Atari Flashback Unit

[andy_bernstein]

While it's great to see the Atari name on a piece of hardware coming from Atari themselves (even as Infogrames), I fear that the internal specs of this Flashback station are probably the same (or close) as those of the Jakks joysticks (2600/7800 on a chip, etc...).

 

That would explain the lesser size of the Flashback station compared to a 7800 (but there are also twenty years of difference between the two machines). Probably some of the games have also been slightly reprogrammed so they will not play the same (as mentioned in the Back In Time review of the original Atari / Jakks Joystick).

 

Also, the difference in hardware would validate the impossibility of a cartridge slot but I may be wrong on this.

 

Anyway, I hope Atari enjoys success with this release and, hopefully, will address some of the issues with upcoming models. Otherwise, I can go back to my dream of creating my own 65XEP w/ midi capabilities.

 

AB.

[Rob Mitchell]

Well...   its always possible this may be the first in a line of consoles perhaps and the next console "might" have a little plug in port on the back and "might" have a plug into adapter to plug you cartridges into the next console... "maybe"

 

Advantages of this new one: Composite Video. Two person capable. Small clean package.

 

Disadvantages: No expandability. Doesn't look like a 1970s woody 2600. Where are the difficulty switches?

 

Problems with sales: Many of the Jakks Pacific 10-in-one joystick units have been sold (read saturated the market) and this has the form feature that people remember.

 

Why not bring back the 2600jr and include a 32-in-one or 64-in-one cart?

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Stella+KDE]

even with the given limitations i will buy one just to have in the collection of video game stuff.

 

that and i bet my mom that atari would make a new console (infogrames in this case) and sure enough they have although the logo is completly wrong it is enough for me to be happy, now i can collect my bet from 5 yrs ago. (box of zingers! mmm) thanks atari.

 

cheers

[atari_aaron]

Well, maybe this is the first attempt at Atari getting back into the console market for real. Even if this doesn't have a cart port, we should all go out and buy one! Maybe someday we'll see a console from Atari that can compete against XBox and Playstation.

 

Anyway, I wrote Atari and gave them my two cents about the Flashback console. I asked for joypads instead of 7800 controllers and a cart port. I also requested that they give Atari Age first crack at reviewing it. I know it won't do any good, but I thought I'd send them a note anyway.

 

I invite everyone here to do the same. I sent the note to the unsolicited game ideas email address so as to not bother them too much. I don't know, maybe that email address just gets dumped into oblivion, but maybe it gets read.

 

us.unsolicitedsubmissions@atari.com

 

Aaron

[atari_aaron]

Never mind, that email address just bounces back. Good joke on Atari's part... oh well, I guess I now know what they think of unsolicited game ideas.

 

Aaron

[VidGameKing]

Well, maybe this is the first attempt at Atari getting back into the console market for real.

 

Allthough some may say otherwise, I actually agree with you. Sure this is old games, and old hardware, but remeber who Atari really is: Infogrames. They have no one from the Atari we knew, that knows hardware. They are simply a software company with a big name.

 

So they start with their "roots" and work up.

 

 

To truely know how to make Atari hardware, you must experiance it firsthand.

 

IMHO if "I" were running Atari, I would slowly step up the technology in my "classic" gaming systems untill they were equal to, or better than that of the modern consoles availible at the time. That way I would in effect mature my design and by the time I'm competeing with the big boys again, I know exactly whats up.

 

 

On the other hand, Atari could stay permanetly fixed in te classic gaming arena, and constantly compete with Jakks Pacific. That would be pretty sad if you asked me! It's okay to be in that market for a little while, while you establish your hardware connections, but once you've succeded at that, you need to rise above the nestolgia and go for SUPERSTARDOME!!!!!

[Atariboy2600]

They should had Nolan Bushnell running ALL Atari Classic games and consoles, hell Nolan should buy off all of the old Atari games and re-open it here in the US! Bring back the MASTERS!

[AtariLeaf]

I posted this idea at CGCC and I don't know if its been mentioned here, cause I'm not reading through 5 pages.

It sounds like one of the biggest problems is lack of a cart slot and I agree, that personally turns me off of this thing.

 

This is what I would do: Make the machine with a cart slot. Don't put games "in" the machine. Sell the machine with a "pack in" cart, a multi-cart with 5 games. Sell it for around $40. Then, make several (possibly 30 - 40) multi-carts each with 5 games/cart for $10 or $15 bucks apiece.

 

You could have Adventure collections (Adventure, Haunted House, ET, ROTLA, Superman) Classic Arcade collections (Pacman, asteroids, space invaders, missle command, Berzerk) paddle collections (super breakout, circus atari, warlords, video olympics, night driver). This would mean seperate paddle controls or the ability to use the joystick knob as a paddle.

 

This would satisy classic gamers looking to relive some of their past and appease the retrogamers like us. Perhaps deals could be made to put homebrews and other protos on carts. This would allow "new" atari games to be officially put on carts, even if you forget the multi-pack idea on homebrews and sell them as singles. Backwards compatibility with all our old carts could also be utilized.

 

Thats my suggestion and I'm sticking to it.

[VidGameKing]

the problem with that is: what makes you think this system is ACTUALLY a 7800??? or even a 2600????

 

 

I'm thinking it's a NES on a chip, or it's a coustom IC. I'm betting it wouldn't have a clue as to what to do with a 7800 or 2600 cart even if you could somehow plug one in.

 

Now, there might be some form of memory card that you can plug in on the bottom with various different games you could play or something to that effect.

[mvigor]

i bet my mom

 

Your mother is not yours to wager. What if you lose her, does she become someone's slave?

[VidGameKing]

i bet my mom

 

Your mother is not yours to wager. What if you lose her, does she become someone's slave?

 

he he he...

 

 

 

I could think of many many many things to say to that... and if your mind is in the gutter, like mine, I'm sure you can think of a few things too!!! he he he...

[AtariLeaf]

the problem with that is: what makes you think this system is ACTUALLY a 7800??? or even a 2600????

 

Of course it depends on the machine being based on actual 2600 or 7800 technology. If it is just a clone NES chip then, in my mind, that lowers its value to me to the realm of non-existant.

Then its just another one of those 10000-in-1 ripoffs in an atari package.

[VidGameKing]

Then its just another one of those 10000-in-1 ripoffs in an atari package.

 

Ta Da!

[AtariLeaf]

Here's what the announcement page said:

 

" Atari Flashback, a hybrid of the classic Atari 2600 and 7800 consoles"

 

Hybrid = cheaply made, crappy ripoff.

 

 

I still like my idea better. . .

[+DamonicFury]

10 reasons I'll be buying an Atari Flashback Console:

 

1. It's the first piece of Atari made hardware since the demise of the Jaguar

2. Planet Smashers is quite rare as a 7800 cartridge.

3. The price is just about right at an estimated $35 at places like Wal-Mart.

4. Food Fight is one of the very best 7800 games.

5. Power supply included! No more running through AA batteries like in the Jakks unit.

6. For the most part, the game selection is very good... some of the very best 2600 games are included. (Adventure, Breakout, Crystal Castles, Gravitar, Haunted House, Millipede, Solaris, Warlords, and Yars' Revenge!)

7. Detachable controllers with Select and Pause buttons!

8. Saboteur included! Considering AA was selling this for $45, including it in this console is quite a bargain... plus it gives this nearly-forgotten classic a "wide" release.

9. The styling is so very similar to the sadly neglected 7800.

10. It's been hinted that if this platform is a success, it may well be followed by one with the cartridge slot we all want.

[NE146]

I really don't care that it doesn't have a cartridge slot.. and wouldn't have expected it in the first place. We already have the originals and for me that works out fine. To try and bring these back in somewhat of the same form would be akin to trying to bring back the Apple 2e or the Timex Sinclair... who the heck needs that? I'm still of the opinion that these are cool little collectible junk.

[AtariLeaf]

collectible junk.

 

Exactly. Don't get me wrong. Its a good idea but when the nostalgia thing dies off, we'll be seeing these things (Jakks too) stacked 25 high in the thrifts right beside the huge pile of Genesis machines.

 

No expandability = short shelf life.

[mos6507]

They should had Nolan Bushnell running ALL Atari Classic games and consoles, hell Nolan should buy off all of the old Atari games and re-open it here in the US! Bring back the MASTERS!

 

I'm concerned that Nolan isn't Nolan anymore.

 

He's still on a puzzle game touch-screen game kick and I'm sorry, but I think that stuff is lame.

 

I think uWink might have done better had he focused more on new original action style game titles that used real control schemes and not touchscreens.

[mos6507]

No expandability = short shelf life.

 

No expandability is their idea of Digital Rights Management.

 

By closing off the box and making it incapable of accepting carts there will be no way of making a RAM/EPROM cart like device (think Supercharger/Cuttle-cart) in which to download ROMs obtained from the net.

 

Unlike the original golden age of cartridges, we now live in an era where the actual game ROMs are in heavy circulation. Playing them on real hardware without buying physical carts is no big deal with these tiny ROM images. While the mainstream market might not go after Cuttle Carts or used Superchargers, some Action Replay type company will come around and mass-produce a Cuttle Cart-like device down the road and steal away any potential cart/multicart sales from Atari.

 

Since the original 2600 hardware has no lockout chips there is no way I know of to prevent this problem other than what they are doing.

 

Each time they want to make more money they just make more consoles with the games embedded inside. And so we get clutter the way we did back in the Pong clone era which was the original impetus for carts in the first place!!! A step forward for DRM is a step backwards for the consumer.

 

That aside, from a technical level I'm sure it's a lot easier using that embedded CPU that's doing the emulation layer than it would be to do it with real 8-bit style components. While the thing looks like a 7800 I don't think it has any 7800 titles so it's really just the Jakks 2600 hardware in a 7800-looking case.

[NE146]

we'll be seeing these things (Jakks too) stacked 25 high in the thrifts right beside the huge pile of Genesis machines.

 

There was a time when 2600 River Patrols and Springers were stacked in clearance bins of stores too

[ZylonBane]

Here's what the announcement page said:

 

"Atari Flashback, a hybrid of the classic Atari 2600 and 7800 consoles"

 

Hybrid = cheaply made, crappy ripoff.

Umm, the original 7800 was a hybrid machine too.

[fsuinnc]

I can live without a cart slot. It's still pretty cool. I would guess the target market is folks that don't already have a collection of carts (but have nostalgic interest in the old games). I can't understand making AA stop selling Sabateur though. That ticks me off. Not that they don't have the right to do it but why mess with the folks driving the whole retro gaming movement. It doesn't make sense to me.

[+davidcalgary29]

Question: I note that "Food Fight" is being marketed as "Charley Chuck's Food Fight". Does anyone think that the title screen will be tweaked?

 

Personally, I think that the console is a great idea. I personally think that the selected games are very solid, and suggest that we can expect "sequels" if the units sell well. Atari's riding on a wave of retro nostalgia, and if we get a few neat toys out of it, why complain?

[figgler]

Of course there's no cart slot. Companies ignore the secondary market and have nothing to gain by putting a slot in (as stated) Though this does make a complete relaunch of the real system a decent possibility, carts and all.

 

Whatever, I'm buying this for sure. This is much better than that 10 in 1 paddle / joystick battery sucking nonsense. Of course, be prepared for some haphazard emulations

[VidGameKing]

another problem is the fact that manufacturing carts is quite expensive, If Atari is going to make a gaming console to eventually compete with the "Big Boys" they'll need to use DVDs like everyone else.