AtariAge + Atari Q&A

[TrogdarRobusto]

11 minutes ago, Kenjunior said:

@TrogdarRobusto @Albert I see homebrew games for the 2600+ mentioned.... [I have seen the official working list originally published] but do all the homebrews run on the 2600+? Are there any plans for a 2600+ w/ actual hardware [not emulation]

We took the emulation route, as I understand it, because it allowed us to do a few things:

1) get it out the door quicker
2) keep the price down
3) have a more stable supply chain
4) there are probably a few more reasons but that is what I am aware of

Will we someday make a 2600/7800 console that does not use emulation? I really don't know. Everyone loves the idea, not sure how practical it is. Time will tell. 

I can say that the emulation works and looks amazing. The first time you see an 8-bit game on an HD monitor, super crisp with vibrant colors, it is a bit disorienting. But you get used to it quick because it looks and plays amazing.

I don't know if all homebrew games work with the 2600+, we are keeping a compatibility list on our site. I would hazard a guess and say probably not? Will we work with the homebrew community to add compatibility ... where we can, 100%. This community has some very smart people in it, I bet you can help us figure it out.

[Bakasama]

6 minutes ago, r_chase said:

iirc...I think Popeye is owned by...uh...Sony? I remember that there was a trailer for a cancelled movie by Sony.

I think "Popeye" is still owned by King Features Syndicate.

[r_chase]

Just now, Bakasama said:

I think "Popeye" is still owned by King Features Syndicate.

I would think this too; I just wasn't sure whether it still exists or not.

[TrogdarRobusto]

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

One concern I do have is borne out from my experiences in attempting to communicate directly with Atari: none of it was what could be described as pleasant, or even neutral.  If anything, Atari's replies to my points were dismissive and condescending, and failed to address questions which I had raised.  Note that this took place after they had hired someone to act as a community liaison of sorts, and he had invited commentary regarding the frustrations many of us have had with the company.  The impression that I received was that a great deal of lip service was being paid to being interested in what the community thought, but that in practice the expectation was that if you weren't 100% in lock step with the 'everything Atari is awesome' mentality, your invited opinion had no merit.

 

The reason why I bring this up is concern for the longer term.  I realise that in the short term nothing will change, but influence ends to creep in over time.  What in the way of safeguards will be in place to ensure that Atari doesn't censor content (or members) who may be critical of them as a company?  I'm all for people loving their VCS, 2600+, etc., but there's also legitimate criticism that needs to have a place to be aired without fear of reprisal or being sent down the memory hole.

x=usr ... I have heard the stories. The relationship between Atari and the core fan base has, at times, been a bit of a shocker from my perspective. We can take criticism for sure, and all censorship does is move people out of a community into another. No sense in that. We just don't want to see criticism get personal. Yu can criticize Atari all day long, but don't go after individuals. That is a policy on all forums, so I don't think that represents any kind of change.

[+Karl G]

Congrats! I'm sure it was a difficult decision, but I can understand it from the perspective of sustainability, and Albert not being an infinitely scalable resource.

 

Will "AtariAge" remain a distinct brand, e.g. for the purposes of homebrews published by AA, or will these have "Atari" branding in the future?

[TrogdarRobusto]

We get sooooo many questions about IP/games that we published at some point but don't own the license to, or that other people published for our hardware that we don't own the rights to. 

Our hope is that the resurgence of retro hardware and games, including the new 2600+, will encourage more rights holders of games that have been out of circulation to re-release them, or assign the rights to someone else. We will see. It seems to be working for Nightdive, they keep getting their hands on great titles.

[4ever2600]

Congratulations AL!  Long time coming.  I back and support you 100 percent.  Let's face it, the Atari brand will live on longer than all of us.  That's said, kind of an immoralizing of all of us and our work to help keep Atari alive and well all these years!  This is our footnote in the page of Atari history!

[128Kgames]

Congratulations Albert, what a very interesting course of events 👏  I look forward to the Netflix movie next year 😉 In all seriousness as I have love for other systems like the Astrocade how do you see this and other non-Atari sub forums being impacted by the change? Also what about systems that might compete directly with Atari or Atari licensed products? Thanks and good luck to you 👍 

[ABD]

Congratulations,Albert!
Really great news! you will be an important asset for Atari for sure. I wish you all the best!

 

 

Also, I made an order from the store, but the states of the order didn’t change until now☹️. I will appreciate it if you Can updated me with that, and if I need to do something about it! 

 

Thank you 😊 

[anzac]

@Albert @TrogdarRobusto

 

While I don’t have much affinity with the 2600 era games, I do like that there is an Atari releasing hardware and software.

 

not seeing myself buy the 2600+ but I was a backer for the new VCS and have two units. Paid a lot in taxes and customs (more than the consoles themselves) but I’m happy with the platform and hope they’ll continue to support it. Seems like they WANT to, time will tell if they CAN actually do it.

 

Jaguar emulation (maybe even ST on Atari owned titles wink wink) on the VCS would be awesome 

 

get together with the community, work with the people still supporting the platforms you (Atari) created for 50 years and we’ll be there for you too.

[+bent_pin]

1 hour ago, Rev said:

The biggest question of all. 
 

Will the AtariAge logo change?  😱

 

 

They can't remove the tacos.

[Albert]

2 minutes ago, 128Kgames said:

In all seriousness as I have love for other systems like the Astrocade how do you see this and other non-Atari sub forums being impacted by the change? Also what about systems that might compete directly with Atari or Atari licensed products? Thanks and good luck to you 👍 

No changes are going to be made to the forum, and certainly I'm not going to remove sub-forums that aren't related to Atari.  This also goes for discussions about hardware that migth cmopete with Atari or Atari-licensed products.

 

 ..Al

[Albert]

3 minutes ago, ABD said:

Also, I made an order from the store, but the states of the order didn’t change until now☹️. I will appreciate it if you Can updated me with that, and if I need to do something about it! 

I did see your order go through, and it looks fine on my end.  Thank you for the order, you'll have fun with those games once I get them shipped out to you. 

 

 ..Al

[mario64]

Last chance sale purchases will still be shipped?

[TrogdarRobusto]

35 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

@TrogdarRobusto: I realise that this question doesn't have a concrete answer, but would like to hear what you have to say regarding it.

 

The reputation that Atari, SA has built up with a large chunk of the community over the past few years can be charitably described as less than stellar.  Does Atari, SA intend to repair that relationship, and, if so, how?

I've have a lot of conversations with members of the community over the last year, some online, some at shows. I spoke with so many core fans at Gamescom, Play NYC and especially PAX West in the last 30 days. What I hear from everyone is cautious optimism. A lot of "thanks for listening to us, it feels like you are on the right path." That sentiment is the direct result of how we have behaved over the last three years, starting when Wade Rosen became Chairman of Atari and accelerating when he took over as CEO. We are committed to rebuilding our relationship with the community, and I 100% acknowledge that the community has been instrumental in keeping the Atari brand alive, especially during the periods when management at Atari was .. distracted by other things perhaps. 

How are we going to repair the relationship? Probably just being honest and present, and focusing on rebuilding Atari as a game-centric brand and company. And we are open to suggestions as to how best to engage with and support the community. It is a two-relationship ... a dialogue. 

Anyone who wants to discuss this face to face at Portland Retro ... I'll see you there. Looking forward to it.

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by TrogdarRobusto

[DrVenkman]

Well, I gotta say I thought something like this was behind the Last Chance Sale but I take no pleasure in being more or less correct. As a lifelong “Atari kid” and fan, and as an engineer with a LOT of vintage Atari hardware and software across the entire 8-bit era, AtariAge has been an amazing resource - history, documentation, photos, schematics, source code, binary files … you name, AtariAge has had it.

 

More than that, it has been a true grassroots community and home to many of us - we have found “our people” here from across the entire world. As a fan, I desperately do not want to see that change.

 

However, as an attorney with decades of experience watching business operate in the world, I’m desperately afraid it will - intentionally or not. 

[Albert]

1 minute ago, mario64 said:

Last chance sale purchases will still be shipped?

Absolutely, it's just a rather extensive amount of work.  I will be very happy once those are all out!

 

 ..Al

[TrogdarRobusto]

6 minutes ago, anzac said:

@Albert @TrogdarRobusto

 

get together with the community, work with the people still supporting the platforms you (Atari) created for 50 years and we’ll be there for you too.

what anzac said

[Kirkland]

Since actual Atari people are in here.. I've got a project where I've been scanning manuals and I'm wondering on your stance for hosting them going forward.  Would you be limited to Atari-owned or open to 3rd party as well? And who would need approval?  Is this unnecessary as Atari might now free up and post their original pdfs?  Or if those have been lost to time, should I focus more on the Atari side of my project?

 

http://atari7800.videogamemanual.com/

(green & blue links)

 

https://archive.org/details/kirklands_manual_labor_-_atari_2600_-_atari_corp_international_-_4k_version/3-D Tic-Tac-Toe (Atari) [international]/

 

 

 

[+eebuckeye]

Are only non-IP related homebrews/in progress projects allowed to be discussed now?  It would seem that way since these types of games were removed from the store.

[Ruggers Customs]

Congratulations @Albert and welcome @TrogdarRobusto to the community!!! 🤩

[+slx]

@Albert, congratulations on the deal! I do hope this will keep AA alive beyond my lifetime. 

 

My biggest concern would be a decision taken by a future Atari to no longer need and keep the forum  alive. There‘s decades of Atari intelligence buried in these pages and it would be not only a shame but a catastrophe if it went under.
 

It‘s probably not realistic for a contract to include this, but it would be very reassuring if there was a way to at least keep the static content of the forum preserved for posterity (e.g. at archive.org) if it ever were to close. 

[+Sauron]

I think an important question that many of us are forgetting is....does this mean that you won't have to spend the bulk of your time putting carts together by hand? 

[Trinity]

5 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

Well, I gotta say I thought something like this was behind the Last Chance Sale but I take no pleasure in being more or less correct. As a lifelong “Atari kid” and fan, and as an engineer with a LOT of vintage Atari hardware and software across the entire 8-bit era, AtariAge has been an amazing resource - history, documentation, photos, schematics, source code, binary files … you name, AtariAge has had it.

 

More than that, it has been a true grassroots community and home to many of us - we have found “our people” here from across the entire world. As a fan, I desperately do not want to see that change.

 

However, as an attorney with decades of experience watching business operate in the world, I’m desperately afraid it will - intentionally or not. 

This!

[Albert]

2 minutes ago, eebuckeye said:

Are only non-IP related homebrews/in progress projects allowed to be discussed now?  It would seem that way since these types of games were removed from the store.

No, we are not going to curtail discussion here.

 

 ..Al