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Atari Interviews Related to the Modern VCS (Post Release)

justclaws

By justclaws
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Posted by SabertoothRetro,

I was able to listen in to a live chat on the Official VCS Discord with Atari's marketing head, David Lowery to discuss the delay on the VCS.  Apparently some last minute bugs have delayed the release. Digital Eclipse are working on a resolution.  Atari will give VCS users a $10 discount on the title the first 24 hours that it's available in the VCS store. No timeline/ETA for release other than "imminent."    He also spoke more broadly about the VCS and plans for 2023.  Here were some
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justclaws River Patroller

justclaws

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I thought it would be useful to collect together Atari interviews, relating to modern VCS, going forward.
I will update and add links here, as these interviews may not be direct VCS related, but interesting news.

(All original posts merged into this thread.)

Wade Rosen (Atari CEO, 2021 -)
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-09-29-how-ataris-new-ceo-is-looking-to-recharge-the-brand

Michael Arzt (Atari COO, Connected Devices)
...
https://www.shacknews.com/article/127747/atari-vcs-deep-dive-interview-with-coo-michael-artz

Jean-Marcel Nicolai (Atari COO, Atari Games)
https://80.lv/articles/atari-games-present-future-and-upcoming-titles/

David Lowey (Marcoms and Operations for Atari VCS and Atari Video Games)
https://gamingbolt.com/centipede-recharged-interview-development-changes-improvements-and-more?

Frederick Chesnais (Former CEO and a major share-holder)
TBA

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adamchevy River Patroller

adamchevy

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I like the idea of Atari focusing on real games again instead of games that are just a momentary distraction.  It would be great to see them create their own in house development team again focused on this new style of older games like Centipede Recharged.  If they did that for a few years then maybe they could reclaim some of their old glory.  If atariage isnt an indication that theirs an interest than I dont know what is.  

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MarcelM Space Invader

MarcelM

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Sounds to me like a wise and balanced strategy that is aimed  at long term survival with chances of great succes but not as the ultimate goal. I like what I read, especially if it is really true that they listen to the fans. I guess the near future should prove that. 

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swlovinist River Patroller

+swlovinist

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I just read the newest interview, and did enjoy it overall.   One thing that I have said several times is that Atari needs to do a better job at scheduling releases with the public and letting others know when those are coming.   I have disliked the drip feed of games that have trickled out for the VCS.   I feel that this is something that they could improve upon to encourage to others that games are coming and when.    It can be frustrating to those that spent $400 on a console not knowing when the next game releases to expect.  Flashback Fridays are good, but the VCS needs more than that.  

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Djmicklovin Chopper Commander

Djmicklovin

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On 1/16/2022 at 4:20 AM, swlovinist said:

I just read the newest interview, and did enjoy it overall.   One thing that I have said several times is that Atari needs to do a better job at scheduling releases with the public and letting others know when those are coming.   I have disliked the drip feed of games that have trickled out for the VCS.   I feel that this is something that they could improve upon to encourage to others that games are coming and when.    It can be frustrating to those that spent $400 on a console not knowing when the next game releases to expect.  Flashback Fridays are good, but the VCS needs more than that.  

I agree with you and that's why I believe they have shifted their business strategy back to focusing on premium, first party games for the VCS. They have made announcements for their own inhouse developed games like the Recharged Series, and reimagined games like Food Fight. The problem is they have made announcements and promises for third party games in the past that still haven't happened yet, like Tempest 4K and others. I don't think they make game announcements or promises for third party games that aren't 100% certain are coming to the VCS anymore because it angers fans and it makes the company look bad for not following through on promises. 

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swlovinist River Patroller

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2 hours ago, Djmicklovin said:

I agree with you and that's why I believe they have shifted their business strategy back to focusing on premium, first party games for the VCS. They have made announcements for their own inhouse developed games like the Recharged Series, and reimagined games like Food Fight. The problem is they have made announcements and promises for third party games in the past that still haven't happened yet, like Tempest 4K and others. I don't think they make game announcements or promises for third party games that aren't 100% certain are coming to the VCS anymore because it angers fans and it makes the company look bad for not following through on promises. 

Yeah, its now February, and we are getting Breakout Recharged next week, but nothing else scheduled.    When other companies are having daily scheduled releases, this has to change for them to even be relevant.   They are promoting this year to be big, I just think they need to do a better job at telling people what is coming.   At this point, only the die hard fans are going to be interested in the VCS as a serious platform.   

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Djmicklovin Chopper Commander

Djmicklovin

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On 2/2/2022 at 11:41 PM, swlovinist said:

Yeah, its now February, and we are getting Breakout Recharged next week, but nothing else scheduled.    When other companies are having daily scheduled releases, this has to change for them to even be relevant.   They are promoting this year to be big, I just think they need to do a better job at telling people what is coming.   At this point, only the die hard fans are going to be interested in the VCS as a serious platform.   

Yeah I agree, there is a lack of passion and their marketing team and management are so like nonchalant about it. There's no sense of urgency there. Even on their social media pages, they're pushing games for the Switch and every other console but their own VCS. Like wtf? It doesn't make any sense. They need to start giving people a reason to buy a VCS, give us timed exclusives or something! From a business standpoint I understand the Switch has a much bigger audience but it's counterproductive for their own platform. There are still a lot of Atari fans and people want to support it. They shouldn't have to leave it up to the fans to find out about these games. The fans are basically running this company and doing the marketing for them.

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Atarick Chopper Commander

Atarick

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27 minutes ago, Djmicklovin said:

Yeah I agree, there is a lack of passion and their marketing team and management are so like nonchalant about it. There's no sense of urgency there. Even on their social media pages, they're pushing games for the Switch and every other console but their own VCS. Like wtf? It doesn't make any sense. They need to start giving people a reason to buy a VCS, give us timed exclusives or something! From a business standpoint I understand the Switch has a much bigger audience but it's counterproductive for their own platform. There are still a lot of Atari fans and people want to support it. They shouldn't have to leave it up to the fans to find out about these games. The fans are basically running this company and doing the marketing for them.

In a way I get it. If there are, purely estimating, 15-20k VCS sold vs 10M Switches, it's stupid to emphasize the former. But at least show something, anything that anchors it to your brand and attracts consummers to it. VCS pre-order periods, early releases, bonus levels and power ups, built in retro games, something. Give something back to the Atari VCS owners when they buy an Atari game.

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Djmicklovin Chopper Commander

Djmicklovin

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Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, Atarick said:

In a way I get it. If there are, purely estimating, 15-20k VCS sold vs 10M Switches, it's stupid to emphasize the former. But at least show something, anything that anchors it to your brand and attracts consummers to it. VCS pre-order periods, early releases, bonus levels and power ups, built in retro games, something. Give something back to the Atari VCS owners when they buy an Atari game.

Yeah I mean, i'm so tired of hearing about the Nintendo Switch to be quite honest. It's like gaming on a crappy, clunky iPad. It's just not for me. I don't understand what the big hype is all about and i'm a guy that grew up playing Super Nintendo, I was a Nintendo kid. What Atari should do is give people more early release demos so people can do beta testing and provide feedback instead of surprising fans at the last minute of upcoming releases. 

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SabertoothRetro Dragonstomper

+SabertoothRetro

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To be fair, Atari's main social has been promoting VCS a lot more in recent months. Previously, that was left almost entirely to the AtariVCS socials. It was unfortunate that they retweeted the Forbes article instead of the others with VCS in the title but 100M+ users vs. 20k. I get it.

 

- The revamped Recharged titles up until Breakout have had VCS exclusive challenges.

 

- Food Fight is to be a timed exclusive. 

 

- PONG and Atari Mania have been announced.

 

- 4 more Recharged titles confirmed underway.

 

-  And now Tempest 4K... which is better late than never.

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Djmicklovin Chopper Commander

Djmicklovin

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21 minutes ago, SabertoothRetro said:

To be fair, Atari's main social has been promoting VCS a lot more in recent months. Previously, that was left almost entirely to the AtariVCS socials. It was unfortunate that they retweeted the Forbes article instead of the others with VCS in the title but 100M+ users vs. 20k. I get it.

 

- The revamped Recharged titles up until Breakout have had VCS exclusive challenges.

 

- Food Fight is to be a timed exclusive. 

 

- PONG and Atari Mania have been announced.

 

- 4 more Recharged titles confirmed underway.

 

-  And now Tempest 4K... which is better late than never.

Wade Rosen has done a good job so far getting the ship headed in the right direction. The VCS seems to have turned the corner with him at the helm. There is a better sense of direction and more of a focus on games again and things that made Atari successful in the first place. He is younger and bringing fresh, new ideas to Atari which is what the company badly needed. Don't get me wrong, I love the classics but if they want to grow as a brand and bring in younger audiences, they need to start working on new IPs as well. Not just rehashes of old games. They're doing better but there's still a lot more to be done.

Edited by Djmicklovin
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