Atarick

Totally agree. The system is crying out for a killer racing game. Ideally something a shade below the hyper realism and near unplayability of the F1 series, but a shade more grounded and real than MarioKart or the glitchy "Rally Racers". Pole Position and Continental Circuit on AntStream are great fodder for such a game. For me, I imagine an updated "Super Monaco GP" type game that is highly customizable but not so bent on being authentic that it sacrifices playability. If it could come from an Atari IP, all the better.

Couldn't log in and was only going to buy BPM Boy anyways, so that stinks. If they do another sale I'll grab BasketBrawl and maybe AlienBrigade.

I like the timing of this and Atari Mania, as it (no I'm not comparing) more closely resembles what a company like Nintendo would do to cross-market their properties. If they did something like Atari Mania (AUG, let's say), Atari 50 (October), then closed the year with the new Food Fight game, it would put them on a nice roll with IPs they own, all being presented in a new light. If they "take" and people go for it, maybe you reimagine games like Crystal Castles or similar. But if nothing else, it's a true dip back into the modern gaming market, albeit slowly.

Good thing you're lurking in this sub-forum then, seems like the perfect fit.

Pole Position Night Driver Skiing Bowling EA and XBox studios have a virtual monopoly on major league sports games so the niche market might be a good bet.

100%.

Rumor is q4 of this year, so I would anticipate sometime on/around the holidays unless there has been a delay.

This has been way high on my list. Looks amazing already.

Fishing Derby is a stone cold classic. I'm still holding out hope for some kind of Activision Collection to launch on the VCS.

#20562 Gravitar Recharged

Meh, not sure that matters. I don't know the age of the kids you're describing of course, but kids (particularly teenagers) are early adopters and fickle consumers. Brand loyalty isn't a thing to that demographic. If the product was cool, and offered them something they wanted, they'd drive up demand and the "it" factor would return. Atari has chosen in part to live in the past and scrounge for the few dollars it can muster as a legacy brand. They made occasional swings to some new ventures, like mobile gaming, but never invested enough to fully make waves. Some of that was hamstrung by a string of poor decisions by past management groups, some was by selling IPs to make money and limiting their available products. The VCS was a swing for along these same lines: a basic PC architecture branded with a logo and identity gamers over 40 identify with and enjoy. Nothing was new or novel, and it never crossed over to a broader market. Why would it? Most rabid gamers already have a gaming PC, or an established console. New gamers aged 10 and up are seeking a specific game, like Minecraft or Fortnite or Pokémon, etc, that is offered by Sony or Nintendo, or optimized for PC gaming (ideally for a PC with specs higher than the VCS). There were no exclusive games nor a big marketing push for the VCS. That it could be modded and tweaked is nice, but that can be done elsewhere. All told, the games are key. Atari under Rosen seems to be pushing back towards game development, and I truly believe that is their best--and only--move to remain a viable corporation. If they nail that, really begin offering games with a market, then talk about consoles and modified gaming PCs under the Atari label. Until then, it will remain a niche brand with a niche audience. It's foolhardy to assume they could become anything other than that at this point.

Looks like a cleaner version of Thrustlander, a game I like but found near impossible to play (and enjoy). If they can get the adaptation to the classic controller down, looks great.

Kombinera #19313 - 17 April 2022

The math isn't that tough given software sales and the initial press from the indie gogo campaign. I'd go with 8-10k sold in pre-sale and maybe another 4-6k in retail launch. Add to that probably another 2-4k ordered by retailers for sale and I'd say they moved, low end 14k and high end maybe near 20k units. Measly numbers for sure, but it's important to remember that this was never calibrated to be a gangbusters sales sensation. It was marketed as a niche product for harcore Atari fans looking for a mild update/refresh of the brand's catalogue and that is largely who consumed it. Atari's best move, if they're capable of it, would be to really work on software the next two years then maybe, *maybe* launch a lower priced VCS 2.0 in a few years with a whole slate of games optimized for the system ready to go. The VCS had some flaws and big misses in its launch, but at the end of the day they got a lot right. The distance to go from average to good product isnt that far on this thing.

OK cool, this is a bridge too far for my novice (read: non-present) skills but maybe someone will add a tutorial at some point. Thanks!

What did you use to add the ROMs? USB? Did you have to do any special formatting like with the old Flashbacks?

If you've only booted up with the USB in so far I'd give a try to booting up and installing updates sans usb.

I believe it was bought on eBay, but unclear whether open box or used, or new from reseller.

I think it's about PROMOTING something at this moment, war related, called "War in Europe", as an.........actual war breaks out in Europe. Whatever we think, we all know that some in media would latch on and perceive such a move as insensitive, and while I don't know everything I am positive Atari is hell bent to avoid any bad PR. We could argue all day about how broad the attention would be, but I do think it would be there. I can see the Twitter comments now. And honestly I do think Sony and Microsoft would be just as cagey about promoting something like that right now, especially if this conflict spirals.

In a way I get it. If there are, purely estimating, 15-20k VCS sold vs 10M Switches, it's stupid to emphasize the former. But at least show something, anything that anchors it to your brand and attracts consummers to it. VCS pre-order periods, early releases, bonus levels and power ups, built in retro games, something. Give something back to the Atari VCS owners when they buy an Atari game.

They did, and if I recall correctly Rosen emphasized that Atari post-Chesnais was interested in returning to a focus on hardware and software, including the Recharged games and modest AAA (non-mobile) gaming. He also previously emphasized that the VCS was very much a hallmark product, something Michael Artz echoed. I'm not saying they couldn't change course given a sobering read of the accounting books, but I have a hard time believing that any path to redemption for Atari doesn't run through the VCS or new Atari games. As stated before, consoles are a losing proposition without software, and Atari at present doesn't have enough of that to make any money. I can see a few novel things (2600 cartridge reader attachment for VCS? A preloaded USB?) Atari could do the rectify that, but do think that their best move is focusing on games, dropping the VCS price, releasing it in Europe, and just riding the wave to see what happens as new games drop. It would be a big jump to cut and run on the VCS given everything they (Rosen and Artz) said just 2-3 months ago.

Yeah tried this to no avail but will go the uninstall/reinstall route.

I had a bizarre glitch come up in this game. On the second "villain chase" challenge the screen shows the track features like the trees and numbers and my car but everything is otherwise blue. I can't drive, as it says that I am off track, and I can't see any track anyways. I was tempted to uninstall and reinstall as you can't skip levels. Anyone else have this come up?

Great list, though I'd far prefer a full new reboot of Crystal Castles and Berzerk optimized for the VCS vice the Recharged treatment, something akin to what they're doing with Food Fight or Pong Quest.

I mean, the network stuff was a rough 2 week stretch but for most users it's been fine since. I have sent 2 help tickets in during my ownership and they've responded promptly both times, with an update. I can't speak for all of course, but I do think at least on the network issues they got through it for now.