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

[leech]

8 hours ago, zzip said:

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.

Maybe?  I mean I was like 1 or 2 years old.  But that was where they made tons of money before the 2600.  Looks like they started in '72, and released Pong, and made games for 5 years before '77 when the 2600 was released, but were bought by Warner Communications in '76.  Now we'd have to figure out how long the development time was for the 2600, but I'm betting all the engineers that became famous later for working on the 2600 were still there for it's release.  And really when you have a love for a system, it's really the love put into it from the engineers, right?  So I mean why not say 'Anything not made by Jay Miner isn't Atari!'    Also, Amiga is Atari.

[Matt_B]

So long as he got his appearance money, I doubt he would have a problem.

 

However, he's not one of the people who've been left unpaid or the target of a malicious lawsuit.

[Djmicklovin]

19 hours ago, Matt_B said:

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? ?

 

Of course he’s still involved, Atari was his baby. That’s his legacy that will be carried on long after he’s gone. It’s a shame that man doesn’t get the recognition he deserves and the fact that the Atari name has fallen into a state of derelict for decades is a travesty.

[Gunther]

A great interview with Wade Rosen, discussing ATARI XP, game preservation, and the current VCS:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/atari-game-preservation-efforts/

[Pete5125]

On 4/24/2022 at 11:11 AM, Turbo-Torch said:

Don't most companies protect their inventory by setting min/max prices with their retailers?  

Did Atari not have one with GameStop?  Or, if there was a contract, did it expire?

Either way, once something is being sold nationally at a $99 fire sale price, who in their right mind will go and pay full price later on?

And if they were selling well at a $250 price point, why practically give them away a few weeks later?  

 

I do find it funny how some think it's only because it's black and the exact same thing with a woodgrain stripe will continue to do well at $300+. 

 

I bought it, from a re seller on ebay, for around $230 after tax, I think it's probably worth $250 range, I'm sure it was someone that got them for 99bucks from gamestop, saying that they sell new for 400, yet 250 seems to be going rate on ebay, just saying we're about 2 months in on reselling new units and they are still available.  It's definitely a bomb, like Jaguar when the mkt was hot for them that very short window, Atari couldn't get them out the door, I remember 3 yrs or so ago, abuddy said his son might want one for Christmas it be cool to play new games on a system he had as a kid, I had to tell him won't be out this year.

 

The system while a cool idea is also about 75% complete for those old time gamers, it still glitches after updates, and isn't the easiest thing to use, wii did the same game store yet made it easy to operate.

I've had it lock up just trying to buy old 7800 games, netflix and hulu, the things I used to sell the machine to my wife, will be impossible for her to use with the weird mouse remote, nbc/universal let me load the app but go to pick a show and  not compatible with Atari Linux.

 

Saying that I play with it nightly and still haven't cracked into half the stuff it can do, I do like it, but like I was with Atari Jaguar, I had hoped Atari Finally figured it out, they didn't they spent nothing on play testing and haven't advertised.  Gamestop employees nor general public have no idea this exist.

[Pete5125]

On 5/1/2022 at 11:00 PM, Matt_B said:

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? ?

 

He did stick his name on some games in the late 80s too.

[leech]

1 hour ago, Pete5125 said:

I bought it, from a re seller on ebay, for around $230 after tax, I think it's probably worth $250 range, I'm sure it was someone that got them for 99bucks from gamestop, saying that they sell new for 400, yet 250 seems to be going rate on ebay, just saying we're about 2 months in on reselling new units and they are still available.  It's definitely a bomb, like Jaguar when the mkt was hot for them that very short window, Atari couldn't get them out the door, I remember 3 yrs or so ago, abuddy said his son might want one for Christmas it be cool to play new games on a system he had as a kid, I had to tell him won't be out this year.

 

The system while a cool idea is also about 75% complete for those old time gamers, it still glitches after updates, and isn't the easiest thing to use, wii did the same game store yet made it easy to operate.

I've had it lock up just trying to buy old 7800 games, netflix and hulu, the things I used to sell the machine to my wife, will be impossible for her to use with the weird mouse remote, nbc/universal let me load the app but go to pick a show and  not compatible with Atari Linux.

 

Saying that I play with it nightly and still haven't cracked into half the stuff it can do, I do like it, but like I was with Atari Jaguar, I had hoped Atari Finally figured it out, they didn't they spent nothing on play testing and haven't advertised.  Gamestop employees nor general public have no idea this exist.

I still think it would be good for them to also work with a company, or even some community members to build a custom keyboard / mouse.  Then start selling some more computer based games.