Would you be excited for an Atari ST mini ?

[JPF997]

Now that the Atari 400 mini is a reality the probability that Atari's greatest system finally gets it's own  mini release is looking more likely than ever, would you be interested in getting a mini ST in the future if they ever announce one ?

[WhataKowinkydink]

To be honest I'd probably be more interested in a Mini ST than a Mini 400

[IGS GUY]

Each and every time I want the MAXI version of these, Atari 400+,  AMIGA 500, Commodore 64 .  I think these retro hardware resurrections can be work horses for retro computing development when the old hardware fails,  very important consideration .

 

[oracle_jedi]

For me, not really.

 

The mini-reproduction machines are mainly of interest for gaming.  For almost every successful ST game, there is an almost identical Amiga version but with better sound.  An ST Mini would just be an A500 mini but without the cool audio.  A mini STE would be better, and if they do make that it might get my interest.

 

Now a mini-Falcon?   oh yes, now I'm interested!

 

[anzac]

yes, I would be interested.

 

more than any of the other systems they are selling now.

[TGB1718]

8 hours ago, oracle_jedi said:

For me, not really.

 

Agreed, if I want the Mini, I might as well just use an emulator and play games, for me the ST line was

a more serious computer, now if they did a full remake with modern chips, that's another thing.

 

And yes Falcon please

 

[Cyprian]

for me Atari ST mini sounds interesting.

[stirrell]

I would love to see a mini come out. Since they don’t have functional keyboards, I think it would be cool to have it in a Mega STe/TT styled case though I know the original ST case is more recognizable. If the disk drive slot was the SD card interface, I think that would be cool.

 

If they went with the ST case, I would hope they put the USB ports underneath 😁.

[MasterMotorola]

Yes, I would love to have an ST mini!  The "floppy drive" needs to be an SD card reader (that was a huge missed opportunity on the A500 mini that everyone commented on).  The "cartridge port" should contain a USB-A port and two USC-C ports underneath for the mouse/joystick.

[Goochman]

I would be interested if I could bring my existing HD image to run off the mini while providing me network and modern printer access to my ST.  Id also like to somehow bring my Mac and IBM partitions to run Spectre and my 286 emu  

Edited February 9 by Goochman

[Hwlngmad]

I think a mini ST would be cool.  But, unfortunately, THEA500 mini and soon to be THEA500 maxi pretty much puts the kibosh on this.  Stinks, but that is just way it is.  But, then again, how thought THE400 would come out.  We will just have to see.

[bfollowell]

I would be happy to see it for those that would want one, but no, I would be no more excited to see it than I am about THE400 Mini, which is to say that I'm not, at least personally. I own several real 8-bits, including a 400, so any 8-bit playing that I do is with real, original hardware. I have a 1040STE, so the same goes for an ST Mini. I'd just never play them, so they'd be a waste of money and space for me. What excites me is the thought of a machine that I never owned and wouldn't mind playing with, but don't want to invest a lot of time and money in them, such as THE C64 Maxi or THE A500 Maxi.

 

That's just on a personal level though. I'm excited to see Atari getting attention in a general sense, and I'm happy for those that are interested in purchasing one. It just isn't for me.

 

[akator]

Quote

Would you be excited for an Atari ST mini ?

Yes.

 

On 2/13/2024 at 4:51 PM, Hwlngmad said:

I think a mini ST would be cool.  But, unfortunately, THEA500 mini and soon to be THEA500 maxi pretty much puts the kibosh on this.  Stinks, but that is just way it is. 

I don't understand your reasoning.  Why do the A500 products prevent a ST product from being released?  Sure, they won't be released this year, but there's nothing to stop them from being release down the road.

 

The only reasons I could see Retro Games LTD *not* releasing a ST product would be:

• Licensing.  If there was some licensing issue, that would obviously prevent a ST product.  However, licensing is very likely *not* an issue because Atari is clearly already working with Retro Games.
• Demand.  *This* is the real hurdle.  Is there enough demand for a ST product to produce one?

[roots.genoa]

Even though my brother's Atari ST was my first video game system, I'm not very nostalgic of it tbh. Most of the games I really liked on it were ports of Japanese arcade games that exist in way better forms elsewhere (except maybe Time Scanner - nobody seems to remind that pinball game 😩).

 

So I wouldn't be too excited for it but I'm mostly worried about what games could be on it, even though I'm aware it's not that important when you can bring your own. Atari didn't release a lot of games for the ST except for educational stuff, and a lot of third party games were based on licenses. And if you include games that were already in the Amiga Mini like the Bitmap Brothers games, you'll realize they run way better on Amiga. 😅 Fortunately, some games like Maupiti Island are abandonware, but imho you can't have an Atari ST Mini without Dungeon Master and Captain Blood at least. I'd love Hostage: Rescue Mission and North and South as well, but the latter would clearly be difficult to license.

[Hwlngmad]

1 hour ago, akator said:

I don't understand your reasoning.  Why do the A500 products prevent a ST product from being released?  Sure, they won't be released this year, but there's nothing to stop them from being release down the road.

 

The only reasons I could see Retro Games LTD *not* releasing a ST product would be:

• Licensing.  If there was some licensing issue, that would obviously prevent a ST product.  However, licensing is very likely *not* an issue because Atari is clearly already working with Retro Games.
• Demand.  *This* is the real hurdle.  Is there enough demand for a ST product to produce one?

My reasoning being that the Amiga had a lot of the same games the ST had.  Granted, the ST had some exclusives, but not an absolute crap ton.  Additionally, I don't think the demand and/or desire for an ST mini is there quite like there was for the other Retro Games Ltd. products, THE400 mini included.  Finally, the Amiga was, more or less, the superior gaming platform to the ST.  Granted, the ST versions of some games are worthy of playing in their own right.  But, all of that just leads me to believe that an ST mini is not too likely to happen.  Still, hey, we have (had) mini versions of the C64, Amiga, X68000, Atari 8-bit, PC-8001, and MZ-80C, so who knows.  Only time will (really) tell.

[akator]

3 hours ago, Hwlngmad said:

My reasoning being that the Amiga had a lot of the same games the ST had.  Granted, the ST had some exclusives, but not an absolute crap ton.  Additionally, I don't think the demand and/or desire for an ST mini is there quite like there was for the other Retro Games Ltd. products, THE400 mini included.  Finally, the Amiga was, more or less, the superior gaming platform to the ST.  Granted, the ST versions of some games are worthy of playing in their own right.  But, all of that just leads me to believe that an ST mini is not too likely to happen.  Still, hey, we have (had) mini versions of the C64, Amiga, X68000, Atari 8-bit, PC-8001, and MZ-80C, so who knows.  Only time will (really) tell.

Thanks, that all makes sense.

 

Still, these are very different markets than the original systems.  All of these recent emulated systems are running ARM boards without a lot of technical hardware differences between them — the differences are in presentation, i.e. the cases and software.  There could be 100 different product versions, all with the same or similar ARM hardware, each running a different emulator in the appropriate case resembling a classic system.  If Retro Games (or another manufacturer) continues with that approach we might see a ST mini.

[theboyfromanotherplanet]

Personally, not much as I already have a couple of STs. 

Never owned an Amiga, never will, but I'll concede that it gets all the 16bit game glory. 

 

However, I think people forget that to many people the ST was iconic for things other than games. It was definitely an iconic music computer.

If it was cycle accurate and came with midi ports and Cubase etc, that would be pretty cool. Might be a USP.

Turn it in to a glorified MIDI port expander that also happens to be an iconic music computer with games. Why not 😁

 

Alec Empire talking about the ST music computer:

https://youtu.be/Gen5hCHi9I4?si=32f-0ewvupCLlDKq

Edited February 16 by theboyfromanotherplanet
adding video link

[calfranklin0598]

Not really!  I own the 1040STfm which works fine.  Just like the 400 Mini, I own the actual 400/600/800XL/65/130XE and the XEGM.  Don't need these in retro versions which are just fancy emulators, anyway!

[Dreadnaught8]

🙋‍♂️ An Atari St Mini would great I would be more interested in that as well ... but maybe they will go in that direction now ..... Retrogames.biz did 3 💻Commodore systems💻 A500 Mini ... C64 Mini and Maxi ...and they started with the Commodore Vic 20 Mini 🌈

[Hwlngmad]

On 2/15/2024 at 7:43 PM, akator said:

Thanks, that all makes sense.

 

Still, these are very different markets than the original systems.  All of these recent emulated systems are running ARM boards without a lot of technical hardware differences between them — the differences are in presentation, i.e. the cases and software.  There could be 100 different product versions, all with the same or similar ARM hardware, each running a different emulator in the appropriate case resembling a classic system.  If Retro Games (or another manufacturer) continues with that approach we might see a ST mini.

We can only hope that we see an ST mini.  I think it would be very cool as it was a great games machine in its own right.

[oky2000]

Mini releases of computers are pointless. With something like the SNES mini all you touch is the control pads which are full size. A computer though is all about using the actual keyboard. I have no interest in anything other than the full size machines outputing fully legal RGB SCART for CRTs. LCDs are not my thing and with an Atari 400/C64 mini you might as well just use a PC + emulator on LCD TV/monitor is my response. YMMV of course.

[EmuDan]

I'd love to see an ST mini.  I have a c64 mini, will probably eventually get the 400 mini, and the ST mini is the only other one I would consider because of the beautiful ST design.

[Klaas]

As long as it would have ST-HiRes, I´m in !!! 🤩

[masteries]

A Falcon mini would be awesome!

[Flashback]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:52 PM, Klaas said:

As long as it would have ST-HiRes, I´m in !!! 🤩

yeah, me too