revhappy Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Seems like AT Games is doing a cash grab. Hastily throwing out poorly designed products for the full holiday shopping season. Its sad that the only one compelling Blast product is a total bust. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekkiELO Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) The good thing about these is most retailers like Walmart, Target, etc. have pretty liberal return policies. If Walmart stocks these in their toy department (like the mini arcades) then they have a 90-day return window instead of 15 days for electronics. But Walmart has been moving their stock of all these from the Toy department to Electronics. Edited October 23, 2018 by TrekkiELO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 I'm reposting my response to John's video because this is the lowest for AtGames. You know, it's bad enough ATgames sends a half finished product for reviews but doing a bait & switch tactic like that is pure bull! They can't compete against the NES Minis (especially since Sega pulled their licesnse now) so now they resort to making cheap plug & plays running on NOACs. And it makes reviewers like John look bad who recommended a product that will never be sold. Shame on AtGames and I hope Namco pulls the license away and forces the product off the shelves. They deserve to be "down there" along with the Coleco Chamelion...? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I'm reposting my response to John's video because this is the lowest for AtGames. You know, it's bad enough ATgames sends a half finished product for reviews but doing a bait & switch tactic like that is pure bull! They can't compete against the NES Minis (especially since Sega pulled their licesnse now) so now they resort to making cheap plug & plays running on NOACs. And it makes reviewers like John look bad who recommended a product that will never be sold. Shame on AtGames and I hope Namco pulls the license away and forces the product off the shelves. They deserve to be "down there" along with the Coleco Chamelion...? Not half-finished, not a bait and switch (frankly, that makes no sense), not competing against the NES/SNES Minis, not running NOACs, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Not half-finished, not a bait and switch (frankly, that makes no sense), not competing against the NES/SNES Minis, not running NOACs, etc. And apparently, NOT any damn good! Sorry Bill, you made that too easy. Nothing personal 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 (edited) ...so now they resort to making cheap plug & plays running on NOACs.NOAC would have a better framerate Edited October 24, 2018 by Asaki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+swlovinist Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Here is a link to my review of of the retail ATames Blast(NES roms) and my thoughts on it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romeoteknik Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Great job John, I doubt they will put a sticker to identify these aren't arcade roms. They are already made and expect casuals and folks looking for stocking stuffers to purchase this. Such a shame. It's laughable that it can't even run the NES roms properly. Also, check out the fake positive reviews on Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bandai-Namco-Flashback-Blast-Pac-Man-PAC-MANIA-Retro-Gaming-Yellow-818858029629/370082388 3 of the positive reviews all have this: "I am writing this review as part of a contest" Seems shady to me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 If I were to take a stab in the dark here, I'd presume that AtGames decided the original hardware was too costly and went with the Monkey King chip commonly used in cheap tablets and other disposable technology. (ETA Prime disassembled the Blast and examined its hardware... this was his conclusion as well.) They noticed it wasn't going to run arcade games worth a crap and dug up some NES emulator to take its place, not terribly concerned with its performance or the gap in quality between the real thing and the NES imitations. Pac-Man is Pac-Man, right? Who's gonna notice? Then they sent their PR rep to sites like this to make excuses and try to pacify gamers who do notice the difference between arcade games and their NES counterparts. "Oh, we wouldn't do this on purpose! What kind of company would do that?" A company exactly like AtGames. Frankly, they haven't been picky about the quality of their products before. Their plug and plays have consistently been among the most disappointing in the industry, and they haven't shown much inclination in improving them. How long did they coast on their flawed Firecore technology? Years and years. Their first serious attempt to address Firecore's issues was disappointing too, running on an emulator that's inferior to others for Android devices. AtGames promised their next Flashback HD would be better, but how many years are we supposed to wait, and how many products are we supposed to buy, until they get it right? Sega must have asked themselves this and passed development of the Mega Drive Mini to another developer. They didn't fall for this stalling tactic. You shouldn't either. AtGames doesn't care about quality. This has all been about the retro gaming gold rush... this should be clear after eight years of inferior products. There's nothing wrong with giving someone a second chance, but this has been a long-established pattern of behavior for AtGames, and I don't see it changing any time soon. We've been getting a lot of talk from PR reps, but I'd much rather see quality products than the empty promise of such. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HatNJ Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Great job John, I doubt they will put a sticker to identify these aren't arcade roms. They are already made and expect casuals and folks looking for stocking stuffers to purchase this. Such a shame. It's laughable that it can't even run the NES roms properly. Also, check out the fake positive reviews on Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bandai-Namco-Flashback-Blast-Pac-Man-PAC-MANIA-Retro-Gaming-Yellow-818858029629/370082388 3 of the positive reviews all have this: "I am writing this review as part of a contest" Seems shady to me. What contest says to write Positive reviews regardless if they r true or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romeoteknik Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 What contest says to write Positive reviews regardless if they r true or not? Don't know, just found it odd 3 of those reviews had the same line in them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyR Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I am the previously mentioned friend of Atariboy with the problem with the fire button registering in Missile Command. In my case, it seems to be the controller*, since if I plug in the player 2 joystick into port one and use it it seems to go away. * At least I never noticed it in Space Invaders or Asteroids, but in missile command each button press is very important, so you notice something like that more. Usually I hover the crosshairs over a city and time a shot. If the button doesn't register, boom goes the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 If I were to take a stab in the dark here, I'd presume that AtGames decided the original hardware was too costly and went with the Monkey King chip commonly used in cheap tablets and other disposable technology. (ETA Prime disassembled the Blast and examined its hardware... this was his conclusion as well.) They noticed it wasn't going to run arcade games worth a crap and dug up some NES emulator to take its place, not terribly concerned with its performance or the gap in quality between the real thing and the NES imitations. We couldn't know for sure unless the original review model (with arcade ROMs) was examined. What contest says to write Positive reviews regardless if they r true or not? I know sites like Amazon Turk do things like that. Jobs will pay you money to write good reviews for things, and/or to post them at different forums. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 decent review for vol 3 blast: later -1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Good review, I may pick this one up. I don't get the short cable. I'll have to check my tv for a usb slot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negative1 Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 another good review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhjKNy9wBC0 later -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 (edited) That same fellow reviewed the pong unit but I noticed something about the sound - the circus atari bounce sounds seem different than the one posted above. If you go to the 16 minute mark of this video you can hear it (sounds like wet farts) and then compare it to the circus atari sounds of Glens Retro Show video (19:38). Could it just be the tv and it's distortion? I'm not convinced. One thing though is absolutely clear to me from watching both videos - both of those guys suck at Circus Atari. My question is, are these using Stella? I thought I read Atgames was using Stella this year or is that only for the Flashback units and not the Blast line? The reason I ask, is if it is Stella, shouldn't the sound be pretty much accurate? Edited October 26, 2018 by AtariLeaf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 That same fellow reviewed the pong unit but I noticed something about the sound - the circus atari bounce sounds seem different than the one posted above. If you go to the 16 minute mark of this video you can hear it (sounds like wet farts) and then compare it to the circus atari sounds of Glens Retro Show video (19:38). Could it just be the tv and it's distortion? I'm not convinced. One thing though is absolutely clear to me from watching both videos - both of those guys suck at Circus Atari. My question is, are these using Stella? I thought I read Atgames was using Stella this year or is that only for the Flashback units and not the Blast line? The reason I ask, is if it is Stella, shouldn't the sound be pretty much ] Stella is only in the consoles, which have the necessary horsepower to run it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwlngmad Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Very cool I really enjoy simple, no thrills review videos without fancy intros and calls to hit 'subscribe' and/or a 'like button'. To me these kind of (review) videos are what YouTube is all about. Definitely I found both reviews to be really informative, direct, to the point, and transparent. Kudos to this guy. I need to look at more of his stuff, especially when he reviews things with hand written lists and a baton of some kind That same fellow reviewed the pong unit but I noticed something about the sound - the circus atari bounce sounds seem different than the one posted above. If you go to the 16 minute mark of this video you can hear it (sounds like wet farts) and then compare it to the circus atari sounds of Glens Retro Show video (19:38). Could it just be the tv and it's distortion? I'm not convinced. One thing though is absolutely clear to me from watching both videos - both of those guys suck at Circus Atari. My question is, are these using Stella? I thought I read Atgames was using Stella this year or is that only for the Flashback units and not the Blast line? The reason I ask, is if it is Stella, shouldn't the sound be pretty much accurate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Nut Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 One thing though is absolutely clear to me from watching both videos - both of those guys suck at Circus Atari. It's very difficult on the Blast! I am much better on a real Atari 2600. The paddles just don't perform properly with that slight lag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 (edited) It's very difficult on the Blast! I am much better on a real Atari 2600. The paddles just don't perform properly with that slight lag. Which is why I'm not a fan of wireless controllers in general. That slight lag is enough to go from fun to frustration. Games like this and Kaboom need precise, pinpoint timing which is very difficult with lag. It seems the paddles for the actual flashback 9's are wired so hopefully no lag there. Edited October 27, 2018 by AtariLeaf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Nut Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 Do the Flashback's wireless joysticks also lag? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sardonyx Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 It's very difficult on the Blast! I am much better on a real Atari 2600. The paddles just don't perform properly with that slight lag. To me the paddles feel like they're slow to turn. There's some resistance that I don't remember on original paddles. The paddles from the Flashback 8 Gold Deluxe felt the same way. Almost as if turning something with a thick grease on it that slows the turning a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 To me the paddles feel like they're slow to turn. There's some resistance that I don't remember on original paddles. The paddles from the Flashback 8 Gold Deluxe felt the same way. Almost as if turning something with a thick grease on it that slows the turning a bit. Did it loosen at all over time or stay like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarifan88 Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 Do the Flashback's wireless joysticks also lag? The ones for the Flashback 8 did not lag. However the paddles for the FB8 did have noticeable lag. Hopefully this is fixed for the FB9! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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