anywhere on their social media pages. Anybody that has tried to develop for the VCS or has had any similar experiences, I'd be interested to hear those. 

ever heard the expression 'you can't argue with a pig?'

[digdugnate]

14 minutes ago, PlaysWithWolves said:

 

It's funny, but I actually missed the VR  part when I posted the email last week.

 

I think my mind blocked it out so it wouldn't explode. It was just to it's limit, boys and girls.  My brain knew that just one more bit of Atari-related nonsense would put me in a straightjacket.

 

But, I'm feeling much better now. ?

 

 

Man, I love John Astin.

[Lodmot]

18 minutes ago, digdugnate said:

ever heard the expression 'you can't argue with a pig?'

I actually haven't. o w o 

I'm terrible with expressions. LOL

 

[PlaysWithWolves]

2 hours ago, digdugnate said:

Man, I love John Astin.

 

Thing would agree! ??

Longer bits:

 

 

 

[Flojomojo]

31 minutes ago, Lodmot said:

I actually haven't. o w o 

I'm terrible with expressions. LOL

 

I know it like this

 

[PlaysWithWolves]

Here's the phrase I thought of:

 

 

Either one fits, really.

 

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

https://atarivcs.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=514d5e8e2ca64b78c0c6f5a2e&id=36e43cc4f6&e=d39baf12da

What is that image even? They will be shipping "soon" and still cannot provide an image showing it actually displaying something real? 

This was the image in the latest BLOG / UPDATE I got in my inbox while I was still sleeping 5 hours ago, something humorous

to wake up to that's for sure. ??

WHY is this the image they send along with an article on how to get into developing games? Shouldn't this be an offer to help them

create mock images of actually using this thing a little better? THOSE people in the image are staring at nothing, well actually I don't know

what they were originally staring at but it sure was not that abomination, this image isn't even trying to be convincing. ?

Edited December 17, 2019 by OldSchoolRetroGamer

[dj_convoy]

I'm reminded of a certain somebody asking the JagBar guy to shoot footage of kids gleefully playing nothing for his sizzle reel.

[+thanatos]

Here's how exciting it will be for the backers to finally get their Ataribox. 

 

 

[MrBeefy]

1 minute ago, thanatos said:

Here's how exciting it will be for the backers to finally get their Ataribox. 

 

 

They will pee their pants and claim victory as they find that some cat has pooped in their sandbox.

[ColecoJoe]

7 minutes ago, OldSchoolRetroGamer said:

https://atarivcs.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=514d5e8e2ca64b78c0c6f5a2e&id=36e43cc4f6&e=d39baf12da

What is that image even? They will be shipping "soon" and still cannot provide an image showing it actually displaying something real? 

This was the image in the latest BLOG / UPDATE I got in my inbox while I was still sleeping 5 hours ago, something humorous

to wake up to that's for sure. ??

WHY is this the image they send along with an article on how to get into developing games? Shouldn't this be an offer to help them

create mock images of actually using this thing a little better? THOSE people in the image are staring at nothing, well actually I don't know

what they were originally staring at but it sure was not that abomination, this image isn't even trying to be convincing. ?

What they were really watching.

 

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

13 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said:

What they were really watching.

 

?Those poor pathetic bastards! So that's the two people that actually watch my Youtube channel! Seems you mocked up a more realistic image than what "Atari" spent months on! Hey at least with me, what you see is what you get! With ScamTari I am not sure what people will actually get. 

Edited December 17, 2019 by OldSchoolRetroGamer
fix

[AtariLeaf]

Maximum RD is real and a hell of a lot more entertaining than AtacoVCS ?

[OCAT]

Backer, fan and creator support means everything to us, and as always, we thank you!

— The Atari VCS Team

Wow, just wow.
A dumpster fire is not adequate enough description, more like a fire that you throw the dumster Into, just burn everything including the dumpster.

ever heard the expression 'you can't argue with a pig?'

I usually do not argue with Hot crispy bacon or a big slice of ham in maple syrup on my plate :P

Come one ATARI! Just make a 30 second Youtube video of one of you actually plugging in the system and turning it on, that is it! power it up and show the logo with a little jinngle like "SEEEEGGGAAAAAA!" or something, you are obviously building units, you cannot be making these things and not turning on at least one of them to see if it will actually work.This is not a Poker game, you cannot fake your value, no company is going to buy you out or invest hundreds of millions in Atari until they see you HAVE any value, more importantly Patents that they can strip like Nokia or something. TURN IT ON!

Edited December 17, 2019 by OCAT

[fred]

Atari CEO on the new system and the gaming industry in general:

 

 

 

 

[JBerel]

I ain't sayin' this is the case, but with their well documented track record of deceit, ya gotta note that maybe two boards were actually seen in an image together with a smattering of cases which they've had floating around for a while if that stuff is even legit. Point is, any reasonable person must assume they are painting rust like there's no tomorrow based on their performance and honesty to date. If they can't demo a functioning unit, they still have nothing but smoke, mirrors and bullshit.

 

At least the guys in the news segment asked some real questions and had the editor put together an actually relevant piece of B-roll. You could see they definitely weren't taking Fred seriously, but they remained professional. Gotta hand it to them for that. They were also prepared and knew the facts. Predictably, Fred was more than comfortable lying in response to their correct statement that it was supposed to ship this month but wouldn't.

Edited December 17, 2019 by JBerel

[+thanatos]

Why does he keep getting air time???

[+x=usr(1536)]

42 minutes ago, fred said:

Atari CEO on the new system and the gaming industry in general:

 

The guy conducting that interview sounded as though he might have been a gamer back in the day, or still is (at least casually).  Nothing really hard-hitting from it, but I did enjoy the following Chesnais quote:

 

"...we believe that there is room for a simpler machine in the living room that will let you surf the web and have also a lot of applications in your living room..."

 

Nice to know that in addition to Netflix moms, WebTV users who were left stranded in front of their beloved-but-nonfunctional set-top boxes when that service shut down are also part of their demographic.  And it's really difficult to describe how unironically he used the term, "surf the web".  It's like it was 1995 all over again.

 

DON'T CLICK THE PI, FRED.

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by x=usr(1536)

[Flojomojo]

44 minutes ago, thanatos said:

Why does he keep getting air time???

Hey, at least the show is running B-roll of Atari Vault, which represents what they actually have. It's a cute count of all the (crude, blocky) games in that collection. When he was on Fox Business, they ran footage from Fortnite, as if to imply they were remotely comparable. 

 

This is a better short interview than we have seen from Stuart Varney. The interviewer asks how they intend to compete with the next generation consoles, and Fred doesn't have a compelling answer. He claims they're still on track for March 2020 launch, and that there's room in the marketplace for something simpler. When the interviewer asks if they were inspired by Raspberry Pi and mini consoles, he trots out the notion that some people would rather play for 30 seconds than 30 minutes, and compares pro level golfers like Tiger Woods to casual players. It's quite ridiculous and if someone can capture this video for posterity, that would be swell. It's listed as private and comments are turned off, so it might disappear down the memory hole. 

 

Here's the auto-transcript for what that's worth. It's hard to read, moreso than listening to Fred's accented English. 

 

welcome back to squall Callie a holiday

season in full swing now and consumer

spending on technology remains large

Atari the once wildly popular video game

company is looking to take advantage of

the current climate and grab a piece of

the 43 billion dollar video game

industry joining us now is Atari

chairman and CEO Fred Shanae great Fred

good to have you here post time thanks

for having me morning so it's been it's

been quite a struggle for Atari lately

you guys went through a bankruptcy some

fibers so years ago you're in the midst

of a turnaround trying to come out with

a console give us the status six years

ago the company went through bankruptcy

so I came back at the time it took us

three years basically to just survive

and then three years to put the business

back on some grounds and today you know

we see fundamentally growing for very

very simple reasons right more platforms

female play and audience very steep

growing because you still have a lot of

people above 40 45 would still don't

play so we have a market that is growing

for very simple reasons so you're trying

to crowd from the Atari VCS this console

that originally was supposed to ship

this month now you're saying it's the

spring but next year you've got new

consoles from Microsoft and Sony coming

out how do you thread that needle and

still get the volumes that you need well

first the console was slated for launch

in 2020 and it is still I think you have

different options today you can go for

very high-end consoles the consoles are

not before the end of next year and at

the same time we believe at various room

for a simple machine in the living room

that will let you in your living room so

very very different markets are you

saying that gaming doesn't depend on

high-end resolution high-end graphics

that we can be looking at simple things

right like that sure I think today you

have so many players so many different

situations that you can play on any

platform you can have retro gaming which

is what we believe in which is a very

simple game play very very short session

on the other hand you can go and play

for three hours four hours so you have

just like if you think you know golf I

always take the analogy of golf you have

like high hand players Tiger Woods even

tennis you're Federer at the same time

you can still have a game of golf a game

of tennis and you can enjoy it so you

have a lot of options and I'm saying

everyone you know should be able to take

what it wants depending on the situation

I play for 30 seconds I can play for 30

minutes as well what's the raspberry pi

an inspiration to you at all it seems

like among my generation now on these

kind of Linux based platforms there's

this trend toward playing old favorites

like Tecmo Bowl Mike Tyson's punch-out

that you can get loaded onto a little

you know gadget that you plug into the

TV is that what you're trying to take

advantage of exactly you know the

broader scheme is and the broader

picture is you have certain audience I

want just to have fun for 30 30 seconds

one minute two minutes three minutes

that's a market and you will see a lot

of eSports coming into its category as

well and again think about sport thing

about other forms of entertainment if

you look at movies you have you know

short series TV series 5 minutes 5

minute segments and everyone is enjoying

my because at the same you know at the

same time today everyone is trying to

multitask and check the app check the

game and check the deep places the

legacy games that Atari came up with

back in the day what what are the most

popular well today you have of course

pong which is you know the tennis game

but everyone remembers it was a

groundbreaking game I personally like

breakout that's one of my favorite

asteroids so we are taking we have more

than 200 games so we're taking them one

by one do you have to choose a kind of a

walled garden type strategy like

Nintendo had for so long

or the licensing strategy with this

library of names you have that people

know but the demand for them is

questionable in an era where kids are

playing for tonight they say well

flexible you know we live the reality we

look at what we have regarding licensing

if you take a game like asteroids you

can have it on your mobile but at the

same time with partners we have launched

a new series of home gaming machines

medium sized which you can enjoy and you

can have a to play with kids and the

family I think you know broadly speaking

the video game industry today is getting

mainstream and

I don't want to make any comparison to

the movie industry or to the music

industry but what I can tell you is that

we are definitely part of the

entertainment you know picture in the

grand scheme of things how much Tutera's

potentially hit you quickly jisme how

much do tariffs potentially hurt you

right now on games I think you know we

look forward with confidence all right

Fred janae from Atari great to have you

here thank you for have a bit of a soft

spot for Atari I got

 

 

 

[Flojomojo]