What could have been... Atari Port for the VCS

[The Historian]

Hello all.. it's been a long time. Like all good historians I've been digging into the past.. and I don't know if I've shared this before. In light of the 2600+ I thought you might find this interesting.

 

@Albert I don't know if you were aware of this, so given that you are now Atari's historian, I hope this adds to your knowledge. 

The idea of course was to make legacy carts playable on the VCS.

But, I could see it becoming a device that would be hacked to allow for dumping and programming carts, so I don't expect it would have come to life in any official way. 

 

It is however a well thought out design and deserves a place in Atari's design history. If you have questions about this, I'll try to answer. 

 

 

Atari PORT concept.pdf

[digitalbilly]

This is so cool I need this accessory.  

[+sramirez2008]

Asteroids is my favorite coin-op. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase the laser etched edition of this accessory, should it ever become a reality. Here's hoping that Atari still provides a way to make legacy carts playable on VCS 800.

 

@The HistorianThanks for sharing.

[THX-1138]

9 hours ago, sramirez2008 said:

Asteroids is my favorite coin-op. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase the laser etched edition of this accessory, should it ever become a reality. Here's hoping that Atari still provides a way to make legacy carts playable on VCS 800.

 

@The HistorianThanks for sharing.

They are going to make legacy carts playable on the VCS 800, that was the whole point of the investment in Playmaji.   The VCS will get the Polymega Remix to connect via USB and play old Atari carts and take modules to play media from other retro consoles too.

[Mockduck]

Looks great to me, love the wood etching and LED. No clue whether this is just some Facebook person's idea of concept art of something that actually got circulated at Atari, OP isn't saying. Looks like it might have been early concept powerpoint stuff, but from Atari or SurfaceInk or what? 

[joeatari1]

Yeah, looks like legit concept art and could have had real intentions of being released at one point.  I remember @davpa saying that he was working with someone on a peripheral like this but the idea got scrubbed because Atari signed the deal with Playmaji.  Honestly, I would have much rather had something like this than whatever Playmaji puts out.  A $60 or $80 reader with an app on the VCS that has an emulator built in would have been awesome.

 

I realize the Playmaji device will do the same thing but will it look like an Atari?  Will it compliment the hardware that I have already invested in.  And at $200 for the base unit and then another ??? for the cart reader module, that is an investment I am unwilling to make.

[MrBeefy]

On 9/16/2023 at 9:25 AM, The Historian said:

Hello all.. it's been a long time. Like all good historians I've been digging into the past.. and I don't know if I've shared this before. In light of the 2600+ I thought you might find this interesting.

 

@Albert I don't know if you were aware of this, so given that you are now Atari's historian, I hope this adds to your knowledge. 

The idea of course was to make legacy carts playable on the VCS.

But, I could see it becoming a device that would be hacked to allow for dumping and programming carts, so I don't expect it would have come to life in any official way. 

 

It is however a well thought out design and deserves a place in Atari's design history. If you have questions about this, I'll try to answer. 

 

 

Atari PORT concept.pdf 9.27 MB · 6 downloads

No one yet mention how their mockup has the carts facing the wrong direction?

[The Historian]

33 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

No one yet mention how their mockup has the carts facing the wrong direction?

I mentioned it to the team, when I first got these mockups. 

[MrBeefy]

1 hour ago, The Historian said:

I mentioned it to the team, when I first got these mockups. 

Way to keep them on their toes! You were underpaid.

 

I wonder how many people at Atari have actually played an Atari.

[The Historian]

9 minutes ago, MrBeefy said:

You were underpaid

Given that I wasn't paid at all, you're 100% correct. 

 

That was what life was like with Chesnais. He had no vision for Atari. He just wanted to milk everything he could out of the IP; why it stagnated for years... 

Edited September 17, 2023 by The Historian

[MrBeefy]

Just now, The Historian said:

Given that I wasn't paid at all, you're 100% correct. 

 

That was what life was like with Chesnais. He had no vision for Atari. He just wanted to milk every thing he could it of the IP; why it stagnated for years... 

They didn't even pay you in tacos? Shame on them.

 

Speaker hats were the bomdiggity though!

[+jeremiahjt]

On 9/17/2023 at 2:54 PM, joeatari1 said:

And at $200 for the base unit and then another ??? for the cart reader module, that is an investment I am unwilling to make.

I could be misremembering, but I think if you are hooking into the VCS 800 then you do not need the base unit.

[82-T/A]

I have like a dozen ways to play 2600 carts, but I will say this... if Atari builds this, I will buy it too.

 

[leech]

On 9/19/2023 at 11:50 AM, 82-T/A said:

I have like a dozen ways to play 2600 carts, but I will say this... if Atari builds this, I will buy it too.

 

Yeah, I think something like this would have been cooler than the 2600+.  An ability to plug in any / all of Atari’s previous cart systems into the VCS 800 would have been sweet!  I hope they actually do this.  I wasn’t aware they bought Playmaji.