DanBoris Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I can see why they think it's feasible though: 1. A 7800 can go for $50 or more on eBay used. 2. A 7800 is backwards compatible with the millions of 2600 carts floating around in thrifts, pawns, garage sales, and eBay to boot. This assumes that they build a system that supports the 2600 mode. They could save time and money by just doing the 7800 mode. Adding the 2600 mode would also require that addition of the complete TIA chip, and some extra hardware to support the two modes of operation. dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 I've been watching this thread and thinking that all of these ideas are pretty cool, but I have one question. Is the guy who started the thread reading this stuff? There's only one post from him. Just thought I'd ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 lol, I think these are the type of 'what if' discussions we Atari nuts are known to meander into. You should know what you are getting into before posting I've been watching this thread and thinking that all of these ideas are pretty cool, but I have one question. Is the guy who started the thread reading this stuff? There's only one post from him. Just thought I'd ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 lol. Well, I can't complain. I've been one of those "what if" people MANY times before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blehrer Posted March 11, 2003 Author Share Posted March 11, 2003 Yes guys. I'm here and learning a lot from you guys. Keep it up. We'll try to accommodate at least some of your ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edit_5 Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Just one question, is your client only intending to release in the US? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blehrer Posted March 11, 2003 Author Share Posted March 11, 2003 Don't know. Why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edit_5 Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 I'm in the UK, and I'd love to get my hands on one/several of these systems (PAL version) if they are made, but I wonder if will be a NTSC only unit destined for the US? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 so if these things were to be made, would they be made exactly like the old ones, or would they be smaller, more power efficient systems? I was just wondering about this because I remember reading on another thread something about a problem that the Maria chip had with overheating(???) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyranthraxus Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 I wonder just how many games Osheas has in their inventory? Makes me wonder what their stock room looks like If they are that desperate to sell their stock they should consider dropping their prices back down to what they were a few years ago. Considering the costs of hiring engineers and setting up a factory I can't see it being economically sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric_ruck Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 Isn't their stock room literally a cave? Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holygrailvideogames.com Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 I haven't been to O'sheas website lately, but I know that they used to have pictures of the cave posted on their site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 I believe its an old limestone mine or something to the effect, he had photo's of the forklifts moving stuff around and I think even a photo of a semi or large truck in their too, pretty neat. Curt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 http://www.oshealtd.com/company.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t.skid Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 I think that every Atari fan would love to do a 'tour' on that cave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyranthraxus Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 Holy smokes! What a stash! I'd like to know the details of just how they arranged the purchase of the old Atari inventory. I am also curious about what the Atari execs were thinking when they were manufacturing so many games. There is more there to supply all the 7800s in the world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cx2k Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 Well, the rumor is that they didn't pay for it! Although I can't prove it, from some internal documents I've seen, O'shea took all of these games on consignment from Atari. When Atari collapsed and basically went under, there was no one to return them to. Talk about a freebie. John Holy smokes! What a stash! I'd like to know the details of just how they arranged the purchase of the old Atari inventory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 Talk about a freebie. John Yeah, his pricing structure might back up that theory. I was thinking before that maybe he got everything for around a quarter a game and was selling them for .80 for a nice profit. But after he saw that people were buying hundreds of games and selling them for $3-$5 on eBay he raised his price to $5 each game based on what it looked like the market was paying for the games. But with plenty of market saturation on the 'O'Shea's' games, at $5 it will take 200 years to sell all those games. If he really needs to move them and make some money now he would slash them back to $1, I mean plenty of people would spend $30-$50 getting a large stash of boxed games for collections and resale to new hobbyists at that price. But at $5 I don't think people are buying 50 games at a time anymore. I think he's sitting on some good revenue there but at his current price point it's not doing him any good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 >But with plenty of market saturation on the 'O'Shea's' games, at $5 it will take 200 years to sell all those games. Unless, he can create a larger market... Which is what I think they're trying to do... Sell new 7800's cheap.. Then, if you actually expend your market, you can justify the price of the carts.... Of course, looking at the scale on it.. If you assume the average user would buy X number of carts at $5 each, how many would it take to be able to justify manufacturing and selling new 7800's?? I don't picture an outfit like O'Shea's selling the new units for a large loss per unit, just to justify the new cart sales.. Be easier to drop the price on the carts... Unless you expect to sell many cartridges per unit.. Higher the value of X, the easier to justify.. If you increase the cost of the carts, you can decrease the value of X in proportion and still succeed, assuming the market will bear the new price.. desiv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 Good analysis, it's still my hunch that a new 7800 console wouldn't sell more than a few hundred units at a $40-50 price point. That wouldn't be enough to make a dent into his game inventory. I'm still interested in any sales figures for the $25 Activision and Atari 10in1 portable units, those seemed really popular but they were plug and play. I liken a new 7800 to more of a speciality niche like those $30 new Majesco GameGear units which I don't think did well in the long run (and again it was portable not a whole console.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 Could O'Sheas even get the cost of the 7800 down to $40-50 if they're only running a few hundred units? My guess is, NO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 Could O'Sheas even get the cost of the 7800 down to $40-50 if they're only running a few hundred units? My guess is, NO. No, a few hundred (maybe up to near a few thousand) is my own predicition of how many they could sell in a reasonable period, probably 1 or 2 years. I think they are discussing possibly making 200,000 new units so I'm sure they can get the price that low. If anyone ever makes that many units it would take too long to sell them at a high price point, eventually they will have to slash them down to cost or hold on to them for years (again just my opinion ). I think with that many units being produced even ebaying them will produce a glut and after an initial good sell it would dwindle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaySeaver Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 No, a few hundred (maybe up to near a few thousand) is my own predicition of how many they could sell in a reasonable period, probably 1 or 2 years. What if they made it a portable? I don't know how many $40 "7800jr" units you could sell, since they'd essentially be selling them to people who don't already have a 7800 (or just want a spare, but those guys probably already have the O'Shea's games), but a portable unit might have broader appeal - you could sell it for about $75, sell enough to make the production run worthwhile, and (maybe) sell them to people other than the folks in the already-saturated Atari enthusiast market. Of course, now that I write it down, this plan looks somewhat less appealing. Another question might be, what would it cost to manufacture a 7800 emulator? Instead of something that's actually a 7800 inside, what about something that has a 68000 (or Pentium-1, or some other relatively inexpensive chip) running 7800 emulator software; isn't that what the Activision and Atari 10-in-ones do? Instead of needing custom ICs, you might be able to build something from cheap off-the-shelf components; the biggest cost might be licensing the 7800 BIOS from Infogrames. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edit_5 Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 If any units are made, I would hate to see the modern remake made into a potable, when it could be something better, nothing beats crashing out in front of the TV and doing some serious Atari, but that's just my opinion. Imagine being able to just plug and play, built in composite or L/C with audio on phono's, I'll go back to dreaming now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oesii Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 Yep, I also agree with you it would be dreamy to get some modern connectors on a new 7800 console for the living room. I just wouldn't want to personal invest in a company that's going to start this up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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