How are you preparing for the End of Atari?

[_The Doctor__]

LMAO this will always be around and always available...

 

Remember 2012 was the end of the world?

 

Y2k was going to end us

 

oh no wait it was global warming and we are all drowned and dead years ago according to Gore...

 

and on and on and on...... so long as there are people there will be Atari in some way shape or form... it's in our nature..

[adam242]

 

Emulation is the next evolution. Emulation transcends real hardware and crosses all time and space. People that have taken that route are set for life. Those that haven't, it's never too late![/

 

Yes, but emulation, by defition , is NOT the real thing and never will be.

 

quote]

[tschak909]

Real thing?

 

To twist and paraphrase another quote:

 

"IT'S THE CONTENT, STUPID!"

 

It's the experience that one has with that content. That experience is a logarithmic slope with emulation, as to what remains to be done to make the experience 100%, but guess what? The experience is in the 99% range, and it does keep getting better as each emulator author adds another peripheral, and its firmware.

 

It gets better as we understand the intricacies of the underlying hardware, either by intrusive methods of de-capping, or through carefully planned experimentation, and observation. These produce the data needed to create either the high level emulation (HLE), or to go to the other extreme, the net-list or gate-level (VHDL) description of what we're modelling. As computer power increases, the lower level options become available to more people. This is not theory, emulation is as old as computing, and it has been constantly refined. So where does that leave the real thing, eventually?

 

It leaves it as a sentimental exponent, an emotional component of using the original hardware. But is a battle mired in the shared experience of fewer and fewer people. I am not saying it's not important. I am saying that BECAUSE EVERYTHING DIES, both HARDWARE and PEOPLE, _IT IS OUR DUTY_ to help preserve these artifacts in the form of hardware simulation and software archival techniques so as to keep this which we love so much, alive and able to be enjoyed not just by us, but by our descendants.

 

-Thom

[Almerian]

Those that are interested in the feasibility of a modern day recreation of an 8 bit Atari should take a look at the FPGA based ZX Spectrum Next Kickstarter project for what's possible now.

 

While keeping the legacy ports and interfaces, it adds HDMI, VGA, SD card, GPIO and a connector for a Pi zero with the possibility for USB. And 512k SRAM standard.

All this in a retro-inspired new case.

Prices start at £175, with over 1900 backers with two weeks to go.

 

I wonder what would be possible with a modern day Atari.

 

 

[DavidMil]

"How AM I preparing for the end of Atari?"

 

With the headstone on my VA grave in about 20 more years.

That's when it will end for me!

 

David

[+Philsan]

Those that are interested in the feasibility of a modern day recreation of an 8 bit Atari should take a look at the FPGA based ZX Spectrum Next Kickstarter project for what's possible now.

 

While keeping the legacy ports and interfaces, it adds HDMI, VGA, SD card, GPIO and a connector for a Pi zero with the possibility for USB. And 512k SRAM standard.

All this in a retro-inspired new case.

Prices start at £175, with over 1900 backers with two weeks to go.

 

I wonder what would be possible with a modern day Atari.

 

You forgot to mention that the retro-inspired case is made by original Sinclair machines designer (it's a big plus).

 

£449,731 pledged of £250,000 goal.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1835143999/zx-spectrum-next

[kiwilove]

 

I wonder what would be possible with a modern day Atari.

 

 

The weakness with the original hardware - for me are the limited hardware sprites - and it seems VBXE does address this - but has such a small user base - which I guess is why we don't see many VBXE only games that can show what a modern day Atari can do...

[_The Doctor__]

the more modern Atari' were the ST, Jaguar, and the Amiga(even if you wanna call it a commie) and that's that.... The little 8 bit still kicks but with it's parallel devices... ... It's still astounding people what it does to this day without any accelerator/video card transplants on the mother board.... now go watch a movie on your XL/XE!

Edited May 8, 2017 by _The Doctor__

[hunter44102]

I have too much and will be selling a bunch this year. Will keep two 130xe's and two 800xl's.

 

Ita hard to let go of the things that represent your youth!

 

Although I believe I am helping out by fixing all the bad ones I've bought on ebay. (bad switches, memory, yellowing) and will be selling them in much better shape

[Almerian]

 

 

the more modern Atari' were the ST, Jaguar, and the Amiga(even if you wanna call it a commie) and that's that.... The little 8 bit still kicks but with it's parallel devices... ... It's still astounding people what it does to this day without any accelerator/video card transplants on the mother board.... now go watch a movie on your XL/XE!

I can't agree with the first sentence. Thinking about a modern day 8 bit successor, the Amiga came close, the others are different beasts. A modern day 8 bit successor would not need a mouse and would not primarily need to be a game console. Just more graphic modes, more simultaneous colors in hi-res, greater resolution, more sprites that can be of any dimension, 80 columns, extra sound channels, modern day connectivity added, SD card, USB, HDMI, more advanced controllers, a compatible 16 or 32 bits processor to address more memory and I could go on and on. But all with backwards compatibility with the original 8 bit for cartridges, peripherals and software.

[rayagreen]

Atari isn't going away. It makes a big comeback by the time Blade Runner takes place and recent footage shows its still going strong in Blade Runner 2049(er)

 

 

[DavidMil]

Its hard to let go of the things that represent your youth!

 

 

I don't know about that... I didn't have any problem letting go of the first wife. But then that was what I got for thinking with the wrong part of my anatomy!

 

David

[Almerian]

But what will it be? Some nice flying and hovering craft?

 

 

Atari isn't going away. It makes a big comeback by the time Blade Runner takes place and recent footage shows its still going strong in Blade Runner 2049(er)

 

 

 

[_The Doctor__]

Trust me, Blade Runner 2049 is going to be very satisfying for you to experience... everything is for the most part as it should be..... That big Atari and other touches were no mistake.... An incredible amount of work went in to making the look, feel, music, and atmosphere of the cinematics take you back to where it started, Blade Runner and the continuation of the story just may hold some answers for you. Tired of watching movies were everything is already easily guessed... this continuation is going to make a good number of people very happy and feed the grey matter while giving you a nice fix just as the first movie did. Catch the Final Cut of Blade Runner and then head to the theatre for the rest of the story... and you can bet you bottom dollar it's worth an IMAX fee.. go all out on this viewing, it is worth it!

 

October

Edited May 9, 2017 by _The Doctor__

[abbotkinneydude]

For those who haven't seen the Blade Runner 2049 trailer yet, it's a very emotional experience to witness the fuji logo all over again on the big screen.

 

And, as BR 2049 is being distributed by Warner Bros. (U.S./Canada only - Columbia handles overseas), we've reached a full circle.

 

What a great day!

 

Edited May 9, 2017 by abbotkinneydude