AtariAge + Atari Q&A

[zzip]

55 minutes ago, juansolo said:

I still for the life of me have no idea who the VCS was aimed at. It certainly wasn't me... It's continued existence and customer base baffles me.

It's the ultimate emulation box in a cool Atari case.    It baffles me why people like limited-use devices like the 2600+ when VCS plays everything it can, and many things it can't.   I guess people really like plugging in plastic cartridges!

[Giles N]

1 hour ago, Bakasama said:

I’ve seen people on YouTube mod the vcs with ram upgrades. There must be market for molders.

They either need to make better version of it, or give it some incredible software pre-installed.

This could be a heavy software developer-tool, like garageband and prologic - only for making 2600, 5200, 7800, Lynx, Jag and VCS games for personal publication.

 

Thid same software could then also be bought on Windows or Mac, while coming preinstalled on the VCS(s).

 

This would make many Atari-fans run and buy the VCS only for the opportunity to make you own game (and of course own it and publish it on hardware-cart if will and can).

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Giles N

[Wildstar]

9 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

This statement would carry more credibility had you not just kicked someone out of a thread without warning. 

 

Yes, he was acting like an ass, but instead of a gentle “go to bed, you’re drunk,” you flexed your admin powers like a petty tyrant.
 

Your site, your rules, but this is not a good look. Your reputation deserves better. 

He wasn't a newbie. Having been on this forum for 20+ years, he had every reason to know the rules of the forum and

his conduct would have got him banned on other forums and kickbanned on IRC channels. He's also not a child even if 

behaved as one. If drunk, he would know better than to go on to a web forum posting while intoxicated. The only thing

he should have been doing if drunk is sleep it off and after rested and getting over the hangover (if any), then post. 

That assumes he was drunk or intoxicated or something. 

If he wasn't, then he full well behaved in that way on purpose. Additionally, warnings don't necessarily have to happen 

in public. There is the direct messaging. When the site admin sends a direct message about your behavior, you better 

pay attention. Period.

 

 

[Wildstar]

1 hour ago, GoldLeader said:

And calling it the "VCS" when a VCS already exists and is beloved was the dumbest thing I've ever seen!  Now suddenly when us old timers do a search for real VCS stuff on the internet,  guess what comes up?

The original VCS is the Atari 2600 as it was known as as from 1982 onward. The new VCS (not the 2600+) was introduced as VCS 400

& VCS 800. The current being really the VCS 800 which I think with the "800" included would have helped with distinction. The idea originally

was  a play on the Atari VCS and Atari 800 name for a new Atari console-pc. The current VCS better fits the name VIDEO COMPUTER SYSTEM

given you can have a keyboard, use it as a computer, and have external storage if you want. While the VCS originally was conceiving the idea

of which would have been much like Famicom in Japan by Nintendo where you had a keyboard and use it like the Vic-20 and had a floppy

storage. Atari VCS failed t meet that.

 

 

As for the speakerhat thing, I don't understand it but from a legal point of view, applying the Atari trademark on merchandise of all kinds

actually makes legal sense. It protects the trademark from getting usurped and taken. It's a protective defense. Many such merchandise

may be more a loss to the merchandise licensee than Atari, the trademark licensor. Atari collecting royalty on licensing is fine and protects

their ownership of the trademarks. They would need to do more work in game content. Aside from the recharge stuff, new games. 

 

I have some stuff in the work which might be interesting for those with the VCS 400/800 (basically, the current VCS) which when coupled

with Tilt Five and even a third-party accessory for Tilt Five Augmented Reality System, which could be a nifty accessory for use with the

VCS 400/800 (current VCS product and potential successor consoles), smartphones/tablets, PC/Laptop.

For more info about Tilt Five: http://www.tiltfive.com (posted for informational reference not marketing as the goal). As it stands, it is 

very doable to use this with the VCS console from Atari these days. The Atari 2600+ might be too restricting by design. 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Wildstar

[guppy]

1 hour ago, JPF997 said:

The 2600 "+" won't cause any confusion, just by including the + it distinguishes itself very easily from the original hardware, even casuals on IGN's YouTube channel could tell the difference, this isn't the slam dunk you think it is 

The + symbol is interpreted by search engines in different ways. You often get a lot of cross contamination when searching for either, or for the VCS/VCS. It's annoying and bad for classic systems to overload the names. I wish they had stayed with the AtariBox name, and for the 2600+ it would have helped to spell it out 2600Plus.

[JPF997]

4 minutes ago, Wildstar said:

The original VCS is the Atari 2600 as it was known as as from 1982 onward. The new VCS (not the 2600+) was introduced as VCS 400 and VCS 800.

The current being really the VCS 800 which I think with the "800" included would have helped with distinction. The idea originally was 

a play on the Atari VCS and Atari 800 name for a new Atari console-pc. 

 

As for the speakerhat thing, I don't understand it but from a legal point of view, applying the Atari trademark on merchandise of all kinds

actually makes legal sense. It protects the trademark from getting usurped and taken. It's a protective defense. Many such merchandise

may be more a loss to the merchandise licensee than Atari, the trademark licensor. Atari collecting royalty on licensing is fine and protects

their ownership of the trademarks. They would need to do more work in game content. Aside from the recharge stuff, new games. 

 

I have some stuff in the work which might be interesting for those with the VCS 400/800 (basically, the current VCS) which when coupled

with Tilt Five and even a third-party accessory for Tilt Five Augmented Reality System, which could be a nifty accessory for use with the

VCS 400/800 (current VCS product and potential successor consoles), smartphones/tablets, PC/Laptop.

For more info about Tilt Five: http://www.tiltfive.com (posted for informational reference not marketing as the goal). As it stands, it is 

very doable to use this with the VCS console from Atari these days. The Atari 2600+ might be too restricting by design. 

I'll never understand people's hatred of the speaker hat, I wish I had one , especially the blade runner 2049 limited edition one.

[Wildstar]

1 minute ago, JPF997 said:

I'll never understand people's hatred of the speaker hat, I wish I had one , especially the blade runner 2049 limited edition one.

I don't hate it. Not dissing it.

[Wildstar]

38 minutes ago, guppy said:

The + symbol is interpreted by search engines in different ways. You often get a lot of cross contamination when searching for either, or for the VCS/VCS. It's annoying and bad for classic systems to overload the names. I wish they had stayed with the AtariBox name, and for the 2600+ it would have helped to spell it out 2600Plus.

That or VCSBox but they actually had the numbers 400 and 800 associated with it. It's now basically the VCS 800 hardware wise which mainly differed by amount of RAM.

 

Given the VCS unit doesn't look like or have a BOX look and feel, maybe they could have called it Atari Video Computer Entertainment System. Nintendo couldn't really do anything because its not NES (Nintendo Entertainment System).

 

Atari, if you make a beefier successor, there you have it. New name for a successor model.

 

Have an Atari branded keyboard & mouse as well with the Atari logo instead of the Windows logo keys.  Wired or wireless or both. (As in can run wireless and charge and communicate by wire when plugged in.

 

It should also have decent cpu. Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 9 with Zen3 cores. Upgradable with a video card. Enhancements to the AtariOS as well. Some ideas for you guys. At least an SD slot supporting UHS-II and UHS-III speed cards. An m.2 ssd of 1 or 2 TB at least. If the mobo can have two m.2 ssd great. 32 or 64 GB System memory. Maybe upgradeable to higher capacity memory. 

 

More importantly, it is not the console/computer that matters most but the game content and other content. If you include a ultra 4k/bluray burner that can play and write to recordable discs. It would give a completeness for the home entertainment center. Streaming services apps for DisneyPlus, Amazon Prime video, Netflix, etc. out of the box with active accounts for those services. They are the basics. I would also emphasize a suite of software as well as some software development tools so you seamlessly play and use it as a computer. 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Wildstar

[JPF997]

20 hours ago, Wildstar said:

I don't hate it. Not dissing it.

Oh I wasn't directing that response specifically towards you friend, more so the Atari community in general, so many people for whatever reason consider the speaker hat to be some sort of symbol of Atari's decline or something to that effect and  I just don't get it.

[Giles N]

2 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

And calling it the "VCS" when a VCS already exists and is beloved was the dumbest thing I've ever seen!  Now suddenly when us old timers do a search for real VCS stuff on the internet,  guess what comes up?

 

…this…?

 

 

[+GoldLeader]

1 hour ago, Bakasama said:

I’ve seen people on YouTube mod the vcs with ram upgrades. There must be market for molders.

 

And Scully...

[Giles N]

4 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

And Scully...

…the nefarious vcs implant found under the skin after long blackouts and feelings of lost time … (happening near Atari sites with many old arcades); they can be surgically removed, and inserted into hardware-units thats been here for a long, long time; and finally you can play Xevious 7800 on an actual 2600 VCS from 1977 with only a little lag… 

[SIO2]

I was just searching for the "Super Retro Atari Box Video Computer Entertainment System 2600 plus One 8 bit 800 XL Series ST" and I couldn't find it amongst all the crap that came up.

 

 

[Wildstar]

3 minutes ago, SIO2 said:

I was just searching for the "Super Retro Atari Box Video Computer Entertainment System 2600 plus One 8 bit 800 XL Series ST" and I couldn't find it amongst all the crap that came up.

 

 

Lol... well, the idea is there.

[MrBeefy]

4 hours ago, JPF997 said:

You're speaking as if the  VCS is already dead , when in fact it's receiving more games this year then all other years it's been out combined,  oh if only Atari could have fixed they're shipment problem's 

Nope I talked about it as a flop that lost Atari money. That's great that they are releasing games, but doesn't change that simple fact. Complaining about their shipment issues doesn't instill confidence that it was a success story.

4 hours ago, juansolo said:

I still for the life of me have no idea who the VCS was aimed at. It certainly wasn't me... It's continued existence and customer base baffles me.

It was an unconsole for mothers to more easily get on Netflix. I'm still waiting on the Converse special edition of the VCS personally. It basically amounts to paying more for less. There isn't any killer app, nor does it offer anything above what you can already get or do.

 

Quite frankly I think many people who wanted it cared just about the Atari symbol. If people want to have the company do well they need to have expectations for them to do better.

 

I think it was this thread where someone blamed consumers if Atari or AA would go under, and people should just buy stuff. That is a sure way to guarantee getting inferior products, because they know you are an easy mark, and will just buy anything with their symbol on it.

[+Stephen]

1 hour ago, SIO2 said:

I was just searching for the "Super Retro Atari Box Video Computer Entertainment System 2600 plus One 8 bit 800 XL Series ST" and I couldn't find it amongst all the crap that came up.

Just add an OMG R@RE !!!!!! and you'd have a good Ebay title for pumping those views!

[+jeremiahjt]

17 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

Nope I talked about it as a flop that lost Atari money. That's great that they are releasing games, but doesn't change that simple fact. Complaining about their shipment issues doesn't instill confidence that it was a success story.

It was an unconsole for mothers to more easily get on Netflix. I'm still waiting on the Converse special edition of the VCS personally. It basically amounts to paying more for less. There isn't any killer app, nor does it offer anything above what you can already get or do.

 

Quite frankly I think many people who wanted it cared just about the Atari symbol. If people want to have the company do well they need to have expectations for them to do better.

 

I think it was this thread where someone blamed consumers if Atari or AA would go under, and people should just buy stuff. That is a sure way to guarantee getting inferior products, because they know you are an easy mark, and will just buy anything with their symbol on it.

As a VCS 800 owner, I quite like it. How much have you played yours? I think it has some pretty fun games. Could I get those games elsewhere? Probably, but I do not spend a whole lot of time scouring games on the Xbox Store. On the VCS 800, I can keep up with all the releases and not get overwhelmed with the thousands of games in the Xbox Store.

[Omegamatrix]

@Albert congratulations on the sale. Just wondering if the arrangement for AtariAge to provide homebrewers lunch by private jets every second Thursday will still be honored, and if you have been provided with a legit Atari employee number and badge!

[+Karl G]

1 hour ago, Omegamatrix said:

@Albert congratulations on the sale. Just wondering if the arrangement for AtariAge to provide homebrewers lunch by private jets every second Thursday will still be honored, and if you have been provided with a legit Atari employee number and badge!

Hopefully no one actually believes this. The trips are once a month at most. 

[Crazy Climber]

4 hours ago, JPF997 said:

I'll never understand people's hatred of the speaker hat, I wish I had one , especially the blade runner 2049 limited edition one.

I thought these were cool and always kinda wanted one...I've definitely defended them before (within reason, I mean they are cool but also simultaneously kind of dumb lol) mainly I thought they were over priced though. I was waiting for a significant price drop but it never happened...

 

I think the blade runner one was like $150, thats too damn much...

[+TwentySixHundred]

I understand beer hats for functionality, not so much speaker hats... Either way they both make the wearer an obnoxious douche for obvious reasons.

[+x=usr(1536)]

Tacos.

[+bent_pin]

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

Tacos.

[Matt_B]

9 hours ago, guppy said:

The + symbol is interpreted by search engines in different ways. You often get a lot of cross contamination when searching for either, or for the VCS/VCS. It's annoying and bad for classic systems to overload the names. I wish they had stayed with the AtariBox name, and for the 2600+ it would have helped to spell it out 2600Plus.

All Atari have of value is a brand that was a big deal in the 80s.

 

Confusing people between the products from then and the ones they're offering now is basically the only marketing tool that they've got. 🙂

[roots.genoa]

9 hours ago, guppy said:

The + symbol is interpreted by search engines in different ways. You often get a lot of cross contamination when searching for either, or for the VCS/VCS. It's annoying and bad for classic systems to overload the names. I wish they had stayed with the AtariBox name, and for the 2600+ it would have helped to spell it out 2600Plus.

It can also make people confuse the Atari 2600+ with a streaming service that only shows Atari 2600 content. 😉