Do you enjoy your VCS? Recommend purchasing one?

[dgdgagdae]

I was going to preorder the Atari 2600+, but now I'm leaning more toward a VCS.  The all-in bundle is on sale now for $225 (https://atari.com/products/atari-vcs-onyx-all-in?variant=41737024569509).  For those who own one, do you regret your purchase? Would you recommend purchasing one? What do you mostly use yours for?

 

I'm on the fence on this one.

[nopaybob]

I have the onyx all in bundle. I collect dust with mine. I probably only have an hour or two play time on it. Its clunky to me, it doesn't work as smoothly as I like.

 I have an old pc I built back when I5 2500K was current. It will play a lot of modern titles and I play all the recharged, atari50 arka arr etc. games on my pc.

For the old stuff I use original hardware. 

 I'm probably going to sell the onyx bundle since I don't use it at all and get a 2600+ 

 

[famicommander]

I just think of it as a Roku that plays Centipede

 

If you want a Roku that plays Centipede, go for it

[RollOut]

The VCS 800 gets a strong recommendation from me, provided that you know what to expect. The main detraction for me is that currently you have to do some work to get it updated and ready to play out of the box (flashing a drive or something, honestly I'm not sure because I got mine before the big update, so it wasn't an issue for me). That said, it's a fantastic "swiss army knife" of a console. It's not the best at anything, but does a bit of everything well. I love most the official Atari OS games (a great mix of Atari original titles and some fun indie fare). Several recharged games work best (imo) on the VCS with the classic controller. On top of it's merits as a console, I also love the versatility of having it turn into a mini gaming PC when you want. I use my VCS as an emulation station for older games, and regularly use it for contemporary games on steam and gog.com. The versatility is the biggest selling point for me. I know the hardware is not the latest for a high end gaming PC, but it's worked fine for me on about everything that I've tried (with a couple of upgrades; m2 drive and ram for me). It is currently my main machine for playing games, and I use it just about everyday.

[Atari_JaguarVCS]

I highly recommend the Atari VCS 800 infact its such a good purchase i have 4 in my collection right now. As has been stated you will need to flash it at present to get it up and running out the box but its a very simple process and you can find instructions here or on the discord server to do it. If i had to pick between the VCS 800 and the Atari 2600+ it's the VCS everytime, there's absolutely nothing the 2600+ rom dumper can do that you cant already do on the Atari VCS 800 and there's also a USB cartridge reader being developed for the Atari VCS 800 so your going to be able to play those 2600 and 7800 carts on the VCS at some point and you can already play them on there either via games in the Atari Vault or run the VCS in PC mode and do it via emulation. I've PRE ordered the 2600+ and I'm super excited for it but I'm just being honest in saying that the Atari VCS 800 is in another world its a modern console for modern games, indie games, retro games and now homebrew games its a mini Ryzen PC, your getting so much value for just a little bit more than the 2600+. I use my VCS for gaming, watching Netflix and YouTube i can run my own business on it in PC mode and do some gaming in PC mode and mess around its the little console that can do it all. I'm starting to notice more and more people finding out about the Atari VCS 800 after heading over to Atari's website to view the 2600+ and the few that have done it have ordered a VCS 800 instead very interesting.

[THX-1138]

13 hours ago, dgdgagdae said:

I was going to preorder the Atari 2600+, but now I'm leaning more toward a VCS.  The all-in bundle is on sale now for $225 (https://atari.com/products/atari-vcs-onyx-all-in?variant=41737024569509).  For those who own one, do you regret your purchase? Would you recommend purchasing one? What do you mostly use yours for?

 

I'm on the fence on this one.

I am very happy with mine, I bought it as a successor to my old Atari 8-bit and ST computers and I don't regret it.  I now have three in the house.  One is used as a home entertainment system and games machine, another is my main PC.  It replaced a Ryzen 3 that I bought the year before.  I have 32GB of RAM in it and 2TB drive, I run that one only in Linux and use it for graphics, audio, programming etc. etc.  and it handles everything I've thrown at it.

As a game console, it's the first I've actively bought since probably the first PS1 came out and I got bored of it all.  It's made me want to play games again - the two Vaults, Atari50, all the Recharged games and new Atari games like Kombinera, Akka Arrh etc. come together to make a nice system that mixes the best of old and new.

I'm also buying the 2600+, it's not an either/or thing, but it will look nice sat next to my VCS.

The only thing I'd say to anyone getting one, make a USB recovery drive from the link on the VCS Discord.   There has been a LOT of updates since the original production run.  Once you get it, follow the instructions to flash it to the latest OS - that will bypass the -huge- number of big, repetitive and rebooting updates which seem to throw so many people off.

[zzip]

I use mine quite a bit, but it's mostly in PC mode, where my entire emulation library is installed, as well as some Steam and GoG games.

 

There are some decent games the Atari store that I play too,  but my interest in it has always been as an Atari-shaped emulation box.  

[The Historian]

16 hours ago, nopaybob said:

I collect dust with mine.

 

I got one from gamestop when they dropped to $99.

 

Some day I might even unbox it or I might just send it to @ferghead like I did with the rest of my 2600 collection. 

[+x=usr(1536)]

58 minutes ago, The Historian said:

I got one from gamestop when they dropped to $99.

 

Some day I might even unbox it or I might just send it to @ferghead like I did with the rest of my 2600 collection. 

Any progress?

[Mockduck]

They really are two different devices, the new VCS is an indie and Atari official game console/mini PC, and the 2600+ is all about playing existing Atari 2600 and 7800 carts you have in addition to future carts being sold by Atari and elsewhere. I love my VCS, though, it's really convenient and is a tiny and very attractive powerhouse of a multimedia console and PC device. 

[Atari Superman]

Mine has been a black hole of despair and disappointment. The VCS doesn't appear to have been adequately tested across network environments, and based on the comments in the forums, it either works for you or it doesn't. I fall into the "doesn't work for me" category. I can't get it to update itself, for one thing. And if it doesn't update itself, it becomes a brick. You have to buy extra hardware like an external keyboard, assuming you don't already have one, and maybe your task will involve installing Windows (literally) and changing BIOS settings manually before you get the box into a usable state. Until the next update.

 

The controllers are dodgy af for any kind of paddle game, and they don't withstand the rigors of normal twich-style play. I've had to buy three joysticks now because they keep breaking. By comparison, with my original Atari setup, I'm still using my original joysticks from 1982.

 

You can't run Stella on it without external peripherals. You can't access difficulty switches, etc. And apparently no attempt has been made to bring licensed games from the 2600 library back to the console, such as Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Defender, Superman, and E.T., to say nothing of the Activision library, for example. Which I guess is fine, because there's no Kaboom! without better paddles.

 

I'd say about 33% of the time, the software freezes and crashes for me in the add-on libraries of arcade games and 2600 games, requiring a manual reset.

 

The people who seem to enjoy the VCS the most are very comfortable tinkering with hardware and software. That is absolutely not me. I want it to turn on and play Atari. This rarely happens. And when it does happen, a controller breaks.

 

I went through two units, both with more or less the same problems, only the second one had issues less frequently. Clearly I wasn't meant to have this. After a while I stopped even trying.

 

Give me a cartridge dumper like the Retron 77 any day. The VCS was an expensive frustration.

[Atari_JaguarVCS]

28 minutes ago, Atari Superman said:

The people who seem to enjoy the VCS the most are very comfortable tinkering with hardware and software. That is absolutely not me. I want it to turn on and play Atari. This rarely happens. And when it does happen, a controller breaks.

I'm not comfortable tinkering with hardware and software by any means and my 4 Atari VCS's work for me. Now the fact that all are working and i can turn them on and play Atari flawlessly would suggest to me that your unit may be defective and i would highly recommend contacting Atari or heading over to the Discord server and you will get help from very helpful Atari staff to determine if the unit is faulty. There are a few problems with the Atari VCS admittedly, its not perfect far from it but again the issues are going to be resolved eventually, the main issue is the update issue out the box experience its kinda crappy at the moment but you will need to flash a new VCS using an image and a USB pen, its a very simple process and takes very little time and there is a straightforward guide and video on here and Discord to help guide you. The Atari VCS can also take longer to update when connected via WIFI so if you want it to automatically in the future and have it update quickly and more reliably its best to use the old ethernet connection and be patient. The issue with the controllers is an issue i only had once myself back in 2021 but ever since un pairing my controllers and re connecting them its been all good but the controller issue definitely still exists for some people and should be a thing of the past come the big fall update that's being worked on for the Atari VCS. I just personally couldn't recommend the 2600 plus in anyway shape or form over the the Atari VCS especially since there's lots of new games coming to the VCS and of course the cartridge reader. I've got my 2600 plus on PRE order but its more a thing to sit next to my Atari VCS 800 in the main room connected up to a modern display and i wont be retiring me original 2600 and 7800. I've no doubt the 2600 plus will have its faults and frustrations when it comes out like every device does, next people will be upset that they will have to update the 2600 plus via USB C cable connected to a PC to have the latest firmware on it for future updates and that can have risks such as bricking the device if it gets interrupted during flashing. I wouldn't over look an Atari VCS 800, get both or stick to the old hardware.

[zzip]

1 hour ago, Atari Superman said:

The controllers are dodgy af for any kind of paddle game, and they don't withstand the rigors of normal twich-style play. I've had to buy three joysticks now because they keep breaking. By comparison, with my original Atari setup, I'm still using my original joysticks from 1982.

 

You can't run Stella on it without external peripherals. You can't access difficulty switches, etc. And apparently no attempt has been made to bring licensed games from the 2600 library back to the console, such as Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Defender, Superman, and E.T., to say nothing of the Activision library, for example. Which I guess is fine, because there's no Kaboom! without better paddles.

 

I'd say about 33% of the time, the software freezes and crashes for me in the add-on libraries of arcade games and 2600 games, requiring a manual reset.

 

The people who seem to enjoy the VCS the most are very comfortable tinkering with hardware and software. That is absolutely not me. I want it to turn on and play Atari. This rarely happens. And when it does happen, a controller breaks.

There isn't much hardware tweaking required.   To get the most out of the VCS, including playing the missing games you mentioned, it's no more complicated than any other emulation setup.    If you stick with the Atari store, then you are limited to the games and compilations they provide, which contains only the stuff they own the license to free and clear.

[Atari Superman]

6 minutes ago, Atari_JaguarVCS said:

Now the fact that all are working and i can turn them on and play Atari flawlessly would suggest to me that your unit may be defective and i would highly recommend contacting Atari or heading over to the Discord server and you will get help from very helpful Atari staff to determine if the unit is faulty.

I've been through two. One works marginally better than the first, which I did return. Unless a high percentage of these boxes have manufacturer's defects, I'm gonna assume that the problem isn't the hardware. Rather, it's that the system was inadequately tested.

 

I live in NYC, the same as the Atari people do. I have no sort of exotic setup at home. Just Time Warner broadband Internet with a vanilla factory wireless router supplied by Time Warner. I connect with a physical patch cord from the VCS directly to the Internet. The VCS loops indefinitely over download/install/restart every single time a new update comes out.

 

Glad it works for you. It doesn't work for me.

[Atari Superman]

Just now, zzip said:

There isn't much hardware tweaking required.

You know what requires no hardware tweaking? An Atari 2600.

 

The Xbox I used to have, and the PlayStation I used to have, both worked flawlessly out of the box.

 

Glad you're happy with your purchase. If you had my experience, I imagine you'd feel similar to me.

[82-T/A]

I love my VCS. I bought two of them. I highly recommend it... but understand WHY you are considering it.

 

About 50% of me buying it is because it's made by Atari. I recognize entirely that this is a bias. I enjoy supporting Atari, and enjoy the nostalgia of playing a modern version of an Atari system. Many of the games that are available on the VCS, are available on other systems. But for me, I really enjoy playing those games ON the VCS. It's a fantastic system with a growing number of games available.

 

Don't buy it thinking you're getting a PS5 or brand new XBox.

 

The 2600+ in my opinion makes sense if you own a lot of 2600 games. 

 

 

[MrTrust]

On 8/27/2023 at 11:15 PM, dgdgagdae said:

For those who own one, do you regret your purchase?

 

No.  I got mine on sale for an even better price than you're looking at, IIRC, and I've gotten write a lot of play out of it.  There are worse ways to spend $200.

 

On 8/27/2023 at 11:15 PM, dgdgagdae said:

Would you recommend purchasing one?

 

I don't do a ton of computing at home and don't have a good PC, don't have any newer consoles other than the Switch - which is my daughter's - and I'm not interested in more than the occasional new AAA game.  Most of my gaming is old computer games, emulation, Atari, etc.

 

If your situation is similar, or you just have money to burn, then yes.

 

On 8/27/2023 at 11:15 PM, dgdgagdae said:

What do you mostly use yours for?

 

I mostly use it for gaming.  Probably 40% games that are on Atari OS, 30% Windows, and 30% streaming games via Antstream or GeForce Now.

 

The selection in the Atari store, well, sucks, frankly.  Don't let any of the enthusiasts tell you otherwise.  That is relative to what you can get on other platforms, though, or in other words, I could have gotten almost everything I have on this console elsewhere, and for less money.  So be it, I guess; what I have on it, I like, and what I have on it could last me quite a long time before I'm played all there is.  I will say Ends's Reach is a surprisingly fun exclusive (for now) on the system.  It's uglier than sin, but very enjoyable.

 

PC mode obviously opens up many more options.  For the most part, this works and is relatively easy to deal with.  This is about as good an emulation machine as you're ever going to need, really.  I don't care at all about high-resolution graphics, so I can run mostly what I want to on it, but this is not a contemporary gaming PC.  You can run AAA stuff from, say, 2016 or so with the graphics scaled way back, but even that's pushing it a bit.

 

You can run Antstream on anything, and at $1 a month, it's totally worth it.  You don't need a VCS to run it, but the VCS runs it very well, and helps shore up it's status as a one-stop retro gaming system.  GeForce now is the only other streaming service I've tried on it, and at $10, it's a little pricey given the limited selection of games (that you have to already own) and it's shitty handling of cloud saves.  I've played some games on it, though, and it does mostly work as advertised without too much latency.

 

On 8/27/2023 at 11:15 PM, dgdgagdae said:

I'm on the fence on this one.

 

For me, it's nice to have a compact machine, decent hardware/controllers, that I can quickly, easily set up anywhere in the house, and have a bunch of everything from Flag Capture to Cyberpunk 2077 right there, accessible with little fuss.  If I want to plug in an external drive, I can run all my emulators and backlog of PC games, do home computing, maybe even work on a new 2600 game.

 

I like having that on its own, which any PC could do, but I like having it in a 2600-looking case with a modern CX-40 and an Atari version of the now-standard issue game controller, which I have found to be very good.  That's worth the little extra money it would cost to get this over a comparable alternative setups in my view.

 

Again, would I recommend it?  I don't know.  I have one.  I've gotten a lot of use out of it and probably will get a lot more.  Am having a lot of fun playing on it.  In fact, I'm thinking about getting another one to tinker with internally without risking bricking the one I have.

[joeatari1]

I have all three variations of the VCS and I have personally had a few minor issues with them. I do feel sorry for those that do have more severe issues but mine have been very minor.  There was some controller flunkiness in the past which was resolved with an OS update.  Most of the issues with the VCS have been resolved by now except for the update loop issue.  However there is a new OS version (BIG update) coming this fall that should address most if not all of the issues, including the update loop.

 

The hardware in the VCS is a little more powerful than a Switch and it does offer the ability to side load a PC OS such as Windows or Linux.

 

Overall I would give the VCS right now a solid "B" as a grade.  It is fun and worthwhile purchasing but remember, as 82-T/A said, it is not a PS5 or XBox.  

 

I would definitely buy the VCS again, given the chance and hove no regrets about that.

[+swlovinist]

I have gotten way more use out the VCS than I initially intended.   I dont play mine every day, but the VCS has had constant games this last 6 months.   The updates are annoying out of the box and I wish they had an ultimate fix(better than what they have now)

[The Historian]

On 8/28/2023 at 4:51 PM, x=usr(1536) said:

Any progress?

 

[+Sauron]

I bought one a while back when Atari had a big sale on them, but haven't opened it up yet. I keep meaning to get around to it, but honestly I haven't decided what I really want to use it for as yet. Once I figure that out, I'll probably set it up and give it a try.

 

[The Helper]

I would recommend the Atari VCS to any Atari fan.  However, to any casual gamer or somebody with no Atari roots I would hesitate to recommend it in its current state of broken out of the box and having to download a fix to a USB stick to make it useable.  If they fix that, I would give 2 thumbs up for anyone!

[killersquirel]

I absolutely recommend getting one.  I love mine and play it almost daily.

[buescherking]

I would recommend buying one, bought mine during the 50 percent off sale, got the speakerhat special for $189, for me that is a steal. I also have windows 10 on a usb stick that I can use when I want so that's nice, but mostly I just use it to play the games from the Atari store. I was lucky and didn't have any setup issues during my initial bootup. The only advice I would give is to be patient with all the updates, Linux doesn't always update smoothly and can take quite a while. Anyway I love the games, most of the good ones are reasonably priced and the controllers are good too.

[Flyindrew]

If you want a device that can

 

1.)Play retro Atari and Anstream (arcade) classics

 

2.)Play modern homebrew titles

 

3.)Stream XBox game pass

 

4.)Stream media apps

 

5.)Be used as a PC

 

then by all means purchase the VCS. I think its a fantastic system for what it is.