AtariAge + Atari Q&A

[+Karl G]

6 minutes ago, Blinky said:

That's kind of odd. I would have thought they would have to disclose it as soon as a product is sold.

I also wonder what's the definition of shipping is. Does shipping preview/review devices count?

Can we have links to the Atari 2600+ sources already please? 😁

Basically, the GPL says that if you distribute binaries based on modified sources, you owe sources to anyone who receives those binaries under the same license terms. One people receive the 2600+ units (and assuming that they have binaries with modified Stella sources), then those that receive them have a right to ask for those sources.

[+Karl G]

11 minutes ago, tcmultimedia said:

Apologies if already asked and answered.   Tried to scan thru this long thread, but didn't see it - the cartridges and boxes that you stopped selling in July...I ordered as many as I could afford, but would like more. Will any of those games be sold in the future, in cartridge form with boxes?

They have said that they would be willing to sell those that they are able to license legally in the future. So, maybe some will come back to the store eventually (and presumably some would be easier to license than others).

[+fdr4prez]

9 hours ago, artrag said:

No idea, maybe adding a store section to non atari games,

For a very brief period of time, the AA store had some Intellivision games

 

 

[John Stamos Mullet]

4 hours ago, dakidski said:

I want Atari to bring back Atari Camp! Imagine a summer with Atari 800's, learning to code etc.

they did. They've been advertising it for weeks

[Xyla]

On 9/8/2023 at 1:24 PM, TrogdarRobusto said:

100% you will see Atari ST projects down the road. What they are specifically, I cannot say. But there is so much good content from that era it would be a crime not to share it more broadly. This is an area where I think we are all aligned. 

I really want to believe this is true, but it's very hard to when all we see is a constant obsession with the woodgrain 2600.  The ST line of computers were the peak of Atari in my opinion, with the short-lived Falcon030 being the ultimate achievement... but there hasn't even been recognition of the XL/XE computers yet.  The latest console is marketed as a "2600+" because it can run both 2600 and 7800 games... when the original 7800 from 37 years ago did that.  Designing and marketing it as a modernized 7800 would have been so much more interesting and respectable, but instead we get more of the woodgrain obsession.  Of course the argument against it would be that it is the smarter marketing move because the 2600 is more iconic, but it's actually just gotten comical at this point.  Not because the 2600 is being recognized as iconic or popular, but because of the long-running intentional overlooking of all the superior Atari machines released after it.  Behaving like the 2600 was the only thing Atari ever made does not help anyone take the new Atari company seriously.  If this is ever going to change, I think it should be the top priority right now.  If the new Atari started releasing things like remakes of the 800XL and 520ST (similar to what other companies have done with the "THE VIC-20", "THE C-64", and the "ZX Spectrum Next"), people would stop referring to the company as things like "the company currently posing as Atari".  Also I'm just going to throw out there that relying on emulation in every new machine is not a good way to go IMO.  FPGA is the best way to do some seriously respectable Atari hardware platform revivals.

Edited September 9, 2023 by Xyla

[+GoldLeader]

@Albert

 

Congratulations!   (Sincerely!)

 

You've been the show runner and owner of my Favorite website on the entire internet and that's saying something.  I'm happy if you're happy.  And I plan on sticking around.

 

 

That said,  and subtleties missed,  a lot of people are handwaving concerns (about Atari's ownership) because they don't know the whole (previous) story (well stories is more the word)...Lawyer's actions and scammy Ex-CEOs (allegedly)...I don't know enough nor would it be my place to explain.  Let me just say there are stories buried within threads that almost everyone has forgotten about,  it appears.

 

To be clear,  Personally,  I'd love to support a new version of Atari.  And I don't mean new products...People seem to think that's what the cynicism and distrust is about.  (IMHO) It's Not.  Atari is a company and a company is going to release products.  People will buy them or not.

 

I'd be curious to know the answer to one question.  To Atari employees who might be reading this,  If you'd like to answer...And this is likely not a black and white answer.  Would you say this is a new company that bought the name Atari from Infogrames?  Or is this Infogrames' Atari with a few new employees?  Or perhaps the answer lies somewhere in between...

 

 

 

 

[desiv]

3 hours ago, JetSetIlly said:

The GPLv3 makes the requirement explicit but it is arguably a requirement of GPLv2 too.

I would think that legally, anything that is "arguably a requirement" means it is almost definitely not a legal requirement.

[JetSetIlly]

34 minutes ago, desiv said:

I would think that legally, anything that is "arguably a requirement" means it is almost definitely not a legal requirement.

It's not been tested in court and so is not settled law. It can be argued by lawyers as being a requirement. But it's a fringe opinion and not one I hold necessarily, the GPLv3 is explicit about the requirement for this reason.

[John Stamos Mullet]

1 hour ago, GoldLeader said:

@Albert

 

Congratulations!   (Sincerely!)

 

You've been the show runner and owner of my Favorite website on the entire internet and that's saying something.  I'm happy if you're happy.  And I plan on sticking around.

 

 

That said,  and subtleties missed,  a lot of people are handwaving concerns (about Atari's ownership) because they don't know the whole (previous) story (well stories is more the word)...Lawyer's actions and scammy Ex-CEOs (allegedly)...I don't know enough nor would it be my place to explain.  Let me just say there are stories buried within threads that almost everyone has forgotten about,  it appears.

 

To be clear,  Personally,  I'd love to support a new version of Atari.  And I don't mean new products...People seem to think that's what the cynicism and distrust is about.  (IMHO) It's Not.  Atari is a company and a company is going to release products.  People will buy them or not.

 

I'd be curious to know the answer to one question.  To Atari employees who might be reading this,  If you'd like to answer...And this is likely not a black and white answer.  Would you say this is a new company that bought the name Atari from Infogrames?  Or is this Infogrames' Atari with a few new employees?  Or perhaps the answer lies somewhere in between...

 

 

 

 

To be fair, Atari hasn’t really been [i]Atari[/i] since Warner sold it to Jack Tramiel and he proceeded to drive it off a cliff, Thelma and Louise style. The name/copyrights has passed hands a half dozen times since, sometimes to well intentioned but clueless individuals, and sometimes to unscrupulous hucksters. 
 

I don’t have any inside info, nor would I pretend to, but from purely an outsider’s view - based on the product line they are making now and planning for, it appears they are fully embracing the good part of their history - and that’s encouraging. 
 

i never would have thought in a million years that someone would buy the rights to the Atari name, and actually release a new console that can use old carts. I expected homebrewers and hyper focused techies to as they have (Retron, Atgames), but not the company themselves. That, in and of itself is a step forward. 
 

But looking at the bigger picture - even if  this current attempt to revive the product line goes sideways, at the very least we’ve had 20+ years of enjoying this platform, thr various emulation and preservation efforts - and for the most part it’s been free of the kind of fan-killing money grab IP enforcement/lawsuits that even shitter companies like Nintendo unleash on their fan base. 

Edited September 9, 2023 by John Stamos Mullet

[+jgkspsx]

2 hours ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

they did. They've been advertising it for weeks

It’s just some NFT/Crypto thing, though 😕

[Xyla]

14 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

To be fair, Atari hasn’t really been [i]Atari[/i] since Warner sold it to Jack Tramiel and he proceeded to drive it off a cliff, Thelma and Louise style.

Hey now, some of us consider the Tramiel era to be the golden age of Atari.

Jack made a few really bad decisions that I wouldn't have done (mainly shutting down the video game projects and firing people), but he gave us some amazing computers and the spirit of Atari was strong.  They had absolutely amazing R&D, but sucked really bad at marketing.  Particularly at the end of the '80s and into the '90s when they really grew the product lines and Jack's health went.  It wasn't all Atari's fault... PCs taking over (for no good reason) hurt everyone and almost killed even Apple.  But they could have done better had they made different choices.

Edited September 9, 2023 by Xyla

[Thomas Jentzsch]

1 minute ago, Xyla said:

Hey now, some of us consider the Tramiel era to be the golden age of Atari.

For me the golden age of Atari were the last 20+ years.

[+Al_Nafuur]

Is the forum at https://forums.atari.io also owned/controlled by or commercially related to Atari (SA)?

[BILLYonaire]

@TrogdarRobusto Will Atari make new Atari 7800 joystick and d-pad controllers as well? Those controllers had two buttons for 7800 games and neither are included with the Atari 2600+.

[insertclevernamehere]

5 hours ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

https://www.amazon.ca/Plaion-Atari-2600-Hardware/dp/B0CG7LMFKY viola .. Canada is online. Firmware updates I can't speak to, but maximizing compatibility is the goal so ... seems likely.

That's great. But what about the CX30 and CX40 controllers, Mr Run & Jump and Berzerk Enhanced?  I see on Atari.com it says they are all internationally available but I can't find them on amazon.ca.  Will they be on there soon?

[TrogdarRobusto]

10 minutes ago, insertclevernamehere said:

That's great. But what about the CX30 and CX40 controllers, Mr Run & Jump and Berzerk Enhanced?  I see on Atari.com it says they are all internationally available but I can't find them on amazon.ca.  Will they be on there soon?

I am not seeing what you are not seeing, but they should be there. I bet they appear next week, we are pushing hard to get all the markets to catch up.

[TrogdarRobusto]

13 minutes ago, BILLYonaire said:

@TrogdarRobusto Will Atari make new Atari 7800 joystick and d-pad controllers as well? Those controllers had two buttons for 7800 games and neither are included with the Atari 2600+.

The early popularity of the 2600+ opens the door to making more controller types. I can't promise anything, but the desire is there.

[Giles N]

20 minutes ago, insertclevernamehere said:

I can't find them on amazon.ca.

Why not use Amazon.com? The shipping/post cannot be that much higher in price?

Edited September 9, 2023 by Giles N

[TrogdarRobusto]

2 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

I'd be curious to know the answer to one question.  To Atari employees who might be reading this,  If you'd like to answer...And this is likely not a black and white answer.  Would you say this is a new company that bought the name Atari from Infogrames?  Or is this Infogrames' Atari with a few new employees?  Or perhaps the answer lies somewhere in between...

Technically this iteration of Atari has existed for a while, but in many ways it is a pretty new organization. Some of the team members have been around for six or seven years, but the majority have joined within the last three after Wade become CEO. The energy within the company is pretty amazing. Maybe it is best described as a very new chapter?

[Giles N]

14 minutes ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

The early popularity of the 2600+ opens the door to making more controller types. I can't promise anything, but the desire is there.

Hello, 

I’m an Atari 7800 collector and gamer (I also own a handful of 2600 titles)

I see from the promo-video/Ad for the 2600+ it has two nine-pin joystick ports on its back.

Are they backward-compatible with 7800 joysticks and joypads, either original european or american, or modern style retro-pads from independent makers? 

(Guess it boils down to; does it read a + b buttons)?

 

Are there buttons/switches enough on the 2600+ to cover for ‘pause’, ‘select’ and ‘reset’ on 7800?

 

- - -

 

Updated

Edited September 9, 2023 by Giles N

[BILLYonaire]

1 minute ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

The early popularity of the 2600+ opens the door to making more controller types. I can't promise anything, but the desire is there.

I certainly hope so. You can't play two button 7800 games with the joystick supplied with the system. I'm sure original 7800 controllers are compatible but it would be nice to have brand new and affordable controllers, especially the d-pad controllers, which are quite expensive.

[TrogdarRobusto]

3 hours ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

they did. They've been advertising it for weeks

 

49 minutes ago, jgkspsx said:

It’s just some NFT/Crypto thing, though 😕

I would not call it a "crypto thing" 🙃. There were three items in the collection that were made available jointly with Coinbase ... so there was a web3 element.  I'd describe it as a themed merch drop and also the initial launch of the new Atari Club. The majority of the collection was just what it was, clothing items with an Atari Summer Camp theme that anyone could buy using old fashioned money.

[Tickled_Pink]

6 hours ago, CapitanClassic said:

Wouldn’t Pico-8, Scratch, or a multitude of other languages be a better starting point? (Just surprised)

Or basically 6502 on virtually any other platform, unless the students are already proficient at 6502 and are looking for a challenge?

[Tickled_Pink]

15 minutes ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

 

I would not call it a "crypto thing" 🙃. There were three items in the collection that were made available jointly with Coinbase ... so there was a web3 element.  I'd describe it as a themed merch drop and also the initial launch of the new Atari Club. The majority of the collection was just what it was, clothing items with an Atari Summer Camp theme that anyone could buy using old fashioned money.

Like my daughter says when I joke about OnlyFans, "you gotta do what you gotta do, yeah?" Anything crypto these days just smells like a company's OnlyFans account. Getting money any way you can. 🙂 Then again, with a sexy name like Atari ...

[r_chase]

14 minutes ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

 

I would not call it a "crypto thing" 🙃. There were three items in the collection that were made available jointly with Coinbase ... so there was a web3 element.  I'd describe it as a themed merch drop and also the initial launch of the new Atari Club. The majority of the collection was just what it was, clothing items with an Atari Summer Camp theme that anyone could buy using old fashioned money.

I'm glad most of the so-called "crypto things" are kept to a merch level. I'm pretty sure some (if not most) of us don't like NFTs, especially after it got saturated with cryptocurrency scams and stuff. I would say the concept of web3 kinda irks me too.