AtariAge + Atari Q&A

[+thanatos]

What Atari really needs to do is make a re-release of Hercules pinball.

[+cvga]

1 minute ago, thanatos said:

What Atari really needs to do is make a re-release of Hercules pinball.

but at 80% of the size to make it more manageable

[Raymonte]

Can you release a “homebrew pack” for the VCS? I’ve been waiting for something like an Activision pack, or collections from other companies like Fox, Coleco, or US games, but I bet most of the VCS community would purchase a collection of homebrew releases.

[Albert]

11 minutes ago, thanatos said:

What Atari really needs to do is make a re-release of Hercules pinball.

While it was a neat looking pinball due to its giant stature, it certainly is not very much fun to play. 

 

 ..Al

[Atariboy2600]

Hey there's a NEW Tiny Toons Looniversity series coming out this month and makes me wonder if if Atari could finish that Tiny Toon Adventures Game for the Atari Jaguar?   

[Clint Thompson]

While I was apprehensive at first reading the initial announcement(s), my skepticism has dropped a bit after reading through this thread. With all things though, the proof is in the pudding. So let's party! I've been here 20+ years, hopefully for another 20 at least... and maybe this iteration of Atari really is coming around to do right by their fans.

 

While my dreams may be a bit lofty, I suppose the most exciting prospect of all this is the possibility of newly released hardware and software that wouldn't normally find it's way on the main Atari.com site or even old AtariAge for that matter. Because the profit margins aren't high enough to invest in but still enough to warrant a few 1,000 of "this or that" to cater to the more hardcore enthusiast base, these pet projects may become possible through AtariAge having that sort of tie-in or liaison. That would be a huge upside for literally everyone and the ultimate win.

 

Given that this is now an Atari site with Atari employees present, what better time or place to ask: It has come to my attention that the Jaguar logo has been trademarked again by Atari Interactive. My question or concern is: Is Atari going to continue to allow us to use the Jaguar logo on independently created releases as we've been doing for the past 20+ years since Hasbro released the rights to the platform as public domain? Alarmingly, I've noticed another developer has recently removed the Jaguar logo from their releases which is why I'm bringing this up.

 

Here's to hoping for the best...

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Clint Thompson

[+Spriggy]

[SIO2]

Get Howard (HSW) on the phone and get him to write Trebla's Revenge.

 

The merger with Atari could be like a family reunion.

[+Biff Burgertime]

@Albert I'm just curious how much more traffic AA has seen since the Atari announcement was made, if you can/care to share.

 

I've had all sorts of friends/acquaintances who have never mentioned AA before talking about this today haha. Some know I'm an active participant here, others I've never mentioned AA to.

[slacker]

Congrats @Albert!

 

My question is regarding how how there are now two 'Atari owned' stores for 2600 cartridges. The official site has it's own store which sells carts (https://atari.com/collections/shop?filter.p.product_type=Cartridges&sort_by=manual) as well as the AtariAge Store. I know it was said in this thread that nothing will change here with the AtariAge store, but I can't help but feel like Atari will eventually want to consolidate store traffic to one store to buy Atari cartridges/products. My worry is if/when that happens down the road what that would mean to things sold here. I've been part of a corporate buyout before (I know every one is different...) and after a year or so, everything was either fully integrated into the new parent company or migrated off of and closed down. I don't see Atari doing that to AtariAge completely, but I could see them wanting to eventually consolidate their items for sale under one location. (Hopefully not)

 

I'm also curious, does Atari now get a cut of the AtariAge profits? Do they get all the money that AtariAge makes? If they do, I suppose my worry above is lessened as there's a financial gain for them if they keep things running business as usual.

Edited September 8, 2023 by slacker

[Albert]

2 minutes ago, Biff Burgertime said:

@Albert I'm just curious how much more traffic AA has seen since the Atari announcement was made, if you can/care to share.

I haven't looked, but there were quite a few new forum registrations today, well above average for a typical day.

 

 ..Al

[kenp]

2 hours ago, rayr said:

I hear you. I've been at several companies that have been taken over by corporations and it has never been a good experience. The community here that put so much passion in keeping Atari alive is the treasure and nothing should be done to hurt that. This new Atari has nothing to do with the old Atari. Do they really even understand the passion and wonderful feelings we have for the Atari brand. I seriously doubt that. I just hope this isn't a money grab for them and they respect all the work the community has done to keep classic Atari brand alive.

It's easier to monetize the boxes holding copies of old games than to monetize the goodwill of a community.    I've only just dug out my old Atari 800 , 130XE and ATR-8000 and feel this could threaten my attempts to find new hardware and software for them as the new Atari locks down the old system ROMs and APIs that are needed for detailed development.

[john_q_atari]

Will all new AtariAge orders ship with a complementary speakerhat?

 

[bloodreptile]

I guess it is goodbye to this site.  When you are independent site, you have stuff like roms to download to put in Stella.  I see they have gone.  Not that I need them as I already have the roms for the games I play. New Atari? The people who sued Jeff Minter.  They put out Asteroids Outpost online,  that basically came to nothing, if you want to see what it should have been play starfield. Did the owners of the game get a refund? No.

 

If you look at your post and read it right, it reads like an apology, like you are trying to say something good will come of this.  To this I say the Atari VCS 800 out for 2 years and dead in the water on day one.  2600 plus? Well that is a joke.  They suck.  Just put on an updated 7800, engineer it so it has a pokey sound chip in it and put Atari Vox/highscore club in it as well. Make it HDMI. I would buy 1 tomorrow. Put out an emulation console, Retron 77 please.

 

Oh well done for keeping it running all these years.

 

Time does get to all of us in the end.  I guess it is time for you to move on.  Are you moving to Paris now? Lol.

[+FujiSkunk]

10 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

It was very obvious for everybody who wanted to do the math.

 

So you're saying this was a 64bit acquisition?

[SIO2]

Can we finally get the 7800 keyboard?

[+bent_pin]

Nice to see that there aren't too many users of note throwing their toys out of the pram over this acquisition. A critical eye is good and asking questions is important, but so far only one important user has completely exited that I've seen. So that's good.

[+Stephen]

17 minutes ago, bloodreptile said:

I guess it is goodbye to this site.  When you are independent site, you have stuff like roms to download to put in Stella.  I see they have gone.  Not that I need them as I already have the roms for the games I play. New Atari? The people who sued Jeff Minter.  They put out Asteroids Outpost online,  that basically came to nothing, if you want to see what it should have been play starfield. Did the owners of the game get a refund? No.

 

If you look at your post and read it right, it reads like an apology, like you are trying to say something good will come of this.  To this I say the Atari VCS 800 out for 2 years and dead in the water on day one.  2600 plus? Well that is a joke.  They suck.  Just put on an updated 7800, engineer it so it has a pokey sound chip in it and put Atari Vox/highscore club in it as well. Make it HDMI. I would buy 1 tomorrow. Put out an emulation console, Retron 77 please.

 

Oh well done for keeping it running all these years.

 

Time does get to all of us in the end.  I guess it is time for you to move on.  Are you moving to Paris now? Lol.

This pretty much sums it up for me.  The multiple lawsuits, going after fan sites, and then hearing Minter himself was not only sued, but prevented from releasing a working VR version of TxK / Tempest 4000, well that is just unforgivable.  There is absolutely nothing that this iteration of Atari can do, to wipe that stain away.

 

This isn't a case of "throwing my toys out of the pram" either.  Minter carried whatever company he was releasing products for, when it was Atari with the ST, Falcon, Jaguar, or VM Labs, etc.  To have a legend such as that pissed on, is completely unforgivable.

[zylon]

11 hours ago, Brentarian said:

About Atari buying IPs, please buy back the Battlezone IP!  That should have never been sold.  

That's probably the only original on 2600, I'd still play. It was one of 3 games we bought with our 1st 2600, a Jr in 1987-ish. Battlezone, Galaxian, and Warlords, with Battlezone being the most expensive, around 40 bucks then.

[Lord Helmet]

Extremely happy for Al. Cautiously optimistic for the future. Worried about what may be lost.

[roadrunner]

What Atari really needs to do is make a 5200 Big Sexy T Shirt! 

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

6 hours ago, tzok said:

The ones who claim to be Atari were formerly known as Infogrames... and I don't know how and why they claim the right to all the Atari heritage.

Money?

[M-S]

1 hour ago, GraffitiTavern said:

In terms of the site, I fall into the cautiously optimistic camp, please don't turn this into a second Atari merch store. Using AtariAge plus the rest of the Atari media team to make a little semiannual Atari emagazine could be fun. Also, I reiterate they should consider doing arcade stuff(maybe with DSM Arcades) and officially sell DRM-free ROMs. I am currently in the process of designing a small local arcade for the city where I live, and there is even a cabinet manufacturer within two hours of me, but there are no local Atari units/PCBs for sale and I wanna be able to set out legitimate Atari arcade games. 

Well then, you are not going to believe that: https://atari.com/collections/reproduction-pcbs

Just don't know where you would get all the chips, or the controllers, or a whole new cabinet...
But there's also Arcade 1UP, but I'm not really sure their cabinets can have a functional coin slot.

[SIO2]

Atari arcade cabinet kit?  Big box of wires and screws and chips with a PCB?

 

Teach the kids soldering skills.

 

Fun.

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by SIO2

[Thomas Jentzsch]

3 hours ago, Albert said:

I can appreciate the skepticism, there is a lot of history that the current Atari has to overcome to earn back the trust of the classic gaming community.

Even more important: They have to overcome it for the next 10, 20 years.