Atari Flashback 5 New Features (Dream List)

[Bill Loguidice]

Too bad Atari's legal team is adverse to even just renaming something or using the Sears alternate name. That would open up quite a few additions like Indy 500 (Which I don't think anyone is pining for, but when things like Super Sprint show up in arcade compilations and paddle games are included on these Flashbacks despite 95% of their buyers not having paddles, I'm sure they'd be including it with alternate joystick control if it was cleared).

 

And with a small amount of editing, something like Superman and Pole Position could easily be made non-infringing. All Pole Position needs is an edited title screen and removing or swapping the melodies like the start tune. And Superman as I recall doesn't really have any relation to the franchise beyond the name on the cartridge and the character sprite that is loosely reminiscent of Superman thanks to the coloring and the cape.

 

A capable AtariAge programmer probably would be more than able to fix such things up like Intellivision Production has done to a few of their classics to make them viable for rerelease.

 

Indy 500 is not a paddle game. It was the only original driving controller game. I'm sure like with the paddle games they could be made to work with joysticks via the emulation layer, but as you say, it's not really that important of a game to have on there.

 

I'm sure generic games (like an Indy 500) could easily be made non-infringing, but I'm not sure a game like Superman or Pole Position is so easily modified, at least in a way that would satisfy the legal considerations. One is distinctly Superman through and through (powers, changing, relative setting, etc.), while the other is very much Pole Position, even with the comparatively limited audio-visual fidelity (and, one could argue, only Pole Position would be worth the relative effort, since, for many it seems, Superman was not that great of a game).

 

INTV, and later, Intellivision Productions, were able to do what they did because the adventure games based on the D&D licenses had nothing inherently D&D about them, and were otherwise original creations. It's a completely different scenario. Vis-a-vis that, you'll note what HASN'T been officially modified and re-released by either INTV or Intellivision Productions. I think that kind of points to the limits of what can and can't be stripped out and be legally salable.

[Atariboy]

I wasn't saying that it was a paddle game, just that they're already including games that don't really work with the default joysticks so I'm sure AtGames would toss that one in as well if Atari would clear it under the Sears name it used. Instead, their lawyers see Indy 500 and toss it in the pile of uncleared releases.

 

I'm sure generic games (like an Indy 500) could easily be made non-infringing, but I'm not sure a game like Superman or Pole Position is so easily modified, at least in a way that would satisfy the legal considerations. One is distinctly Superman through and through (powers, changing, relative setting, etc.), while the other is very much Pole Position, even with the comparatively limited audio-visual fidelity (and, one could argue, only Pole Position would be worth the relative effort, since, for many it seems, Superman was not that great of a game).

I guess I'm not familiar enough with Superman, but all I see is the character sprite and name. Any other connection in my eyes is loose and could apply to multiple cartoon super heroes.

 

For Pole Position, outside of the name and the melodies, it's not really any closer to the arcade game than a whole host of clones that popped up throughout the 1980's. Its only distinction is that it was officially licensed so that it could carry that name for the sales appear it brought to the table.

 

Regardless, there are properties here like Othello that could easily be cleared. Force that one to run in black & white and label it as Reversi and suddenly you have a non-infringing version of Othello that dozens of other companies have released in board game and videogame form over the years with no license.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Atariboy

[Bill Loguidice]

For those interested, I can tell you that all game lists for the 2014 products have been finalized as you'd expect at this late date. While again, I won't get into specifics until AtGames is ready to release the lists themselves, I can answer any general questions/cover highlights. Here are the final game counts: Atari Flashback 5 (2014) - 92 games, ColecoVision Flashback - 60/61 games, Intellivision Flashback - 60/61 games, Sega Genesis Classic Game Console (2014) - 80 games, Sega Genesis Ultimate Portable Game Player (2014) - 80 games

There is also lots of good stuff being planned for 2015, so I hope these end up doing well with the target audiences.

[+DamonicFury]

92 games for the Atari Flashback 5! Looks like we're finally getting some new titles... can't wait to see the game list!

[Bill Loguidice]

92 games for the Atari Flashback 5! Looks like we're finally getting some new titles... can't wait to see the game list!

 

The breakdown is 75 Atari games, 12 M Network games, and 5 homebrews.

[+DamonicFury]

 

The breakdown is 75 Atari games, 12 M Network games, and 5 homebrews.

 

So the bulk of the new games are the M Network titles... interesting. I only count 10 released M Network games that weren't licensed... maybe there are a couple of prototypes in there? Wonder if the 75 Atari games are the just same ones from FB4? Also curious if the homebrews are exclusive to the FB5 (which would make it very enticing) or are drawn from the large library available here on AtariAge (which could also be very enticing, especially if they were chosen well.)

[Bill Loguidice]

 

So the bulk of the new games are the M Network titles... interesting. I only count 10 released M Network games that weren't licensed... maybe there are a couple of prototypes in there? Wonder if the 75 Atari games are the just same ones from FB4? Also curious if the homebrews are exclusive to the FB5 (which would make it very enticing) or are drawn from the large library available here on AtariAge (which could also be very enticing, especially if they were chosen well.)

 

RE: The M Network stuff, that's a good thought process. RE: The Atari stuff, I'm honestly not going to bother with a side-by-side comparison with the 4 (it's not that important), but a quick glance does make me think it's more or less the same.

 

The homebrews, which were previously released, are from a single homebrew publisher not affiliated with AtariAge.

[TXG/MNX]

Flashback X with can run Jaguar titles ... there are some poc's on the internet of fpga running jaguar software...

[Bill Loguidice]

Flashback X with can run Jaguar titles ... there are some poc's on the internet of fpga running jaguar software...

 

The 50 people who would buy one would be very happy.

[mos6507]

 

 

I seriously doubt there will be any specific tweaks since the paddles worked fine. Any differences are not really noticeable unless you're specifically looking for them. We'll have to see if there are any overall improvements in the emulation engine, however, which is certainly possible, and that may further tweak controller timing.

Also, it's unlikely you'll see any of those games you listed, though Berzerk and Defender II/Stargate have more of a shot than any of the others. Superman, though, never in a million years due to the convoluted licensing. It's important to remember that original rights to games with attached external IPs never carry over and would need completely new agreements in place. Getting a DC license for what many consider a middling game at best would never be worth it, assuming DC didn't laugh the request out of the building in the first place.

 

 

That's always the problem with these things. The best games are mired in ancient trademark issues, either because it's based on a character (like Superman) or a coin-op port. So on the one hand you have an unlimited free-for-all with the collector-community with multicarts and emulators and on the other, commercial products are hamstrung by what games they can bundle.

[TXG/MNX]

The 50 people who would buy one would be very happy.

I would buy already a few myself :-) so more then 50 consoles

The plastic case of the jaguar is even for sale because the original molds are outthere ....

[garyd97]

 

The breakdown is 75 Atari games, 12 M Network games, and 5 homebrews.

The box shows Jungle Hunt. Is that Atari?

Can you say if all games from the flashback 4 are included?

[Bill Loguidice]

The box shows Jungle Hunt. Is that Atari?

Can you say if all games from the flashback 4 are included?

 

Yes, Jungle Hunt is categorized under Atari. It's a mix of Atari first party stuff and stuff Atari published in that count.

 

Sorry, I'm not going to do a comparison of this list with the Flashback 4. Too "lazy." I can say that superficially it looks more or less the same, with the addition of the two additional groups of games.

[Atariboy]

Not sure if anything here is new or how it differs from earlier products (Everything looks very familiar), but here's something I just saw about their new Sega portable.

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/07/hardware_review_atgames_arcade_gamer_portable

Edited July 29, 2014 by Atariboy

[Bill Loguidice]

Not sure if anything here is new or how it differs from earlier products (Everything looks very familiar), but here's something I just saw about their new Sega portable.

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/07/hardware_review_atgames_arcade_gamer_portable

 

Just to be clear, what we're getting in October is a sequel to the portable Sega Genesis.

[Atariboy]

Thanks

 

I suspected that NintendoLife was just late to the party, but I wasn't sure.

[garyd97]

Is Burger Time a possibility under M Network or licensing problems?

[Atariboy]

It's available for licensing but I believe Bill had confirmed that it won't be present in this round of Atari/Intellivision/Coleco Flashbacks.

[Bill Loguidice]

Correct, no BurgerTime, but AtGames is renewing licensing efforts (attempting to get) for all kinds of new titles for the future, so you never know. It's definitely not in any of the 2014 products, though.

[Bill Loguidice]

Here are the official game lists for all of the 2014 AtGames hardware: http://www.armchairarcade.com/neo/taxonomy/term/3892

[iesposta]

Thanks for the full list, Bill.

Colecovision gets all the good homebrew this time around.

All the amazing 2600 homebrew from earlier Flashbacks are gone, pong, asteroids vector, Mars mission, thrust... and from all the new stuff they went with one homebrew developer. Big step backwards.

 

I wonder if M-Networks Astroblast works with joystick OR paddles like the original.

Playing Astroblast with paddles is MORE fun than the Intv Astrosmash!

[Bill Loguidice]

I wonder if M-Networks Astroblast works with joystick OR paddles like the original.

Playing Astroblast with paddles is MORE fun than the Intv Astrosmash!

 

Since the Flashback supports paddles, it shouldn't be an issue.

[atarifan88]

 

Since the Flashback supports paddles, it shouldn't be an issue.

Any word yet if AT games will be making a Deluxe Edition of the flashback 5 with paddles?

[Bill Loguidice]

Any word yet if AT games will be making a Deluxe Edition of the flashback 5 with paddles?

 

I was only informed about the variations for the ColecoVision and Intellivision Flashbacks. I'll try to find out about any variations for the other stuff when I get the review units. I'm thinking not, though, otherwise I think something would have been mentioned.

[atarifan88]

 

I was only informed about the variations for the ColecoVision and Intellivision Flashbacks. I'll try to find out about any variations for the other stuff when I get the review units. I'm thinking not, though, otherwise I think something would have been mentioned.

 

I am thinking of just going with the Flashback 4 Deluxe instead of the 5 so I get the paddles with it. I know you can buy them separate for $20, but after comparing both game lists, you would be losing Battlezone and gaining Millipede on the FB5. To me that's not an even trade since you already get Centipede. Also, I will be purchasing an Intellivision Flashback, so the added M Network games to the Atari FB mean nothing to me. They are simple throwaways...