New Atari console?

[pacman000]

Quote

Which name do more people know? SONY or ATARI?

People know Atari, but only as the company which caused the game crash. (Sadly.)

[Bill Loguidice]

11 hours ago, AlecRob said:

most of the original atari employees are probably either retired or dead.   Like it or not, Atari, SA. owns the intellectual property we all know and love.   We should at least hope the best for it and have an open mind to the VCS actually being a cool product to own and use.   I think it looks like a fun toy.  One developer on facebook who actually has a VCS in his hands said said the hardware is easy to develop for and more powerful than most people think... nintendo has proven many times that you dont need to be the most powerful system to sell a lot of units.   VCS is easier to develop for than any other system, maybe more powerful than a switch, upgradable ram, and atari charges lower fees to developers to release games than the competitors.   Remember, the PS1 sold millions and had almost exclusively third party games. It was the easiest to develop console in its generation.  Technically N64 and even Saturn was more powerful in many ways. 

 

I think the Atari VCS’s price will come down as it gets mass produced and hopefully its CPU and other components will get cheaper. 
 

Which name do more people know? SONY or ATARI?  Its debatable.  I want to see developers flock to the VCS and crank out great playing games. You dont need the fancy PS5 bells and whistles to have good gameplay.

 

also the PS5 and next gen XBOX aren’t looking so hot, with hardware and software issues abound.  This may discourage some buyers from investing in those machines for awhile..   i certainly don’t want either of them.  Also Atari, SA has the appeal of just simply not being either Sony or Microsoft or Nintendo.  A lot of people crave ANYTHING different.   Atari has that retro “OG video game” brand appeal that the others lack. Nintendo has that going for it but they have a totally different vibe compared to Atari.  
 

i cant wait to get my VCS and mess around with sandbox and try emulators and testing performance on various things.. i will fully upgrade the ram too.  Whatever ends up in the VCS store will be an added bonus.  If by some misfortune the store dies out the console will be still usable in sandbox

 

 

 

Sorry, but there's nothing appealing about the VCS outside a very small and select group of people. It's a super niche. If someone wants an alternative to a PS5 or Xbox Series X, there's the Nintendo Switch, not to mention plenty of options these days to game effortlessly on a PC, Android device, or even iOS-based device. There's no wider market there for a VCS to tap into, even if they were able to have something more compelling than "here's a box that can play a handful of modest games and the rest is up to you."

 

It's not even feature/power competitive with the previous generation of consoles, let alone the PS5 and Xbox Series X, both of which have already sold more than the VCS could ever hope to in the wildest, best case scenario. It's simply not going to sell enough to achieve anywhere near the economies of scale needed to be produced at a lower price. It's going to be the price it is now, with MAYBE a $50 price cut before its final clearance-based price cut. 

And good luck with trying to upgrade it. All indications appear that it's not meant for any type of upgrades, though since it uses mostly off-the-shelf parts, I'm sure there will be a dedicated group of people who find a way. There always is, just like there's always some type of small market for a product that has no clear reason to exist like the VCS. If all Atari sells is around 10 - 20K units, then most likely their modest mission was accomplished. Anything more than that is gravy for them I'm sure.

[Bill Loguidice]

1 minute ago, pacman000 said:

People know Atari, but only as the company which caused the game crash. (Sadly.)

It's funny that someone would even think that the Atari name is better regarded or thought of more in any way than Sony. Sony has been around  longer, has been involved with more products, and is a name that everyone, including people who have nothing to do with gaming, knows. It's no contest. Just the simple fact that Sony has sold nearly half a billion consoles (not counting their other gaming products) since 1994 and Atari has sold maybe a few million or so (if you want to be generous and include not only the few hundred thousand from the Jaguar, but also the third party console or console-like products) in that same 25+ year period.

[pacman000]

25 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

Sorry, but there's nothing appealing about the VCS outside a very small and select group of people. It's a super niche. If someone wants an alternative to a PS5 or Xbox Series X, there's the Nintendo Switch, not to mention plenty of options these days to game effortlessly on a PC, Android device, or even iOS-based device. There's no wider market there for a VCS to tap into, even if they were able to have something more compelling than "here's a box that can play a handful of modest games and the rest is up to you."

 

It's not even feature/power competitive with the previous generation of consoles, let alone the PS5 and Xbox Series X, both of which have already sold more than the VCS could ever hope to in the wildest, best case scenario. It's simply not going to sell enough to achieve anywhere near the economies of scale needed to be produced at a lower price. It's going to be the price it is now, with MAYBE a $50 price cut before its final clearance-based price cut. 

And good luck with trying to upgrade it. All indications appear that it's not meant for any type of upgrades, though since it uses mostly off-the-shelf parts, I'm sure there will be a dedicated group of people who find a way. There always is, just like there's always some type of small market for a product that has no clear reason to exist like the VCS. If all Atari sells is around 10 - 20K units, then most likely their modest mission was accomplished. Anything more than that is gravy for them I'm sure.

Their mission, according to Curt Vendel, was to demonstrate interest in the brand so they could sell it off. 

 

If that's the case I think they've already failed.

[Bill Loguidice]

58 minutes ago, pacman000 said:

Their mission, according to Curt Vendel, was to demonstrate interest in the brand so they could sell it off. 

 

If that's the case I think they've already failed.

Maybe, maybe not. I'd say they did a good job getting press and at least some buzz for minimal cost. Note that Atari has been pushing the crypto, hotel, digital collecting, and other stuff pretty hard of late (relatively speaking, of course, for a company of modest means), so between the crowdfunding earnings and the ability to promote the idea of the Atari brand being a going concern, they definitely seem to have made use of whatever good vibes the ethereal concept of a new Atari console is versus what it is in actual practice. One could even argue that releasing the actual console is going to be a bad thing for them, because unreleased it can be a lynchpin for the other stuff and have potential, but vague, value (or whatever imagined value the true believers want to place on it). Once it's actually released to the public with a thud, that "potential" and vague "value" can no longer be talked about since it will no longer be just a concept just out of reach, but a real product with dubious demonstrable value.  

In terms of Atari wanting to sell the company, that's certainly possible. If so, though, I think we would have heard at least some rumors, even if they were doing it as quietly as possible for such a thing. My feeling is that the relative value of Atari is always going to be in their IP and existing holdings, so goosing that value is really not going to be possible beyond a consistent, steady valuation. They as a company would need an unexpected new hit or two to have hopes of selling for more than that set value, i.e., adding more to their IP arsenal. In other words, something like a console that will likely sell <20,000 units if all goes really well is not going to move that valuation any higher.

[Clint Thompson]

25 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

In terms of Atari wanting to sell the company, that's certainly possible. If so, though, I think we would have heard at least some rumors, even if they were doing it as quietly as possible for such a thing.

It was in one of the Atari investor videos during this whole initial VCS IG madness where Fred was talking about building Atari in a way to sell it.

[Bill Loguidice]

5 minutes ago, Clint Thompson said:

It was in one of the Atari investor videos during this whole initial VCS IG madness where Fred was talking about building Atari in a way to sell it.

Got it. Presumably there hasn't been much movement in that area if we haven't heard any rumblings. Maybe it's just something investors like to hear, that the company is going to be both healthy with a robust product pipeline and become more attractive as a sales target should that be something they'd be interested in.

[Arcadia]

The VCS could have had a chance if it was marketed as a contender to the Nvidia Shield, not the PlayStation or Xbox. A Tegra chip, Android TV with the flair of an Atari styled custom theme, a market app for classic Atari games with a large selection of games included for free, and the game pad and joystick included, for $150. Maybe a little more than that. I would buy it for sure, to replace my current old generation Nvidia Shield. 

[+Sauron]

Why do people keep going on about the VCS as if it's a console? It's not. It's a "multimedia" box that is meant more as a tech enthusiast's toy. The VCS is not meant to compete against Sony or MS or Nintendo, its purpose is entirely different. And if you ask me, its primary purpose is as a marketing gimmick to get Atari's name back out there more than anything else.

 

 

[tripled79]

6 hours ago, Arcadia said:

The VCS could have had a chance if it was marketed as a contender to the Nvidia Shield, not the PlayStation or Xbox. A Tegra chip, Android TV with the flair of an Atari styled custom theme, a market app for classic Atari games with a large selection of games included for free, and the game pad and joystick included, for $150. Maybe a little more than that. I would buy it for sure, to replace my current old generation Nvidia Shield. 

I don't see any marketing as a contender to the PlayStation. Not from Atari anyway. If someone misinterprets, that's on them.

[Arcadia]

The price is an indicator. $400, almost $100 more than the Xbox Series S. 

[tripled79]

16 hours ago, Arcadia said:

The price is an indicator. $400, almost $100 more than the Xbox Series S. 

Not if you pre-ordered. Got mine for $225 back in 2018.

[+x=usr(1536)]

On 10/21/2020 at 3:33 PM, III said:

So now that we are getting a new Atari console, what do you guys think? Are you enthusiastic about the new VCS?

 

I'm just trying to understand why you dug up a 16-year-old thread in the Jaguar forum and replied to it, asking about something that has no bearing whatsoever on the Jaguar.

 

And, yeah, as was stated earlier:

 

On 10/22/2020 at 4:11 PM, pacman000 said:

There are at least two hundred-page threads stating how unenthusiastic most here are for the Ataribox, with reasons why. 

 

Another one really isn't necessary.

[Arcadia]

11 hours ago, tripled79 said:

Not if you pre-ordered. Got mine for $225 back in 2018.

It's what you can buy 'em for in the store that matters, not kickstarter early bird perks. If people are to buy into the Atari VCS ecosystem, there's no point in telling them what they could've bought it for if they pre-ordered it two years ago. 

[tripled79]

Still. I can buy a sports car for X number of dollars and buy a tractor for the same amount. Doesn't mean I should expect the tractor company to compete with the sports car company. They're two completely different vehicles. But that would be my own mistake now wouldn't it?

[+x=usr(1536)]

7 minutes ago, tripled79 said:

Still. I can buy a sports car for X number of dollars and buy a tractor for the same amount. Doesn't mean I should expect the tractor company to compete with the sports car company. They're two completely different vehicles. But that would be my own mistake now wouldn't it?

Unless it's Lamborghini, who do make some excellent tractors.

 

Fauxtari is not Lamborghini.

[Arcadia]

22 hours ago, tripled79 said:

Still. I can buy a sports car for X number of dollars and buy a tractor for the same amount. Doesn't mean I should expect the tractor company to compete with the sports car company. They're two completely different vehicles. But that would be my own mistake now wouldn't it?

A more accurate metaphor would be you buying a station wagon for 25% more than you could a super sport car like Koenigsegg. I mean sure, it holds more cargo, but why would you when you can get a station wagon for far less. 

 

But we're talking specs and dollars. I acknowledge that nostalgia is worth a few bucks too. How much, is up to each and every one of us. 

[racerx]

On 11/18/2020 at 1:55 AM, AlecRob said:

I want to see developers flock to the VCS and crank out great playing games. You dont need the fancy PS5 bells and whistles to have good gameplay.

 

You're ignoring that the PS5 and new Xbox have prices that are comparable or less than the VCS, the install base of those will be orders of magnitude larger, and that those "fancy PS5 bells and whistles" are just gravy. You act as though basic games aren't possible on powerful hardware. So no. Some will check it out from sheer curiosity or novelty, but developers are not going to "flock" to the VCS.

 

This is all well-traveled ground though. Like most people here, I'm a fan of a company that no longer exists. Atari SA isn't even related to that company, and I certainly have no interest in if they succeed or not if they aren't creating compelling product. Outside of brand fans, there's not much market for this, and most rational consumers aren't blind brand fans. They buy product on merit. 

Edited November 24, 2020 by racerx

[Bill Loguidice]

23 minutes ago, racerx said:

 

You're ignoring that the PS5 and new Xbox have prices that are comparable or less than the VCS, the install base of those will be orders of magnitude larger, and that those "fancy PS5 bells and whistles" are just gravy. You act as though basic games aren't possible on powerful hardware. So no. Some will check it out from sheer curiosity or novelty, but developers are not going to "flock" to the VCS.

Absolutely. Modern platforms like Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC, and iOS/Android have insane breadth and depth of every game type from developers/publishers of every size. The VCS is certainly not needed to play a virtually infinite variety of indie games that are available, and it will always have a weaker selection than any of those platforms for both market and technical reasons.

 

I can see some people wanting the VCS as a largish compact PC they can install an OS and some software on, but I think anyone going in wanting to use it as a game platform will for the most part be quite disappointed. It's very much a secondary (or lower, frankly) option, at best, if you want it for gaming.

[AlecRob]

I still think VCS has the potential to be a nice device/console. Call me stupid for thinking so, but I really like the design of this thing.  I guess I am in the minority, but I don’t really care who atari is or what their plans are. I just want a new VCS to tinker with.       It would be nice if more like-minded people were on this site...  i mean, a lot of people here love the jaguar, which is arguably a bigger load of garbage than the new VCS is. The VCS cant be THAT bad.  I mean come on, it runs PC games and software, so it already has a better library than the jaguar and most atari hardware systems in general.

[+CyranoJ]

There's more life and interest in the posts in this thread than anything at Fake Atari or anything they've done or will do.

Speaker Hat, anyone?

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

3 hours ago, AlecRob said:

 i mean, a lot of people here love the jaguar, which is arguably a bigger load of garbage than the new VCS is. The VCS cant be THAT bad.  I mean come on, it runs PC games and software, so it already has a better library than the jaguar and most atari hardware systems in general.

It remains to be seen at the end of the day just how well it runs PC games and with those specs it wont be a worthwhile experience with anything but the oldest and least demanding PC games. Also, as for your suggestions on what already makes it "BETTER" than the Jaguar, well, that wont actually be true until the AtariVCS is actually in the hands of the people who backed it and pre-ordered etc, until then it is just all talk and hype and yet to be fulfilled promises that have seen nothing but excuses and delays so, not really sure why you'd expect more like minded people like yourself until this actually materializes? The Jaguar for all it's faults and all it lacked had the special feature of actually being in the hands of customers that purchased it so that in itself sets it miles ahead of the mythical AtariVCS in most of our minds. ??

Edited November 26, 2020 by OldSchoolRetroGamer
fix

[+GoldLeader]

5 hours ago, AlecRob said:

I still think VCS has the potential to be a nice device/console. Call me stupid for thinking so, but I really like the design of this thing.  I guess I am in the minority, but I don’t really care who atari is or what their plans are. I just want a new VCS to tinker with.       It would be nice if more like-minded people were on this site...  i mean, a lot of people here love the jaguar, which is arguably a bigger load of garbage than the new VCS is. The VCS cant be THAT bad.  I mean come on, it runs PC games and software, so it already has a better library than the jaguar and most atari hardware systems in general.

 

Can't be THAT BAD??? Oh YES it can!!!!

 

I don't know where to begin here, (but I'm sure it'll be giant run-on sentence if I get wound up, so apologies in advance).   If you like the look I guess that's one thing, I mean looks are subjective.   To me, this thing (I can't in all honesty ever call this a VCS because a True VCS,  a Real Atari Real VCS (from 1977 on) is a thing of Beauty, this nutari POS is not)...This thing looks like a clone of a wannabe of a knockoff...It's like they saw the (original) Dreamcade, which itself was hoping to be almost a Flashback,  which itself was meant to be an homage to the king of all consoles (the ATARI VCS (Not Nutari VCAss)), and they said sure we'll do it too, who cares?   And after not getting any games or caring, lawsuits galore, because they didn't even initially come up with the idea to license their brand for T-Shirts, then trying to rip off everyone from the joystick designers to hardware architects (allegedly, but we have true stories of their behavior right in this Oops! In the Taco thread (The Real VCAss thread)),  they decided they'd put out a limited PC, refer to it as an unconsole, and then call it a "VCS" as if fans of the real VCS wanted the waters muddied so this thing could get noticed accidentally when a true fan was looking for VCS info on the internet, and maybe someone would make the mistake that this version of Atari was the same as the real deal, and would send money because,  they then crowdfunded this whole dumpster fire, comedy of errors shitshow so as not to risk losing their money...And after missed deadlines, no devs (One guy, Later deciding to port over his Steam Game doesn't count), no games for the most part, weeks not months, PONG high scores, 5200 style "paddle functionality", deleted comments, De Facto "For illustration purposes only", "Self Imposed" Restrictions/Censorship, more lawsuits, no refunds, many excuses,  the rest is (still mostly unwritten) history)...

 

They seem to have no passion for video games at all and no respect for their customers or employees, ...and if you like weird, underpowered PCs with no exclusive games, well that's fine and dandy and who am I to tell you otherwise?   Like what you like,  I'm only talking here about why I don't agree..

 

Personally,  even though it's way down the list for most people,  even calling this thing a "VCS",  Still bothers me to this day. 

 

It would be like, if I met you one day and said, "Hi!  I'm Elvis Presley", and proceeded to presume you figured I was the real Elvis, probably...Would you say Great! and take a picture with me for your Instagram account and Twitter Feed, or would you tell me to get Fu*ked?

 

 

 

 

 

[gilsaluki]

What kind of crap ramble was that?  Emotional, MUCH?  You might have as well been writing in Chinese.

[+GoldLeader]

17 minutes ago, gilsaluki said:

What kind of crap ramble was that?  Emotional, MUCH?  You might have as well been writing in Chinese.

Agreed!  I probably shouldn't post when I haven't slept yet haha...

 

Wait a minute,  How about this?

 

我，这件事（老实说，我永远都不能称其为VCS，因为True VCS，Real Atari Real VCS（从1977年开始）属于Beauty，不是nutari POS）...这件事看起来就像是仿制的仿制仿制品...就像他们看到了（原始的）Dreamcade，

它本身希望几乎是一个Flashback，这本身就是为了向所有游戏机之王致敬（ATARI VCS （不是Nutari VCAss）），他们说确定我们也会这样做，谁在乎？在没有获得任何游戏或关怀之后，诉讼变得异常猖狂，
因为他们甚至最初都没有想到为T恤许可品牌的想法，然后试图从操纵杆设计师到硬件架构师的所有人员都被剥夺（据说，但是我们在Oops中有关于他们行为的真实故事！在Taco线程（Real VCAss线程）中，
他们决定将一台有限的PC放起来，将其称为控制台，然后将其称为“ VCS”就像真正的VCS的粉丝想要浑水一样，所以当真正的粉丝在互联网上寻找VCS信息时，这件事可能会被意外注意到，并且也许有人会误以为这个版本的Atari与真实版本
相同，并且之所以会汇款是因为，他们随后为整个垃圾箱大火，错误喜剧表演喜剧集资，以免冒着输钱的风险……而在错过最后期限之后，没有开发人员（一个人，后来决定移植他的Steam游戏不会（不算在内），大部分时间都没有游戏，没有hs，
PONG高分 5200样式的“桨功能”，已删除的注释，De Facto“仅供参考”，“自我强加”限制/检查，更多诉讼，无退款，许多借口，其余的（大部分仍未成文）历史）...
他们似乎根本对视频游戏没有热情，也没有尊重他们的客户或员工，...如果您喜欢没有独家游戏的怪异，功能不足的PC，那很好，很花俏，否则我可以告诉你什么？就像您喜欢的一样，我只是在这里谈论为什么我不同意..

就个人而言，即使对于大多数人而言，它名列前茅，甚至称其为“ VCS”，但至今仍困扰着我。


好像，如果我有一天遇见您，说：“嗨！我是猫王（Elvis Presley）”，然后继续假设您认为我是真正的猫王，也许……您会说很棒！并和我一起为您的Instagram帐户和Twitter Feed拍照，或者您告诉我得到Fu * ked？

 

^ Ya know,  I think I like this better than what I originally wrote.