You call that a collector's item?

[Jess Ragan]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/nolan-bushnell/no...ucks-199593.php

 

Now THAT'S a collector's item! Namely, it's a brand new Atari 7800, signed by Nolan Bushnell and with an iPod-inspired 21st century design. They were supposed to go into mass production, but Atari decided that the Flashback 2 would be more than enough to satisfy retro gamers. Now there's only a few of the new wave 7800's available.

 

Personally, I never cared for the system, but I wouldn't be embarassed to have that particular 7800 tucked away in my entertainment center!

 

JR

Edited September 10, 2006 by Jess Ragan

[pocketmego]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/nolan-bushnell/no...ucks-199593.php

 

Now THAT'S a collector's item! Namely, it's a brand new Atari 7800, signed by Nolan Bushnell and with an iPod-inspired 21st century design. They were supposed to go into mass production, but Atari decided that the Flashback 2 would be more than enough to satisfy retro gamers. Now there's only a few of the new wave 7800's available.

 

Personally, I never cared for the system, but I wouldn't be embarassed to have that particular 7800 tucked away in my entertainment center!

 

JR

 

I would have been thrilled to have seen this go into mass production. It would have meant new life for the 7800 and for old 2600 games that it would still have played.

 

So my dissapointment is notin its design, its in the stupid idea of the Flashback instead of the real deal.

 

-Ray

[JB]

I'd swear I saw a thread about that...

Ah, here we go.

 

I wonder if Kotaku's tip started here...

Edited September 10, 2006 by JB

[Video]

Those bastards. Every time a Flashback topic pops up here, I'm one of the few that always says "I'd buy one....if it played real games" The Flashback 2 was close, as to my understanding, it could be modified to play real games, but Damn, I'd be the first one at the store to pick one up, if they made a unit that would play legitimate games.

 

Love the White case, I wouldn't mind just haveing a case to put on one of my actual 7800's, that would be awesome.

[super_dos_man]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/nolan-bushnell/no...ucks-199593.php

 

Now THAT'S a collector's item! Namely, it's a brand new Atari 7800, signed by Nolan Bushnell and with an iPod-inspired 21st century design. They were supposed to go into mass production, but Atari decided that the Flashback 2 would be more than enough to satisfy retro gamers. Now there's only a few of the new wave 7800's available.

 

Personally, I never cared for the system, but I wouldn't be embarassed to have that particular 7800 tucked away in my entertainment center!

 

JR

 

doesn't atari joe have one?

[pmpddytim]

I call it a collectors item that looks like ass. If it had the traditional metal strip on the front it would look better, but IMO its just too much white. I still would have got one though.

 

-Tim

[sega saturn x]

Can we stop the "if it played real games" stuff witht he flashbacks in no way shape or form is that a reasonable request.

Edited September 10, 2006 by sega saturn x

[pocketmego]

Can we stop the "if it played real games" stuff witht he flashbacks in no way shape or form is that a reasonable request.

 

I don't see why we should stop. If the current Atari is reading this forum (and I can't believe they aren't) they should know that many people are unhappy about the decision to drop something like a working 7800 for the sake of a Flashback.

 

The Flashback did OK, but a Neo 7800 would have done fantastic business as a retro gaming machine. It would have been an experiment sure, but I think it would have been MORE successfull than the Flashbacks have been.

 

-Ray

[jbanes]

I don't see why we should stop. If the current Atari is reading this forum (and I can't believe they aren't) they should know that many people are unhappy about the decision to drop something like a working 7800 for the sake of a Flashback.

I'm not quite sure where you get the idea that Atari was involved in the 7800 replica. At best, the necessary IP was being licensed from Atari. But from what Curt said, it sounds like the project was almost entirely being done by O'Sheas. Unless I'm missing something?

 

The Flashback did OK, but a Neo 7800 would have done fantastic business as a retro gaming machine.

The 7800 would have done lousy in comparison to the Flashback 2. The current fad is Plug and Play, not ancient game machines. A 7800 reproduction would have gone over well with the 2600 fans, but the market would have some difficulty in accepting it. The Flashback 2 lets them play 40 classic games from their childhood for a mere 30 bucks. The ability to mod it into a real 2600 is incidental for most.

 

In comparison, the 7800 would have been a $50-$75 unit with maybe a cartridge or two included. Any more games would need to be purchased separately as Atari began producing 2600 and (a few) 7800 carts again. Each additional game would have cost several bucks, which just isn't good economy when you compare a 2600 title against an inexpensive modern game like Zuma. And who would want to buy 7800 arcade classics like Ms. Pac Man when they already exist in arcade perfect (at least as far as your average consumer can tell) form in a multi-game, PnP joystick?

 

The result would be that consumers would pick up Jakks sticks on the low end, and Gameboys or Nintendo DSes on the high end. The 7800 repro would find a very small niche in the center.

[jaybird3rd]

The 7800 would have done lousy in comparison to the Flashback 2. The current fad is Plug and Play, not ancient game machines. A 7800 reproduction would have gone over well with the 2600 fans, but the market would have some difficulty in accepting it. The Flashback 2 lets them play 40 classic games from their childhood for a mere 30 bucks. The ability to mod it into a real 2600 is incidental for most.

 

In comparison, the 7800 would have been a $50-$75 unit with maybe a cartridge or two included. Any more games would need to be purchased separately as Atari began producing 2600 and (a few) 7800 carts again. Each additional game would have cost several bucks, which just isn't good economy when you compare a 2600 title against an inexpensive modern game like Zuma. And who would want to buy 7800 arcade classics like Ms. Pac Man when they already exist in arcade perfect (at least as far as your average consumer can tell) form in a multi-game, PnP joystick?

 

The result would be that consumers would pick up Jakks sticks on the low end, and Gameboys or Nintendo DSes on the high end. The 7800 repro would find a very small niche in the center.

Another issue is that, if "Atari" were to produce a new system with a cartridge slot that is compatible with the original, they would be inundated with calls from people who tried to jam a 25-year-old, maggot-infested 2600 cartridge into the slot and couldn't get it working (or broke the console). They're not going to want to support software that they didn't even sell, which is probably why Curt's original FB3 spec included a "cartridge slot" that was pin-compatible with the original but in a different form factor.

 

But I agree ... the economics of the modern PnP TV-game market won't allow a high-end piece of hardware like a 7800 reproduction console. People are used to a much smaller and simpler piece of hardware that has a bunch of games built-in, and companies don't want authenticity as much as they want dirt-cheap hardware and software that they can slap together quickly and make a good profit on (just look at those nasty "Basic Fun" keychains from "Atari" for a perfect example of that). I still think a 7800 repro would be a wonderful thing, but I'm not sure how O'Shea's or anyone else could profitably sell enough of them in today's world for it to be a viable endeavor.

[Brian R.]

Just love the one comment about the Atari consoles being "built like crap."

 

What a load of BS.

 

If true, then explain how my 2600, 5200 and 7800 are all working prefectly today.

 

Find me a Playstation in 20+ years that still works.

[Video]

Can we stop the "if it played real games" stuff witht he flashbacks in no way shape or form is that a reasonable request.

 

Oh come off it. It may not sound like a good Idea to you, But that's just because you don't have the capacity of something we like to call thought.

 

The fact of the matter is, if they released a 7800 (or hell, even a 2600) today, it would mop the floor with the flashbakc. First of all, you got all the people that would buy the Flashback anyways, just cause they like crusty old style games. And second of all, you got probably as big, or bigger market of people that would buy it for the capability of original games.

 

then you got people like me, who wouldn't pay a dime for a PnP system, (unless it was EASILY modified to play real games) who would buy a minimum of two fo the things, and probably four or five.

 

The only way it would sell more poorly, is if IF they tried to charge $100 for the thing. But no, I'd expect them to sell it for around $30-$50, like the rereleased Genesis, or the toplaoding NES, both of which did very well thank you very much.

Edited September 11, 2006 by Video

[+FujiSkunk]

The only way it would sell more poorly, is if IF they tried to charge $100 for the thing. But no, I'd expect them to sell it for around $30-$50, like the rereleased Genesis, or the toplaoding NES, both of which did very well thank you very much.

 

Forgive the nitpick, but those really aren't the best examples, since they came out when there was (arguably) still a "current" market for those games. A better example would be the Yobo and other NOAC systems that came out long after the fact, and still sold respectably.

Edited September 11, 2006 by skunkworx

[Video]

Yeah, I guess the 64 and PSX would be better examples. But I bet if they remade a PSX or 64, it wouldn't do as good as the NES and Genesis did. (especially the NES, since it brought something new to the table.