bluenomadgaming Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 (edited) If Atari gets a new system in 2026 or later to follow the VCS 800, would you rather then do the VCS with new numbers or go back to the cat naming system? 🐱 Edited July 17, 2023 by bluenomadgaming Mistyped cat 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roots.genoa Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 I think they could call it the "Atari Crash", in order to confuse even more people. 💡😂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTrust Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 3 hours ago, roots.genoa said: I think they could call it the "Atari Crash", in order to confuse even more people. 💡😂 Very apropos given that it will also not exist. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82-T/A Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Someone on YouTube insisted that Atari just purchased the company PolyMega and that they owned it. They made a YouTube video with really dramatic speech, and whatever. Is there any truth to this? Related only because I wonder if Atari now has more manufacturing contracts / agreements that could be used to consolidate some factory time if / when they decided they wanted to release an updated version of the Atari VCS with a slightly more powerful processor, etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTrust Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 6 hours ago, 82-T/A said: Someone on YouTube insisted that Atari just purchased the company PolyMega and that they owned it. They made a YouTube video with really dramatic speech, and whatever. Is there any truth to this? Related only because I wonder if Atari now has more manufacturing contracts / agreements that could be used to consolidate some factory time if / when they decided they wanted to release an updated version of the Atari VCS with a slightly more powerful processor, etc... They do not. They have a minority investment: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-makes-minority-investment-into-playmaji They suspended their manufacturing contracts for the current VCS (I've heard they have enough stock to last for a while), so none of this tracks with what we know. My understanding is the VCS was the brainchild of the previous administration, and the whole campaign/launch was a fiasco for a product that does not appear to be a rousing success. Can't imagine the current regime would be up for Round 2 given they've already built up ill will for the name with it. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMaddog Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 1 hour ago, MrTrust said: They suspended their manufacturing contracts for the current VCS (I've heard they have enough stock to last for a while), so none of this tracks with what we know. My understanding is the VCS was the brainchild of the previous administration, and the whole campaign/launch was a fiasco for a product that does not appear to be a rousing success. Can't imagine the current regime would be up for Round 2 given they've already built up ill will for the name with it. True, especially since hardware division lost the company so much money. OTOH however...they still make games for the VCS so I doubt they wouldn't have some kind of replacement once the existing VCS stocks run out. Unless they plan on pulling a Sega (3rd party only), but who can really say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82-T/A Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 2 hours ago, MrTrust said: They do not. They have a minority investment: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-makes-minority-investment-into-playmaji They suspended their manufacturing contracts for the current VCS (I've heard they have enough stock to last for a while), so none of this tracks with what we know. My understanding is the VCS was the brainchild of the previous administration, and the whole campaign/launch was a fiasco for a product that does not appear to be a rousing success. Can't imagine the current regime would be up for Round 2 given they've already built up ill will for the name with it. Ah ok... thanks. Makes sense. I'll see if I can find the video, the guy was being super dramatic. It sounded very 40 year old in mom's basement kind of video... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Remember that they can only produce a console if Soulja Boy approves, since he owns Atari now. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_B Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 3 hours ago, Cebus Capucinis said: Remember that they can only produce a console if Soulja Boy approves, since he owns Atari now. Naah, he just owns half a squillion magic bean crypto tokens. That's not the real Atari. Why, about the only connection that has with the Atari from 30-50 years ago that we know and love is the name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roots.genoa Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 8 hours ago, MrMaddog said: they still make games for the VCS Except they don't. They have developers make games for every current platform including the VCS. That's a very significant nuance imho. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluenomadgaming Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 7 hours ago, roots.genoa said: Except they don't. They have developers make games for every current platform including the VCS. That's a very significant nuance imho. You don’t want to limit your market to just VCS or even just PS5. Why not cast your net wide and get a bigger audience? The VCS is still supported and they are making games for the platform that they get more profit per game off of because they control the platform and don’t have to work through the PS store or Steam taking their cut. You can’t measure VCS off any system in this two giants market. They are not going to be PS or XBox. If they play their cards right, they can exist in a bubble like Nintendo (just not on that scale) 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82-T/A Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 7 hours ago, roots.genoa said: Except they don't. They have developers make games for every current platform including the VCS. That's a very significant nuance imho. That makes sense. I can certainly appreciate that. Atari isn't going to make an exclusive, since the Atari VCS is so niche that I really see it as a system to placate Atari fans as a nice system with which to play modern renditions of their existing games, and other cool indie games. I certainly would not expect (or even want) Atari to limit their potential revenue so that I might feel special that one game on my VCS is only available on the VCS. So... I guess for me, I'm OK with it... (for whatever my opinion matters to Atari, haha). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 9 hours ago, bluenomadgaming said: You can’t measure VCS off any system in this two giants market. They are not going to be PS or XBox. If they play their cards right, they can exist in a bubble like Nintendo (just not on that scale) I think it is less that you can't measure, and more of it doesn't measure up. How much money did Atari make off the VCS? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 42 minutes ago, MrBeefy said: I think it is less that you can't measure, and more of it doesn't measure up. How much money did Atari make off the VCS? I think I know the answer! Minus two million dollars. (-$2M) https://www.eurogamer.net/atari-says-it-may-need-extra-funding-to-continue-following-vcs-retro-console-flop-and-blockchain-struggles Quote For the first half of the financial year ending September, Atari revenue was €4.3m, down 27 percent from the €6m it generated the same period last year. Atari said this was mostly down to the failure of its hardware business and the controversial VCS console, which suffered heavy delays before finally launching last year. In isolation, hardware business revenue plummeted 92 percent from €2.3m to just €200,000. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_B Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 If you want to know how much the VCS cost them, it's written here in their 2021-2 financial report: https://atari-investisseurs.fr/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/URD-2022-03-EN-version-.pdf Quote Other income and expenses came at -€20.7M, including mainly one-offs, non-cash items recorded in context of the Group’s strategic review of its operations. This includes notably €9.7M write-down in receivables from licensee ICICB, €9.4M impairment on VCS inventories and R&D, and €1.1M impairment on capitalized development costs on selected free-to-play games. Yes, that's right, they lost around ten million bucks on this turkey. That's almost as much as they had to write off on the crypto and hotels deals. I can get that there are fans of the VCS hardware out there because it looks cool and is highly customizable, but from a financial perspective it's been an abject failure in proportion to all of the rest of the Fred Chesnais get-rich-quick schemes combined. If there is to be a successor, I'd think that they'd have to go to an existing manufacturer of mini PCs, take something off the shelf and slap a badge on it. They absolutely cannot afford another development fiasco. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Flojomojo said: I think I know the answer! Minus two million dollars. (-$2M) https://www.eurogamer.net/atari-says-it-may-need-extra-funding-to-continue-following-vcs-retro-console-flop-and-blockchain-struggles 23 minutes ago, Matt_B said: If you want to know how much the VCS cost them, it's written here in their 2021-2 financial report: https://atari-investisseurs.fr/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/URD-2022-03-EN-version-.pdf Yes, that's right, they lost around ten million bucks on this turkey. That's almost as much as they had to write off on the crypto and hotels deals. I can get that there are fans of the VCS hardware out there because it looks cool and is highly customizable, but from a financial perspective it's been an abject failure in proportion to all of the rest of the Fred Chesnais get-rich-quick schemes combined. If there is to be a successor, I'd think that they'd have to go to an existing manufacturer of mini PCs, take something off the shelf and slap a badge on it. They absolutely cannot afford another development fiasco. So nostalgia and brand loyalty offsetting basic business common sense? Good to know some things haven't changed with the VCS. At least all those moms are proficient at Netflix now. Good to know that $2mil - $10mil went to a noble cause. Acting like Atari can make a chunk for itself like Nintendo is ignoring why Nintendo has done that. It's their games that can't be played anywhere else. Sorry but Atari games have been retread or had someone else do their own versions better. Adventure vs Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Homebrewers here have done more with Adventure than Atari has. Edited July 19, 2023 by MrBeefy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluenomadgaming Posted July 19, 2023 Author Share Posted July 19, 2023 Ouch. That is a terrible loss. I didn’t know it was that terrible. The VCS is a boondoggle that cost the company a chunk of change. My idea is It is already there though. The VCS exist. Payed out the booty for. It has more game than any other system than the 2600. It is still going. So can they do something with this system to make it less of a loss. Goodness, I hope so. I still say that continuing to support it will help. Making it a retro hub will help too. It won’t make money but the loss is already there. What can it do for them now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIO2 Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 (edited) If they make another console, I think they should do like the big boys and make the name as confusing as possible like 2600 Flashback One XS all digital home arcade. Then nobody will be able to find it in an internet search or ebay listing and they will be forced to go directly to Atari and buy it off their website where they can sell you non fungible token properties and officially branded joystick lube. How about a Speaker Hat 180 which has the hat mounted on a band with ball bearings that allow the hat to swivel 180 degrees so you can quickly change your style from up front to round back? Edited July 19, 2023 by SIO2 Just for fun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CyranoJ Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 They could change back to naming after birds and call it the Atari Turkey. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nall3k Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 On 7/17/2023 at 4:52 PM, MrTrust said: They do not. They have a minority investment: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-makes-minority-investment-into-playmaji They suspended their manufacturing contracts for the current VCS (I've heard they have enough stock to last for a while), so none of this tracks with what we know. My understanding is the VCS was the brainchild of the previous administration, and the whole campaign/launch was a fiasco for a product that does not appear to be a rousing success. Can't imagine the current regime would be up for Round 2 given they've already built up ill will for the name with it. Correct. The new leadership under Rosen probably wants to wash its hands of Chesnais, but it would be bad PR to abandon the VCS now, so expect maybe a year or two of games on the platform. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mockduck Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 I feel like the odds of an official Atari-made VCS 2 are very slim, but maybe they'd do a branding deal with a mini-PC maker. In terms of naming, dunno, I actually like the Atari VCS name, so maybe just keep that, since it'd be an iteration on PC architecture. Who calls it the Atari VCS 800? No one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 I suspect fans will find a way to transplant the OS to new hardware before Atari gambles on an actual VCS 2. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Put VCS hardware in a portable and call it the 'Lynx' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled_Pink Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 On 7/19/2023 at 1:29 AM, Flojomojo said: I think I know the answer! Minus two million dollars. (-$2M) https://www.eurogamer.net/atari-says-it-may-need-extra-funding-to-continue-following-vcs-retro-console-flop-and-blockchain-struggles At this point, it's now making sense why so many Atari consoles were named after cats. Revenue of around $5million is tiny given the size of the video games market and the fact that Atari is such an established brand, irrespective of who owns it. They've lost, what, $10 million-ish in two years? But every time they look dead and buried, they come up with some scheme that gives them enough cash to bump along for another 5 years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 I think if they want to make another one, not only should they go the off the shelf route but also partner up with Converse and make it the Atari Shoebox. I know the Converse box got a lot of people excited for VCS 1. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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