New Atari Console that Ataribox?

[Flojomojo]

I'd love to see their NDA, or the negotiation process by which CNET edited their original video to remove all gameplay. 

[OCAT]

What is the difference between Atari and an Arcade Cabinet?
Both take your money but only one of them has an Attract Mode xD

I cannot possibly see anyone buying Atari stock because of this little retro box.

Haha Flojo ^ NDA = No Demo Atari

[MarioMan88]

I’ve followed this saga since day 1. Glad I didn’t “back it”. I watch now to see how deep the hole is the VCS folks dig for themselves. This has to be the biggest train wreck I’ve seen in years. 

[JBerel]

Atari needs to up their marketing game to make this a success. Maybe buy themselves a Telly award for Fred's appearance on Fox news. Then live stream their private hotel room show so they can purchase a couple Guinness world records for highest attendance at a tech demo held in a hotel room off property. Then it's just a simple matter of co-founding a very specifically targeted games industry group, or guild, so they can bestow themselves countless best of everything and lifetime achievement awards.  Hell, the backers will lap that stuff up and never believe any of it is manufactured tripe meant to embellish their resume. That's sure to turn public sentiment in their favor. Then they can boost their pre-orders for their special edition. Pepper in a few celebrity names and selfies with Woz or others here an there, and their stock is on a rocket ride to the moon.   

Edited January 7, 2020 by JBerel

[OCAT]

"At CES 2020, Atari is hosting invite-only, hands-on demonstrations of the Atari VCS dashboard GUI (Graphical User Interface), Atari Vault, Antstream Arcade, and Sandbox PC Mode, which will include accessing everything from a Windows desktop to Steam games to streaming apps."

I hope they do not mean "The GIU does not connect to anything, but if you run windows, you can run everything"
I have a feeling they are going to have all 6 units already running 1 function, that way they do not have to show HOW they run each app or change games like the infamous coleco chameleon demo wtih the SNES and multi-cart.

 

Yea, it is not like we have never seen that clear case pic before, nice way to try to dazzle people with BS

Edited January 7, 2020 by OCAT

[dj_convoy]

We're, what, around two and a half years into this debacle? Amazing. 

[PlaysWithWolves]

1 hour ago, Flojomojo said:

There's no reason for them to be anywhere near CES; anything they've done that's worth sharing could be conveyed to backers and the public via video or a more honest update. This is all for show. 

 

They could've at least been more subtle:

 

 

[ColecoJoe]

Hey guys, I just got back from CES and met with Fred. After giving the secret code name "Taco" I was lead into another room where they showed me the secret stash. Don't worry, everything is on track and ready for shipment.

 

[MrMaddog]

Quote

In order to fully-demonstrate the awesome upgradeability of the Atari VCS, the engineering team has completely rebuilt its transparent test dummy — last seen on static display at E3 in June 2019 — into the ultimate incarnation of the system. The team took the transparent Atari VCS housing originally used for tolerance testing, and stripped out the dummy PCB board, replacing it with a fully operational one. But we didn’t stop there; instead, the team built a true “hot rod” Atari VCS by installing 32 GB of RAM and a 256 GB internal SSD. We have elected to place this special “Atari VCS 3200 Crystal Ghost” into the hands of one of our key strategic partners for display at the “Adventure” we know as CES. It’s out there…let’s see who discovers it! Keep an eye on Atari social channels.

So this "Easter Egg" will also be an invisible dot?

 

 

[digdugnate]

1 hour ago, JBerel said:

Atari needs to up their marketing game to make this a success. Maybe buy themselves a Telly award for Fred's appearance on Fox news. Then live stream their private hotel room show so they can purchase a couple Guinness world records for highest attendance at a tech demo held in a hotel room off property. Then it's just a simple matter of co-founding a very specifically targeted games industry group, or guild, so they can bestow themselves countless best of everything and lifetime achievement awards.  Hell, the backers will lap that stuff up and never believe any of it is manufactured tripe meant to embellish their resume. That's sure to turn public sentiment in their favor. Then they can boost their pre-orders for their special edition. Pepper in a few celebrity names and selfies with Woz or others here an there, and their stock is on a rocket ride to the moon.   

i agree- it seemed to work well for others....

[Lodmot]

The picture below is probably the closest thing to physical evidence that we have, that the system actually boots up. Can anyone tell if the HDMI cable in the back is in fact running from the VCS to the TV/monitor? Lol.

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Lodmot

[ColecoJoe]

Why is there an apple TV there? And what's up with the Apple keyboard

 

[Agillig]

 

Yeah, I'm real interested to see photos of Atari's CES booth also.  As we all are.  Atari said they'd be at CES, which I suppose isn't technically a lie, but it's not like they're presenting anything. 

 

This is from the locked down supporters page, where they are pretty excited.   Can't really blame them, that was the point of Atari's posts.  Still, we've been through this before.  Lots of them are absolutely convinced the big moment is imminent.  

[Lodmot]

2 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said:

Why is there an apple TV there? And what's up with the Apple keyboard

 

Not sure, but yeah-- that is kinda random. xD

I can tell you for sure that the TV is showing the Windows 10 lock screen, because that's exactly what mine looks like on my PC's.

The keyboard appears to be plugged into the console too. But due to "reasons", Atari "can't" take any screenshots of what the console actually displays on-screen. = 3 =

[JBerel]

4 minutes ago, Lodmot said:

But due to "reasons", Atari "can't" take any screenshots of what the console actually displays on-screen. = 3 =

Or any pictures of the thing actually connected, or of any indicators on the board lit up, or pretty much anything to demonstrate this is not another fake staged photograph like everything they've released to date.

[ColecoJoe]

4 minutes ago, JBerel said:

Or any pictures of the thing actually connected, or of any indicators on the board lit up, or pretty much anything to demonstrate this is not another fake staged photograph like everything they've released to date.

But what would be the reason for all this effort if they truly don't have anything? What do you think they are trying to accomplish by this charade? I just can't figure them out at this point.

 

If they don't have nothing wouldn't it be easier to write the "it's with a heavy heart" letter or lay low some more than going through all this effort to show nothing?

 

 

[Agillig]

5 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said:

But what would be the reason for all this effort if they truly don't have anything? What do you think they are trying to accomplish by this charade? I just can't figure them out at this point.

Maybe they're still shopping around for the buy out. 

[Flojomojo]

7 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said:

If they don't have nothing wouldn't it be easier to write the "it's with a heavy heart" letter or lay low some more than going through all this effort to show nothing?

[tschak909]

41 minutes ago, Lodmot said:

The picture below is probably the closest thing to physical evidence that we have, that the system actually boots up. Can anyone tell if the HDMI cable in the back is in fact running from the VCS to the TV/monitor? Lol.

 

It's clear they have a board. Anyone can get a board spun, (The fact that the RetroVGS/Chameleon people didn't is a testament to their utter incompetence).

What's NOT being made clear is that there is NO SOFTWARE.

 

I don't mean, "no games"

 

I literally mean, NO SOFTWARE. No OS, no GAMES. No development SDK, nothing.

 

It's the world's most expensive embedded Linux PC.

 

-Thom

[PlaysWithWolves]

It's probably just the same board they showed us in October, only more stuff plugged-in.

They had the glowing LED working then, too:

 

 

 

 

48 minutes ago, Lodmot said:

 

Congratulations, Atari: It fits in the shell!

 

 

[DragonGrafx-16]

But it's apparently running Windows 10... probably just so they can install Atari Vault and say it has gaems!!!1!!!1!

[Lodmot]

Just now, DragonGrafx-16 said:

But it's apparently running Windows 10... probably just so they can install Atari Vault and say it has gaems!!!1!!!1!

What Atari have created is very strange--

A Linux-based PC enclosed in a console-sized case, which can run Windows 10 (but doesn't come shipped with Windows pre-installed). 

I believe I'll have a good amount of fun tinkering with this thing, but there's other people that backed this whom aren't "tinkerers". This isn't a device that's designed for casual gamers (or really any gamer for that matter, if there's no software for it), that's going to be their problem.

[PlaysWithWolves]

@MrBeefy brought the word outboarding to our attention.  Here's CES's official policy:  https://www.ces.tech/Exhibitors/CES-Outboarding-Policy.aspx

CES Outboarding Policy

 

Outboarding at CES is unethical, not fair and not tolerated.

 

---

As owner and producer of CES, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™ works diligently to protect our exhibitors’ commitment and investment in the trade show and the industry by taking a firm stance against outboarding.  

 

Outboarding is defined as any non‐permanent exhibit, demonstration, event, or branded activation that lasts for more than one day during CES and outside of contracted space with CTA. This includes events at Las Vegas hotel suites, meeting rooms, ballrooms, restaurants, clubs, etc. A company is also considered an outboarder if it has contracted space with CTA but contracts directly with another Las Vegas venue for space (for more than one day) that exceeds the net square footage (NSF) contracted with CTA.   

Trade shows are organized so that companies in specific industries can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and customers and examine market trends and opportunities. More than 6,500 members of the media attend CES and generate some 40,000 stories that help build awareness, brand recognition and business development for more than 3,800 CES exhibitors whose participation dollars provide CTA with the funds to host this event and reinvest back into the industry. However, the integrity of the show is diminished and the value becomes diluted when companies seek ‐ in an unofficial capacity ‐ to capitalize on the 165K+ CES attendees who travel to Las Vegas to meet as an industry.

 

CES brings all facets of the consumer tech community together and we recognize the critical importance of networking to build business. We encourage official exhibitors to host parties and special events to enhance an official presence before and after hours. But, such events should be held to strengthen a company’s CES brand positioning, not held as stand‐alone functions that compete against those who are making an additional investment in their brand activation at CES.   

 

Companies who outboard cause inconvenience to attendees and hurt the overall industry as CTA invests CES net proceeds back into the industry through industry promotion, research, standards development, public policy and related activities to benefit the entire consumer technology ecosystem. In fact our CES attendee survey results indicate that nearly 50 percent of show attendees dislike having to leave the show floor to have meetings with exhibitors and/or clients off‐site.

 

Outboarding violates CES policy and the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) guidelines. When CES determines that outboarding has occurred, CTA will enforce the rule against the participating company and may impose penalties for violations. It is the CTA Board policy that outboarding companies are subject to sanctions that start with the loss of priority points and for those who are CTA members, may include removal from CTA membership.   

 

CES has wide array of inventory available for companies looking for options outside of traditional booth space, including suites, meeting rooms and special venues. We are willing to work with any industry entity to bring its tech innovation experience to life at CES and connect with the global market.

Frequently Asked Questions

What real harm does outboarding cause?

CES, like other trade shows, is based on the principle that gathering people in a limited locale is efficient, cost‐effective and allows relationships and business to develop for all involved. CTA invests heavily in marketing, transportation and logistics to ensure that all attendees can maximize their investment and efficiency in getting to and around Las Vegas. Outboarders seduce attendees away from the authorized show sites and disperse them throughout the city adding heavily to traffic congestion. Attendees complain via their CES survey responses that they resent visiting companies at non‐official venues as it reduces their time at official sites.  

 

 

Is this mandate discouraging small companies from participating in CES due to cost?

Over 80 percent of CTA members are small businesses, many that launched their businesses at CES. CES offers highly affordable turnkey exhibit space, including space in product category‐specific Marketplaces, as well as a wide array of meeting rooms and hospitality suites and special event venues. Our Eureka Park area offers lower cost space for startups. Exhibiting costs are generally less than the cost of outboarded events, and include the benefit of supporting the show and industry, along with promotion and access to buyers and media that come along with being an official exhibitor. Official exhibitors have access to press conference space, media lists as well as access to complimentary registration passes for their key customers.

 

 

What are the consequences of an outboarding violation?

 

Outboarding is a violation of CTA and CES rules, is an unethical business practice and in violation of IAEE guidelines. Las Vegas hotels often require those (non‐exhibitors) who rent suites and meeting rooms to sign a document as part of the contract process attesting that the space will not be used as “outboarded” space. Companies who outboard may face several penalties as follows:

• They will lose priority points affecting their space selection order for future CES’. For instance, if an exhibitor (i) cancels its official space and has space in any non‐official venue during the CES dates, and/or (ii) in addition to its CES official space, has space in any non‐official venue during the CES dates with an area equal to or greater than its CES official space, then the exhibitor will lose all priority points for CES in the future.

• Companies may be subject to exposure as an outboarder to CTA members, media, customers and shareholders.

• Companies may also be subject to loss of its CTA membership.

 

What should I do if I know of an outboarder or an outboarder contacts me to visit their event during CES hours?

Please contact CTA at CESsales@CTA.tech. If invited to visit an outboarder, you can explain to the outboarder the impact of outboarding on CES, the industry and official exhibitors.

[Flojomojo]

[Flojomojo]

24 minutes ago, PlaysWithWolves said:

What real harm does outboarding cause?

CES, like other trade shows, is based on the principle that gathering people in a limited locale is efficient, cost‐effective and allows relationships and business to develop for all involved. CTA invests heavily in marketing, transportation and logistics to ensure that all attendees can maximize their investment and efficiency in getting to and around Las Vegas. Outboarders seduce attendees away from the authorized show sites and disperse them throughout the city adding heavily to traffic congestion. Attendees complain via their CES survey responses that they resent visiting companies at non‐official venues as it reduces their time at official sites.