AtariAge + Atari Q&A

[JPF997]

6 minutes ago, jgkspsx said:

I will be customer #1 if you do this.

 

Well that's kind of unique I suppose ( if a bit cringy to be honest ), still though if any model of the 2600 deserves to be brought back it's the Vader model no question 💪

[+jgkspsx]

Orange is the new black.

[zzip]

8 minutes ago, guppy said:

It's not an unreasonable position to take. The fact is, Atari went out of business, shut down, its assets were liquidated, picked up by others, and there is a loss of continuity between the company that failed and got split up and the company that bought the name and uses it today. 

Back then it changed hands twice, had mass layoffs, and split into two entities:  Atari Games and Atari Corp.    So 1996 Atari Corp already had very little in common with 1972 Atari.   But the internet acts like it was a single harmonious entity that got defiled by Hasbro or something.

[Trinity]

1 minute ago, jgkspsx said:

I think it would be well past $1000. CRTs are really hard to source these days.

I think I'd still pay for it. The CRT would be it's main selling point. Good sound with some bass. The unit could be turned on it's side for more game compatibility. And of course well thought out durable controllers.

 

 

[carlsson]

I strongly doubt Atari is in a position to manufacture any hardware with a price point at $1000+. The distributors and customers are not expecting something like that. But yeah, Atari might license the rights to whichever vector based games they have (if any?) and some hobbyist could make that come real.

[+bfstats]

4 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

Everyone has the right to love whatever he or she wants to love. But I can almost guarantee, that this game [Mr. Run and Jump] would have never made it into the AtariAge store. 

Why, Thomas? What would prevent it from qualifying for inclusion as an entry into Albert’s inventory? Your opinions and contributions are respected here (at least by me) so I’m very curious about the source of your “almost guarantee”. 
 

For perspective, the 2600 version of Mr. Run and Jump is the first game produced by “new” Atari that I have felt compelled to buy, and that is ONLY because of my desire to contribute to the furtherance of THAT platform, which is what brought me to The Atari 2600 Nexus back in 1999. Albert clearly has standards governing the quality of games sold by AtariAge, and those standards at least equal if not EXCEED those of “old” Atari. So please elaborate, if you would, on what prompted your particular view of this game.

[Blinky]

@TrogdarRobusto Now that AA has been acquired, will there be a "Join the AA community" sticker slammed on the 2600+ packaging?

 

[Albert]

1 minute ago, Blinky said:

@TrogdarRobusto Now that AA has been acquired, will there be a "Join the AA community" sticker slammed on the 2600+ packaging?

Ha, that would be something.

 

 ..Al

[hizzy]

Just by eye, Mr Run & Jump looks like it was programmed in Batari basic. That's a beginner's programming tool. 

 

 

It's weird that this is the style of programming Atari went with for its first new game. Even without the ARM stuff, you have people here who can work wonders with the traditional confines of the platform.

[TrogdarRobusto]

1 minute ago, Blinky said:

@TrogdarRobusto Now that AA has been acquired, will there be a "Join the AA community" sticker slammed on the 2600+ packaging?

The designers would love being asked to JAM something in  the packaging was locked long before A+AA happened. 

That said, I would think that Atari's big ole email list and social media presence could be leveraged to bring more people into the AA community ... if that is something that makes sense.

[hizzy]

The AA Magnet and sticker in the box would be a nice touch. 

[TrogdarRobusto]

2 minutes ago, hizzy said:

Just by eye, Mr Run & Jump looks like it was programmed in Batari basic. That's a beginner's programming tool. 

I'd ask the developer John Mikula how he did it. I know there are some interviews. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/programming/how-mr-run-and-jump-leapt-onto-the-atari-2600-and-modern-pcs- ; you can find him on social or discord I am pretty sure. 

[Bakasama]

1 hour ago, desiv said:

Now, that being said, I do think Atari SA, while not required too, should have done more in their outreach to the Stella team.  I think that is a mistake they have made that I hope they address before too long.

But, as some others, I still remain cautiously optimistic about this...

 

Now excuse me, there are some kids on my lawn I have to go yell at... 

Atari seems to trying to go in the right direction. At least they produced hardware unlike the Intellivision Amico.

[M-S]

 Hey @TrogdarRobusto, since you mentioned availability of physical games, some of Atari's subsidiaries release their games only through a company called Limited Run Games, however, there's a lot of proof that this company is selling their games to official resellers in the first few minutes of open pre-orders, these resellers, mostly on Ebay, sell these games for inflated prices as "collectibles" and allegedly returns some of their profits to Limited Run Games. So, if a game gets a thousand copies, only 200 of these are going to be bought by actual fans that are going to play these games, the other 800 will be bought only to boost scarcity and prices.

 I think you can't do anything to stop this from happening, but would it be possible to sell some of these games physically through the official Atari store in non limited quantities? Or at least enough for everyone that wants a copy?

[Nall3k]

15 minutes ago, hizzy said:

Just by eye, Mr Run & Jump looks like it was programmed in Batari basic. That's a beginner's programming tool. 

 

 

It's weird that this is the style of programming Atari went with for its first new game. Even without the ARM stuff, you have people here who can work wonders with the traditional confines of the platform.

Graphite Lab developed the 2600 game, which became the basis for the modern version that was pitched to Atari. From the interviews, it was initially just a fun side project.

[JPF997]

9 minutes ago, Bakasama said:

Atari seems to trying to go in the right direction. At least they produced hardware unlike the Intellivision Amico.

Not just hardware but good hardware at that, for it's price the VCS is a great mini PC to tinker with (if only they shipped to Europe, I'll never let that go), the 2600+ is also looking very impressive despite what some naysayers on YouTube might say, now the long wait for the ST 2 begins 😎.

[+bfstats]

3 hours ago, Albert said:

I haven't made any changes to this, so everything is the same.  I've never wanted to hide any important features behind the subscriptions, nor have I ever really gone out of my way to promote them.  I don't anticipate making any changes to this short-term, and even if changes were made, at a minimum I'd allow the existing subscriptions to run out their terms.

 

 ..Al

Albert, this is reassuring, and thank you for that. Don’t know that I can speak for anyone else in this community, but my motivation for subscribing is to simply do my part to help sustain this site, ESPECIALLY after learning that AtariAge is your full-time job. The added perk of discounts on items bought from the Store is a nice incentive, but failure to receive that perk would not be a DISincentive to continue subscribing. 
 

If revenue from Atari made it unnecessary for you to maintain your subscription model, I would still like to have a way to contribute to AtariAge going forward. I hope there are others here who feel the same way.

[JPF997]

48 minutes ago, carlsson said:

I strongly doubt Atari is in a position to manufacture any hardware with a price point at $1000+. The distributors and customers are not expecting something like that. But yeah, Atari might license the rights to whichever vector based games they have (if any?) and some hobbyist could make that come real.

If they made something like a next generation Atari ST to compete with modern computers like Alienware and Asus then yeah I can see it costing around that value.

[JPF997]

1 hour ago, zzip said:

Back then it changed hands twice, had mass layoffs, and split into two entities:  Atari Games and Atari Corp.    So 1996 Atari Corp already had very little in common with 1972 Atari.   But the internet acts like it was a single harmonious entity that got defiled by Hasbro or something.

I mean Atari Games doesn't really count, they where never the true sucessor to Atari Inc, they couldn't even use the Atari name legally ( which is why they called themselves Tengen ) Atari Corporation was always the true sucessor to Atari Inc , and after they collapsed  the true sucessor to Atari Corporation became Atari SA a few years later ( former Infogrames) at least that's how I view things regarding this topic.

 

[+bfstats]

1 hour ago, TrogdarRobusto said:

Anything is possible. No idea though. Passing this on to the head of hardware ... 

In that case, Sir, perhaps an “upgrade” to the original 2600+, down the road after a following has been established, would be to include an SD card slot and package it in a Vader case. Two birds, one stone.

[JPF997]

3 minutes ago, bfstats said:

In that case, Sir, perhaps an “upgrade” to the original 2600+, down the road after a following has been established, would be to include an SD card slot and package it in a Vader case. Two birds, one stone.

The Patricians choice, i see that you are also a man of exquisite taste, cheer's good sir 🥂

[adamchevy]

8 minutes ago, JPF997 said:

If they made something like a next generation Atari ST to compete with modern computers like Alienware and Asus then yeah I can see it costing around that value.

I would love to purchase a modern Atari ST. I could see an Atari computer like the Mac Studio that has an Atari branded SOC.  That would be a sexy beast in Vader Black with Red led accenting.  Put it in an anodized Black aluminum case with a beautiful Atari Fuji on the top. I would just need a Subscription to Atariage packed in. 

[roots.genoa]

1 minute ago, JPF997 said:

Atari Corporation was always the true sucessor to Atari Inc

Legally speaking yes, but one might feel (and it has precisely been said before in that thread) that Atari Games might be the real "spiritual" successor, in terms of creativity. Even though Atari was in the hardware business from the beginning (each arcade game having its own hardware), it was mostly about the games, and Atari Corporation clearly moved away from games to focus on hardware (at least compared to Nintendo and SEGA for instance).

[carlsson]

12 minutes ago, JPF997 said:

If they made something like a next generation Atari ST to compete with modern computers like Alienware and Asus then yeah I can see it costing around that value.

Hm, it reminds me of those Commodore Gaming cases which look cool but I'm not sure how attractive they are to gamers. In that case, I think whoever had/has the rights to the brand, licensed it to a PC case manufacturer. I don't know if Atari are interested in similar deals, or from now on wants to only release 1st party products.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

51 minutes ago, bfstats said:

Why, Thomas? What would prevent it from qualifying for inclusion as an entry into Albert’s inventory? Your opinions and contributions are respected here (at least by me) so I’m very curious about the source of your “almost guarantee”. ... So please elaborate, if you would, on what prompted your particular view of this game.

I will not do that in public.