pacman000 Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 On 10/16/2019 at 11:00 AM, mgman said: Atari: Now hiring. Engineer who isn't afraid to get their hands dirty, come work for us Rob: Is Casey Jones Available? Oh, wrong type of engineer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 (edited) 55 minutes ago, DurradonXylles said: To have a custom Linux distro with that menu interface, and not violate the various open source software licenses that they are released on, they need to not only have programmers to build the architecture and interface (as well as make sure that it works on the AMD APU since they're known for not playing incredibly well with Linux), but also copyright lawyers that specialize in software licensing. This is something that's been bugging me for a while, especially because I'm fairly certain Atari SA/Gamebox LLC isn't thinking about this at all: Atari will undoubtedly have to rely on the open source community in large strokes to make anything resembling these mockups from the IGG page. I agree with what you're saying, but think that there is an out for Atari SA on this one: the browser. If they treat the Ataribollocks(tm) as a kiosk device, they can use the browser for all UI functions. Everything shown in the menu mockups is largely achievable in HTML5 (my wife, who is an actual web developer, unlike me who is just an IT management schmuck, confirms this), and replacing a window manager with a browser is a no-brainer - it's essentially how I run my MAME cabinet, but with a MAME frontend taking the place of the browser in this situation. Granted, that would mean picking a web dev from fiverr or similar to do the work - and given Atari SA's cynicism towards its backers, I do doubt they'd even go that far. "Here's your desktop, pigeons. We put a fuji wallpaper on it to make you happy. Using it is a you problem; better get on with figuring that out." Quote This isn't speculation, this is an almost certainty knowing how the industry works, as well as knowing that Atari can't or won't pay programmers to make a completely proprietary interface (they aren't even planning on having basic web apps like Netflix developed for their "console" ffs). The big three console manufacturers use many pieces of OSS in their products, from web architecture to even the operating systems running the devices (eg: OpenBSD for the PS3 and PS4's operating systems). Hell, in the classic/mini consoles released up to now we've seen everything outside of the emulation running the games use almost exclusively OSS (except for Sony which cheapened out and used PCSX-ReARMed for the PS1 emulation), and all of them, even the more recent Flashbacks by AtGames, are running some form of Linux optimized for ARM chipsets or straight up a customized, lean build of Android. Emphasis above mine, but it does demonstrate why I think this is likely to be a kiosk device if it ever does reach production. Apart from the fact that Atari SA has already stated that things like Netflix will be available through the browser, they just don't have the resources to develop an app ecosystem. There's also no real reason to do that given that it's a Linux-based device - package creation, distribution, and management tools already exist, and setting up a custom repository to pull from takes no effort whatsoever. Stick it out in Cloudflare, problem solved. Oh, wait. That means hiring (or at least contracting) developers. Scratch that; just pull down from whatever repo the base distribution uses, tack some proprietary crap on, and call it good. The pigeons won't know the difference anyway. Quote Why is this bothering me so? Well, Atari seems to subscribe to the idea of "it's easier to ask for forgiveness after than ask for permission before", especially because of all of the payouts they've been giving to people they formerly worked with or paid royalties to. AtGames had the good sense to consult with libRetro and MAME over proper usage of their software, as well as license Stella and Genesis Plus GX for the latest editions of the Atari and Sega Genesis Flashbacks, respectively, and they are currently getting the pants sued off of them from two companies they had done business with before over violation of legal agreements. Atari SA doesn't even have that much sense when it comes to legal minutia, and that's been a large part of their business for the last decade. I cannot imagine "Atari" having the good sense to follow licenses like the GPL, LGPL, MPL, Apache, CDDL, EPL, BSD or even one as dead simple to follow as the MIT license. Agreed. And I suspect that part of that is arrogance on Atari SA's behalf: their attitude likely boils down to, "yeah, well, who's really gonna enforce this licence, anyway?" It's entirely likely that they believe they're safe as long as they just toss in a nod to it in the credits somewhere. Quote While open source licenses have been, and are still getting, abused, there are organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation that have been helping these smaller entities get their day in court when they have a good enough case. If Atari SA, which would be a large target because they have been a household name for decades, was found to violate OSS licenses, what's to stop a class action suit from starting on behalf of every individual, group or organization they pissed off with the legal backing of EFF? Of course, this is all speculation; we still have yet to see that the prototype board they've only shown pics of, with that LED turned on, can even boot into a Linux desktop without crashes or a novella's worth of errors at startup. True, but the EFF has to pick & choose the cases they can bring. Don't get me wrong: I think that by and large they do good work, but ultimately (in this regard) they are a law firm. If there's nothing in it for them, I wouldn't expect them to do much in the way of bringing Atari SA before a judge. Edited October 16, 2019 by x=usr(1536) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBerel Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 8 minutes ago, Shaggy the Atarian said: Here's an upcoming console I just heard about (kind of like the Switch, but focused on classic handhelds) that I expect to see available before the Ataribawx: https://www.analogue.co/pocket/ I just don't understand these folks making handheld FPGAs that don't work with ROM files. That's a micro segment of a small audience. It's got an SD card slot. While you're busy preserving gaming history, ya know what else plays those individual portable cartridges? That's right, the original "histerical" devices. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TACODON Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 24 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said: If they did this, it would literally be a mirror image of the ZX Spectrum Vega+ fiasco. It would also be Atari SA's fall-on-your-sword moment. The ZX Spectrum Vega+ was what I was thinking of as I typed that. I really think this mess is going to mirror that fiasco. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 7 minutes ago, JBerel said: I just don't understand these folks making handheld FPGAs that don't work with ROM files. That's a micro segment of a small audience. It's got an SD card slot. The Super NT and Mega Sg didn't work with ROM files out of the box, but they did once jailbreak firmware was installed. I'm in for day one of the Analogue Pocket because it looks super thoughtfully designed, and Analogue has a great track record with these kinds of devices. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 11 minutes ago, JBerel said: I just don't understand these folks making handheld FPGAs that don't work with ROM files. That's a micro segment of a small audience. It's got an SD card slot. While you're busy preserving gaming history, ya know what else plays those individual portable cartridges? That's right, the original "histerical" devices. I assume the thing will be jailbroken, like the rest of their output has. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lodmot Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 Atari's apparently revealing the VCS in 2 days..? O.o Is this accurate? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoJoe Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 4 minutes ago, Lodmot said: Atari's apparently revealing the VCS in 2 days..? O.o Is this accurate? I wonder if this is why this guy is speaking at the event https://destechaz.com/guest-speakers/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 21 minutes ago, Lodmot said: Atari's apparently revealing the VCS in 2 days..? O.o Is this accurate? Listen to the interview and you tell us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 (edited) 29 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said: I wonder if this is why this guy is speaking at the event https://destechaz.com/guest-speakers/ No idea, but this conference looks like a real pile of crap based on the buzzword-heavy schedule for day one: This conference really does look like a whole bunch of groupthink around why your business needs <insert buzzword here>, coupled with subsequent bad management ideas coming down the IT pipeline involving external service providers. Kinda feel sorry for Woz; got to see and hear him speak at the NAMM show a few years ago and he was great. Pity he's attached to what looks like a really awful conference. Edited October 16, 2019 by x=usr(1536) 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agillig Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 Was it something I said? 2 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 5 minutes ago, Agillig said: Was it something I said? Well... What *did* you say? ? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agillig Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 3 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said: Well... What *did* you say? ? Nothing THAT bad. 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 "Original creaters of breakout in the 80,s" There's just so much to break down in this one simple sentence fragment that I don't even know where to begin. 8 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 2 minutes ago, racerx said: "Original creaters of breakout in the 80,s" There's just so much to break down in this one simple sentence fragment that I don't even know where to begin. Oh, will they have Steve Jobs' ashes? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lodmot Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 30 minutes ago, PlaysWithWolves said: Listen to the interview and you tell us! Lul, I would but I'm at work. I'll listen to it tonight though. o u o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 (edited) 5 minutes ago, racerx said: "Original creaters of breakout in the 80,s" There's just so much to break down in this one simple sentence fragment that I don't even know where to begin. I don't have the time to go through the whole thing right now and pick it apart, but I really liked the part where Fred made it almost sound as though the Arcade1UP mini-cabinets were an Atari SA product. This was a seriously softball interview, damn near to the point of being a free commercial for Atari SA. It runs in the first five or six minutes of the video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atVB_l5n-yA&feature=youtu.be&t=1040 (You'll have to make with the clicky on that one; apparently YouTube doesn't allow it to be embedded.) Edited October 16, 2019 by x=usr(1536) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColecoJoe Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 I can't find anything Atari related on that destech website so I'm not sure where he would be presenting. Perhaps at a hotel room near the event? This conference doesn't seem to have anything game related that I can see. 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 (edited) 19 minutes ago, ColecoJoe said: I can't find anything Atari related on that destech website so I'm not sure where he would be presenting. Perhaps at a hotel room near the event? This conference doesn't seem to have anything game related that I can see. Yep. If I had to guess, it'll either be a repeat of the GDC off-site hotel suite fiasco, or they may have someone at a table in a breakout area. I don't see them listed as a sponsor or vendor on the DesTechAZ site either, so it has to be a completely informal presence. Still, of all the conferences to latch onto... This one really does not look like a winner. Edited October 16, 2019 by x=usr(1536) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lodmot Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 1 minute ago, x=usr(1536) said: Yep. If I had to guess, it'll either be a repeat of the GDC off-site hotel suite fiasco, or they may have someone at a table in a breakout area. I don't see them listed as a sponsor or vendor on the DesTechAZ site either, so it has to be a completely informal presence. Still, of all the conferences to latch onto... This one really does not look like a winner. It definitely seems like they've shifted their focus to marketing it as a Linux PC/HTPC/IoT device instead of a game console. Their marketing for it as a game console was non-existent anyway. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 1 minute ago, Lodmot said: It definitely seems like they've shifted their focus to marketing it as a Linux PC/HTPC/IoT device instead of a game console. Their marketing for it as a game console was non-existent anyway. Agreed on the focus shift to HTPC, which I believe happened because they found out that implementing a UI suitable for a console takes time, money, and effort. Even the official subreddit describes it as, "the home entertainment system of the future." However, I'm not with you on Atari SA not marketing it as a game console. The Indiegogo campaign slogan was, "Atari VCS: Game, Stream, Connect Like Never Before"; they're even still using, "Game, Stream, Connect" as the title for atarivcs.com. If gaming wasn't their justification for its existence, the word "game" wouldn't be appearing as often as it does in their copy. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lodmot Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 1 minute ago, x=usr(1536) said: Agreed on the focus shift to HTPC, which I believe happened because they found out that implementing a UI suitable for a console takes time, money, and effort. Even the official subreddit describes it as, "the home entertainment system of the future." However, I'm not with you on Atari SA not marketing it as a game console. The Indiegogo campaign slogan was, "Atari VCS: Game, Stream, Connect Like Never Before"; they're even still using, "Game, Stream, Connect" as the title for atarivcs.com. If gaming wasn't their justification for its existence, the word "game" wouldn't be appearing as often as it does in their copy. Touche. ;3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 Partial transcript; emphasis mine: Cheddar: You're headed to a tech conference hosted by the original Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak. So what will we expect from that conference? Chesnais: So, I'm going there first .. *cough* .. I'm not sure people know that, but Steve Jobs and Steven Wozniak were employees of Atari at the very, very beginning. And by the way, talking about "retro gaming", if you look at the credits of Breakout--the first breaktrhough game--um, the lead designers are Steve Jobs and Steven Wozniak ... Cheddar: Wow. On the original, huh? Chesnais: Yep, the original founders of Apple. So we see, by the way, on the iPhone at the very beginning you had the [Cheddar overtalk]. We kind of felt they had the special connection with that game; which is true. So I'm going there because Steven Wozniak is hosting the big tech conference and I will be showing him the new VCS; the new console. We'll be talking to him about the next step for the console. So, this is why we're flying down there. And it's in Scottsdale, Arizona. So you can expect more from us in the next two days. But it's very funny, you know, how these guys like 45 years ago created basically the industry, and now they're still relevant in their own field. But, yeah, we have more games created by these guys in the catalog and it's pretty pretty cool [?]. Cheddar: Exciting to say the least! It's so interesting to see how things come full circle, especially when it comes to Steve Jobs and also with Steve Wozniak. And with him, you'll be presenting alongside with him. So, what does this experience mean to you? Especially when they were the developers behind Breakout, and now it's like oh, it's all coming back around again? Chesnais: Yeah, I think--to your point-- it's come around full circle. We have the Atari 2600. We're going to show the VCS. We created these games which are still played today. I think it's part of a big move at the industry. This is just, you know, Fortnite today--back to Fortnite--this is just one, you know, milestone because the industry's growing. Cheddar: Right Chesnais: Sports. I think you'll see games that are, you know--records are made to be broken, right? Cheddar: Right. Chesnais: so, you'll see--you'll see. There's going to be a game. It's gonna be bigger than any other game and this is why we love the industry. Because you can create and you can do stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atVB_l5n-yA&feature=youtu.be&t=1040 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 53 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said: I don't have the time to go through the whole thing right now and pick it apart, but I really liked the part where Fred made it almost sound as though the Arcade1UP mini-cabinets were an Atari SA product. This was a seriously softball interview, damn near to the point of being a free commercial for Atari SA. It runs in the first five or six minutes of the video below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atVB_l5n-yA&feature=youtu.be&t=1040 (You'll have to make with the clicky on that one; apparently YouTube doesn't allow it to be embedded.) May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits for getting me (or anyone else) to click on that link. They may have streamed it live, but it's from July 19, 2019 (says so on the video) and it's the same old awkward Fred drivel that we've seen on Fox Business News. He gets some more words in since Stuart Varney isn't there to ask him if it will play Pac-Man, which IMHO makes it a little bit worse. Here's some happy news, the stock price is still in the toilet, right where they left it after their "brief statement." 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted October 16, 2019 Share Posted October 16, 2019 No, Fred, Wozniak was never an Atari employee. Sweet baby Jesus. 3 2 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