How much longer will the Atari VCS be on the market?

[Keatah]

The recharged series looks like it might be ok. And the controllers are slick. But consider me a hardcore PC enthusiast - not necessarily for modern AAA titles however.

[stirrell]

4 hours ago, Keatah said:

The recharged series looks like it might be ok. And the controllers are slick. But consider me a hardcore PC enthusiast - not necessarily for modern AAA titles however.

I personally really like the Recharged series and am pretty excited about Gravitar. If one of the titles appeals to you, I would definitely recommend checking it out. In the past they have made a couple titles free on the Epic store so you might want to watch to see if they do that again with other titles. I’m sure that would get mentioned here as well.

 

I think it would be great if they added Classic Controller support to the PC versions of the games and used that to try to sell more controllers. I assume that the twist function isn’t in the PC versions of the game…

[leech]

5 hours ago, Keatah said:

The 2600 is what started Activision and Imagic. Games like Combat, Surround, Street Racer, Human Canonball, Sky Diver, Video Pinball, Miniature Golf.. And so much more.. Were utterly groundbreaking and loads of fun. Anything from the first few pre-1981 cartoony catalogs was cool.

Ha, I mean it was Warner Communications buying Atari that eventually created Activision from the ashes of corporate involvement.  Amusing now that they have been acquired by MS.

[leech]

57 minutes ago, stirrell said:

I personally really like the Recharged series and am pretty excited about Gravitar. If one of the titles appeals to you, I would definitely recommend checking it out. In the past they have made a couple titles free on the Epic store so you might want to watch to see if they do that again with other titles. I’m sure that would get mentioned here as well.

 

I think it would be great if they added Classic Controller support to the PC versions of the games and used that to try to sell more controllers. I assume that the twist function isn’t in the PC versions of the game…

I am surprised more people don't buy the Joystick for Stella / A8 emulation.

[Keatah]

Same. they may not know it's compatible or don't wanna fuss with setting it up. A bit more involved than just plugging in a DB9.

[leech]

7 hours ago, WAVE 1 GAMES said:

Once Valve releases SteamOS to download, it would be a perfect dual boot for that!

[MrMaddog]

2 hours ago, leech said:

I am surprised more people don't buy the Joystick for Stella / A8 emulation.

 

I'd like to, but I don't know if anymore will be made... ?

[stirrell]

44 minutes ago, MrMaddog said:

I'd like to, but I don't know if anymore will be made...

You can get them through Best Buy or directly through Atari assuming you are in the US. 
 

Also, if you are looking for a cheaper USB joystick option (but no twist function), you can look at the Hyperkin Trooper 2.

 

I think it would be cool if Atari added Classic controller support for Breakout and Pong Quest for PC and offered Steam codes for those games with purchase of a controller.

[zzip]

11 hours ago, WAVE 1 GAMES said:

First of all, I am in love with it. But not for the reasons that are getting thrown around in this thread. About 20 years ago I had an idea to build the smallest windows PC I could and load that bitch up with a ton of emulators and ROMS and ISOS. It would have connected to a tv via RCA cables and used wireless controllers and would have been my go to system for playing all of my favorite games from the past via emulation.

I called this little box the emulation station.

I found a few parts and cases and even a video card that was good at the time that had RCA jacks on it. But I never finished the project. It never saw fruition. I really wanted something like that.

 

Holy shit here comes Atari years later proposing something similar and it will also have a console mode with new Atari branded games? I backed the funding and I was in.

this has been my interest as well.

 

There have been other consoles that you can extend the life of by installing Linux or a homebrew channel or whatever.   But those are usually supported by a small community and if you want to install anything not in their repo then it requires a bunch of work on your part.  You have to build not just the intended application, but often a whole set of libraries to support it and sometimes the toolchains too.

 

What I like about the VCS is it's built off mainstream components.   You can install a mainstream Linux or Windows and it just works.   It detects all included components, any fancy controller or USB device you plug-in.   You can get games off the Windows App Store,  Steam, GoG, Linux Repos and it works with minimal effort.  Plus all the emulators.

 

This hardware will be fully supported by Linux/Windows for years to come even if Atari dropped support tomorrow.   That's what makes this different than other consoles detractors like to compare it to.

[Mockduck]

I get that for Atari and people who presumably own stock in Atari how many units sold and such are important, but the relative success in the wider market is of little interest to me, and never has been. More important that they get the device right than it sells big, at least this time around, and I think they largely did better than expected by a mile. If the thing truly died today with no further support I will have had my money's worth and then some, and I get no personal worth out of the like or dislike of a thing by others, so I'm good. 

 

Would - I - buy a VCS 2.0 with more RAM and a significantly better CPU/GPU? Heck yeah. Bring it on. There's at least a few thousand of us that will as well.

[Leonard Smith]

2 hours ago, Mockduck said:

I get that for Atari and people who presumably own stock in Atari how many units sold and such are important, but the relative success in the wider market is of little interest to me, and never has been. More important that they get the device right than it sells big, at least this time around, and I think they largely did better than expected by a mile. If the thing truly died today with no further support I will have had my money's worth and then some, and I get no personal worth out of the like or dislike of a thing by others, so I'm good. 

 

Would - I - buy a VCS 2.0 with more RAM and a significantly better CPU/GPU? Heck yeah. Bring it on. There's at least a few thousand of us that will as well.

I suppose.  The whole "it's a PC too" angle is fine, but the reality is that it was released as a console first and foremost.

Personally, for $300 I would rather put that money towards a Surface Go or Ipad.
 

[Leonard Smith]

4 hours ago, leech said:

Once Valve releases SteamOS to download, it would be a perfect dual boot for that!

So those VCS joysticks.

How bad is the travel is on those sticks? 

 

Is there some resistance like CX-40 or are is kind of loose and floppy like someone pasted on a long stick attachment to an analog thumbstick?

 

[Mockduck]

3 minutes ago, Leonard Smith said:

So those VCS joysticks.

How bad is the travel is on those sticks? 

 

Is there some resistance like CX-40 or are is kind of loose and floppy like someone pasted on a long stick attachment to an analog thumbstick?

 

They don't have much resistance, and no travel to speak of I have noticed, but they aren't loose, either. While they tend to encourage a lighter touch than the jamming of the old sticks, the stick snaps back and is nice and responsive. Is great for games like Cosmic Ark, for example, in addition to more regular use of the stick. They aren't delicate exactly, but you don't want to treat it like a CX-40 that's for sure. 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Mockduck

[+remowilliams]

1 hour ago, Leonard Smith said:

Is there some resistance like CX-40 or are is kind of loose and floppy like someone pasted on a long stick attachment to an analog thumbstick?

 

They have a 'loose' feel similar to the CX-10s, not the tightness of the CX-40s.

[E. King]

I hope the VCS goes strong for a long time but I think even if it does not there will somehow be a strong homebrew scene for it so either way I think it will be a win for us VCS owners.

[Cebus Capucinis]

I think even those of us who are not enamoured with it want it to stick around. If it does crash and burn, I do hope it ends up like the Ouya with an open source store, etc.

[THX-1138]

On 4/28/2022 at 2:06 AM, Leonard Smith said:

And yes, we do come to Atari Age to discuss ATARI.  Not this French-owned travesty that's banking on gullible fools like yourself.

Atari is Atari, no matter who owns it.  We live in a capitalist system, Atari is a brand to be bought and sold, it always was and always will be.

It is also disingenuous to attack people who support Atari and their efforts with the VCS as gullible fools.  I am not a fool, I enjoyed Atari products in the past and I am glad to have a modern Atari computer that does everything I want it to do.  Neither I or anyone here on this VCS section of an Atari forum should have to explain or defend that choice to anyone who thinks otherwise.

 

 

[zzip]

41 minutes ago, THX-1138 said:

Atari is Atari, no matter who owns it.  We live in a capitalist system, Atari is a brand to be bought and sold, it always was and always will be.

Atari has changed hands so many times and we've debated about what constitutes "the real Atari" before.   All I have to say to this silly debate is this:  ?

[Keatah]

Says and discussing why one may like or dislike a certain piece of atari hardware shouldn't be offensive. It's why we're here. To discuss.

 

What happened to jaybird3rd anyways?

Always thought he was the most level-headed moderator whom would explain by example. Educating the users!

[suspicious_milk]

I don't own one, but have been watching them close.

 

I mean this in every way, good and bad:

 

The Atari VCS is the best Chromebox on the market, hands down --- even though it doesn't ship with ChromeOS.

 

I may still get one.  I run Linux anywayz, love SFF PCs, love anything Atari, & have meager desktop demands.  Just waiting on a price drop I think, cause I'd definitely be upgrading the RAM & M.2.

[leech]

16 hours ago, zzip said:

Atari has changed hands so many times and we've debated about what constitutes "the real Atari" before.   All I have to say to this silly debate is this:  ?

Seriously.   Wonder how many shouted from their basements when Atari was bought by Warner... or they basically sold to 'the enemy', ex Commodore founder, Jack Tramiel?  How about when Hasbro owned them?  Or do you follow the Arcade division?  At least it seems like someone is giving an attempt to get the brand to mean something again, the last time that was a thing was probably sometime before the Jaguar came out.  Even when it came out, a lot of people thought it would fail.  The Atari name just wasn't the household name anymore for video games.  Nintendo and Sega basically owned that. 

In the end, Americans didn't succeed with the Brand, why not let some others try?

[Leonard Smith]

On 4/29/2022 at 1:54 PM, zzip said:

Atari has changed hands so many times and we've debated about what constitutes "the real Atari" before.   All I have to say to this silly debate is this:  ?

He's just a figurehead at this point - a sort of Mike Kennedy, if you will.  Doubt he has any real involvement (and probably hasn't even tried the thing) and is just posing as a mascot.  

He should also be taking life easy and doing healthful things such as yoga or tai chi rather than involve himself in this project.  I guess money talks?

[Matt_B]

Bushnell has had no meaningful involvement with Atari since 1978, bar a short stint as a director in 2010 just prior to the bankruptcy of that particular incarnation. He just loves a good photo op.

 

Not that it would make a lot of difference if he did. Hands up who can name anything he did after Chuck E Cheese without looking it up? ?

 

[pacman000]

Androbot. Teddy Rupskin. Secret Quest. Save Marry.

 

A weird robot cat thing that followed you around.

 

An RC dog.

Some sort of arcade table which was too big to get out of the workshop they built it in. (I think.) 

Edited May 2, 2022 by pacman000

[zzip]

On 4/30/2022 at 6:36 AM, leech said:

Seriously.   Wonder how many shouted from their basements when Atari was bought by Warner... or they basically sold to 'the enemy',

I don't think Atari was really a household name until the 2600,  so I doubt many people had an opinion yet.   Coin-Op manufacturers don't have the kind of brand loyalty home console makers do,  so until then I think Atari was just another name people saw in the arcade.

 

12 hours ago, Leonard Smith said:

He's just a figurehead at this point - a sort of Mike Kennedy, if you will.  Doubt he has any real involvement (and probably hasn't even tried the thing) and is just posing as a mascot.  

He should also be taking life easy and doing healthful things such as yoga or tai chi rather than involve himself in this project.  I guess money talks?

I don't think he was involved in any big way, he just has some kind of consulting relationship with the current doing who knows what.   I guess the point is more if Nolan has no issue with the current Atari, then why do so many others get bent out of shape about it in see it as illegitimate?