PikoInteractive Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 They could come back later this year but any chance of success in the console market would be diminished by the approaching Nintendo NX. They already lost their chance to make a quick grab for that Kickstarter cash. The timing was very important here. At this point no company (even with a good public image) would ever want to release a console this year. what lol? We are talking about Flashbacks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Perhaps River West can work out a deal with AtGames to include some of Coleco's titles for the Atari 2600 in one of the new Atari Flashback consoles, assuming they own any of the rights. It probably wouldn't be as lucrative as having an entire console with nothing but Coleco properties, but it would still be worth something to them, and it would give AtGames more of a variety of games to choose from. There's not much there. See the AA list. http://atariage.com/software_list.php?SystemID=2600 Putting aside the age of these games, most are licensed properties. Berenstain Bears Cabbage Patch Kids Carnival Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Junior Front Line Looping Mouse Trap Mr. Do! Roc N Rope Surfs Save the Day Smurfs: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle Time Pilot Turbo Venture Zaxxon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 AtGames should have hired a consultant for their Flashbacks that is really into retro gaming. I would rather have one really good Atari/Coleco/Inty flashback than annual freshen-ups of last year's FlashBack. Yes, this. Given the choice between 100 pieces of dross (early 1978 VCS "numbered cartridges") and a curated list of home-brews, oddities from different systems, and fun, give me quality over quantity. Or both!!! The Activision Anthology on GBA has yet to be topped IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Don't think most people would want to put the foot work into making a MAME cabs, and some of the people capable don't have the room In lieu of a full-size stand-up cabinet, build a bartop or tabletop unit. Surely everyone has room for those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atm94404 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Perhaps River West can work out a deal with AtGames to include some of Coleco's titles for the Atari 2600 in one of the new Atari Flashback consoles, assuming they own any of the rights. It probably wouldn't be as lucrative as having an entire console with nothing but Coleco properties, but it would still be worth something to them, and it would give AtGames more of a variety of games to choose from. It's the same problem. I don't think there are any 2600 Coleco titles that weren't licensed IPs. They were either arcade ports (the ones that Atari didn't snap up) or media IPs like Smurfs, Cabbage Patch Kids, Rocky, etc. RWB doesn't own any of these. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 It's the same problem. I don't think there are any 2600 Coleco titles that weren't licensed IPs. They were either arcade ports (the ones that Atari didn't snap up) or media IPs like Smurfs, Cabbage Patch Kids, Rocky, etc. RWB doesn't own any of these. Yeah, that seems to be a recurring problem with Coleco. Their claim to fame back in the day was that they "brought the arcade experience home," but in order to do that, they had to rely on a lot of licensed properties. That limits what can be done with the Coleco brand today, because the licensing is more complicated than it would have been if they had developed more of their own properties. In an odd way, it reminds me of Mystery Science Theater 3000: Shout Factory may own the copyright to the show, but every single episode was built on top of a movie that was made by someone else, so for every episode they want to re-release on DVD, they have to negotiate a new license. I just figured that, if they're having to negotiate those licenses anyway, piggybacking Coleco's old Atari ports onto the Atari Flashback products instead of launching their own console might make it easier to monetize them with fewer risks. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 By the way ... if the haters out there don't stop beating up on Pat Contri of the CUPodcast, they're gonna have to answer to FRANK!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rff9GnQ8vuk 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Yes, it doesn't extend just to open source. There's already a lot of info on the web (e.g. BYOAC) and plenty of projects that can be used (Hyperspin, Retroarch, etc), plus extensive collections of docs and data (world of spectrum, Asimov AppleII archive, etc). The only caveat is that if you make something very accessible and centralized, it might become swamped with support requests from people who can't be bothered to RTFM... in that case you have a a user-supported forum. Or no mechanism for support whatsoever. It is what it is. The thing exists to host those fucking manuals. I think thinks like asimov are nearly perfect! IDK. It just seems if we rely on corporations to bring us retrogaming it'll all be distorted and made inconvenient. And no resemblance to the experience we had in days gone by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Yes, it doesn't extend just to open source. There's already a lot of info on the web (e.g. BYOAC) and plenty of projects that can be used (Hyperspin, Retroarch, etc), plus extensive collections of docs and data (world of spectrum, Asimov AppleII archive, etc). The only caveat is that if you make something very accessible and centralized, it might become swamped with support requests from people who can't be bothered to RTFM... People would do well to sit their ass down and read some of the fine publications available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sh3-rg Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Yeah 'hate speech' is a bit of an exaggeration, but there were a few people who were pretty against the RVGS based on more 'gut feeling' (that turned out to be correct, and that's me included) than hard evidence. Right, I include myself there, too. There was little hard evidence to go off back then with the RVGS, just masses of conflicting information each time MK posted or opened his mouth, even day to day at times. It was obvious they were chancing it but we couldn't prove any of it, only point out the inconsistencies like the hating haters of the Haternets we are. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Music interests: https://www.facebook.com/search/str/musicians%2Bliked%2Bby%2Bpeople%2Bwho%2Blike%2Bretro%2Bvideo%2Bgame%2Bsystems%252C%2Binc./keywords_pages Does this only show up for me!? Right, I include myself there, too. There was little hard evidence to go off back then with the RVGS, just masses of conflicting information each time MK posted or opened his mouth, even day to day at times. It was obvious they were chancing it but we couldn't prove any of it, only point out the inconsistencies like the hating haters of the Haternets we are. I can see how we could have looked like haters early on, but being thanked and name checked by the owner of the Coleco brand is surely enough to clear our names 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I see your Swansons and raise you chicken pot pie. Hungryman edition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Possible movie sequel? Might it explain why we haven't heard from MK in days? 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I and others have been telling Chris there is a big demand for MiniCades, the nostalgia for classic arcade games and for the Coleco MiniCades is there. I showed chris some sites that have people taking dead vintage Coleco MiniCades and installing modern components (LCD Screen, Raspberry Pi, ETC) to make them into little multicades which apparently are selling quite well. Chris is trying very hard to promote the Brand, getting the community behind him would only make it better for all in the long run. Too bad that Starforce Pi didn't get going. Maybe it will come back. IDK, but mini-bartop units with 12-20 inch screens are in demand in my immediate neighborhood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 As far as any future Coleco flashbacks go, I'd love to see an improved Dina system with some updated features like HDMI (or composite at the very least) and SD card compatibility, as well as requisite built-in games. Maybe make the cart port "hidden" like the Atari FB2 did. Maybe include two el cheapo joypad controllers with the keyboard on the console but maintain pin compatibility with original CV controllers so those could be used instead. Maybe sell it online only for $25-40, since anyone who would buy it would know about it via forums such as AA or DP anyway; they'd barely need to advertise.This IS the thread of hypothetical game consoles, after all. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) in that case you have a a user-supported forum. Or no mechanism for support whatsoever. It is what it is. The thing exists to host those fucking manuals. I think thinks like asimov are nearly perfect! IDK. It just seems if we rely on corporations to bring us retrogaming it'll all be distorted and made inconvenient. And no resemblance to the experience we had in days gone by. So true. Bad things happen when people try to monetize everything. Good things happen when people support old things out of love and respect for the material. The best thing "Coleco" could do for the community is to turn over to the public domain what little intellectual property it holds. Same goes for "Atari." When your efforts consist mostly of embarrassing missteps (Coleco) or suing people doing cooler things than you are capable of (Atari), it's time to rethink things. (edited for good/bad clarity!) Edited March 7, 2016 by Flojomojo 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdownita Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 .... This IS the thread of hypothetical game consoles, after all. Well, it didn't started that way until the Coleco Chameleon guys started making "prototypes" with anything that can look like a console, but now .... go ahead it's all fair and game 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 How close are we to the end of the 7 day deadline? Has anyone visited the RetroVGS Facebook page lately? The page still has 19,864 fans. Do you think they were all legit or are some of these "fans" the kind you can buy in bulk on Black Hat sites and Fiverr? The average post on the RetroVGS Facebook receives around 250 likes. Their videos have received thousands of views. Coleco Holdings LLC has around 880 followers on Twitter. How much legitimate interest was there really in this product? I mean the IG campaign failed spectacularly, would the Kickstarter have failed too? Even with a working prototype? I don't know how much genuine interest there was as opposed to purchased interested. In light of all of today's technologies and the ability to simulate the home-gaming-with-cartridges "experience", why would anyone want real cartridges with all their disadvantages? Disadvantages companies are too quick to monetize. Because cartridges! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnovaX5 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I never understood Gamester81's rally for a new cartridge based system or the claims that it was the first one in 20 years. He himself covered a small handful of chinese knock offs that came out over the years on his own channel. Did he not consider the Xavix Port a cartridge console? The Chintendo Vii not worthy of the title? Both took propriety cartridges. To say that he was was a victim in all of this like Eli is absurd. The hour long Lester / Kennedy love fest was sickening at best and misleading information to his fans at worst. This all being said, I feel like the Coleco Chameleon would already be in our hands had it been a Chinese produced knock off that we managed to import out of curiosity. Seems like the market that Mike wanted fits more for the "BIRC" or whatever market that Carlsen's small Playstation was for. He just needed his pricing to be a little bit lower...but it was all about money. Maybe the legendary Mr. Lee will fly off to China with the prototype he most definitely made and totally exists and mass produce the 'Ultra Lee 16' console without the need for Mr. Kennedy. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) This, right here, is fantastic. I don't think any of us here ever wanted to see the Coleco name go the way of other revived brands. It is a huge step in the right direction that these 'higher ups' of the company are listening to the community. I think majority, myself included, would love to see the Coleco table top arcades come back in some form. I'd like to see Coleco think about doing their own controllers that work with both the at-games clone and the original console. I would love to see them bring the hulking beast of the Colecovision back to the media by maybe making a certain add-on an official licensed product. All these revived brands seem to focus on making cheap knock offs of their legacy counter parts, why not give the legacy some love for once? Something like that. All that remains is to get the details of implementation correct. Like the delivery mechanism of the games themselves (roms) and giving up a few percentage points of profit to make that happen - people want multi-cades and not single function units. Any tabletop they make should have the ability to accept carts in the form of SD, have external HDMI out, and a way to easily mod and wire-up your own control scheme. It doesn't have to be all consumer-ready, but doable. Doable to where a cottage industry can grow around the product. And a cottage industry could make upgrade kits for these, official or un-official. This generates more word-of-mouth sales via youtube vids and forum posts. Kind of like expansion slots, but not expansion slots.. An example would be providing room in the cabinet for your own SD slot or a spot to stuff in a small controller interface board. Or jacks for external connectors. All the while providing spots on the circuit board to allow such things. Much like how we stuff video mods into old-school consoles. I think anyone doing tabletops needs to study why Starforce Pi failed. Edited March 7, 2016 by Keatah 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atm94404 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I never understood Gamester81's rally for a new cartridge based system or the claims that it was the first one in 20 years. He himself covered a small handful of chinese knock offs that came out over the years on his own channel. Did he not consider the Xavix Port a cartridge console? The Chintendo Vii not worthy of the title? Both took propriety cartridges. To say that he was was a victim in all of this like Eli is absurd. The hour long Lester / Kennedy love fest was sickening at best and misleading information to his fans at worst. This all being said, I feel like the Coleco Chameleon would already be in our hands had it been a Chinese produced knock off that we managed to import out of curiosity. Seems like the market that Mike wanted fits more for the "BIRC" or whatever market that Carlsen's small Playstation was for. He just needed his pricing to be a little bit lower...but it was all about money. Maybe the legendary Mr. Lee will fly off to China with the prototype he most definitely made and totally exists and mass produce the 'Ultra Lee 16' console without the need for Mr. Kennedy. Let's not forget that Gamester81 had his own gaming convention which had a panel all about the Coleco Chameleon. The "all I know about it is my company was going to port a game" is disingenuous at best. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 But PLEASE do not cheap out on the LCD screens. There's a lot of chinese cheap systems with bad/mediocre screens already. If they can do something like AMOLED it would look fantastic (albeit more expensive, sure). Bonus points if you make it somehow moddable; most people won't care but look at how well the C64 DTV fared when it was found out to allow for extensions from existing PCB connectors... Kinda like I just said, you beat me too it. Make the mods "discoverable" by casual tinkerers and "just kinda happen" to provide solder pads to get easy access to signals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Having been gaming in the '70's, I disagree. Obviously you should be sitting in fluorescent colored, paisley patterned chairs with the console on a small coffee table next to them. I'm not going to disagree with the TV dinners, though. I distinctly remember the aluminum trays that they used to come in. Someone told me, and I don't know how true it is, that the Aluminum trays were chosen because in the 50's and 60's everything was rockets and aerospace and airplanes, which used aluminum extensively. Partly because the industry was already using the material, partly because it was the future, and the rest because it was readily available from scrap and manufacturing leftovers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 AtGames should have hired a consultant for their Flashbacks that is really into retro gaming. I would rather have one really good Atari/Coleco/Inty flashback than annual freshen-ups of last year's FlashBack. That would be me, actually. I can tell you that they constantly seek out and listen to advice, and are constantly looking for ways to improve everything within their usual business constraints. There are actually several new products in the pipeline that are rather exciting (physical and digital). Expect one new physical product this year and two or more new physical products for 2017. And no, none of those will be combo systems in the sense that you're talking about for very practical reasons (although one product this year will do something a bit different with its software mix). 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Kinda like I just said, you beat me too it. Make the mods "discoverable" by casual tinkerers and "just kinda happen" to provide solder pads to get easy access to signals. Or just sell the shells as a kit. This is a product with niche appeal. Make it flexible enough for end users to bring their own computer or screen. I can't quite see the appeal of the old mini-arcade form factor in 2016, except as a novelty. I have an iCade Jr which is adorable, but it's also completely impractical for anything but looking nice. A more ergonomic handheld, however ... Mmmmmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts