+Stephen Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 4 hours ago, jhd said: Financially, it is certainly not worth the effort. Around here, the Small Claims filing fee is about $100. There is also the cost to prepare and serve (via courier or registered mail) the documents on the other party. There is also the time away from work (or family or playing video games) to appear in Court, etc. Best case scenario, Atari does not file a defense and you receive a default judgment for $250 + costs. Ok, the company has no assets in your jurisdiction. How much more money do you wish to spend to enforce this award? The law of diminishing returns quickly applies. It is simply not cost-effective. Someone recently threatened to sue my employer over a dispute of less than $200. The manager literally laughed at him. This is why scumbags are constantly allowed to rip off people. However, there was certainly enough of a "red alert brigade" here that tried to warn people to not get scammed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopsus Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 The red flags were there before we put our money down ... many were screaming not to invest in it. i did not listen LOL! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted October 5, 2020 Share Posted October 5, 2020 Hopefully the backers do receive what they paid for. I've enjoyed mercilessly beating down this "unconsole" but I have no desire to see anybody pay for something and not receive it. I've been ripped off for a few hundred dollars for items in the past and it's never a good feeling (looking at you sloopy, never got my 2 VBXEs or the Amiga I paid you for- damn thief). 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_B Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 On 10/5/2020 at 11:34 AM, The Historian said: That I can't tell you. I own an Alienware Alpha TO which came with a setup for Kodi with a custom theme to make it more like a console. These were also designed to be SteamOS machines, but they never really gained traction for that. But there is a contingent of users that don't care about Atari so much as they want a decent gaming device with Linux as the default OS. I thought the Alpha was a creditable attempt at a gaming Linux box, although I'm pretty sure that the Windows configurations sold better. Obviously neither of them did well enough though because they discontinued the line without a replacement a couple of years back. In terms of what you can do with them, they seem a far more capable platform than the VCS. The GPU benchmarks about three times better, for starters, and with the socketed CPU, RAM and 2.5" drive bay there's considerably more upgrade potential. Linux gamers holding out for something better to come along are probably going to pass up the VCS on that basis. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82-T/A Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Here's hoping I still get something... anything... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCAT Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 ^ Here is a cookie o.o-3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamm Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 (edited) For unrelated reasons, I was just looking at the commenting history attached to my user profile on another forum. It goes back over a decade, which triggered my "oh no, what stupid embarrassing things did I write 10 years ago??" response... Anyway, there was a heated discussion 8 years ago on this Engaget article: "Ouya's success is opportunity missed for Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony" which, to others and myself, seemed like the author was jumping the gun rather significantly given that the Ouya hadn't even been released yet. Sound familiar? It's too bad Engaget seems to have cut out all the old discussions for the articles, because it'd be fun to see what everyone had to say. You can imagine a lot of similar stuff from what's been said regarding this latest incarnation of "Atari". I can't see the comments I was responding to, but here's a couple things I said back then where you can imagine what the original comment was: Quote Anybody can start a Kickstarter promising a device that doesn't yet exist and drum-up support from all the hardware geeks (myself included) who love to play with this kind of stuff. That's no reason to compare the fictional device to platforms that actually exist. Quote I suspect many of the people who backed the project feel the same way. They don't necessarily care about gaming in particular - they mostly want a cheap Android-based device they can plug into their TVs. I don't think people like the author of this editorial are taking that into account. Quote If there's one thing we should have learned from the last few years of video game consoles, it's that hardware is far less important to the success of one of these devices than the software platform and marketing support developed by the vendor. There are already dozens of cheap, hackable boxes running either Linux or Android out there to be had. Adding another box to the pile isn't going to change anything. The real opportunities for something new lie in the development of a user and consumer-friendly software and distribution platform. "Ouya" hasn't done anything more than suggest vague possibilities on this front. If anyone is poised to change things in the next few years, it's either Valve (Steam) or Apple. Quote All the hardware limitations of a smartphone and none of the platform advantages of the existing home consoles. What could possibly go wrong? http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... That last reference to Phantom Entertainment's "Phantom" console was something I'd completely forgotten about. Quote from Wikipedia article regarding the Phantom: "On May 16, 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Phantom Entertainment founder and former CEO Timothy Roberts of running a "pump and dump" scheme in promoting the Phantom console in 2004." I expect we'll continue to recreate this amazing new "low end, PC-based console for everyone else" every few years and everyone will think it's a fresh new idea. Edited October 7, 2020 by jamm 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 Those are good points, jamm. It's also not always about having a good product either, but also a good product at the right time. Take the Vita, for instance. There was very little wrong with it. It was powerful, compact, attractive, had a great screen, etc., but it just never caught on for a variety of reasons, but arguably most of all because of timing. It was entering a market already saturated with great mobile smartphone and tablet options. The 3DS barely made the cut-off and there's a reason Nintendo is not releasing another dedicated handheld in that vein, and it has little to do with the Switch. In terms of the VCS, I'm sure it will more or less do what its current modest goal is and that will make some people happy enough, but it's by no means a mass market product. Again, I don't think Atari is expecting it to be. It was a means to a simple end and Atari probably already got out of it most of what they were after (and could reasonably expect). 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamm Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 55 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said: Take the Vita, for instance. There was very little wrong with it. It was powerful, compact, attractive, had a great screen, etc., but it just never caught on for a variety of reasons, but arguably most of all because of timing. It was entering a market already saturated with great mobile smartphone and tablet options. The 3DS barely made the cut-off and there's a reason Nintendo is not releasing another dedicated handheld in that vein, and it has little to do with the Switch. Ouch. What happened to the Vita really breaks my heart. Hardware-wise, it's practically the perfect handheld, with the proprietary storage as the only obvious negative. I have a Switch, and it amazing to me how much better the Vita is in most respects given how much older it is - particularly as a mobile device. I think what happened with Vita is partly due to Sony not supporting it as much as it could have, and, of course, Nintendo having the world's finest first-party video game IP. If Microsoft gets their act together and becomes dominant (if nothing else, they have the cash to simply continue buying development studios until they get there), I hope Sony and Nintendo combine their strengths to create a new generation of devices. Fan-dreaming is fun! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+GoldLeader Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 Quick question: Rob Wyatt worked on this thing for 6 months and then quit because he wasn't paid (Similar to what happened to Kurt (May he R.I.P.). So... Who finished it for them? Have they ever said? And did they decide to pay that person? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCAT Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 WOW! Sony did a teardown of the PS5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaAY-jAjm0w I would like to see a video like this of the Atari VCS... no stupid music, no youtuber wearing a baseball cap backwards making stupid jokes, just a clean teardown all business, no opinions. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 2 hours ago, OCAT said: WOW! Sony did a teardown of the PS5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaAY-jAjm0w Sure... but does the logo light up? 2 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_B Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 5 hours ago, Bill Loguidice said: Those are good points, jamm. It's also not always about having a good product either, but also a good product at the right time. Take the Vita, for instance. There was very little wrong with it. It was powerful, compact, attractive, had a great screen, etc., but it just never caught on for a variety of reasons, but arguably most of all because of timing. It was entering a market already saturated with great mobile smartphone and tablet options. The 3DS barely made the cut-off and there's a reason Nintendo is not releasing another dedicated handheld in that vein, and it has little to do with the Switch. In terms of the VCS, I'm sure it will more or less do what its current modest goal is and that will make some people happy enough, but it's by no means a mass market product. Again, I don't think Atari is expecting it to be. It was a means to a simple end and Atari probably already got out of it most of what they were after (and could reasonably expect). The 3DS did a bit more than barely make the cut-off. They sold 75 million of them, mostly of the five models that came after the Vita was launched. Also, the Switch Lite is a dedicated handheld. The real problem both Sony and Nintendo had was that they were stretched too thin, supporting multiple incompatible platforms in an age where AAA game development has become monumentally expensive, labour intensive and time consuming. If Sony ever make another handheld, it's just going to be one that runs PS5 games so they don't have that issue. Nintendo have already got there. The VCS won't have that problem because Atari have nothing to stretch. ? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 1 hour ago, Matt_B said: The 3DS did a bit more than barely make the cut-off. They sold 75 million of them, mostly of the five models that came after the Vita was launched. Also, the Switch Lite is a dedicated handheld. The real problem both Sony and Nintendo had was that they were stretched too thin, supporting multiple incompatible platforms in an age where AAA game development has become monumentally expensive, labour intensive and time consuming. If Sony ever make another handheld, it's just going to be one that runs PS5 games so they don't have that issue. Nintendo have already got there. The VCS won't have that problem because Atari have nothing to stretch. ? Meaning the timing of its release was still reasonable. That's what I meant by "barely making the cut-off." It's arguable if it released around the same time as the Vita, they would have had real problems (ignoring of course how sluggish 3DS sales were in the beginning). In terms of the Switch Lite, it's still based off the Switch, which succeeded for very different reasons than a pure handheld. It's a larger, more full-featured device that is not affected by the same market forces as a pure handheld. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tavi Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, OCAT said: WOW! Sony did a teardown of the PS5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaAY-jAjm0w I would like to see a video like this of the Atari VCS... no stupid music, no youtuber wearing a baseball cap backwards making stupid jokes, just a clean teardown all business, no opinions. That was a great video, short and right to the point. The cooling system still raises my eyebrows. Between the fan and the heatsink, those two parts seems to take up the majority of what is a rather large console. Throw in that Sony says they needed two years to create and test a new 'liquid metal' thermal paste replacement (https://venturebeat.com/2020/10/07/playstation-5-cooling-uses-liquid-metal-heres-why-thats-cool/) and I do wonder exactly how hot this unit gets and how much stress is going to be on the internal electronics from that heat. Still, it is nice to see a complete teardown showing off all the major components of their new console. It is a bit curious that Atari has not done the same, especially for a 'un-console' that they say is supposed to be shipped within the month. Still seeing how long it took for them to release any videos of the Atari Box in use, I guess also not terribly surprising. I expect if the Atari Box is actually delivered in the next month, there will be shortly after be multiple videos posted by tech and youtube reviewers on the internals. Not really much point in keeping it all a secret now. Edited October 7, 2020 by Tavi adding a link 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCAT Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 The AtariBox Teardown will be slightly more interesting than tearing down a FAMICLONE with a NOAC... ooooh! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 50 minutes ago, Tavi said: I expect if the Atari Box is actually delivered in the next month, there will be shortly after be multiple videos posted by tech and youtube reviewers on the internals. Not really much point in keeping it all a secret now. I have some behind the scenes contacts, and I did not sign an NDA so here ya go: 1 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Don't forget the benchmark results. 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agillig Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 Reddit has some interesting Walmart reviews of the system. This is precisely why I only look at negative reviews for stuff I'm interested in: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roots.genoa Posted October 8, 2020 Share Posted October 8, 2020 I look forward to seeing games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Death Stranding, and Read Dead Redemption 2 run on the Atari VCS... With an old school 320x240 resolution and a locked, solid framerate of 120 frames per hour. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy the Atarian Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 On 10/7/2020 at 9:34 AM, jamm said: Fan-dreaming is fun! That's the VCS Fans Facebook page in a nutshell On 10/8/2020 at 1:30 AM, roots.genoa said: I look forward to seeing games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Death Stranding, and Read Dead Redemption 2 run on the Atari VCS... With an old school 320x240 resolution and a locked, solid framerate of 120 frames per hour. How To Make Your VCS Create The Illusive 'Magic Smoke' In Record Time! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopsus Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Release dates at Walmart and Gamstop appear to have disappeared, as have any promises about guaranteed delivery dates. Wikipedia now says Backers will be getting theirs at the same time as the Walmart release: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_VCS_(2020_console) Release date November 27, 2020 (Walmart & Indiegogo backers) December 24, 2020 (Gamestop) 5 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeatari1 Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 Don't really give a rats a$$ when I get it, as long as I get it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCAT Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 ?<----- Here you go ^ 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 10 hours ago, joeatari1 said: Don't really give a rats a$$ when I get it, as long as I get it. I've got to hand it to Atari...most companies can only dream of attracting loyal customers with zero expectations. 7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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