Atari Box

[Beagle 2]

Really sounds like an April Fool, this one. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mitchwallace/2017/06/17/its-official-atari-is-working-on-a-brand-new-game-console/#4b7968ca49aa

I do have a lot of affection for the Atari marque. My first three games machines were Atari - the ill-fated Atari XEGS console, which was shit but I was too young to notice, then my beloved Atari ST. I'm really pleased that I had a 16-bit computer during that era, it was great to feel part of a scene as a kid, the magazines, coverdisks, creative applications and reams of pirated games - much better than just having a console and getting a game every couple of months or whatever. Then I got a Lynx, even though I knew in my heart of hearts it was doomed. It was depressing to watch them slowly slide down the toilet with bad decision after bad decision. Then when I moved on to Nintendo and Sega machines I realised the quality of games I'd been missing.

Still, now they're back back back I reckon they'll definitely be dominating the console market for years to come. I hope the controller looks like this:

[Gurke and Hare]

Are Atari really Atari any more than Commodore are really Commodore these days?

[hewantstolurkatad]

Were Atari even Atari with the ST?

[TheWoodenSpoon]

That Jaguar controller is/was fucking horrible. The keypad. The fucking keypad. It sort-of worked for Doom when it came to selecting weapons but even then it was stupid and cumbersome and generally just a bit shit during a heated fight. How the hell any game at all was actually supposed to be designed around that idiotic design (while making use of it) is staggering. Someone at Atari must have really liked the ColecoVision/IntelliVision controller while plainly ignoring how other controllers had evolved in order to have come up with that monstrosity.

[Phil_A]

Not even sure who owns the Atari brand currently, guess it's still the company formerly known as Infogrames?

Atari hasn't been Atari since around 1985, really. Even the Atari that put out the ST and the Lynx had little connection to the Bushnell years.

[TheWoodenSpoon]

The Atari brand is owned by... Atari SA :U

In other words, yeah it's the lot formerly known as Infogrames.

[biggytitbo]

The infogames Atari was the software part wasn't it? The hardware part was a different company I think. Powerwise the Jaguar was on a par with the PS1/Saturn, but was completely hobbled by atrocious marketing, bad design (the controller) and Atari running our of money early in its lifespan. A few different decisions here and there and Atari could be Sony now.

[NoSleep]

If Warner Bros had listened to Nolan Bushnell they could have pioneered the internet.

[Phil_A]

The infogames Atari was the software part wasn't it? The hardware part was a different company I think.

There seems to be some misleading information floating around about this. From what I gather they were all part of the same company with separate American and French divisions. Now it seems the French part has gone bankrupt leading to the CEO of the American division buying the whole company. I think.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jan/21/atari-files-bankruptcy-america

[Beagle 2]

I still can't believe this is happening. They're reporting  $1m dollars of presales. But apparently can't say what it is.

It's a waste of everybody's time is what it is.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/screenrant.com/atari-vcs-xbox-one-ps4/amp/

[Beagle 2]

I mean what the fuck is it, an Ouya with a bunch of inbuilt toss old unplayable Atari games?

[bgmnts]

Atari are awesome. There is always something weird happening with Atari; like burying all those unsold copies of E.T in the desert.

Isnt there one story of an employee spending the entire walking say walking along the walls?

Proper game company.

[Twed]

Haha, Ouya.

[The Boston Crab]

My mate backed it, pure madman. He stumped up for the wooden veneer, insane. Can't wait to play it next winter.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Probs won't bother tbh

[asids]

Oh, mate. Give us a lend of MixMaster Studio will you? Been desperate for one of them.

[Phil_A]

I mean what the fuck is it, an Ouya with a bunch of inbuilt toss old unplayable Atari games?

It's sounds like it's going to be a Linux box with an Atari logo on it. With some 2600 games thrown in, as they are literally the only thing Atari-related they would be able to get the rights to.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Come to think of it, hasn't this been done before? Atari Flashback? I'm sure there were other knockoff SoC ones in just the joystick as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Flashback

like, 15 years ago almost.

[biggytitbo]

Its an underpowered Linux PC with a collection of 40 year old games that are widely available on every gaming platform around for pennies and it costs as much as a PS4. And you have to wait another year for it.

Very tempting.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Aye, it's not like the 6502 is hard to emulate either; I had a screensaver in my netbook that had an inbuilt 6502 emulator that had the graphics written in assembly.

[Beagle 2]

Are there any old Atari games anybody ever wants to play again?

[madhair60]

Are there any old Atari games anybody ever wants to play again?

Pitfall, Keystone Kapers, Crackpots, Kaboom!, River Raid, Frostbite and fucking, motherfucking MegaMania

[buzby]

Come to think of it, hasn't this been done before? Atari Flashback? I'm sure there were other knockoff SoC ones in just the joystick as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Flashback

like, 15 years ago almost.

The plug and play ones built into the joystick were officially licenced and made by Jakks Pacific. They did a joystick-based one and followed it up with a paddle-based version. They also made an Intellivision version (built into the shell of a crappy joypad) and the series of Namco-licenced arcade emulator plug and play games based around the Pac Man games.

(the C64 DTV wasn't one of theirs though, it was made by DC Studios and Mammoth Toys for Ironstone, who had licenced the name form Tulip Computers )

[studpuppet]

Are there any old Atari games anybody ever wants to play again?

Combat is one of my top five games ever. Played with a slightly inebriated group of people it's brilliant - the ultimate late night duel game.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Pitfall, Keystone Kapers, Crackpots, Kaboom!, River Raid, Frostbite and fucking, motherfucking MegaMania

Berzerk and Q-Bert are the best ones I own I think.

[biggytitbo]

Exactly, anyone interested in ancient Atari games has probably already bought one of the many compilations of them available for various systems?


I have and they're almost all shite, beyond about 2 minutes of play.

[Twed]

They're probably hoping it will take off as an indie gaming platform. Which it will to some extent, but probably not in the mainstream.

[Sebastian Cobb]

They're probably hoping it will take off as an indie gaming platform. Which it will to some extent, but probably not in the mainstream.

I imagine the sort of person that wants to write a game in 4k with no framebuffer would also want to blow a eprom and put it in a cartridge.

[biggytitbo]

They're probably hoping it will take off as an indie gaming platform. Which it will to some extent, but probably not in the mainstream.

Again the problem with that is all those kind of indie games are available on all the other systems which are similarly priced but have a library of new exclusive games too. The only thing I can see this has going for it is woodgrain, everything should have wooodgrain on it.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Again the problem with that is all those kind of indie games are available on all the other systems which are similarly priced but have a library of new exclusive games too. The only thing I can see this has going for it is woodgrain, everything should have wooodgrain on it.

The only new game that was demoed was apparently only built for windows and a couple of consoles so if their demo is showing it running on the actual machine it's likely going through WINE.

https://www.reddit.com/r/atari/comments/8pabqb/tempest_4000_is_the_only_new_game_that_atari/?st=ji4t3zuu&sh=4f741368