Tavi

I think the popularity of the NES Classic took even Nintendo by surprise. Which is why there was supply problems right out the gate. I imagine they thought it would be like every other flashback device and make them a tidy little profit from the nostalgia crowd for a little while and that would be the end of it. Once it was discovered how easy it was to add in new game roms to the system, and that it would emulate multiple systems (NES/SNES, Gameboy + Advance, Sega Genesis + Master System, Nintendo 64) and suddenly everyone and their dog wanted one; not just the NES fans. Even now on eBay they sell for far above (close to double, by a quick look) their original retail cost. Nostalgia is a powerful draw. Quite honestly if I had seen Atari's original unmodified campaign (back when they were promising a console with new exclusive games), I probably would have backed this campaign as well. Viewing Atari's shenanigans, broken promises and non-stop stream of dumpster fires over the last few years I am certainly estatic I did not. But at the time I likely would have slapped a few hundred down for nothing more then promises and nostalgia.

I am a little late to the party but if you are looking at a long term repair you may want to consider using clear book binding tape, rather then packing tape. It is a little heavier tape, and might work better for the bridging the box gaps and reinforcing weak spots. I also have noticed that after a few years, often the packing tape adhesive dries out and the tape peels off leaving the residue behind on your box. It would be a few dollars more for a roll the packing tape, but I think book repair/binding tape would be a more dependable long term repair. In example: https://www.amazon.ca/Premium-Clear-Book-Repair-Tape/dp/B07DTJFD2L/ref=asc_df_B07DTJFD2L/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=335224462949&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2200621490473809541&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001241&hvtargid=pla-475536787130&psc=1

Wonderful! I was waiting for this to be available before placing an order from the shop so I could get everything in one shot. Looks like there is finally an upside to 2020 :D

I see that 'The Cheese' has just given a bit of an interview, talking about the Atari Box and Atari Token. The TLDR version is it seems Chesnais wants a big push for Atari in developing more cryptocurrency and getting into blockchain gaming and digital collectibles. https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/atari-ceo-on-crypto-token-and-blockchain-gaming-we-know-this-is-going-to-work-213158823.html

I would more say pointless then hopeless. There is literally nothing it offers that cannot be done just as well or better, by devices common to most homes. Steam machines have existed for over half a decade already. Pretty much any device with internet capabilities can stream Netflix. The Atari Vault is a nice collection, but it also has been available for the last five years. The Atari Box hardware is not upgradeable and was not exceptional to start with. It will require additional effort and spending to install a second operating system to unlock its full capability. After two years of delays the hardware will be showing its age and limitations even more I expect. I am thinking once the excitement and novelty wears off of actually having the unit in hand, the backers are going to be considerably underwhelmed with what they have actually received.

Being able to play Burgertime is one of the main reasons I bought myself a classic Intellivision, the game is very addictive and quite a challenge! While the 2600 has a lot of really great and enjoyable games, the port of Burgertime was seriously unimpressive. Glad to see you are having a blast playing this!

I would not be in a hurry to return it, the box alone would have many collectors drooling over it I expect. The console itself also looks amazing. I picked up one off eBay a few months ago and while it works great it is a rather unfortunate 'nicotine yellow' now, which seems is a common problem with this model of console as result of exposure to sunlight reacting with the plastic. So it is also desirable in that the moulding is (or at least appears) to still be the original tan coloring. It probably would be well worth keeping and seeing if the video issue can be repaired.

I am thinking if it basically unused, then you should get quite a few years of play out of it. Quite the good deal for 60$!

..also also, if any of these are your vendors then run, run, check your wallet, and keep running Hahaha! Sorry for the joke, but 'Fools and Horses' is one of my favorite series; even if it does put you off a bit on flea market trading. *EDIT* Seriously though 15K seems very steep for a product that will likely quickly depreciate once you actually start selling it. I would try hard haggle a substantial discount off his asking price. You would be the one taking all the risk and doing all the work after all, and with no guarantee of what they will actually sell for.

I would have to echo a few others here and say that the value of these titles is going to nosedive as soon as it comes out that there are hundreds of NOS available. People will still buy them to play or collect, so the demand will still be there but I seriously doubt you would be able to sell them for anything close to their current pricing. Pallets of these titles is an instant market glut just waiting to happen, the scarcity factor would be lost. I imagine this is why this person wants to sell the entire stock in one shot. Once the titles start flowing out into the market, the value of any remaining stock is going to seriously decrease. 15K is a sizable investment, and you are certainly getting a pig in a poke as you have no idea the condition of the majority of the stock being bought. If it's all mint, you could do quite well, but there is certainly some very sizable risk factors that for the money involved I would not be terribly comfortable with. ...but if you do go for it, you can put me down for one of the 'Trilogy' sets as well :D

I do believe the only effect a dead CMOS battery has is that it will not keep the correct date/time. I do not think it would in itself cause this error. But if you have the system apart now, I do believe it is just a standard CR2032 under the green plastic shell, so you could pop the connector off the board and then test it with a multimeter and see if it is still putting out 3 volts or better. If it is under 3, I think it you can consider it to be dead. If someone really gooped on the thermal paste, a short is a possibility depending on what paste was used. I use Arctic Silver, which is an excellent and popular paste but it is technically conductive (metal particles in the paste) so you do have to be careful with applying it. If the thermal paste is conductive and has gotten onto where the CPU/GPU is seated and causing a short, I am not sure how you can clean it out easily. Popping either out of its socket would then require reballing to re-attach, which means either buying some speciality equipment or taking it to a repair shop to do the work for you. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can give better advice on this. Honestly my expertise with the fat PS3 comes entirely from servicing the one I bought just a month ago, so I am certainly no expert on troubleshooting problems with it.

A bit of an odd question, but the fan and heatsink are attached when you are turning it on? I am not super familiar with PS3's, other then the CECHA01 I took apart to replace the thermal paste on a month and some ago, but for the PS3 fat I was working on to get to the bare board like yours, the cooling fan and heatsink assembly needed to be removed. If the fan is not attached the error may be the PS3 is not detecting the fan, and triggering a 'overheating' shutdown to protect the hardware. Just spitballing here though!

I did a bit of digging online, and found a post discussing the various PS3 'red light, three beeps' errors that might help better diagnose the problem. https://www.avforums.com/threads/ps3-lights-of-death-issues-sequences-error-codes.1190159/ Most of these seem to be related to overheating issues, but if it happens immediately when it is turned on I expect overheating is not the problem here. It might be worth experimenting a bit and trying a different power supply? This is something I was looking into doing, as the original PS3 power supplies reportedly are very inefficient and tend to run much hotter then the newer versions of PS3 power supplies. Looking around online it seems there are a few options for newer PS3 power supplies that will also still fit and work in the older fat PS3 models. https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/Power_Supply

That certainly does look interesting, right up until I hit the part about the units 500$ price tag. That price point is going to be a tough sell.

I enjoy poking fun at Atari as much as the next person over their years long Keystone Kops-esque approach to producing an 'un-console', but I just feel bad and frustrated over reading on this token scam. I feel bad for those who got burned, and burned hard for as of a few hours ago the Atari Token is trading a .08 cents. Effectively it has lost two-thirds of its initial .25 cent value, and any backers lost two-thirds of their investment. You do not just somehow forget to put a system in place to allow your investors to transfer their tokens to your exchange, and force them to watch on the sidelines as the token price crashes and burns after the initial pump and dump. The frustrated part comes in that it seems no small number of people are still willing to throw money to Chesnais on demand like trained seals. He says 'Atari' and they are all reaching for their wallets. I have had years of enjoyment from the gross incompetence concerning the Atari Box, but this pushes past incompetent and is now toeing the line on criminal neglegence. I am willing to bet Chesnais et al made certain that they could dump their tokens right when the price spiked for a tidy little profit. Atari could stand for now 'Always Trying Anything to Ripoff Investors'.

This was a tough one! The Atari 2600 is absolutely near and dear to my heart, I still love playing it even today. The Atari was the pioneer and dominated with their massive catalogue of games, but Intellivision certainly was the graphically superior console and with a much more versatile controller compared to the Atari's single button. Both consoles had their unique strengths, so I would have to go with the 'Both are great' option.

Thanks for the summary, it saves having to pull out the hip-waders to make it though their posts myself. What jumps out at me is 'we expect to have all merchandise on hand in the US warehouse and ready to ship to backers starting as soon as the week of November 16th.'. Which means their best possible scenario to have the items on hand and begin shipping is on Nov. 16th. Which would bump the arrival date (for the US backers at least) to I imagine closer to end of November. So another month delay, on top of the other previous two years of delays. They seem to be getting closer to getting the Atari Box over the line and actually delivered, but it is just painful (yet still entertaining) to watch how badly they managed to muck up almost every single stage of creating and releasing their un-console. I am sure there has to be a Borat-level of movie material here Atari could probably make a mint in releasing. 'Atari - Console System for Make Benefit Stock Options of Glorious Chesnais'

Exactly this. Vacationing and tourism is basically at a complete standstill thanks to Corona concerns. I cannot imagine any company spending billions to build a line of Atari-themed hotels right now. Who would stay there with everyone keeping at home out of heath concerns or because they are outright banned from any non-essential travelling. Hotels and theme parks are probably going to be the worst possible investments for at least the next few years. I imagine producing some nice looking renders is about as far as this project will get anytime soon.

Well, it is always unfortunate for both parties when something like this has to be done. But Tommy is being very good about explaining it, which beats the standard 'Stop at once or our lawyers will sue you so hard your grandchildren will be born debtors'. I am reminded back in 2001, when David Gray sent a C&D to the creator of a remake of his 1990 Hugo's House of Horrors. He also took the time to tell the remake author he did an amazing job with the remake, to apologize and explain why the remake could no longer be hosted or shared. Both parties were satisfied, and no-one walked away with hurt feelings over it. It is almost 20 years later, and I still remember this and still think 'Now, this is how you do it with class'. http://atticwindow.tripod.com/gac/mail.htm - The David Gray letter, in full as hosted by the remake author.

When they miss this shipping date as well, it will be far from the first time. 'Weeks, not months' was said about 7 months ago. This after the two previously missed delivery deadlines. If the Atari Boxes were actually shipped from China on Sept.28th as per their Indiegogo update, then there is a possibility they will arrive in the US by the end of October but they certainly will not be in backers hands by the end of October. I would say best possible scenario at least another month delay provided Atari does not use 'Joysticks are still not ready; darn Corona!' as an excuse to push shipping even further back, as they seem to be setting this up in advance already.

That was a great video, short and right to the point. The cooling system still raises my eyebrows. Between the fan and the heatsink, those two parts seems to take up the majority of what is a rather large console. Throw in that Sony says they needed two years to create and test a new 'liquid metal' thermal paste replacement (https://venturebeat.com/2020/10/07/playstation-5-cooling-uses-liquid-metal-heres-why-thats-cool/) and I do wonder exactly how hot this unit gets and how much stress is going to be on the internal electronics from that heat. Still, it is nice to see a complete teardown showing off all the major components of their new console. It is a bit curious that Atari has not done the same, especially for a 'un-console' that they say is supposed to be shipped within the month. Still seeing how long it took for them to release any videos of the Atari Box in use, I guess also not terribly surprising. I expect if the Atari Box is actually delivered in the next month, there will be shortly after be multiple videos posted by tech and youtube reviewers on the internals. Not really much point in keeping it all a secret now.

This popped up on eBay today: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Diner-Intellivision-1987-w-Original-Box-Box-is-Destroyed-SEE-PHOTOS/373256526929?epid=56241970&hash=item56e7d29c51:g:Km8AAOSwAx1fe42b The box looks a bit rough, but I think it could look decent with a little TLC. The front and back look in good condition, the end flaps are pretty rough however. 50$ USD seems to be the opening bid (plus shipping of course).

Necroing your post a bit here, but I thought I would share a similar story. I recently bought a really cheap CECHA01 PS3 off eBay for 40$, with a seller disclaimer close to your issue where they said it worked but was horribly loud and also heated up quickly. Upon receiving it, I did take it apart using this video as a guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A4NIjKJZpE I could certainly live without the video's music (I muted it right away), but the video itself was I found extremely helpful. There was not as much dust as I thought there would be, though there was some and a few tiny dust bunnies, but when I had it completely disassembled I found that the OE thermal paste was essentially dried up. As well, it appeared it had also shrunk as it dried, leaving many noticeable gaps between the dies and coolers. Another problem I found was that the cooling fan blades were actually making contact with the cooler housing; binding the blades and I expect the source of some of the operating noise. It took a few hours of work to disassemble and clean the console, clean the CPU's and heatsinks to apply new thermal paste, create some spacers for the fan and finally reassemble everything. But it was certainly worth the effort. It runs silent enough I cannot even hear the fan, and even after playing for a few hours it barely gets warm to the touch, let alone hot. It is a huge pain and a fair bit of work, but I suspect you will be very happy with the end result if you do decide to replace the thermal paste in your PS3.

I am quite honestly shocked that they seem to have made it into production finally. I would have bet serious money against this. A penny stock company with only a handful of actual staff, who's only business expertise lies in licensing and lawsuits decides to get into console manufacturing. Add in several lawsuits against them, critical staff walking off the job over not being paid, long periods of radio silence, delays, delays and more delays, and I am somewhat impressed they seem to be close to actually crossing the finish line and delivering a product to the Indiegogo backers. I seriously thought by this point they would be running on empty, long over the expected delivery date(s) and with no funds left for manufacturing. I am wondering if that pallet of 'Dev Kits' that shipped to the US and promptly dropped off the radar a few months back found them someone willing to fund production? It is good to hear that the backers may after all be finally getting something, as I was certain this was going to go the way of the Atari Gameband and at some point there would be a 'This is a hard letter to write... you were investing in a vision, not buying a product...' update where Atari just walked away. I am still highly doubtful that the Atari Box is going to go far once the novelty and nostalgia wear off it; but at least it looks like the backers will actually get one which I suspect will please a few just for that alone.

As collectibles that you can also download into various games it seems to have been a great idea. At least I know my little nephews have a shelf filled with Nintendo Amiibos. The specialized console certainly did not seem to catch on though.