Bill Loguidice Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Target? Oh, like the Target-exclusive Oregon Trail handheld? Sheesh, I hope not. Though I would be all over a dedicated X-wing/TIE Fighter handheld if it were handled well, with custom controls and a cool case. I have the Oregon Trail handheld and liked it a lot (review link). I definitely think there's a future in this form factor/style as long as you target the right games (Carmen Sandiego was one that immediately came to mind). Certainly the Star Wars games and the like would easily fit that mold, although those HAVE been explored quite aggressively in various plug and plays already, albeit not in the more sophisticated form of X-Wing/Tie Fighter. Still, at least until too many of these get released, I'd definitely be down with a few more single game, "deluxe" handhelds like the Oregon Trail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Up until recently, I had a few Telstar Arcades. The multi-function control panel and add-ons were undeniably neat, but it's also undeniable that it's little more sophisticated than your typical all-in-one color Pong system. There's really little redeeming about any of the games, making it one of only a handful of systems I'd say to absolutely pass on unless you're a collector of interesting historical novelties. For comparison, other consoles I'd say should be a hard pass for the vast majority of people except under particular circumstances/desire includes the RCA Studio II and APF M/MP1000. The former doesn't do much and has oddball controls, and the latter has only one game worth bothering with, Space Destroyers (a solid Space Invaders clone, but nothing more), which is naturally one of the harder games to acquire for a reasonable price. Only worth it if you can imagine yourself in 1977 with this "thing" that came with a steering wheel, gun and pong controllers installed, and the triangular carts. Although, I suppose that could apply to anything "elaborate" at the time, like the Atari VCS or the "more arcade oriented" ColecoVision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Only worth it if you can imagine yourself in 1977 with this "thing" that came with a steering wheel, gun and pong controllers installed, and the triangular carts. Although, I suppose that could apply to anything "elaborate" at the time, like the Atari VCS or the "more arcade oriented" ColecoVision. The only one that may still be worth it today to get in the Telstar line-up for the average vintage gaming enthusiast is Telstar Combat!: Although I would think the relative primitive nature of the games (basically the Tank games from Combat) might still be a turn-off after a while: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zylon Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 I'm thinking a GameGear or Lynx handheld w/TV out would also be decent possibilities. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 I'm thinking a GameGear or Lynx handheld w/TV out would also be decent possibilities. A Game Gear/SMS handheld is possible to happen again (thanks mostly to there being plenty of Sonic games), but Lynx is not. Atari only has a handful of Lynx releases still in their IP catalog and most people don't even remember the Lynx as actually existing. It's just not a viable mass market product candidate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Picking up on something already stated in the thread, a device specifically designed to run SCUMM VM with a few games on it would be really neat. There are ways to do that on tablets and PCs of course, but something dedicated would grab my attention for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Certainly the Star Wars games and the like would easily fit that mold, although those HAVE been explored quite aggressively in various plug and plays already, albeit not in the more sophisticated form of X-Wing/Tie Fighter. Unfortunately all the Star Wars plug-n-plays to date have not been very good. I want something more like this. Of course, considering I'm unwilling to pay a modest $200 for Playstation VR, I can keep on wishing. The only one that may still be worth it today to get in the Telstar line-up for the average vintage gaming enthusiast is Telstar Combat!: That thing looks great for SEGA's Virtual On! Stick a powerful Android-on-a-chip system in there and emulate the Dreamcast version of VOOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 Picking up on something already stated in the thread, a device specifically designed to run SCUMM VM with a few games on it would be really neat. There are ways to do that on tablets and PCs of course, but something dedicated would grab my attention for sure. I'm gonna stick an Android tablet into a young coconut and install the Monkey Island games. How much would you pay? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 That thing looks great for SEGA's Virtual On! Stick a powerful Android-on-a-chip system in there and emulate the Dreamcast version of VOOT. That might actually not be a bad idea. Have other tank control games like Battlezone on there and that might be a pretty appealing mass market product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 I'm gonna stick an Android tablet into a young coconut and install the Monkey Island games. How much would you pay? I will commit to it "grabbing my attention." At least for a short time. I dunno if it would grab any of my cash though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 An Atari 2600/5200/7800/400/800/etc console would give name recognition plus a potentially huge library. Pick and choose the best version of each classic game, and/or have other versions on a hidden menu. You could call it the Ataribox (ducks and runs) but seriously, this should meet the requirements and give us collectors something fresh. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 I'm surprised no one has made a Hi-Def pinball plug and play of some sort. Could be a controller that has flipper buttons spaced out the same distance as a real table, plays pinball arcade, something like that. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 I'm surprised no one has made a Hi-Def pinball plug and play of some sort. Could be a controller that has flipper buttons spaced out the same distance as a real table, plays pinball arcade, something like that. There's a SD one, I own it. Kind of a standard controller type shape. You can see the mostly useless amazon listing for it here: https://www.amazon.com/Plug-Play-Classic-Arcade-Pinball/dp/B0001GBRNW It has 3 tables, saves the scores if I remember right. Has a pinball plunger in the middle of it to simulate the pull back when firing off the ball to start each time. Jakks Classic Arcade Pinball. There is a youtube video here you can view and it tells you how the controller works. The thing has 2 choices on flippers as well as also if you slap it, it you can bang the machine (and tilt if you get abusive with it) to nudge the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 The only one that may still be worth it today to get in the Telstar line-up for the average vintage gaming enthusiast is Telstar Combat!: Although I would think the relative primitive nature of the games (basically the Tank games from Combat) might still be a turn-off after a while: Absolutely loved this! My cousin had one and we would play for hours. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 There's a SD one, I own it. Kind of a standard controller type shape. You can see the mostly useless amazon listing for it here: https://www.amazon.com/Plug-Play-Classic-Arcade-Pinball/dp/B0001GBRNW Yep - I've got that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Nut Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 The 5200, 7800 and Jaguar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacman000 Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 For some reason I want an Astrocade Flashback. I know most of the games are clones, & I know there's limited market potential, so it'll probably never happen, but I'd still like to see it. Cassette Vision/Super Cassette Vision would be cool too. Again, probably won't happen, but I'd still like to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 For some reason I want an Astrocade Flashback. I know most of the games are clones, & I know there's limited market potential, so it'll probably never happen, but I'd still like to see it. Cassette Vision/Super Cassette Vision would be cool too. Again, probably won't happen, but I'd still like to see it. I think your only hope would be if Bally somehow woke up and decided they cared about video games again. Whatever exists of Bally today probably doesn't own any of their old properties, but if they do then there would be an outside shot at a Bally PnP that had some of the Astrocade games. I'm mainly making this comment to find out if someone knows if all the arcade stuff was somehow spun off to Midway or if Bally Technologies has any ownership of their old arcade titles. I have to say that with the popularity of these things that if they were ever going to do it, now would probably be the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted April 15, 2018 Share Posted April 15, 2018 I assumed they were part of Midway which is Warner now, but nope Bally is its own thing, focused on casinos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bally_Technologies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted April 15, 2018 Share Posted April 15, 2018 For some reason I want an Astrocade Flashback. I know most of the games are clones, & I know there's limited market potential, so it'll probably never happen, but I'd still like to see it. Cassette Vision/Super Cassette Vision would be cool too. Again, probably won't happen, but I'd still like to see it. Maybe the Japanese market for the latter, but I really don't see any scenario anywhere for the former. All-in-all, even though it seems like it, I don't think there's a generic retro nostalgia out there, but one that is focused on very specific, very high profile things. That's why we continue to see the same things get released/lionized. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted April 15, 2018 Share Posted April 15, 2018 I saw these recently- one game noac plug and play for under $20. Any chance Atgames might do something similar? I can't think of any Atari games with enough recognition to stand alone, but who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacman000 Posted April 15, 2018 Share Posted April 15, 2018 Asteroids & Missile Command might have enough recognition to stand alone, but these 1 game systems never seem like a good deal to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxdrive Posted April 15, 2018 Author Share Posted April 15, 2018 On the topic of this thread, I'd be happy to pass on any really good suggestions directly to the powers-that-be at AtGames, who are always eager to listen to new ideas (and you'll see a lot of cool stuff from us later this year - hopefully the announcements for most of it will happen before E3). The caveat is you have to think from a reasonably large number of available licenseable games (and the bigger the names, the better) and work your way back from there to the actual platform or platforms. We're also looking into the DIY/edu-kit space, so if you have any suggestions around that, again, I'd be happy to pass any of the solid ideas on. Would that be like a raspberry PI kind of thing a kit to put together your own handheld? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxdrive Posted April 15, 2018 Author Share Posted April 15, 2018 I saw these recently- one game noac plug and play for under $20. Any chance Atgames might do something similar? I can't think of any Atari games with enough recognition to stand alone, but who knows? WP_20180415_11_19_31_Pro.jpg I saw those too they look so bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 Yeah, a Super Cassette Vision Flashback is to me as far away as an Acorn Electron Flashback would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.