Reissues of third party 7800 titles, How realistic do you think that possibility is?

[Giles N]

4 minutes ago, Defender_2600 said:

No, I don't own the ROM. I've heard it and I can see it in the video.

From memory: I’ve only heard about like 2 people who’ve played it. One found it cool, the other not so hot stuff (perhaps I misunderstood).

 

I think it’s a unique title. Independent of what the right timing would eventually have to be, I believe that any official release of this, would most likely be from someone partnering with Atari, quite simply for Atari to create interest in the 2600+ and the Polymega module (if they stand by that), and for the partner to get more like the money for each game sold.

 

Such an undertaking would be more of a long-term strategy to win as much of the retrogame sector as possible, and eventually just get attention for doing stuff that may br not-so-run-of-the-mill.

 

Anyway, it’s very good the questions come to light, even if ever-so-unlikely. As the industry often moves with steps of processes taking like 6 months at a minimum, mapping interests, possibilities or simply things that by now seems undoable or is just not possible, it’s anyway good to have the elements in the equation on the table.

 

Fair enough, it was said above the details of final agreements are often kept secret, but all the rest: expressed interests, discussions of what exists, what was left unfinished, who owns what - if any, what could be licensed or bought back… and by whom. Think it’s good that such questions resurface from time to time. 
It may be that things looks different by the end say 2027, and that Atari still needs for people to have get renewed interest in the 2600+ and/or the Polymega, in whatever formats they’ll take by then… may be just more 2600+’s with FW updates installed. May be Polymega consoles with 2600/7800 modules. 
 

Perhaps we’ll see a better VCS + Polymega-everything some day?

 

Good to go through stuff.

[CPUWIZ]

1 minute ago, Giles N said:

I’ve only heard about like 2 people who’ve played it.

 

Where?  Your post is how rumors get started, the next thing someone will say is that only one person is left on the planet that played it.

 

Math, owner played it, RevEng played it, I played it and Tempest played it.  I am pretty sure there are a few more people who played it.  

 

Sorry, TOKI is still a sore subject, I just sold 30 of the 2 hundred boards I prepared for this project. 

[Giles N]

44 minutes ago, CPUWIZ said:

Where?  Your post is how rumors get started, the next thing someone will say is that only one person is left on the planet that played it.

Why of course - the other guy was abducted… or at least disappeared mysteriously outside a remote semi-abandoned Microids Warehouse building. 
 

I didn’t say only 2 people had ever played it.

I said I had only heard about 2 who’ve played it. Of course by math, it must be more, since BITD it was coded, the entire original team probably play-tested it all the time.

 

One guy here who sold me some repros and 5200-stuff, said it didn’t amount to some great experience, sounding like he’d played it, and the other is the reviewer (I believe) on the site from which the video is made.

 

If it’s a sore subject; I can clear up the part about mentioning people who’d played it: I asked Defender whether he’d played it, curious if he then had an opinion of what the gameplay is like. After that I tried to remember what I had heard said about it here (AA) and on review-sites, and could only come to think of the guy who sold me some repro-stuff and the reviewer, leaving me with very little to go by, as to ascertain whether it could be something that Atari or 3rd parties joining to make the 2600+ and the Polymega something longer-lasting etc - everything mentioned in my prior post -, find to be of high enough quality to actually work for a release (if legally possible at all, lets say - sometime in the next 5 years). 
 

I didn’t mean to say ‘I know only 2 persons on Earth have ever played it… and the last catridge ever made was last seen in a shelter in Area 52’.

 

I was asking Defender if he’d played it because I heard so few describe the gameplay - good, bad, ugly. My point was ‘only 2 that I could remember.’ That’s it. 
My interest was to find out if it’s quality or crap.

Why bother whining to Atari or a potential 3rd party publisher to spend money getting crap released?

 

With every other thing mentioned here on the threads, the demos, games etc are to be found and play-tested with a tiny bit of research.

(Sirius is btw my favourite shmup for 7800; it deserves Pokey music)

 

Not so with Toki.

Therefore elaborate descriptions of the gameplay-quality is kinda rare.

Meaning I have to ask.

 

Did you like it?

 

Is it fun to play?

 

I’d be truly interested in whether you like the game or not, independent of whether it ever will be get a release or not.

 

I’m much more interested in gamedesign than the business part (which I have to endure because its part of reality).

Edited June 16 by Giles N
typos

[CPUWIZ]

It's a little hard for my taste, but I also never played the Lynx version or whatever, so maybe it's just me.

[Giles N]

On 6/16/2024 at 7:26 AM, CPUWIZ said:

It's a little hard for my taste, but I also never played the Lynx version or whatever, so maybe it's just me.

The Lynx version is very well made

I haven’t played the Arcade, so I don’t know it feels the same, but everything in the Lynd version is quality: use of colors, sharp gameplay, tons going on on-screen, ‘Arcadey’ music and sound (for lack of better words), detailed graphics and good animations.

 
I still haven’t played through it, because others titles have higher priority.

 

Definitly one the betters/best 2D action-platformers on the Lynx.

Edited June 19 by Giles N

[ukiha]

On 6/16/2024 at 10:36 AM, CPUWIZ said:

Come on dudes, you got a bunch of kids to eat Tide-Pods, how hard could it possibly be to make this thing go viral?

 

 

As a zoomer myself, I think its an extreme uphill battle to get people interested in the 2600+, let alone Atari more widely.

 

Retro game collecting, interest, communities around that, for the people my age, is primarily Nintendo.

Sega has some more regional appeal, but would be the second choice.

Then for 'niche' unpopular things, I think I'm more likely to see someone really get into the NeoGeo systems, Retro PCs, a lot of things, before I see anything Atari.

 

I don't know anyone my age into Atari, or that knowledgeable about it, the games, or collecting.

 

And all I can guess is it really comes down to lacking games that had a real lasting legacy into the modern day, that causes far less people to look backwards.

Nintendo and Sega has series from back then that stayed relevant and alive well into the 2000s and even to this day.

Atari? Not so much, due to how squandered the brand was until very recently I'd say.

Maybe the recharged series, the remakes they are doing, maybe that might change the trajectory, but the sales are obviously not very good, and they never land with much of a splash.

 

tl;dr, you need to capture people with modern games now, before they would have much passing interest in looking back and wanting to try 7800, or the 2600.

 

not to mention a lot of 2600 games aren't exactly the most appealing to even me, and I like Atari stuff, so imagine someone with a more passing interest...

[Bakasama]

I feel enjoying older games might require different state of mind or imagination. Some games were more like twitch tests like say Tempest or Stargate.

[Giles N]

17 hours ago, ukiha said:

And all I can guess is it really comes down to lacking games that had a real lasting legacy into the modern day, that causes far less people to look backwards.

Nintendo and Sega has series from back then that stayed relevant and alive well into the 2000s and even to this day.

Atari? Not so much, due to how squandered the brand was until very recently I'd say.

Maybe the recharged series, the remakes they are doing, maybe that might change the trajectory, but the sales are obviously not very good, and they never land with much of a splash.

This sounds very much like nailing it, as to my own impressions.

 

How do you think Recharged, Reimagined or remakes, should be like as to land with some bigger splashes than they do now?

 

[Giles N]

18 hours ago, Bakasama said:

 

I feel enjoying older games might require different state of mind or imagination.

 

Guess the Tide-Pods were mentioned as a possible mind-altering substance for younger gamers to ‘get in the right mood’ for having actual fun with the 2600s oldest games…🙃😜

Edited June 19 by Giles N

[ukiha]

4 hours ago, Giles N said:

This sounds very much like nailing it, as to my own impressions.

 

How do you think Recharged, Reimagined or remakes, should be like as to land with some bigger splashes than they do now?

 

 

Well, I've only really seen older (Gen X I guess... am I biased? Maybe that isn't so old...) people on YouTube and social media really talking about the series.

 

Atari seemingly are only giving free codes/review codes to people in that cohort too, where they'd probably be better served giving it to YouTubers/TikTokers/Etc with younger audiences.

 

The Recharged series are some more recent games published by Atari are quite difficult, the idea of a super difficult challenging game to overcome is a popular video trope.

With some effort Atari could leverage this audience, but seemingly they are just sticking with what they know best.

 

Also, Atari has nearly no meaningful social media presence, and don't advertise their games almost at all.

Yar's Rising has the potential to pull a wider audience with the fact that Wayforward is doing it, so I guess we will see if they try something different!