New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[+frankodragon]

That screenshot of Fred.  He looks like he just had a root canal with tons of novacain injected into his cheeks.

 

[x=usr(1536)]

9 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

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.

 

Not anymore.  See attachment

Atari CEO Fred Chesnais on their new console and gaming industry-KxHvWfodDRA.mp4.zip

[ColecoJoe]

42 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

 

 

"...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..."

 

 

 

[Lodmot]

lol..... "the tools Atari is providing".

[MrBeefy]

13 minutes ago, Lodmot said:

lol..... "the tools Atari is providing".

I thought the VCS was the broken down car and we were to tinker with it (with our own tools) to get it to work? 

 

You want gaming? Eh do it yourself if you can get this lemon to work. SANDBOX MODE!!!!

[Tavi]

3 hours 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. 

It is things like this that makes me think the Atari corporate strategy is 'repeatedly shooting ourselves in the foot at every opportunity'.

They seemed to have been completely unprepared to actually design or build their own product. They have had a public falling out with those working on their project over not paying them. They keep their backers in the dark about what progress is being made with the project. The infrequent statements are filled with what they hope to accomplish, but woefully lacking in any detail on what they have actually accomplished so far. 'No news is good news' is not going to cut it with explaining their repeatedly missed deadlines.

As to their shutting out interest from potential VCS developers, I have my suspicions it is likely in no small part due to their not having much of an idea currently what the final hardware configuration or operating system is going to be; which would in turn make it difficult to give any information to those expressing an interest in developing content for their system. Regardless, ignoring those wanting to create content is terrible PR.

Also, it is very stupid. You would think right now Atari would be praying at this point for a indie 'Undertale' VCS exclusive to show up and carry their system. The big boys of gaming I highly doubt are going to have much interest in developing exclusives for a small, niche market. They might make some ports of their releases if it is not too much work, but if it is a title already available on other systems then one would think there is less draw to own it again on a VCS. It would seem to me that the smaller developers would also be their main developers for any unique content for the VCS system.

Honestly at this point I am just watching in morbid interest; not wondering if this VCS will fail, but wondering how spectacular a failure it will be. As per a classic Simpsons quote: " It's horrible, but you can't take your eyes away. It's like watching a monkey swallow a hand grenade."

[+Nathan Strum]

45 minutes ago, Lodmot said:

lol..... "the tools Atari is providing".

Which tools are they referring to? Arzt and Moak or Wyatt and Feargal?

 

Seems to me we've already been doing plenty with 'em. 984 pages and counting!

[OCAT]

^^ if this thread increments +1 per day we will hit 1000 on new years day!
I guess this is the best goal Atari has for the new year xD


And has anyone actually pre-ordered the system from Walcrap or StopGames?
can you cancel without penalty? I have a prepaid credit card with 3 cents on it and just want to troll, i am willing to lose that amount just to be on the list :D
________________________________
The Atari VCS Carbon Gold 800 - All In package includes the Walmart exclusive Carbon Gold colorway, as well as the Classic Joystick and Modern Controller. The 800 comes with 8GB RAM that is fully upgradeable. Users will experience an ever-expanding Atari world of all-new games, classic and remastered favorites, streaming multimedia and personal apps; or can easily make their own. The powerful AMD Ryzen processor featuring Radeon Graphics Technology can handle it all, including 4K HDR streaming, while the all-new Atari Classic Joystick and Atari Modern Controller make everything easy and fun.
ATARI OS (Linux Based)
ATARI SANDBOX PC MODE
AMD Ryzen Processor featuring Radeon Graphics Technology
Compatible with most PC peripherals
Customizable Experience
Every Atari VCS includes the Atari Vault - featuring over 100 home and arcade classics in their original arcade and 2600 formats ready to play!

Edited December 17, 2019 by OCAT

[Flojomojo]

Is he talking about the Squawk Alley interview? Where Fred couldn't answer questions like, "so were you inspired by Raspberry Pi or what?" And they're seriously channeling Forrest Gump, without irony? 

 

I think these questions could be reasonably predicted. Fred seemed surprised they were asked. 

- Your console was supposed to be out by now but was delayed until March, which puts it against new entries from Sony and Microsoft. What do you bring to the table?

- What is the appeal of your 40 year old games, which might be familiar, but don't exactly shine with new graphics and gameplay? (show Atari Vault alongside)

- How do you expect to get the attention of kids who play Fortnite?

- What are you going to do about import tariffs?

 

In what universe did Fred do a good job with the questions? "Not shitting one's pants on camera" is a lower bar than we should expect from an entertainment CEO. 

 

Pasting unzipped interview for ease of access. Thanks @x=usr(1536)

[x=usr(1536)]

8 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Pasting unzipped interview for ease of access. Thanks @x=usr(1536)

 

 

FWIW, if anyone else is interested in archiving stuff like that video, I'll recommend youtube-dl.  It's what I used to grab that one, is cross-platform, and, despite the name, can download video from more than just YouTube.

[OCAT]

What suprises me is that they say "Fully upgradeable RAM", so is there going to be a port cover on the bottom where you can just swap out RAM modules or do they actually expect you to take off the entire cover like a full blown PC and change the RAM?
It also says "Compatible with most PC peripherals" If this thing is so modular, then what is stopping anyone from loading software on a PC and not even buying the hardware? would they even care if non authenticated or cloned serial numbers try to access the Atari store?
If so then what will stop clones, just like fake Samsung Galaxy phones?
We have already seen plenty of NES and SNES classic clones.

[Matt_B]

I'd think that everyone would be too busy falling over laughing to bother cloning the thing. Still, if someone does make decent knock-off cases, so you can roll your own Hacktari, I'd have one.

[H.Hannig]

"...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..."

 

This might work well in japan but at least in our living room the distance between couch and tv is approx. 3 meters. You need pretty keen eyes to be able to enjoy a lot of websites from that distance.
Most people I know prefer to use tablets instead of their smart TVs / set-top boxes.

Edited December 17, 2019 by H.Hannig

[Lodmot]

18 minutes ago, OCAT said:

What suprises me is that they say "Fully upgradeable RAM", so is there going to be a port cover on the bottom where you can just swap out RAM modules or do they actually expect you to take off the entire cover like a full blown PC and change the RAM?

Either way, that's probably the most fascinating part of this console. 

I honestly have to admit, the hardware itself still kinda tickles my fancy. I just wish a more competent team was behind it. Lol.

[x=usr(1536)]

OMG ALMOAST READY 2 SHIP!!!!!!!!11!11eleven!!!

 

 

 

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

[MrBeefy]

25 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

OMG ALMOAST READY 2 SHIP!!!!!!!!11!11eleven!!!

 

 

 

Definitely more room for passive cooling in that one.

[Flojomojo]

1 hour ago, H.Hannig said:

"...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..."

 

This might work well in japan but at least in our living room the distance between couch and tv is approx. 3 meters. You need pretty keen eyes to be able to enjoy a lot of websites from that distance.
Most people I know prefer to use tablets instead of their smart TVs / set-top boxes.

Others have laughed at "surf the web" already, it's silly because the desire to use a browser on the TV is such a 1992 idea. Reminds me of, "ever send a fax from the beach? You will."

 

 

[MrBeefy]

For someone that spouts all the time about stop spreading misinformation and show proof he likes to run his mouth about things that have yet to be shown to work.

 

 

We haven't even been shown that their OS works.

 

Well Werner he was asked something beyond, "can it play Pong?" Such a HARD question to answer. Honestly, it was a better interview as more relevant questions were asked. It isn't that je isn't quick on the draw, its that there isn't anything grand to talk about.

 

People love the RPis because they are cheap and fun to hack and do projects with. Talking about Sandbox would be admitting they have NOTHING. It would be admitting the only thing thing of value is hacking this thing. $35 Pi vs $300+ VCS. Atari and Fred know it is all about the games but you love having them blow smoke up your ass.

 

If Fred would have mentioned Sandbox my exact response would have been, "So in addition to buying the console at $300 I would need to buy a mouse, keyboard, hard drive, a windows license and hack it all myself? What draw do you have to encourage people to go that route as opposed the whole DIY route, or a computer that it works on out of the box?

 

Despite what you think, Sandbox is a gimmick and joke. Know why? Every PC has a Sandbox mode. On many of them it will probably be more upgradeable than the VCS. What does that leave you then? A nice case with a light and a system that is so weak you all got excited over a converse shoebox.

[+Nathan Strum]

4 hours ago, OldSchoolRetroGamer said:

 

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. 😜

Makes you wonder...

 

[CPUWIZ]

Wireless HDMI and battery powered, awesome.

[DragonGrafx-16]

[Flojomojo]

@MrBeefy to say nothing of the fact that "Atari" gets absolutely nothing from running Fortnite for Windows on their box. Hardware is typically sold with slim profit margins if not at a loss, since they can make up for it with software and services. 
 

The fact that "Atari VCS" has a high price doesn't make Fred/Arzt business visionaries (you might find some of the more starry-eyed supporters saying they're dancing to the beat of a different drum), it just means they don't have any better ideas. 
 

"Atari VCS" cheap version $250

Cheap external hard drive $75

Cheap keyboard/mouse $30

Bluetooth game controller $50
Ill-gotten Windows license $5 (for the flash drive to install it)

 

All that puts us over $400, which is way more than an Xbone or PS4 or Switch, all to play the free Fortnite game for which "Atari" sees nothing. Great plan!

[x=usr(1536)]

1 hour ago, Matt_B said:

I'd think that everyone would be too busy falling over laughing to bother cloning the thing.

 

I'm willing to bet that pretty much everyone who threw money at one of these has everything in front of them necessary to do exactly that in the form of the computer they're currently using.

 

1 hour ago, Matt_B said:

Still, if someone does make decent knock-off cases, so you can roll your own Hacktari, I'd have one.

 

@CommanderGrimm was working on 3D-printed versions of exactly that 684 pages ago.  Real life, unfortunately, got in the way - pity, because I'd have loved to have had one of those; I have always thought that the Ataribollocks'(tm) aesthetics were halfway decent.

[Osgeld]

1 hour ago, H.Hannig said:

"...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..."

 

This might work well in japan but at least in our living room the distance between couch and tv is approx. 3 meters. You need pretty keen eyes to be able to enjoy a lot of websites from that distance.
Most people I know prefer to use tablets instead of their smart TVs / set-top boxes.

heck we have a pretty small house and its a couple meters lengthwise which is how our living room is setup (otherwise you got to look at windows or get glare from the windows when trying to watch tv) 

 

I think our old 2 bedroom apartment it might work

[x=usr(1536)]

36 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Others have laughed at "surf the web" already, it's silly because the desire to use a browser on the TV is such a 1992 idea. Reminds me of, "ever send a fax from the beach? You will."

 

Bantu Tribesman Uses IBM Global Uplink Network Modem to Crush Nut

 

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by x=usr(1536)