CNN Business Article

[GraffitiTavern]

Not often you see Atari getting a CNN write-up, not a ton new info from here but they did ask Rosen hypothetically about some kind of retro handheld.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/30/tech/atari-2600-plus-wade-rosen-nintendo-playstation/index.html

 

(personally I think something a la Evercade would be better for a retro handheld but an interesting thought)

[famicommander]

On 10/1/2023 at 1:15 PM, GraffitiTavern said:

Not often you see Atari getting a CNN write-up, not a ton new info from here but they did ask Rosen hypothetically about some kind of retro handheld.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/30/tech/atari-2600-plus-wade-rosen-nintendo-playstation/index.html

 

(personally I think something a la Evercade would be better for a retro handheld but an interesting thought)

They just discontinued all their Evercade support. They'd rather support trash MyArcade handhelds that can't even run 2600 games at full speed.

[Defender_2600]

On 10/3/2023 at 7:57 PM, famicommander said:

They just discontinued all their Evercade support. They'd rather support trash MyArcade handhelds that can't even run 2600 games at full speed.

 

Recent history, the Atari handheld console made by Blaze has really bad emulation and does not include difficulty switches, making the product unusable with many games. Everyone can improve.

 

[82-T/A]

On 10/3/2023 at 1:57 PM, famicommander said:

They just discontinued all their Evercade support. They'd rather support trash MyArcade handhelds that can't even run 2600 games at full speed.

 

I'm not trying to start something, but I've noticed in every thread about new Atari products (or anything related to what Atari has put out in the last decade), you're super negative. Just trying to figure out what your concerns are...

[famicommander]

1 hour ago, 82-T/A said:

 

I'm not trying to start something, but I've noticed in every thread about new Atari products (or anything related to what Atari has put out in the last decade), you're super negative. Just trying to figure out what your concerns are...

That's flagrantly false. I love all the Recharged games (except that I think Berzerk Recharged looks awful), I bought all the Atari Evercade carts even though the Arcade one sucks, I have a VCS.

 

I'm just honest about what I see. When I see a device in 2023 that is designed to play Atari 2600 games but can't even emulate the ones it comes with at full speed, I'm not going to pull any punches. That's a bad device. When I see a device that says it has 200 Atari games on it but it turns out the 5200 and 7800 emulation are horrible and a huge chunk of the games are Piko Genesis and NES games and the controllers are laggy with horrible button placement, that's a bad device. When I see Atari advertise a system with the slogan, "No cart left behind" and then it turns out it leaves a ton of carts behind, that's a bad device. 

 

Atari has zero quality control. They have zero pride in their own logo. They are poor stewards of their own brand. They have a responsibility to present these classic games they own in a format that does them justice and, by and large, they don't give a crap. Countless gamers have only experienced Atari through garbage AtGames devices and they don't understand what they've missed out on. And now Atari is making the same mistakes with these awful MyArcade devices. 

[82-T/A]

1 hour ago, famicommander said:

That's flagrantly false. I love all the Recharged games (except that I think Berzerk Recharged looks awful), I bought all the Atari Evercade carts even though the Arcade one sucks, I have a VCS.

 

I'm just honest about what I see. When I see a device in 2023 that is designed to play Atari 2600 games but can't even emulate the ones it comes with at full speed, I'm not going to pull any punches. That's a bad device. When I see a device that says it has 200 Atari games on it but it turns out the 5200 and 7800 emulation are horrible and a huge chunk of the games are Piko Genesis and NES games and the controllers are laggy with horrible button placement, that's a bad device. When I see Atari advertise a system with the slogan, "No cart left behind" and then it turns out it leaves a ton of carts behind, that's a bad device. 

 

Atari has zero quality control. They have zero pride in their own logo. They are poor stewards of their own brand. They have a responsibility to present these classic games they own in a format that does them justice and, by and large, they don't give a crap. Countless gamers have only experienced Atari through garbage AtGames devices and they don't understand what they've missed out on. And now Atari is making the same mistakes with these awful MyArcade devices. 

 

Ok, so look... I'm not going to dump all over you because you have these views. What's important to one person may not be important to another person. I perhaps want to add a little bit of perspective. In 2023, I'm really, really happy that Atari, a company that I grew up with... is still kicking and building products that I like. As I've gotten older, all the things that I grew up with and expected to be there forever have disappeared. I mean, don't get me wrong, my family life is stable... and I'm not trying to be dramatic, but everything from 9/11 to Speed Vision (or Speed TV) getting sold off and shut down, these are all things that have changed over the years. When I was a kid, I expected everything that I saw then to be around forever... like Grand Prix Race-O-Rama in Dania Beach, Florida...

 

 

Totally demolished, bull-dozed, gone... there's now an outdoor fashion shopping mall with stores that sell $50k watches, mink coats, and luxury purses... and valet parking for the Lamborghinis and Bentleys... absolutely frustrating. There's so much in the past 30 years that's gone... so I am thankful that a company like Atari is still around, still making products that "I" like... and I ask you respectfully to just take a chill... we're talking about a company that makes video games. How are you so alarmingly angry about a video game company? In the grand scheme of things... is it that big of a deal? I have an extremely stressful career, and I literally changed my entire career after suffering a break down from being in a war zone for almost a year after we pulled out... essentially showing that the last 10 years of my life were wasted. Atari is just one of those things that brings joy to not only me, but to many of us... so please, I just ask... stop trying to destroy it because of what seems like OCD.

 

[Dr Karnov]

On 10/3/2023 at 6:57 PM, famicommander said:

They just discontinued all their Evercade support. They'd rather support trash MyArcade handhelds that can't even run 2600 games at full speed.

Technically, Blaze (Evercade) said "We hope to bring more games from classic Atari systems in the future as well as more great licenses in 2024 and beyond."

 

https://evercade.co.uk/cartridge-news-atari-carts-to-enter-legacy-status-at-end-of-2023/

[tradyblix]

On 10/10/2023 at 11:10 AM, famicommander said:

That's flagrantly false. I love all the Recharged games (except that I think Berzerk Recharged looks awful), I bought all the Atari Evercade carts even though the Arcade one sucks, I have a VCS.

 

I'm just honest about what I see. When I see a device in 2023 that is designed to play Atari 2600 games but can't even emulate the ones it comes with at full speed, I'm not going to pull any punches. That's a bad device. When I see a device that says it has 200 Atari games on it but it turns out the 5200 and 7800 emulation are horrible and a huge chunk of the games are Piko Genesis and NES games and the controllers are laggy with horrible button placement, that's a bad device. When I see Atari advertise a system with the slogan, "No cart left behind" and then it turns out it leaves a ton of carts behind, that's a bad device. 

 

Atari has zero quality control. They have zero pride in their own logo. They are poor stewards of their own brand. They have a responsibility to present these classic games they own in a format that does them justice and, by and large, they don't give a crap. Countless gamers have only experienced Atari through garbage AtGames devices and they don't understand what they've missed out on. And now Atari is making the same mistakes with these awful MyArcade devices. 

Maybe wait until you have the device before you slate it completely based of biases

[famicommander]

4 minutes ago, tradyblix said:

Maybe wait until you have the device before you slate it completely based of biases

Everything in that post is absolutely true.

 

The three MyArcade devices are absolute trash. Horrible emulation, horrible controllers, false claims on the box.

 

The 2600+ is absolute trash and they should be embarrassed to even tell people it plays 7800 games.

 

Every AtGames Flashback device is absolute trash.

 

The VCS is an okay device if you have the patience to fix the broken mess they send to your house when you order one, but the fact of the matter is it's been several years and they still haven't fixed it.

 

Atari has zero concern for their customers. The hardware they put out and their support of it is absolutely pathetic. They are only interested in selling things to consumers who don't care if the devices actually function. Those unpopulated reproduction PCB boards they're hocking are a perfect representation of the modern Atari. It's all for show, it's not for playing video games. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by famicommander

[tradyblix]

2 minutes ago, famicommander said:

Everything in that post is absolutely true.

 

The three MyArcade devices are absolute trash. Horrible emulation, horrible controllers, false claims on the box.

 

The 2600+ is absolute trash and they should be embarrassed to even tell people it plays 7800 games.

 

Every AtGames Flashback device is absolute trash.

 

The VCS is an okay device if you have the patience to fix the broken mess they send to your house when you order one, but the fact of the matter is it's been several years and they still haven't fixed it.

 

Atari has zero concern for their customers. The hardware they put out and their support of it is absolutely pathetic. They are only interested in selling things to consumers who don't care if the devices actually function. Those unpopulated reproduction PCB boards they're hocking are a perfect representation of the modern Atari. It's all for show, it's not for playing video games. 

😄 you need help

[famicommander]

1 minute ago, tradyblix said:

😄 you need help

No, the people who need help are the people spending money on emulation devices that don't actually properly emulate the consoles they're designed to, then defending the company who sold them broken garbage.

[tradyblix]

2 minutes ago, famicommander said:

No, the people who need help are the people spending money on emulation devices that don't actually properly emulate the consoles they're designed to, then defending the company who sold them broken garbage.

Yeah, that's strange why that happens huh ? It's almost as if you're wrong.... and they do enjoy their consoles.

 

Especially when most games that are good work and it's just a few that don't. Huh. What a surprise. 

 

I gotta get back to playing Stargate, 'scuse me. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by tradyblix

[famicommander]

Just now, tradyblix said:

Yeah, that's strange why that happens huh ? It's almost as if you're wrong.... and they do enjoy their consoles.

 

Especially when most games that are good work and it's just a few that don't. Huh. What a surprise. 

 

I gotta get back to playing Stargate, 'scuse me. 

The 7800 emulation on both the Gamestation Pro and 2600+ is pathetic. Not just in terms of compatibility, because many of the games marked as working actually run like crap.

 

The 5200 emulation on the Gamestation Pro is pathetic.

 

The version of MAME on the Gamestation Pro is older than a Nintendo DS.

 

The 2600 emulation on the MyArcade handheld is pathetic.

 

You would literally have to go out of your way to find worse emulation for free than what Atari is charging people money for in 2023. 

[Zap1982]

On 10/3/2023 at 7:51 PM, Defender_2600 said:

 

Recent history, the Atari handheld console made by Blaze has really bad emulation and does not include difficulty switches, making the product unusable with many games. Everyone can improve.

 

It's amazing how far Blaze and Atgames have actually come.. the people who brought us wonky handhelds and consoles now put out stuff like the lovely evercade and the legends pinball table. 👍

[tradyblix]

40 minutes ago, famicommander said:

The 7800 emulation on both the Gamestation Pro and 2600+ is pathetic. Not just in terms of compatibility, because many of the games marked as working actually run like crap.

 

The 5200 emulation on the Gamestation Pro is pathetic.

 

The version of MAME on the Gamestation Pro is older than a Nintendo DS.

 

The 2600 emulation on the MyArcade handheld is pathetic.

 

You would literally have to go out of your way to find worse emulation for free than what Atari is charging people money for in 2023. 

Do you even have the device ? because I do and my experiences don't tally up with anything you're saying. 

 

I don't know what kind of magic perfect world you live in where emulation works perfectly with 100 percent compatibility.

 

So far it's good enough for my purposes and there's the chance it can get better. Been emulating these games for almost 15 years now, I should know what matters

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by tradyblix

[famicommander]

9 minutes ago, tradyblix said:

Do you even have the device ? because I do and my experiences don't tally up with anything you're saying. 

 

I don't know what kind of magic perfect world you live in where emulation works perfectly with 100 percent compatibility

 

I'm not comparing the emulation in those devices to some mythical standard of perfection. I'm comparing them to other contemporary emulation options like free emulators that are available on your phone or PC, compilations like Atari 50 or the Flashback Collections on modern consoles, or the Atari Collections on the Evercade devices which are priced competitively with these trash Atari devices.

Compare the 7800 emulation on the 2600+ or the Gamestation Pro to A7800 running on a PC and get back to me.

Compare the sound quality of the 5200 emulation on the Gamestation to a real system or a PC emulator and get back to me.

 

Compare the 2600 emulation on the MyArcade handheld to Stella on a PC or the Atari Collections on Evercade and get back to me. The thing can't even run 2600 Missile Command at full speed.

 

It's 2023. There is no excuse for a company calling itself Atari charging money in 2023 for a device that can't emulate Atari games as well as cheaper or free options on other devices. 

 

There is literally no worse way to play Atari games in 2023 than by buying these devices. They do a worse job of it than any other device being sold, any software solution being sold for other devices, or a free downloadable emulator on a device you already own.

Edited November 24, 2023 by famicommander

[+Stephen]

2 minutes ago, famicommander said:

It's 2023. There is no excuse for a company calling itself Atari charging money in 2023 for a device that can't emulate Atari games as well as cheaper or free options on other devices. 

 

There is literally no worse way to play Atari games in 2023 than by buying these devices. They do a worse job of it than any other device being sold, any software solution being sold for other devices, or a free downloadable emulator on a device you alreday own.

And the sad thing is, people buy this shit so more of it gets produced and the cycle continues.

[famicommander]

Just now, Stephen said:

And the sad thing is, people buy this shit so more of it gets produced and the cycle continues.

What's sad is the people who don't know any better and buy this stuff thinking this is how Atari games really were. I'd hate for someone's only impression of the 7800 to be what you can experience on a 2600+ or a Gamestation Pro. 

 

I'm sure there are people right now who have ONLY experienced Atari through AtGames and MyArcade garbage devices.

 

What an awful steward of the brand modern Atari is.

[tradyblix]

I don't know. There's a whole world of people on the internet that are perpetual victims of some kind of conspiracy by companies. This is more of the same of that.

Stay mad I guess. I can only imagine how mad you get at the IRS if this is how you handle playing games on emulator devices. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by tradyblix

[famicommander]

8 minutes ago, tradyblix said:

I don't know. There's a whole world of people on the internet that are perpetual victims of some kind of conspiracy by companies. This is more of the same of that.

Stay mad I guess. I can only imagine how mad you get at the IRS if this is how you handle playing games on emulator devices. 

Is Atari paying you to shill for them or what?

Why are you acting like NOT having any standards and offering money to a faceless corporate entity without any consideration makes you better?

 

All we're saying is every other way to possibly play Atari games is better than what Atari is selling in 2023. Atari fans should expect MORE from Atari, not less, than what they can get from other sources for less money or for free on the internet.

 

It isn't "playing games on emulator devices" that we're mad at. It's that Atari is producing AWFUL emulator devices while other companies are producing decent to good ones for less money.

Edited November 24, 2023 by famicommander

[tradyblix]

No, Atari is not paying me to "shill" for them. Another ridiculous accusation from the type of individual you are. Good Lord. 

 

Because unlike you, I'm a normal person who has perspective and isn't going off on a borderline unhinged rant, that's why. 

 

You want to wait around for some perfect company to check all your micro boxes, you'll likely be dead. Companies are companies. 

 

Never met or worked for a perfect one in my life. Now... where's the block feature on the forum ? 

Edited November 24, 2023 by tradyblix

[famicommander]

Just now, tradyblix said:

No, Atari is not paying me to "shill" for them. Another ridiculous accusation from the type of individual you are. Good Lord. 

 

Because unlike you, I'm a normal person who has perspective and isn't going off on a borderline unhinged rant, that's why. 

 

You want to wait around for some perfect company to check all your micro boxes, you'll likely be dead. Companies are companies. 

 

Never met or worked for a perfect one in my life. Now... where's the block feature on the forum ? 

You're the one who quoted a weeks-old post in a dead topic to start this nonsense. Basically you quoted me, started an argument, had nothing of value to contribute to said argument, and are now acting like the argument is beneath you. 

[Giles N]

@tradyblix

@famicommander

 

What if the two of you have different expectations and personal standards for what you feel is worth a sum of money concerning products made for entertainment?

 

The two of you cannot really have the choice how to spend the other ones time and money.

 

So, perhaps spare-time hobbism and money spent on entertainment at least have elements of subjective taste and personal preference to them…?

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Giles N

[Tavi]

5 hours ago, Stephen said:

And the sad thing is, people buy this shit so more of it gets produced and the cycle continues.

Exactly this.

Which is why Atari has been doing nothing but emulation (sometimes of questionable quality) for nearly 20 years now.

People keep throwing money at them each time they release another Flashback, so they just keep doing the same thing over and over.

[BigO]

6 minutes ago, Tavi said:

Exactly this.

Which is why Atari has been doing nothing but emulation (sometimes of questionable quality) for nearly 20 years now.

People keep throwing money at them each time they release another Flashback, so they just keep doing the same thing over and over.

I wonder what became of the 2600 SOC intellectual property from the FB2. As far as I know, it wasn't used in any subsequent FB's.

 

I think I sorta remember it belonging to Curt Vendel.

 

Though not perfect, it seemed quite serviceable, and was likely as close to "real 2600" (non-emulation) as we'll see.