We need a "Buy the Flashback 2+" campaign.

[famicommander]

If you'll recall, back in 2007 some gamers started a grass roots campaign to try and get people to buy Zack and Wiki for the Nintendo Wii. So dedicated were they that major video game sites like IGN and GoNintendo started jumping in.

 

Zack and Wiki may not have performed up to Capcom's hopes, but there's no doubt that it made a difference. It became sort of a cult phenomenon. Similar things sprung up on various forums for games like No More Heroes and Valkyria Chronicles.

 

The community effort was outstanding. There were special forum signatures, banners, avatars, petitions, blogs, and a concerted effort to get the word out.

 

We know that Atari isn't going to spend a lot to advertise the Flashback 2+. And we know that if FB2+ flops, we don't get our FB3. So it falls to us.

 

We need an organized effort to spread awareness of this system, and more importantly, the benefits of owning one. The Flashback exclusive games, the unreleased prototypes, the homebrews, the all-time classics... We need to get custom "Buy the Flashback 2+" signatures and avatars and banners. And we need to use them on other sites.

 

We need to write up our own reasons for owning the system and link other people to them. We need to get to Gamespot, Giant Bomb, IGN, Digital Press, Neo-Geo.com, and all the other major online communities.

 

We don't know how many of these consoles Atari is going to produce, but I think we can all agree that it would behoove Atari fans everywhere for these things to sell.

 

So, who would actually be willing to participate? Who can make flashy graphics (I can't)? Who has their own sites and communities they can help influence? I know I've already been talking to the people on my forum and extended network about the system. And I also have accounts on dozens of other gaming sites that I could use to help out.

[nathanallan]

Locally I have been telling lots of people about it, and that it can be ordered soon with the info. It's just that the locals here hate preordering and have yet to show me any different.

 

I also plan on making a really cool poster about it to hang up. Maybe several.

[Mirage]

I don't disagree with the idea, and I certainly do hope they sell well, but I hope "Atari" doesn't base demand for future products on a rehash of what is very close to the same thing so many people already bought. That would be tragic. I don't think the demand for a rehash like this has anything to do with demand for a completely different product.

[roland p]

The site said:"Not available on atari.com for your area."

That's pretty lame.

[Austin]

Sounds like a good idea, albeit I don't frequent any other forums and I don't know a lot of gaming buddies locally anymore, so I'm not sure how it could help.. Regardless, I could still post a blog or two about it for my non-gaming buddies on Facebook, MySpace, etc, just in case they know someone that might be interested.

 

*edit: I will surely make a YouTube video when I get one!

Edited February 6, 2010 by Austin

[AtariLeaf]

The site said:"Not available on atari.com for your area."

That's pretty lame.

 

 

Yea its hard to jump on board and buy a company's product when they, you know, WON'T LET YOU!

 

I get the same message here in Canada.

[nathanallan]

Sounds like a good idea, albeit I don't frequent any other forums and I don't know a lot of gaming buddies locally anymore, so I'm not sure how it could help.. Regardless, I could still post a blog or two about it for my non-gaming buddies on Facebook, MySpace, etc, just in case they know someone that might be interested.

 

*edit: I will surely make a YouTube video when I get one!

Same here, I'll be doing a very special unboxing video.

 

Not available in some areas?? Y'all, I'm discovering the power of having a tax ID, so I might become a smallish distributor for it. Stay tuned, I'll see what happens. I'll ship ANYWHERE.

[famicommander]

Is anyone good with images and graphic design?

[atwwong]

The site said:"Not available on atari.com for your area."

That's pretty lame.

Yea its hard to jump on board and buy a company's product when they, you know, WON'T LET YOU!

 

I get the same message here in Canada.

Not available in some areas?? Y'all, I'm discovering the power of having a tax ID, so I might become a smallish distributor for it. Stay tuned, I'll see what happens. I'll ship ANYWHERE.

Sounds like a plan...

[HP Atari King of Michigan]

It's like Atari removed it from their website soon as it became available. WHERE THE HELL DO YOU GET ONE?!

[Rex Dart]

 

We know that Atari isn't going to spend a lot to advertise the Flashback 2+. And we know that if FB2+ flops, we don't get our FB3. So it falls to us.

 

We need an organized effort to spread awareness of this system, and more importantly, the benefits of owning one. The Flashback exclusive games, the unreleased prototypes, the homebrews, the all-time classics... We need to get custom "Buy the Flashback 2+" signatures and avatars and banners. And we need to use them on other sites.

 

 

 

I'm not terribly familiar with the differences between the FB2 and FB2+, but as far as I know, they replaced several cool games with sports titles. Were there some changes I'm unaware of that would make this thing worthwhile? If the fabled FB3 follows in the footsteps of the FB2+, I can't say I'd want one currently.

[Hydro Thunder]

 

 

I'm not terribly familiar with the differences between the FB2 and FB2+, but as far as I know, they replaced several cool games with sports titles. Were there some changes I'm unaware of that would make this thing worthwhile? If the fabled FB3 follows in the footsteps of the FB2+, I can't say I'd want one currently.

 

Here's the wikipedia on the differences, summarized:

"The bulk of the included games in the Atari Flashback2+ are the same. However, Pitfall, River Raid, Wizard, Caverns of Mars, and Atari Climber have been removed. In return a sports section has been added in replacement, that includes Realsports Boxing, Realsports Soccer, Super Baseball, Super Football, and Double Dunk."

 

So you're not wrong, but there's still a heck of a lot of great games for the 2+.

[S1500]

Yeah, let's support a product that was rushed to market way too fast. I enjoy the FB2, but it really could have been a lot more, in terms of games. Heck, functional games. As someone who works in software QA, I know products with bugs go out the door. That's a fact of life. But a few bugs were glaring. Like nobody play tested all the games on a LCD and plain CRT tv? Oh dear, Yars' Return is not working.

 

The fact the FB2+ had games REMOVED made me facepalm. Regardless of the fact the games weren't that great wasn't the point.

[Hydro Thunder]

Yeah, let's support a product that was rushed to market way too fast. I enjoy the FB2, but it really could have been a lot more, in terms of games. Heck, functional games. As someone who works in software QA, I know products with bugs go out the door. That's a fact of life. But a few bugs were glaring. Like nobody play tested all the games on a LCD and plain CRT tv? Oh dear, Yars' Return is not working.

 

The fact the FB2+ had games REMOVED made me facepalm. Regardless of the fact the games weren't that great wasn't the point.

 

I agree with the facepalm, but who knows what the reasons for that were, probably beyond the control of the well-intentioned designers. The main reason to support the product is to strengthen the possibility of FB3....

 

I do wonder why they had to remove some of the protos and hacks, though. The Activision games I'm sure were some licensing $ disagreement, but why would Caverns of Mars and Wizard disappear?

[S1500]

 

 

I agree with the facepalm, but who knows what the reasons for that were, probably beyond the control of the well-intentioned designers. The main reason to support the product is to strengthen the possibility of FB3....

 

I do wonder why they had to remove some of the protos and hacks, though. The Activision games I'm sure were some licensing $ disagreement, but why would Caverns of Mars and Wizard disappear?

 

I guess that's where we disagree. I have a feeling the higher-ups at Atari will probably put an unreasonable timeframe for a FB3, and would be nowhere near as good as we would imagine. It would be like "Hey! We have Backgammon & human cannonball on it now! oh, and about 18 games in common with the FB1, and nothing else.". Mind you, we are a niche community so we would expect a higher-quality product.

 

At this point, the Dingoo, GP32 and other homebrew-friendly portables easily fill the gap with Atari emulators. There. There's your Flashback 3 utopia.

[SRGilbert]

At this point, the Dingoo, GP32 and other homebrew-friendly portables easily fill the gap with Atari emulators. There. There's your Flashback 3 utopia.

 

For that matter, there are used PSP's on Craigslist all the time for around $50. A hacked PSP is handheld retrogame heaven!