The Atari VCS Controversies Thread

[Tupin]

[+Stephen]

Anyone still think this will actually ship?

[+Stephen]

Some good info straight from Mike Arzt.

 

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/06/21/atari_interview_in_full/

Guess he called the wrong guy a troll!

[racerx]

If only that video ALSO had Atari's foot-in-mouth incident with The Register, it would be the perfect "FAQ and Info" piece.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Atari Cut n Run. Sounds like a wonderful homebrew idea. Any takers?

[RainbowCemetery]

i don't know enough to make something 2600 accurate but i have an idea. maybe the reference will survive long enough for me to get something playable.

[Keatah]

Anyone still think this will actually ship?

 

I have doubts. And if it does, well, I don't see it being all that great. It doesn't interest me.

 

Because, you know, anyone can build a real "atari box" and stuff it with emulators. Rolling your own gets you access to nearly everything Real Atari and their 3rd party supporters ever made. And that's a monster-sized library of material.

 

Easier yet, order a laptop from Dell. Slap woodgrain wallpaper on the lid, stencil in the Fuji logo with gold foil, and BAM!! You have Atari branded hardware!! Install your favorite hardware and now you can play all kinds of Atari anywhere anytime!!

[StopDrop&Retro]

If only that video ALSO had Atari's foot-in-mouth incident with The Register, it would be the perfect "FAQ and Info" piece.

 

Thanks! I didn't make the video intending it to be an FAQ or a timeline of everything that's happened so far. There were some topics that I chose to leave out and the controversy with The Register is one of them. Personally, I felt that it was a little overblown. A lot of it comes down to Atari disagreeing with the tone of their reporting and they responded by releasing the audio which does justify the reporter's attitude that Atari reps don't know what they're doing, but didn't really reveal anything incriminating. So I just felt it didn't add much to what we already know, that Atari likes to twist things around to help themselves.

 

As for the question of whether they will deliver, as I stated in the video they SHOULD be able to considering the amount they raised. If you gave me $3,000,000 to deliver Linux PCs to 10,000 people I could find a way to make it happen. There are a lot of pitfalls with the way Atari is approaching it. I don't have faith in their team and I feel they're over relying on subcontractors, which is putting the project at the mercy of other entities. But again, for that price, I wouldn't be surprised to see it deliver.

[PlaysWithWolves]

 

As for the question of whether they will deliver, as I stated in the video they SHOULD be able to considering the amount they raised. If you gave me $3,000,000 to deliver Linux PCs to 10,000 people I could find a way to make it happen.

 

Well sure, but you have integrity and would probably not even take a salary if it meant the difference of fulfilling or not.

 

Atari Gamebox, LLC has to refill the coffers for the past year-plus of expenses plus at least enough for another year. That's whatever six figures a COO in New York City would make, plus any employees, benefits, lawyer retainer fees, Rainfactory fees, $5000-15,000/month for Uberstrategist, any trips to GDC or E3, and probably more. Then you still have to pay for the design and manufacturing of the AVCS and a unique joystick. The gamepad would just be a rebranding, so mostly just manufacturing costs there. You'd need to hire a good linux programmer. And then there are the Atari Vault and Atari licensing fees owed to your parent company Atari, SA, because you know that's surely a cost. Indiegogo wants their 4%. No worries on developing native streaming apps, since you only promised they would work through a web browser.

 

tl;dr, if someone plopped $3 million into your lap I don't doubt you'd deliver. Atari has bigger operating experiences and might deliver under the caveat of "illustration purposes only".

 

Also the above post is for illustrative purposes only, since I'm just some guy in the internet.

[Flojomojo]

Supposedly, the crowdfunding was to build a crowd, not fund the console, and AtariBox was going to come out no matter what happened with the campaign.

 

I say supposedly because I see little reason to take their promises at face value. While I agree with SDR that the "gotcha" moments surrounding El Reg and Llamasoft are relatively minor, there's a cumulative wearing down of Atari's credibility every time something they claim is proven to be false.

 

I still can't believe that UK 2600 handheld is delayed. I figured it was already in the bag when they started marketing it, despite it being worse and less expandable than the Flashback Portable. Shame on them for their complete lack of paying attention to their shop, to say nothing of quality control.

[MrMaddog]

I still can't believe that UK 2600 handheld is delayed. I figured it was already in the bag when they started marketing it, despite it being worse and less expandable than the Flashback Portable. Shame on them for their complete lack of paying attention to their shop, to say nothing of quality control.

 

I can't believe they can't just ship the AtGames Atari Flashback Portables to the UK instead... It's not like handhelds have differences with PAL & different voltage input.

 

Edit: Unless it's an issue with the A/V cable?

Edited June 24, 2018 by MrMaddog

[Flojomojo]

 

I can't believe they can't just ship the AtGames Atari Flashback Portables to the UK instead... It's not like handhelds have differences with PAL & different voltage input.

 

Edit: Unless it's an issue with the A/V cable?

Dunno. They sell the Master System and Megadrive (Genesis) portables at Funstock. The Genesis portable has the same AV port.

[Mockduck]

Edited the OP (Thanks, Albert!) to update the IndieGoGo funding and provide clarity on the paddle functionality to indicate it isn't confirmed.

[EmOneGarand]

They do not impress me at all with their "faux wood paneling" and "ribbing" that they seem to think will sell the thing even though they have a box of lies on their campaign page. Speaking of which, I've created a special design for the new Atari because they keep trademark striking my work because I had the word "Atari" in the description for a design with a 2600 in it.

 

 

Beyond that I think the VCS is the next Retro VGS/Coleco Chameleon. These guys are not in the hardware business or game development, they're just selling licenses to the name like River West was doing with the Colecovision. StopDrop&Retro's latest video which I see somebody posted in this thread really illustrates this.

Edited June 27, 2018 by EmOneGarand

[Keatah]

Well, yeh, they're pumping the name. And waiting for a buyout. And $3 million worth of flunkies are trying to help them. That's all one needs to know.

[Mockduck]

Atari has announced that they have contracted with Tin Giant (run by OG Xbox designer Rob Wyatt) to work on the VCS architecture: https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/06/27/1530353/0/en/Atari-VCS-Team-Officially-Welcomes-Rob-Wyatt-System-Architect-of-Original-Xbox-Console-and-Innovator-of-Notable-Game-Hardware-and-Graphics-Projects.html

 

They will be working to optimize platform architecture, which means how well games run on the system, essentially, as well as technical performance in general.

[JBerel]

That should be great to get the most out of Atari Vault and Tempest 4000. Didn't this guy also optimize platform architecture and technical performance for this console??

 

 

[BiffsGamingVideos]

This thread is turning out like the other thread. Pictures of potatoes and cardboard boxes. So someone tell me again why does this thread exist?

[PowerDubs]

Only for lack of a non-biased moderator.

[PlaysWithWolves]

This thread is turning out like the other thread. Pictures of potatoes and cardboard boxes. So someone tell me again why does this thread exist?

 

 

You could try this new idea where you politely ask them to not post images like that here.

[BiffsGamingVideos]

 

 

You could try this new idea where you politely ask them to not post images like that here.

 

Did you just say "politely ask them". You do know this is Atariage, right?

[Mockduck]

The campaign has ended (sorta) with $2,985,205 raised. HOWEVER, the campaign has shifted into an InDemand project on IndieGoGo, meaning that people can still back the project indefinitely. After an initial large number of people backing, the remainder of the campaign struggled to get much backing at all, indicating that the pool of those interested and willing to back the project went in at the start, and Atari struggled to convince others to back for the remainder of the campaign. The alleged timeline for the project remains unchanged.

[BiffsGamingVideos]

The campaign has ended (sorta) with $2,985,205 raised. HOWEVER, the campaign has shifted into an InDemand project on IndieGoGo, meaning that people can still back the project indefinitely. After an initial large number of people backing, the remainder of the campaign struggled to get much backing at all, indicating that the pool of those interested and willing to back the project went in at the start, and Atari struggled to convince others to back for the remainder of the campaign. The alleged timeline for the project remains unchanged.

 

It's not an 'alleged' timeline. It is THE timeline. Atari made up the timeline and thus it is the timeline. If they meet it or not is something different. Their timeline has a target date of shipping July of 2019 however they also said it could be earlier or later.

[Flojomojo]

I like "alleged" because it has shady connotations, just like crowdfunding in general, and Atari in particular.

 

1 : accused but not proven or convicted an alleged burglar

2 : asserted to be true or to exist an alleged miracle an alleged conspiracy

3 : questionably true or of a specified kind : supposed, so-called bought an alleged antique vase

 

I'd expect them to be late (early is out of the question) until they prove otherwise. Their campaign is loaded with hedges and weasel words, with no recourse for "backers" if they slip.

 

They'd probably prefer you used "estimated." So stick with "alleged."

[+x=usr(1536)]

One thing that struck me as odd about the end of the Indiegogo campaign: there was no, "we did it!" message of the sort that usually goes out at the end of these things.

 

Atari SA's track record of communication leading up to and during the crowdfunding campaign has been less-than-stellar, but if I were a backer I'd feel like I'd been basically used as an open wallet to be emptied. While statements of this type are typically non-substantial, at least a word of thanks would go some way to feeling like being a part of the 'community' they were touting as important to them.