if Atari started making new 2600 consoles and games...

[chrishicks]

do you think they would sell? in todays market of PS2 and X-BOX do you think Atari could bite back and take a chunk of those sales just because it's retro? what do you think?

 

just think, they could start making this again and sell it for under 50.00 and make new carts and sell them new for say 5.00-10.00.

 

I know, what am I smoking?

[SteelerFan]

yea...what are you smoking???????

[JB]

I'd have to vote no.

If it's put back into production, I will lose all faith any the ability of any company to make sane judgements under the Atari name.

 

Seriously, people, the hardware was obsolete 20 years ago. LET IT STAY DEAD.

[raindog]

I think that the Jakks products have nailed any market that may current exist for Atari games: a self-contained unit with nostalgic design and 10 games built into it for about half the cost of a single current console game (or a 2600 game in 1980 dollars.)

 

I'd love to see a commercially produced portable 2600 with a ton of games on flash or something, but without the big clunky joystick and orange fire button and overly resonant 2" TV speaker you'd be losing a lot of the experience, and very few people out there are into Atari games for the gameplay itself (and I think those people are all reading this board), they're into it for the "retro thing".

 

The best I think you could do would be a "PT Cruiser" concept.... a modern portable system with superficial retro styling. Maybe with a good Atari emulator built in.... but doesn't it make more sense to just put out a new stick every few months with a new set of games on it for $20, an obvious impulse buy that even bed and bath stores will sell, rather than sell the sticks for $50 and the games in 10-packs on tiny cartridges for $15?

 

I think Jakks is doing fine with it, and the rest of us have the used market, system mods and emulation. Ask again when one of the "2600 on a chip" homebrew projects comes to fruition and *doesn't* hook up with a Jakks wannabe company

[sku_u]

It would fail. The market couldn't handle another console at the moment.

[foxglove9]

It would definitely fail. The jakks (10-in-1) concept is still the best way to sell stuff like that, or multi-carts for current consoles (ie: activision classics).

 

Still it would be pretty cool, especially for a lot of us who were just little kiddies at the time and couldn't afford to buy games.

[sku_u]

Still it would be pretty cool, especially for a lot of us who were just little kiddies at the time and couldn't afford to buy games.

 

That's what the homebrew section in the Atariage store is for

[Artlover]

do you think they would sell? in todays market of PS2 and X-BOX do you think Atari could bite back and take a chunk of those sales just because it's retro? what do you think?

 

It would be interesting to see it be tried. Maybe it would inspire Rockstar Games to make a 2600 version of GTA3.

[Iron Chef Pontiff]

The French company known as Atari would not waste the time or resources because there is no money in it. The game industry is concerned about making money through crap and not quality. There are rare exceptions.

[JB]

The French company known as Atari would not waste the time or resources because there is no money in it.  The game industry is concerned about making money through crap and not quality.  There are rare exceptions.

Even through quality.

 

The first half of the sentence was accurate. The game industry is concerned about making money.

 

If the VCS was still economically viable, then every bootlegger in existence would be making it. Instead they make pirates NESes.

[rockman_x_2002]

I'd love to see a commercially produced portable 2600 with a ton of games on flash or something, but without the big clunky joystick and orange fire button and overly resonant 2" TV speaker you'd be losing a lot of the experience...

 

*snip*

 

...but doesn't it make more sense to just put out a new stick every few months with a new set of games on it for $20, an obvious impulse buy that even bed and bath stores will sell, rather than sell the sticks for $50 and the games in 10-packs on tiny cartridges for $15?

 

I'm getting this picture instead... for those who really want the Atari experience, and by that I mean the real enthusiate who doesn't necessarily want to pay a steep price for a 2600 and just can't seem to find one in the wild, make console and joystick-look-alikes and sell the system with a 10-in-1 cart (or maybe even a 20-in-1) for about $40 or so. And then release cartridge look-alikes with ten or so games on one cart and sell those at a cheaper rate than the system itself... say... $10 a cart? (and realize that I'm being very generous on these price estimations toward the customer. Ideally, they'd probably cost much more than this).

 

Only thing is that these 2600-look-alikes wouldn't be compatible with the 2600 carts we already have... the real deals. Not unless they used a true "2600-on-a-chip" device for emulation, or developed a high-powered system that can run an emulator fast enough to deliver true-quality 2600 gaming (sound too).

 

Way I see it, it would be cooler and probably would draw more attention than the joystick alone... yes. But it would also be much more expensive to mass produce, probably, than would a joystick with a handful of classics. And I don't know if the gaming public in general is willing to open their wallets that wide for a little retro-goodness, but we do know the joysticks sell. So while I tend to agree a console and joystick thing would be nice and all, I fear the joystick-only units are the more practical option... at least for now.[/i]

[Paul Slocum]

We're hoping the Homestar Runner RPG will spark some interest in the 2600 again as Homestar is a very popular cartoon and this will be the first non-web based game released using the characters. I've seen a lot of posts on messageboards with people saying they're going to buy a 2600 to play it.

 

-paul

[fil300]

I think Atari should make a new system like ps2 and x-box but also have a cartrigde slot for there old games and new retro games they make.

[SimonTemplar]

I`m still waiting for the atari 2600 version of "MEDAL OF HONOR:FRONTLINE"

[chairmonkey4406]

btw.... when are we going to see that Homestar Runner RPG in the Atari Age Store? I have money in a jar waiting for it

[Paul Slocum]

Right now we're planning on a release in May. I've made a lot of progress in the last few weeks.

 

We're actually going to sell it in the Homestar Runner store, although the cartridges and materials will still be made by Atariage.

 

-paul

[Vic George 2K3]

do you think they would sell? in todays market of PS2 and X-BOX do you think Atari could bite back and take a chunk of those sales just because it's retro? what do you think?

 

It would be interesting to see it be tried. Maybe it would inspire Rockstar Games to make a 2600 version of GTA3.

 

And that game would still be trash, only looking a whole lot worse for the wear!

[Dino from Bula]

Mattel's doing swell (some of you get it) with the "new" classic handheld lines...and the demographic is pretty large. My kid nephew loves his (although he prefers my original Football 2...the screen is much clearer). There is a limited market, but the units cannot be expected to do well if there's a need to purchase the carts. Expandability won't fly, because nobody would seriously expect a massive investment in the software production. As such, the Jakks Pacific line is a good idea, since the idea of new software for the units isn't an issue - there's no illusion that it is more than what you buy (unless you guys start hacking away).

 

No, a re-release of Atari would fail - just like Atari Jr.

[BassGuitari]

A rereleased VCS console probably wouldn't succeed in today's jaded market, although I'd buy one because I hate those chinsy controllers with games built in.

 

Perhaps if they rereleased the VCS (in Big Sexy form perhaps?) for, say, $19.99 - $29.99 and released a series of maybe 5 multi-carts for 5 or 10 bucks...

 

Or maybe even simply a rereleased console (by Jakks?) with 10 or 20 games built in, and no cartridges cartridges at all...it would be, in essence, the same thing that people are already buying, but cooler .

 

Just ideas...

[raindog]

Or maybe even simply a rereleased console (by Jakks?) with 10 or 20 games built in, and no cartridges cartridges at all...it would be, in essence, the same thing that people are already buying, but cooler .

I'm sure someone will be willing to sell you the case from their fried 2600 so you can tie it to a Jakks controller with a shoelace and have basically what you describe

[mos6507]

It would definitely fail. The jakks (10-in-1) concept is still the best way to sell stuff like that, or multi-carts for current consoles (ie: activision classics).

 

Still it would be pretty cool, especially for a lot of us who were just little kiddies at the time and couldn't afford to buy games.

 

Which is sad, because the thing doesn't even play 2600 games in an authentic manner.