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The Atari VCS Controversies Thread


Mockduck

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25 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Any hard core developers here get one of the 1st 96 to go out?  What are you working on?  I can't contain myself with excitement.

I've a feeling that the only "hard core" this VCS is ever likely to see is the rubble that goes in to the landfill on top of it.

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26 minutes ago, Matt_B said:

I've a feeling that the only "hard core" this VCS is ever likely to see is the rubble that goes in to the landfill on top of it.

I suppose the VCS could carve out a niche in the world of softcore pr0n like the Philips CDi did, but you'd still need developers interested in it to do that. 

 

Still haven't heard of any - which I'm sure must be frustrating Atari SA. They wanted to claim that this would be the natural place for all the Atari homebrewers here on AA to gravitate towards, they just didn't realize that homebrewers (usually) enjoy making their games on ancient hardware.

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22 minutes ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

Still haven't heard of any - which I'm sure must be frustrating Atari SA. They wanted to claim that this would be the natural place for all the Atari homebrewers here on AA to gravitate towards, they just didn't realize that homebrewers (usually) enjoy making their games on ancient hardware.

When and where did they say that? I wanna read about it!

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1 minute ago, Keatah said:

When and where did they say that? I wanna read about it!

Dang it, you made me have to scour the web for it, wasn't easy to find, but thankfully the original Taco thread helped me find something :P

 

Quoted from an article at Forbes.com in 2018, although TBH I seem to recall him more explicitly mentioning that homebrewers have created a lot of cool things for the real VCS, but I haven't been able to find that one. Might be in this audio interview from last year. Here's a quote from the Forbes article, and he's hinted at it in other interviews:

 

”That’s what we’re trying to build. We’re trying to build a box that can be a haven for independent game developers and studios as well as the hobbyists that are creating games for retro systems and things like that.”

 

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I don't see the big deal in bringing in or trying to lure actual homebrew creators like champ games or spiceware, etc. If the VCS can be loaded with windows 10 then it can be loaded with the latest stella, hence the latest homebrew builds.

 

The fun is making them play on a real 2600. Not like our homebrewers are going to jump ship to create emulated 2600 games only.

 

Atari SA clearly doesn't get what fans of the original crave and if it's an emulation box for your tv then a flashback or retron 77 will do 

Edited by AtariLeaf
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1 hour ago, racerx said:

Definitely an odd time to kill the thread.

 

Victories and healthy servings of humble pie are going to be dished out in quantity in just a few weeks.

Yes, but after four false starts, even Rodger Moore with a Zimmer frame has a chance to cross the finish line ... what we don’t actually know is if those promised units are actually being produced? Given the increased efforts to raise funds by pushing more preorders and retail arrangements, it is fair to wonder in the latter is funding the former and at what pace?

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^ Yes, we do. It needs to be in the same style as those clocks from movies on bombs with 2 wires going in and big red 7 segment displays.

I even asked Gamester81 from youtube if he and his company is making games for the VCS and Amico... nothing, as in i never got any responses on multiple occasions.

Edited by OCAT
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3 hours ago, Chopsus said:

Yes, but after four false starts, even Rodger Moore with a Zimmer frame has a chance to cross the finish line ... what we don’t actually know is if those promised units are actually being produced? Given the increased efforts to raise funds by pushing more preorders and retail arrangements, it is fair to wonder in the latter is funding the former and at what pace?

Sorry to break it to you, but the only way Roger Moore is crossing that finish line is when continental drift takes Monaco cemetery over it.

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On 8/19/2020 at 11:17 PM, AtariLeaf said:

I don't see the big deal in bringing in or trying to lure actual homebrew creators like champ games or spiceware, etc. If the VCS can be loaded with windows 10 then it can be loaded with the latest stella, hence the latest homebrew builds.

 

The fun is making them play on a real 2600. Not like our homebrewers are going to jump ship to create emulated 2600 games only.

 

Atari SA clearly doesn't get what fans of the original crave and if it's an emulation box for your tv then a flashback or retron 77 will do 

32GB eMMC hard drive, similar to a streaming pc from four years ago. Put windows onto that miniature hard drive and there goes 27 Gb plus 119 £/$.  The eMMC is the cheapest option as it is soldered into the board.  

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4 hours ago, OCAT said:

32eMMC, I never understand why they do not make 64GB standard and save the purchaser the frustration. I guess they gotta save that $4.99 component cost.

Presumably, they're still living in the dreamland where it's a useful product with just the built in Linux-based OS.

 

Increasing the size of the eMMC just so you can put Windows on it without recourse to an external drive would be a dead giveaway.

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2 hours ago, Matt_B said:

Presumably, they're still living in the dreamland where it's a useful product with just the built in Linux-based OS.

 

Increasing the size of the eMMC just so you can put Windows on it without recourse to an external drive would be a dead giveaway.

Agree 100%, but keep in mind that when backers stumped up their ca$h they though they were getting something more bespoke than a budget Linux based PC.

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54 minutes ago, Keatah said:

eMMC is like that cheap soldered-on memory built with 1997 technology. Backers prolly too stupid to know how slow this stuff is, and more stupider to know the difference between 32GB vs 64GB. It's like 1990's digital camera slow.

 

Backers never had a say as the specs were unconfirmed, then changed, after the funds were locked in.

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I even see Walmart listing those $150 laptops as having a 32GB eMMC SSD... SSD... after eMMC. Sort of like a pizza shop "All dressed pizza $5", then what you get is a plain cheese pizza, that would be a eMMC compared to a SSD.
Then they list it as "Hard Drive Capacity 32 GB"
I guess they do not want to confuse prostective buyers so they mangle the terminology.
What gets me is that for every day you use the Atari VCS as a computer, that cheap eMMC is going to wear out, then one day it will junk out and no more Atari VCS. Remember the VCS is literally BUILT TO A PRICE, the one that you paid when you backed it, so concessions had to be made.

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31 minutes ago, OCAT said:

I even see Walmart listing those $150 laptops as having a 32GB eMMC SSD... SSD... after eMMC. Sort of like a pizza shop "All dressed pizza $5", then what you get is a plain cheese pizza, that would be a eMMC compared to a SSD.
Then they list it as "Hard Drive Capacity 32 GB"
I guess they do not want to confuse prostective buyers so they mangle the terminology.
What gets me is that for every day you use the Atari VCS as a computer, that cheap eMMC is going to wear out, then one day it will junk out and no more Atari VCS. Remember the VCS is literally BUILT TO A PRICE, the one that you paid when you backed it, so concessions had to be made.

Built to a price yes - massively overpriced at $400, especially given you just compared it to a junk $150 laptop and that includes a keyboard and screen and Windows OS.  Remember - from the few videos (which were not faked) we've been shown, this piece of junk cannot even play a game from 2012 without stuttering.  Good luck to anyone paying $400 for something that is useless for 8 year old titles.  But hey - at least the moms can use it for "Netflix and chill".

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It's worth bearing in mind that the typical $150 laptop is typically built out of mostly obsolescent parts by a manufacturer who has since moved their cutting edge and profitable models onto newer technologies, and can offset their nominal value against the costs of continuing to warehouse them. It takes incredibly efficient practices where practically nothing goes to waste to turn a marginal profit at such prices, and Atari couldn't even hope to compete with them. I doubt they're even making that much of a profit at $390 with the way they do business.

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Ok, serious question. I read through this thread, and read through the other thread, and I'm confused.

 

What exactly *IS* this thing exactly?

 

According to https://atarivcs.com

 

It can play "new and classic" Atari games, stream videos from the internet, create new tv based apps and games, and "connect". 

 

What does it mean to "create new tv based apps and games" and to "connect"?

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