AtariAge + Atari Q&A

[MrBeefy]

10 minutes ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

-- We are in dialogue with the community, you can expect that only to increase. We know it is important. 

-- We do respect this community. Without this community the brand probably would not have made it through the dark periods in such good shape. So, we owe a debt to the fan and developer community. 

--  

So I think the most important questions you need to address are what are your thoughts on tacos? Do you like soft or crunchy?

 

Do you have any hot sauce preferences?

[MrBeefy]

4 minutes ago, Crimson Cross said:

So that means the products in the store are no longer available to purchase?

Basically the games that Atari and/or AA do not have the license for have been removed. So like I ordered Baby Pac-Man and it isn't an Atari title. AA will still be selling other homebrews.

 

An exception would be like Boulderdash in which BBG gave permission for that game.

 

Also WELCOME!

[Crimson Cross]

2 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Basically the games that Atari and/or AA do not have the license for have been removed. So like I ordered Baby Pac-Man and it isn't an Atari title. AA will still be selling other homebrews.

 

An exception would be like Boulderdash in which BBG gave permission for that game.

 

Also WELCOME!

Gotcha & Thanx...

[Albert]

33 minutes ago, 82-T/A said:

Only question I have is... (which I think has already been answered)... will we still be able to discuss other topics (other systems) on Atari Age? I'm pretty sure the answer is still yes, but I find AtariAge to be a better resource on almost everything related to video games.

Yes, absolutely, nothing about that is going to change.  Remember, Atari did create a lot of software for third-party consoles and video game platforms back in the 80s!  And they are doing that now with modern platforms. And even if that weren't the case, Atari has no desire to prune the forum in any way, and neither do I, of course.  This is just one of the issues we discussed at great length before anything was agreed to and signed.

 

 ..Al

[+Sauron]

Considering the length of this thread and the fact that several questions have been asked numerous times, perhaps it would be a good idea to post an FAQ? 

 

[GaryH917]

Saw the news on Facebook yesterday about Atari acquiring AtariAge. First off, congrats to Albert! His devotion to this hobby and keeping this website going all these years is a testament to who he is as a person. Having been on this site since 2001 you realize that things are gonna change eventually. Never wanted a 2600 back in the day having purchased the 5200 in 1982 and then the 7800 on its release. So what does the news mean to me? I hope there's enough interest to keep me coming back. I have for over 20 years! If the "New Atari" is only interested in promoting the Atari 2600 + in the future, I'm prob not interested. Time will tell......

[Albert]

13 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

An exception would be like Boulderdash in which BBG gave permission for that game.

We have a signed contract with BBG for Boulder Dash.  Same with Lode Runner and Tozai Games.

 

 ..Al

[TrogdarRobusto]

1 hour ago, Zoyous said:

You know since that time, Minter has worked with Atari SA on Tempest 4000 and Akka Arrh?

I mean, Jeff seems cool with us? I talk to him and Giles from time to time. We are having a great time working with him. Akka Arrh was amazing. He is already deep into his next Atari title. I mean yes, we can't change what happened with TxK back in the day, but we can celebrate Jeff's career and continue to work with him now. That is what we are going to do. You want to define Atari's entire, decades long relationship with Llamasoft by one single, albeit dark spot event on the timeline? I mean that seems like a depressing path. 

[ForceInfinity]

Albert, given the nature of the 2600+, was wondering if on the store pages and boxes going forward (probably way too late for current crop of games) if there can be some indicator that it’s 2600+ compatible?   So if someone who only has the 2600+, they can see at a glance whether it will work with it or not?

[Albert]

Just now, ForceInfinity said:

Albert, given the nature of the 2600+, was wondering if on the store pages and boxes going forward (probably way too late for current crop of games) if there can be some indicator that it’s 2600+ compatible?   So if someone who only has the 2600+, they can see at a glance whether it will work with it or not?

This is something I can add to the store easily enough, not sure I'd put this directly on packaging, though.  It's definitely too late for the current crop of games as most of those boxes are already at the printer. 

 

 ..Al

[ForceInfinity]

2 minutes ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

I mean, Jeff seems cool with us? I talk to him and Giles from time to time. We are having a great time working with him. Akka Arrh was amazing. He is already deep into his next Atari title. I mean yes, we can't change what happened with TxK back in the day, but we can celebrate Jeff's career and continue to work with him now. That is what we are going to do. You want to define Atari's entire, decades long relationship with Llamasoft by one single, albeit dark spot event on the timeline? I mean that seems like a depressing path. 

I blame Jeff Minter for needing a bottle of Visine after those intense sessions of Akka Arrh  

[82-T/A]

32 minutes ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

-- Our licensing team is very, very focused on quality. You referenced some strong partners like Retrocade. The new Atari 50 Arcade1Up is solid, we had it at PAX, and it is selling really well. Lego. Cariuma. Quality is the north star here, so keep an eye on this space because things have changed.

 

I hope I'm not too off topic... I bought the Atari 50 on the VCS and it was fantastic. I want to get the Arcade 1Up, but I'm one of those people that's kind of snobby when it comes to arcade games. While I'm really happy that Arcade1Up exists and that people have the opportunity to buy and play them, at 6'3", these 1Ups are not really my style. They're too small, and entirely thin particle board.

 

Is there any thought (crazy idea) of offering an Atari 50 Arcade "kit?" Basically... graphics, JAMMA-compatible board, harness, and power supply separately? I know I can basically get all of this from the 1Up and then just transfer into a larger cabinet... but just a thought.

[Albert]

15 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Considering the length of this thread and the fact that several questions have been asked numerous times, perhaps it would be a good idea to post an FAQ?

Yeah, at some point I will update the first post in the thread with some of the questions and answers to make them more visible.  Today I need to try and focus on PRGE-related tasks, as I didn't get any work done yesterday.   

 

 ..Al

[TrogdarRobusto]

23 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

So I think the most important questions you need to address are what are your thoughts on tacos? Do you like soft or crunchy?

 

Do you have any hot sauce preferences?

My taco preference varies with mood. Sometimes I like soft, sometimes I like a hard shell. Big fan of Pollo Asado. Sometimes fish is the right call, especially on a nice spring day. Always have to have cheese. I love cheese. I am basically Wallace from Wallace and Grommet in that regard.

Over time I migrated from Tabasco to Cholula Original Hot Sauce, I mean, I am always open to recommendations. I live in Northeast, not really the hot sauce capital of the world.

[ForceInfinity]

1 minute ago, Albert said:

This is something I can add to the store easily enough, not sure I'd put this directly on packaging, though.  It's definitely too late for the current crop of games as most of those boxes are already at the printer. 

 

 ..Al

Thanks for the super fast reply.  Looking forward to seeing you in Portland in a little over a month.  

[TrogdarRobusto]

 

2 minutes ago, 82-T/A said:

 

I hope I'm not too off topic... I bought the Atari 50 on the VCS and it was fantastic. I want to get the Arcade 1Up, but I'm one of those people that's kind of snobby when it comes to arcade games. While I'm really happy that Arcade1Up exists and that people have the opportunity to buy and play them, at 6'3", these 1Ups are not really my style. They're too small, and entirely thin particle board.

 

Is there any thought (crazy idea) of offering an Atari 50 Arcade "kit?" Basically... graphics, JAMMA-compatible board, harness, and power supply separately? I know I can basically get all of this from the 1Up and then just transfer into a larger cabinet... but just a thought.

The Arcade1Up is a bit taller, doesn't require that base, but I am 6'5" so I hear you. Can't speak to an arcade kit, plausible. 

[+cvga]

23 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Considering the length of this thread and the fact that several questions have been asked numerous times, perhaps it would be a good idea to post an FAQ? 

 

Not a FAQ but here's a quick summary (not necessarily in chronological order) to help people catch up...

 

• Congrats Al!
• I hate Atari, I'm out of here
• Can we still talk about Intellivision?
• This good for Al and us
• Corporate greed will takeover, I'm out of here
• Can we still talk about Colecovision?
• Yay! Good news
• Corporate bastards will wreck everything, I'm out of here
• Can we still talk about the TI-99?
• Congrats Al
• Terrible day, just as I predicted. I'm out of here
• Can we still talk about Vectrex?
• What tacos do you like?

[MegaManFan]

17 hours ago, waynel said:

FYI, for a thumbnail picture you accidentally chose to use an image of yourself having a stroke.  Might want to change that to something more sensible.  Hope you're doing better.

I chose the thumbnail almost entirely at random. I looked up "shocked reaction" and that was the first free image.

[ijor]

Albert,

 

I am very happy for you. But this is my two cents. Please make a full backup of the forum, including all attachments and links. This is just in case for ... for obvious reasons. Of course, the full backup would be useless if it can't be accessed somehow and it's not "protected" good enough against edition or removal of any stuff.

 

Please forgive me if this was already performed, or some similar measures were already taken.

Edited September 8, 2023 by ijor

[zzip]

58 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

1 hour ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

The communications around the VCS were ... not to my taste.

For me the dislike started with the name. 

I never liked the name either,  I get wanting it to have a familiar name,   but VCS2, VCS+, VCSpro or any other number of variations would be better than giving it the exact same name as a system it isn't even directly compatible with (no cart slot)

 

49 minutes ago, leech said:

Haha, I literally upgraded to the Pro because I couldn't play Bloodborne due to the PS4 howling at me like I owed it money.

Yeah, it's a problem that gets worse over time.   One day I cleaned the dust out of my PS4,  and rebuilt the database and it was as quiet as a mouse again, for awhile...

 

50 minutes ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

Don't get me started on the 'fan-less' chip we were promised. I can assure you Atari was just as angry about the need to put a fan in the VCS (the cost, the noise) as the end users were. Ooof. 

I'm less bothered by the noise on the VCS than how rapidly it spins up and down,  not sure if that's good for the fan's lifespan or if it would be better to run at a more constant speed for longer periods/  

[Thomas Jentzsch]

59 minutes ago, Sauron said:

This is especially true when it comes to the alternatives that Albert mentioned. And honestly, considering the possible alternative outcomes, this was probably the best possible one, when you look at it all through a realistic sense. 

I had the idea of a community driven AtariAge, where Al is distributing the workload to other people. I am quite sure we would have found voluntaries for almost everything.

[+x=usr(1536)]

10 hours ago, M-S said:

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

@TrogdarRobusto: when I wrote about culture clash, the reproduction PCBs @M-S is referring to above are an example of the sort of thing that I mean.

 

There's nothing inherently wrong with the concept of selling or owning a PCB as a wall-hanger; I've certainly put a few on the wall in my time.  However, the text on the back of the PCB for Major Havoc appears to have been taken from its Wikipedia entry and run through a lazy AI rewrite.  Given the similarity of phrasing, structure, and the same errors appearing in both sources, it's reminiscent of a kid plagiarising a source then handing in homework based on that plagiarism.

 

This is where the culture clash aspect comes in: it's clear that people who could have corrected these errors were never consulted; had they been, the product wouldn't have been released in this state.  But from the external perspective, it looks as though Atari just doesn't care about the product (or the people who may be interested in buying it) as long as there's a revenue stream to be had.

 

Note that none of this is being brought up to be antagonistic; I genuinely just want to provide an example to illustrate the point that this is the sort of thing that fuels a lot of the animosity, mistrust, and general skepticism surrounding Atari's ability to not only successfully execute, but also to successfully relate to the people who use and develop for its products.

[hizzy]

1 minute ago, x=usr(1536) said:

@TrogdarRobusto: when I wrote about culture clash, the reproduction PCBs @M-S is referring to are an example of the sort of thing that I mean.

 

There's nothing inherently wrong with the concept of selling or owning a PCB as a wall-hanger; I've certainly put a few on the wall in my time.  However, the text on the back of the PCB for Major Havoc appears to have been taken from its Wikipedia entry and run through a lazy AI rewrite.  Given the similarity of phrasing, structure, and the same errors appearing in both sources, it's reminiscent of a kid plagiarising a source then handing in homework based on that plagiarism.

 

This is where the culture clash aspect comes in: it's clear that people who could have corrected these errors were never consulted; had they been, the product wouldn't have been released in this state.  But from the external perspective, it looks as though Atari just doesn't care about the product (or the people who may be interested in buying it) as long as there's a revenue stream to be had.

 

Note that none of this is being brought up to be antagonistic; I genuinely just want to provide examples to illustrate the point that this is the sort of thing that fuels the culture clash.

This is my only worry about the merger. Atari's official products have been nowhere near as good as stuff from AA. This is like hearing your favorite steakhouse was bought over by 7-11.

[MegaManFan]

17 hours ago, uglyclone said:

tacos, right?

 

[Kal]

Sorry if this has been asked already but does this mean the games will once again ship to the U.K.? 
oh and a big congratulations!