The Atari VCS Controversies Thread

[TACODON]

Finally had time to watch that video interview. Very interesting and informative. I can't wait to hear what other people say once the NDAs cease.

[Matt_B]

12 hours ago, leech said:

Clearly the system is not something you'd even be interested in at all.  Because I mean, that's basically what it is.  A Flashback, with some more oomph to it to run Switch +/- level games. 

I'm certainly interested in it, just for all the wrong reasons. It's been like watching a four year rolling train wreck. ?

 

That's not to say that Atari couldn't have made a machine that'd have been much more attractive to me with the aid of a competent technology partner right from the beginning. I play their games and have used PCs in the living room for decades, after all. It's just that the machine they made is overpriced for what you're getting, underpowered for modern PC gaming, and took so long to develop that I've already upgraded the computer it could have potentially replaced to a much higher standard.

[The Historian]

Atari SA news,
 

Chesnais out as CEO, Wade J. Rosen in. 
Splitting into 2 divisions: One for blockchain and another for everything else. 

 

Quote

VCS: Atari will continue to support the Atari VCS through meaningful third-party content and exclusive first-party content. The VCS community has shown an ingenuity and creativity in adapting the system, and Atari will work to support this by releasing tools that will allow creators the ability to design their own classic Atari games (beginning with the Atari 2600). With an eventual goal of making it easier to create, share and play retro gaming content in the modern era. 

 

http://crweworld.com/article/news-provided-by-globenewswire/1945875/atari-announces-the-creation-of-two-divisions-atari-gaming-and-atari-blockchain-and-a-change-in-leadership

 

Rosen is a younger gent (35 I think), perhaps his vision for Atari will better serve its fans. 

Edited April 6, 2021 by The Historian

[Shawn]

32 minutes ago, The Historian said:

Atari SA news,
 

Chesnais out as CEO, Wade J. Rosen in. 
Splitting into 2 divisions: One for blockchain and another for everything else. 

 

 

http://crweworld.com/article/news-provided-by-globenewswire/1945875/atari-announces-the-creation-of-two-divisions-atari-gaming-and-atari-blockchain-and-a-change-in-leadership

 

Rosen is a younger gent (35 I think), perhaps his vision for Atari will better serve its fans. 

 

Very interested to hear how the money was spit up. Smells really fishy to me.

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

32 minutes ago, Shawn said:

Very interested to hear how the money was spit up. Smells really fishy to me.

Rosen bought 10% of Atari SA's stock last year:

 

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/03/24/2005235/0/en/Atari-Addition-of-New-Major-Shareholder.html

 

Chesnais is still on board per the original announcement, but no longer has general responsibility for or over the company:

 

"Effective April 6, 2021, Wade J. Rosen will become Chief Executive Officer of the entire Atari Group, Frédéric Chesnais to focus on Atari Blockchain and Licensing"

 

Perhaps "Atari Blockchain and Licensing" is the new longhand for "Elba".

[godslabrat]

1 hour ago, The Historian said:

 

Rosen is a younger gent (35 I think), perhaps his vision for Atari will better serve its fans. 

A nice thought, but the increased focus on "blockchain" makes me reign in my optimism.

[Mockduck]

Very interesting news. This underscores the idea that the new VCS is really a project being done by Atari Gamebox LLC as a somewhat independent entity from the core of Atari. Should be interesting. The idea of making it easy to make 2600-style games is quite cool. Definitely leads to some questions about that retail launch though...

[The Historian]

3 hours ago, godslabrat said:

A nice thought, but the increased focus on "blockchain" makes me reign in my optimism.

That appears to be Chesnais' baby. 

[+x=usr(1536)]

26 minutes ago, The Historian said:

That appears to be Chesnais' baby. 

If ever there was a case for retroactive abortion...

[+Nathan Strum]

5 hours ago, Shawn said:

 

Very interested to hear how the money was spit up. Smells really fishy to me.

 

That is the worst looking turducken I've ever seen.

[Mockduck]

Yeah, having read the full release now this seems to largely be, "Business as usual for the Games Division, a new Blockchain 'division' that aims to become a separate spin off and blockchain-powered IPO headed by Fred, who is super into crypto."

 

So, mostly about positioning related to Crypto. 

[godslabrat]

12 minutes ago, Mockduck said:

Yeah, having read the full release now this seems to largely be, "Business as usual for the Games Division, a new Blockchain 'division' that aims to become a separate spin off and blockchain-powered IPO headed by Fred, who is super into crypto."

 

So, mostly about positioning related to Crypto. 

Given that crypto always seemed to be about gambling and skirting regulations while doing so, it's pretty on-brand that Fred is sticking close to that.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Well, isn't that interesting. Either this guy will turn the ship or continue to manage the decline. I remember several years ago when Atari went through several CEOs over the course of a short time, until the bankruptcy came along. Fred certainly held on the longest.

 

As for the VCS, I doubt that an Atari Game Maker or whatever it is could save the little PC that couldn't at this point, but that'll be a nice piece of software for those that bought the thing - at least until they release it on Steam down the road. Have they announced any "exclusive first-party content" yet, or are we still stuck on wildest hopes 'n dreams for all of that? 

[Matt_B]

21 minutes ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

As for the VCS, I doubt that an Atari Game Maker or whatever it is could save the little PC that couldn't at this point, but that'll be a nice piece of software for those that bought the thing - at least until they release it on Steam down the road. Have they announced any "exclusive first-party content" yet, or are we still stuck on wildest hopes 'n dreams for all of that? 

Yeah, it seems an odd idea given that the 2600 isn't really capable of running a universal engine that'll offer you a wide variety of gameplay styles. Rather, once you get beyond two players with two missiles and a blocky playfield you're usually into the realms of rolling your own kernel, and that requires a fairly intimate knowledge of assembler and how a 1970s TV works. Either way, it's hard to see it being an attractive feature.

 

On the other hand, maybe there'll be some PICO8 style system where you use a modern engine to make games with retro-style graphics and sound, or you just get to load custom ROMs on Vault? Or maybe they just don't know what they're talking about? We've seen plenty of that last one over the years.

 

Anyway, Fred gets more time to spend with his true passions while the dumpster fires get palmed off onto some other poor sap.

 

[Shaggy the Atarian]

 

Yeah, it's probably the latter, as you make an excellent point - There's a reason why Super Mario Maker is restricted to one style of play like it is. Doing the extremely vague "Atari game" just doesn't make sense, especially in treating it like it were a fixed genre. Best I can figure, if this ever came to fruition, is something like Adventure/Haunted House Game Maker (which would just need to rip-off RPG Game Maker). Nothing else from the classic catalog really works for the "Maker" style concept - except maybe a track maker for Sprint or an arena maker for Tank/Combat?

[svenski]

Given Rosen's other interests, some of which are retro related some of which obviously aren't, then we might see some positive traction but if the focus remains on Atari mobile and squeezing the last buck out of every free-to-play game then they may be in trouble.

 

If this is a sign that Atari is going to focus primarily on games then that could be great news. It's not like they are short of a vast array of titles that could be reimagined, exclusively for a while, for the VCS. 

[toiletunes]

I just hope they don't do a Swordquest Hotel, you'd never find the right room.

[justclaws]

OEB-Pete, better known for his Amico coverage, made a video about the VCS store.

In the comments, people asked about comparing Amico and VCS, but I do believe,
myself, that they're not for the same niche. The Amico is being marketed as family
couch co-op system to mums and dads, and the VCS store will be more diverse. I
would love to see some game cross-over one day, like there was in the old days!

(I recommended he overcome he not overlook Frog-Hop, which for sure is the most
visually retro-games in the store, but once played, it's a great game, with charm.)
 

 

 

[DemonAttack82]

Can the market support 2 underpowered systems at the same time? ?

[leech]

11 minutes ago, DemonAttack82 said:

Can the market support 2 underpowered systems at the same time? ?

Ha, from the perspective of the PC Master Race, all consoles are underpowered game systems.  So yes.

[+Stephen]

25 minutes ago, DemonAttack82 said:

Can the market support 2 underpowered systems at the same time? ?

There's always been Nintendo with their generation behind consoles   I guess having 50 versions of Mario or Zelda to choose from makes up for that.  If only Atari had a mascot.

[leech]

16 minutes ago, Stephen said:

There's always been Nintendo with their generation behind consoles   I guess having 50 versions of Mario or Zelda to choose from makes up for that.  If only Atari had a mascot.

Super Bently Bear!

[Shaggy the Atarian]

39 minutes ago, Stephen said:

There's always been Nintendo with their generation behind consoles   I guess having 50 versions of Mario or Zelda to choose from makes up for that.  If only Atari had a mascot.

For some reason, someone over at Atari has thought that it's the eyes from Haunted House. What a universe of possibilities there!*

 

-Super Haunted House Bros.

-Dr. Haunted House

-Haunted Smash Bros. House

-The Legend of Haunted House

-Paper Haunted House RPG

-Haunted House Paint

-Haunted House: Ocarina of Time

-House of the Haunted: Scarlet Dawn

-Hauntipede

-Major Haunted House Havoc

-Crystal Haunted Houses

-Untitled Haunted House Game (w/ Geese Eyes)

-Match-3 Haunted House

-Ninja Golf's Haunted House

-I, Haunted House

-Haunted House The Hedgehog

-Blockchain Haunted House

 

^{*All rip-offs of other, better concepts, excepting Blockchain! RU READY 4 DA BLOCKCHAIN TRAIN?}

[leech]

20 minutes ago, Shaggy the Atarian said:

Dr. Haunted House

And here all this time I thought his first name was Greg.  Also saw a thing that showed that the producer of House thought Hugh Laurie was an American the whole time...

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Just now, leech said:

And here all this time I thought his first name was Greg.  Also saw a thing that showed that the producer of House thought Hugh Laurie was an American the whole time...

Well, I was thinking of Dr. Mario, but you could totally do a Haunted Hospital with House limping around and being a douchebag to patients too. Endless possibilities!