AtariAge + Atari Q&A

[BILLYonaire]

4 minutes ago, Albert said:

Yes, they do. 
 

  ..Al

Thanks for clarifying, Al!

[holygrailvideogames.com]

Al,  do you know roughly how many game cartridges you have built by hand since you opened up the AtariAge store and how many games do you still have left to make from the last chance sale?

[DirtyHairy]

41 minutes ago, hizzy said:

 

I just ordered. I hope this ends up being something great. If you are using Stella, you should try to acknowledge the Stella team in some way.

I can 100% confirm they are using Stella.

[+MrZarniwoop]

35 minutes ago, Giles N said:

You know if you can meddle with it to do ‘pause’, ‘reset’ and ‘select’ for the 7800, - or are these somehow parallel in both 2600 and 7800 (I don’t own a physical 2600)?

"Color/B&W" switch on the 2600 = "Pause" switch on the 7800

[Giles N]

10 minutes ago, MrZarniwoop said:

"Color/B&W" switch on the 2600 = "Pause" switch on the 7800

And all we need for now is for compatibility-issues with cart-dumper etc, to be resolved.

I guess I can play F 18 without problems, which is cool.

However, MotorPsycho actually doesn’t work, so either they’ll have to have it reworked and re-released or fix the dumper, or make an add-on/expansion-thing later.

(May sound akward, it may look a bit wierd, but there are a few important 2600-titles which also should be enabled to run on this thing in my opinion).

Edited September 9, 2023 by Giles N

[GaryH917]

With all the 2600 flashbacks that have been released plus now the Atari 2600+ plus 3 new My Arcade systems, how many times can a system from the 70's/80's be milked based on nostalgia and be profitable enough to be released on a consistent basis? It seems way beyond overkill to me......

[duzkiss]

And I bet in the future they possibly will.  Please don't turn this issue into an Oracle vs Google issue.  Atari is just starting and I believe they need to keep this secret for now since it hasn't been released yet.  Anyway, take pride...Stella is on a system from a brand name.  That's a huge win!  I use Stella on my computer.  As for the person that stated there a cheaper way to do this and companies have in the past...you are right on both accounts, but I bet Atari will be upgrading those roms with extra features and they will not be distributed like the stolen ones or the ones people have ripped.  As to other hardware units...that's a clone and I bet this isn't made cheaply and that devices will feel authentic.

[stirrell]

Credit where credit is due... the last couple of years have seen some really solid releases from Atari. I also have been impressed with the VCS - the build quality and software library exceeded my expectations. I love the Recharged series. @davpa has done an amazing job growing the VCS library and getting some cool indie titles on the VCS. And for games that support the Classic controller's twist functionality, the VCS makes for a unique experience. Breakout Recharged and Gravitar Recharged with the spinner controls are a lot of fun. I also appreciate that Atari has started highlighting some of their lesser known titles like Black Widow, Caverns of Mars and Quantum. They have also been alluding to the APX program and their 80s computer camps. It is very refreshing to highlight things beyond the 2600 and the big coin-ops.

That said, one thing that has continuously bothered me are the mistakes made by a lack of attention to detail. Almost every correspondence from Atari has a typo or error in it. If you want to honor the history, you need to take care to be accurate. Here is a Facebook post about the 2600+ from today:


5200? Seriously? And, of course, there are huge issues like the PCBs in the first round of Atari XP carts being backwards and the VCS needing to be flashed out of the box to work. Things like that do a lot to erode the goodwill and trust that you are trying to build.

I also am skeptical about the 2600+ compatibility list. I just can't believe that Atari had access to a Custer's Revenge cart to test but not Popeye or Pitfall II. I want to believe that Atari is being straight with the carts they have tested but there are some carts that it is surprising they could not get a hold of.

But congrats to Albert (and Atari). I do want to see Atari succeed. Wade Rosen's Atari has definitely been an improvement over the previous decade's Atari. With people like Albert working there I hope they continue to improve and release lots of really cool stuff for Atari fans going forward.

[Hastor]

I feel like this has been asked, and I hate to be the 'I didnt read all 33 pages' guy, but I did read the past few dozen posts.
However, I'm curious as to what guarantees, if any, are in place? Could they fire Al next month? Next year? Shut it all down suddenly?
The company I currently work for had no 'intention' of any major changes when they bought the previous company a couple years ago. A lot of my friends are out of work and our product is no longer being developed now. Our CEO who would remain our manager and was 'in this with us' was gone within 6 months.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Hastor

[Hastor]

Also, unrelated to the previous question. Will this affect the ability to order carts of any ROM we upload (with the caveat of homebrew/hacks requiring permission as always)?
Especially some of the unlicensed stuff. I could see someone ignoring AtariAge taking more interest when there's a bigger entity to go after. I'm assuming at the very least, new releases from Atari would fall under the homebrew rule, and you probably wouldn't take a ROM of Berzerk+ for example.

[Trebor]

@TrogdarRobusto The following 7800 games have received a "P" respecting compatibility with 2600+:

 

Aces of Aces

Alien Brigade
Basketbrawl

Choplifter!

Crack'ed
Dark Chambers

Desert Falcon

Double Dragon

F-19 Hornet

Fatal Run
Ikari Warriors

Jinks
Karateka

Mat Mania Challenge

Ninja Golf
One-On-One Basketball

Planet Smashers

Pole Position II

RealSports Baseball
Scrapyard Dog

Tomcat F-14 Flight Simulator
Xenophobe

 

However, all of the games above require a 2 independent button controller to play properly.  Although it is not clear what criteria determined 'Pass' or not, even if a 2 independent button controller is not going to be included or made available separately, it would probably be prudent in the included documentation with the system and the published compatibility list, to state that such is required for the game to fully function as intended.

 

Further, Barnyard Blaster (Misspelled "Blster"), Meltdown, and Sentinel received a 'Pass', but all three games require a light gun.  Unlike such titles like Alien Brigade and Crossbow, where a light gun is optional, for the three former games, they're unplayable without one.

 

Respecting the "Untested" titles, all of them: Commando, Midnight Mutants, Motor Psycho, Rampage, Tank Command, Water Ski, with the exceptions of Summer Games and Pete Rose Baseball, also require a 2 independent button controller. 

 

For some, this may be their first exposure to trying 7800 games, and faulty/missing/non-function aspects of the game provides a really bad impression.

 

7800 Xevious is missing from the list (Ideally should have a 2 button controller as well, but can play fine with just 1).

[Xyla]

5 hours ago, GaryH917 said:

With all the 2600 flashbacks that have been released plus now the Atari 2600+ plus 3 new My Arcade systems, how many times can a system from the 70's/80's be milked based on nostalgia and be profitable enough to be released on a consistent basis? It seems way beyond overkill to me......

Yeah, that's what I was saying.  Attention should be shifted immediately to reviving other Atari hardware.  The relentless focus on the 2600 has become absurd at this point.  5200, XL, XE, ST, etc... there's so much that has been ignored.  The "2600+" is more like a 7800 remake (being able to play both 2600 & 7800, just like the original 7800), yet it STILL got packaged in a woodgrain 2600 case with 1-button joysticks.  Ridiculous.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Xyla

[MegaManFan]

6 hours ago, Albert said:

Yes, they do. 
 

  ..Al

So do we need an adapter for 8BitDo nine pin Genesis controllers like with the 7800, or is it just plug and play away? Because for my money, HDMI plus wireless = the best reasons for 2600+ to be a centerpiece of my retro setup.

[Albert]

Just now, MegaManFan said:

So do we need an adapter for 8BitDo nine pin Genesis controllers like with the 7800, or is it just plug and play away? Because for my money, HDMI plus wireless = the best reasons for 2600+ to be a centerpiece of my retro setup.

I doubt Genesis controllers would work without an adapter.  I can try Seagull 78 and Mega 7800 adapters, though, to see if they work fine on the 2600+. 

 

 ..Al

[MegaManFan]

1 minute ago, Albert said:

I doubt Genesis controllers would work without an adapter.  I can try Seagull 78 and Mega 7800 adapters, though, to see if they work fine on the 2600+. 

 

 ..Al

Awesome. I look forward to hearing the results. PS: I had to hack my Firefox security settings just to be here tonight.

[shep]

Just wanted to pop in and say congrats. Lived on this website when I was in High school back in the 00s and loved learning about and nerding out about Atari. Still play many 2600 games today. Much love to AtariAge!

[leech]

35 minutes ago, Albert said:

I doubt Genesis controllers would work without an adapter.  I can try Seagull 78 and Mega 7800 adapters, though, to see if they work fine on the 2600+. 

 

 ..Al

I'll be sure to test out my Super Twin 78 Arcade Controller when I get my 2600+ as well!  Got it for Robotron ages ago, but still haven't gotten around to using it...

[r_type2600]

49 minutes ago, Trebor said:

However, all of the games above require a 2 independent button controller to be played properly.  Although it is not clear what would determined whether a game was classified as 'Pass' or not, even if a 2 independent button controller is not going to be included or made available separately, it should still be very clear in the included documentation with the system and the published compatibility list, that such is required for the game to fully function as intended.

 

For some, this may be their first exposure to trying 7800 games, and faulty/missing/non-function aspects of the game provides a really bad impression.

 

 

I don't think that in practice this would really affect many people.

Newcomers to the classic games scene would not own / have easy access to 7800 carts anyway, so that issue would hardly give them headaches.

Retrogamers such as us would already have the necessary controllers to be able to play 7800 games.

(unless you're solely collecting for the shelf and didn't get hold of 7800 controllers before, but then it wouldn't bother you anyway that you can not play the games.)

So I think it is a bit exaggerating to conceive this as an issue.

 

However what Atari could and should do is to release a "CX-78+ bundle" packing an Atari 2-button joypad with a combi-cart sporting 2-4 of its 7800 games, akin to the Paddle-bundle. That would warrant that newcomers could get the full 7800 experience, and longtime collectors easier availability of an Atari joypad.

 

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

3 hours ago, Hastor said:

I feel like this has been asked, and I hate to be the 'I didnt read all 33 pages' guy, but I did read the past few dozen posts.
However, I'm curious as to what guarantees, if any, are in place? Could they fire Al next month? Next year? Shut it all down suddenly?
The company I currently work for had no 'intention' of any major changes when they bought the previous company a couple years ago. A lot of my friends are out of work and our product is no longer being developed now. Our CEO who would remain our manager and was 'in this with us' was gone within 6 months.

I find the questions very important too and asked before. But I am afraid we will not get an answer for them. 

 

Which indicates the answer.  

[+jgkspsx]

12 hours ago, christo930 said:

One very important way Atariage has already changed is the implosion of the homebrew market. 

People don’t seem to want to hear it, but charging money for unlicensed arcade ports that used assets, music, sound effects, trademarked titles, etc. from games owned by extant and potentially litigious companies e.g. Activision, Taito, Nintendo, etc. was always a legal risk that worst case could have gotten AtariAge shut down entirely. Especially the games that completely omit the name of the actual trademark and copyright holder, replacing them with the moniker of the homebrew author. That practice is extremely risky and increasingly likely to draw a cease and desist letter.

Doing things on the up and up as with Lode Runner and Boulder Dash was the legally and ethically right thing to do.

[+jgkspsx]

5 hours ago, Xyla said:

Attention should be shifted immediately to reviving other Atari hardware.  The relentless focus on the 2600 has become absurd at this point.  5200, XL, XE, ST, etc... there's so much that has been ignored.

The 5200 was a sales disaster with a struggle bus controller that would be prohibitively expensive to recreate, literally four exclusive games, and simply no compelling reason to own one. At least half the library consists of arcade ports from a plethora of other companies that Atari would need to negotiate expensive new contracts to revive. It is simply not commercially viable to revive it. There is no more nostalgia for it in the mass market than there is for the Tiger R-Zone.
 

I don’t know if there is a market for 8 bit computer stuff but none of the other Atari video game systems is commercially viable. The notoriety and the mystery of the Jaguar probably make it #2. The Lynx is one of my favorite systems ever but I notice that in the Evercade community a good 1/3 won’t even give the best games on the system a chance.

 

The reason Atari keeps hammering the 2600 is that it’s the only thing the mass of consumers remembers and buys. Other systems, save for maybe the Atari 8 bits, are viable at the scale of the AtariAge store, sure, but not at the scale of mass factory production or sale in major retailers.

[+DjayBee]

30 minutes ago, jgkspsx said:

The reason Atari keeps hammering the 2600 is that it’s the only thing the mass of consumers remembers and buys. Other systems, save for maybe the Atari 8 bits, are viable at the scale of the AtariAge store, sure, but not at the scale of mass factory production or sale in major retailers.

Now this is the exact reason why Atari should be flexible in giving out royalty-based licenses for small-scale commercial developments and generous licenses for non-profit homebrews.

 

Having legal access to the various BIOS and OS ROMs of the old machines for emulation purposes would also be a fine step towards our community which would not harm Atari's sales. Buyers of products like the 2600+ are either mainstream people who want/need something plug-and-play or fans like us who buy it even if we have the same stuff already in five other incarnations.

 

@TrogdarRobusto are this ideas thinkable inside Atari?

[Crazy Climber]

12 hours ago, christo930 said:

From the Atari website:

Package Contents

Atari 2600+ Video Game System includes:
- Atari 2600+ Game System
- Atari CX40+ Joystick
- Atari 10-in-1 Game Cartridge
- HDMI Cable
- USB-C Power Cable
- FUN!

 

 

No 7800 joystick is included at all. So the library of games that use a 2 button joystick are not playable out of the box.  The picture of the CX40+ doesn't show 2 buttons.  The original shipped with 2 joysticks and 2 paddles.  Paddle games are not compatible either apparently, at least not out of the box.

If original 7800 controllers work it doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I mean, Nintendo sold numerous versions of the DS and game and watch handhelds without even including an AC adapter, they just assumed you already had one. Let's face it, most of us already did just like most of us already have a 7800 controller lol

12 hours ago, Giles N said:

Won’t they just then sell of anything they own, piece by piece… ?

 

Then AA could be bought back either by someone with the necessary means, or through a crowdfunding…?

 

Well, somebody could pick up the "AtariSage" name just in case 😄 

 

 

[GaryH917]

1 hour ago, jgkspsx said:

The 5200 was a sales disaster with a struggle bus controller that would be prohibitively expensive to recreate, literally four exclusive games, and simply no compelling reason to own one.

I see Atari hired a few comedians too 🙂

[CPUWIZ]

1 hour ago, GaryH917 said:

I see Atari hired a few comedians too 🙂

He actually works for free, as well!