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Atarick

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    Atari Sports?

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    4 hours ago, phuzaxeman said:

    Wade, if you're reading this, bring back a sports game.  Even a Pole Position Recharged would be amazing. 

    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. 

     

    Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration - (in VCS Store)

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    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.

    • Like 1

    Atari Sports?

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    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. 

    • Like 1

    Atari Sports?

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    10 hours ago, RollOut said:

    One more vote for bowling. Also, mini golf could be a lot of fun.

     

    Now if Activision was allowed, that's where the good stuff is. Ice hockey and fishing derby are two personal favorites.

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

    • Like 1

    How much longer will the Atari VCS be on the market?

    in Atari VCS

    Posted · Edited by Atarick

    53 minutes ago, Keatah said:

    None of the kids at our Easter gathering were interested in "atari". It wasn't mentioned. The videogame talk was all PS5, Xbox, Switch, and perhaps some mobile crappage. Kids just aren't interested in grampa's games.

     

    This more telling than hopes and dreams about whimsical ways of fitting into a magical market that's supposed to pop out of thin air and oblige.

    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. 

    • Like 2

    Atari Interviews Related to the Modern VCS (Post Release)

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    2 hours ago, jeremiahjt said:

    Yes, what I am saying is a lot of the people saying that we're trolling.

    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. 

    • Like 5

    Stella emulator

    in VCS Programming/Homebrew

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, .nIk0. said:

    To Access stella, you have to modify the bundle.ini and stella-launcher in the folder and create a folder with roms. Stella accept all formats types. .a26 .zip .bin

     

    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!

    Starting Over With the VCS

    in Atari VCS

    Posted · Edited by Atarick

    13 minutes ago, SoCalAttorney said:

    So my replacement VCS arrived this week and is having similar issues. Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

     

    I haven't made any changes yet to the settings, so this is just straight out of the box. I have cable internet at home and am using a Netgear Nighthawk CAX30, so I plugged the VCS into it with a CAT5 cable. The set up process went normally and downloaded the BIOS and SO updates. But I am still having the same issue with the app store not downloading, so even the pre-installed VCS Vault wouldn't work because it wanted to download an update. I have the same issue over wi-fi.

     

    I have Windows 10 on an SSD in a USB cradle and Windows is working fine over both wi-fi and Ethernet.

     

    It seems really odd that the app store can't connect to the Internet but I can get all the OS updates. 

    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.

    Retro Fridays on VCS. Today’s release?

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    3 hours ago, VectorDreams said:

    Is there a single person in Ukraine that owns an Atari VCS?  Hold on a second, I am supposed to believe that all the Ukrainian VCS owners in between shooting at Russian Soldiers find time to turn on their VCS consoles with backup generators, natch, connect to the Internet somehow and see that this week's Flashback Friday game is a Sid Meyer War Game from 1986 and think to themselves how insensitive Atari is to their plight?????  Really?!?  So Sony and Microsoft have shutdown COD for the next week out of an abundance of sensitivity?   

    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. 

    • Like 3

    Atari Interviews Related to the Modern VCS (Post Release)

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    27 minutes ago, Djmicklovin said:

    Yeah I agree, there is a lack of passion and their marketing team and management are so like nonchalant about it. There's no sense of urgency there. Even on their social media pages, they're pushing games for the Switch and every other console but their own VCS. Like wtf? It doesn't make any sense. They need to start giving people a reason to buy a VCS, give us timed exclusives or something! From a business standpoint I understand the Switch has a much bigger audience but it's counterproductive for their own platform. There are still a lot of Atari fans and people want to support it. They shouldn't have to leave it up to the fans to find out about these games. The fans are basically running this company and doing the marketing for them.

    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.

    What does this latest statement from Atari mean for the VCS?

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    6 hours ago, tripled79 said:

    Didn't they say earlier that this is the 50 year anniversary and that more announcements were to come?

    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. 

     

     

    • Like 1

    Rally Racers (in VCS Store)

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    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?

    Atari Recharged Series (Discussion)

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    7 hours ago, ColecoGamer said:

    I might have mentioned this earlier in this thread, but what I would love to see from Atari for the VCS:

     

    Berzerk/Frenzy Recharged

    Major Havoc Recharged

    Crystal Castles Recharged

    Gauntlet Recharged 

    Toobin’ Recharged

     

    Edit: I’d say Tempest, but we’re supposed to get that sooner or later.

    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.

    Me vs. Atari

    in Atari VCS

    Posted

    4 hours ago, Leonard Smith said:

    Jesus.  
    Glad I've held off on buying one of these.

    These server / update / network issues really don't inspire much confidence in the console and the company behind it.

     

    I'll wait and see.

    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.

    • Like 2
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