AtariAge + Atari Q&A

[rra]

Al, I'm happy that you are able to negotiate this acquisition by Atari without any major changes to AtariAge in the near term.  Best of luck with your role at Atari!

[+wongojack]

Came to ask about subscriptions which I saw on the first page.  Then stayed for pages 2-8.

 

Before I came to AtariAge, I had the nostalgia, but I wasn't a real retro-gaming fan.  This community helped me grow through playing, collecting, repairing, and programming for retro games and systems.  The openness and willingness to share here was/is really something special, and I still visit AtariAge more than any other site on the internet - no seriously, this might as well be my homepage.

 

Things change I suppose.  Thinking about it - AtariAge was never going to stay the same.  I'm sad to see things change, but that's the way of things.  I'm happy for you, @Albert and very glad you still get to participate and make this community special.

[syscall]

Will Atari restart falcon 030  That would drop the second-hand prices

[Vectrexer]

So long as FakeTari doesn't,,, 

Turn AtariAge into an advertising landmine site, 

Or screw over other non Atari platforms like Vectrex, 

Or generally screw over existing users in some way,

Or data mine for adversarial purposes, 

Or generally screw up AtariAge in some way, 

Or close down the site's forums, or main site,  

,,,, it's all good.

@Albert with your caring (and militant in the best ways) running of, and enthusiasm for AtariAge, this place has be a great place to both post and lurk. Now with such strong support for today's incarnation of "that company" I will now flip a viewpoint and call them Atari with proper respect. Your vote of confidence in Atari means everything to me , and I expect, the larger retro gaming / modern gaming community too. Welcome home Atari. 

A hearty congratulations @Albert on the sale of AtariAge that is a merge, and your continued stewardship of your, and our love. 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Vectrexer

[M-S]

I wonder, could flash carts like the Jaguar and Lynx Game Drive come with a few licensed games now? Because it's either that or people are going to buy them second hand, which wouldn't give any money to Atari directly.

[MrBeefy]

3 hours ago, Albert said:

Yes, an Evercade cartridge featuring homebrew games is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but lack of bandwidth has kept me from doing that (along with many other cool things).  As I make this transition and am able to reduce the amount of time I presently spend on building and shipping games, there are a lot of cool projects like this I will be able to focus on. 

 

 ..Al

I really need a good reason to buy a Blaze product. Something like that could really help.

2 hours ago, Rev said:

What is the new Atari’s official stance on its age old rival, Intellivision?

 

 

too soon?  too soon?

Now Rev you know as well as me that in order to be rivals Intellivision first has to show up to the game.

1 hour ago, Shawn said:

 

Hire Bob Decrescenzo as a fulltime programmer. You will be very happy with his services and so will we. The numbers speak for themselves and with the cooperate push and backing, I don't see how Atari could loose on such a hire.

I'd second that. He was a one man machine making the 7800 library good.

1 hour ago, s0c7 said:

Hi Al,

 

Happy for you. I'm sure this will make your life much easier.

 

On the homebrew front, what rights does this give Atari? In theory I wouldn't be adverse to my stuff being available through their distribution channels, but only if some sort of agreement was in place. I don't want to find out one day that Dungeon is suddenly in the VCS store or whatever without my knowledge.

Atari would be smart to get this game on VCS. I love Dungeon.

[Albert]

2 minutes ago, syscall said:

Will Atari restart falcon 030  That would drop the second-hand prices

Better buy one on eBay if you find one at a decent price. 

 

 ..Al

 

[omf]

4 hours ago, CapitanClassic said:

Since the ROMs have been removed from the AtariAge database

have you tried archive.org ?

[Albert]

2 minutes ago, M-S said:

I wonder, could flash carts like the Jaguar and Lynx Game Drive come with a few licensed games now? Because it's either that or people are going to buy them second hand, which wouldn't give any money to Atari directly.

It's always possible, and that's a good idea (I know Stone Age Gamer has done this).

 

 ..Al

[BILLYonaire]

Just now, Albert said:

No.

Excellent! I know you're overwhelmed with all of the orders from the last chance sale, so I appreciate the quick reply. I messaged you a couple questions about the custom games, one of which was adding them to my order from the last chance sale. I hope you see them in time. Congratulations on the agreement and becoming a full-time employee at Atari. I know this is a big deal for you.

[Albert]

Just now, BILLYonaire said:

Excellent! I know you're overwhelmed with all of the orders from the last chance sale, so I appreciate the quick reply. I messaged you a couple questions about the custom games, one of which was adding them to my order from the last chance sale. I hope you see them in time. Congratulations on the agreement and becoming a full-time employee at Atari. I know this is a big deal for you.

I'll go take a look, and thank you for the kind words. 

 

 ..Al

[+sramirez2008]

On 9/7/2023 at 1:48 PM, Albert said:

Yeah, the name could probably be changed, that's something I will explore, as Gunfight is a great homebrew, and one of the earlier games in the store.

 

 ..Al

It is a great game. Gunfight and Halo 2600 were a couple of games that helped me introduce the 2600 to my then, young sons. We’ve spent countless hours playing Atari over the years, but for them, it began with these two homebrews.

[MegaManFan]

Just dropped a video about this linked to the site and announcement.

 

 

[+Mitch]

Being an oldtimer here I am curious what Alex's opinion of the change is? I realize he is no longer affiliated with the site but he was a co-founder.

 

Mitch

[DaveD]

59 minutes ago, s0c7 said:

Hi Al,

 

Happy for you. I'm sure this will make your life much easier.

 

On the homebrew front, what rights does this give Atari? In theory I wouldn't be adverse to my stuff being available through their distribution channels, but only if some sort of agreement was in place. I don't want to find out one day that Dungeon is suddenly in the VCS store or whatever without my knowledge.

Great question that I think could apply to more than just the games.

 

There can be a ton of contributions to a home-brew title. Programming, music, sound effects, game art, packaging, marketing materials, you name it. I think there's always been in place a sort of "gentlemen's agreement" with the programmers (traditionally the project owner) and the contributors. We're all happy to pitch in, and give up any rights to our contributions, in an effort to keep the scene alive and ensure the hobby thrives. Is that hobby is now in the hands of a corporation that stands to make a profit from past contributions?

[+sramirez2008]

45 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Or, it can... that would make all the stickers I have "collectible."

Hmm…

[+Sauron]

BTW, you should put a news item up on the front page about this.

[Albert]

Just now, Sauron said:

BTW, you should put a news item up on the front page about this.

Yes, I'm going to, I've just been furiously responding to posts here, on social media, and emails and private messages.  I'll get that done soon. 

 

 ..Al

[s0c7]

6 minutes ago, DaveD said:

Great question that I think could apply to more than just the games.

 

There can be a ton of contributions to a home-brew title. Programming, music, sound effects, game art, packaging, marketing materials, you name it. I think there's always been in place a sort of "gentlemen's agreement" with the programmers (traditionally the project owner) and the contributors. We're all happy to pitch in, and give up any rights to our contributions, in an effort to keep the scene alive and ensure the hobby thrives. Is that hobby is now in the hands of a corporation that stands to make a profit from past contributions?

Agreed.

[www.atarimania.com]

What happens if things go sour and, for some reason, Al ceases to be the point of contact?

[Austin]

Appreciate all the updates and clarification on this. My first thought (having gone through the NintendoAge disaster) was that there were going to be major changes for the worse. Also, my interest in actual Atari stuff comes and goes (too many games, too many platforms, too little time), so one of my worries was the potential axing of non-Atari forums, where I spend much of my time here. A lot of traditional forums have been abandoned in favor of Discord. I don't think Discord is a great replacement for forums, and so it's been nice to see AtariAge sort of taking up the mantle on some of those over the years, creating things like Genesis and 3DO sub-forums. I will continue to be cautiously optimistic, but in the meantime it's great to hear it should continue to be business as usual.

Edited September 7, 2023 by Austin

[Albert]

Just now, Austin said:

I don't think Discord is a replacement for forums and it's been nice to see AtariAge sort of taking up the mantle on some of those, like the Genesis and 3DO.

I feel the same way, I much prefer forums to Discord for longer-term conversations, and development-type discussions.

 

 ..Al

[atwwong]

Finally read through everything...

 

Congratulations, Albert! I'm looking forward to the future of AtariAge and Atari working together!

 

Cheers,

Tony

[roadrunner]

Didn't atari.com have forums years ago but shut it down?

 

[BLASTERS]

Who are Atari exactly?

 

By that I mean who are the people that own Atari?

 

Who are the people in charge of running Atari and what positions do they hold?

 

What is the ownership and management structure of Atari?

 

Where is the company located?

 

What is the company strategy about its immediate and long term plans?

 

If Atari value AA so much as an amazing resource, why are they not using the AA resource for its projects? This is a bit of a kick in the guts to the retro community who has been committed to the Atari brand for so many years? Or is there more to come regarding this?