reintroduce 2600?

[NovaXpress]

Atari would sell millions more of the 2600 units if it were to be reintroduced, especially if it had 7800 compatability and modern connections.

Are you fucking insane? Really ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?

 

There are only 4 systems selling in the millions, an 2 of them sell in the low millions. People will choose a 7800 over a Gamecube or Playstation?On what planet?

 

For the last time, this is CLASSIC GAMING. Games that are too low-tech to ever be produced again. And the number of people dedicated enough to buy a system and carts is indeed in the mere thousands. For anyone else with a passing interest in old games, the way to go is a cheap self-contained Jakks controller. Anyone else can buy a 2600/7800 anyway.

 

Is there anyone left who doesn't understand this?

[Ferris]

Are you fucking insane? Really ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE??

 

 

No sir, I am not "fucking insane" and I highly suggest you not make a giant ass out of yourself. If anything I am a visionary, indeed not insane. I've seen this market niche for years while those who remain in the dark such as yourself scoff at such an idea.

 

Atari will sell millions of these units if they are reintroduced with the features I had stated before, at a reasonable price.

 

You act as if Retrogaming is limited to a small little community that posts here on AtariAge or any of the other various forums. Retrogaming is not limited to individuals who spend their weekends hunting for classics at flea markets or attending conventions. That is merely the active fan base. The rest of the population have other interests and other important things in their lives. Many do not know what "Retrogaming" is until it hits them in the face.

 

I'd say a good 80% of the potential market for such a product doesn't even know they want it yet. It's not until they are shopping with their three-year-old in Toys R Us for some random toy...when all of a sudden they see the Atari logo emblazoned on a new Atari retrosystem printed on the front of a nifty little box sitting on the shelf in the toy store do they truly realize that they even want one of these units. Do you honestly think that all of the people whom have purchased the Jakks Pacific joysticks are all active retrogaming hobbyists? I think not.

 

There are soooo many home consumers out there who would love to share these classic games with their children and their family and introduce an entire new generation to Asteroids, Yar's Revenge, Centipede, etc. The nostalgia factor is huge. These games are fundamental with regards to game theory... no different from Checkers or Chess. Not to mention not every parent wants their six year old playing an excessively violent game or destroying a $150.00 piece of equipment. Why have a ditry old Atari from some ebayer's basement when you can get a brand new attractive piece of modern hardware at Walmart as a stocking stuffer?

 

The market for such a system would be massive. Easilly n the millions if given an 18-month penetration period with advertising equal to that of the Jakk's Pacific joysticks. It will be the 25-35 year-olds with kids who will buy these to share their youth with their children. It will be the hordes of 14-20 year olds who purchase those rip-off Nintendo clones on the way out of Hot Topic in the mall who never would have gone out of their way to go onto ebay to get one.

 

The bottom line : 145 Million people purchase a new game system every year. If only one-half of one-percent of this same market purchases one of these mythical retrogaming 2600 consoles from Atari within a 12-month initial launch period, that would still be about one million units sold, allowing Atari to profit from intellectual property that is nearly 30 years old. Atari would not even have to sell that many units to make this venture soluable. Don't forget, part of this is simply brand marketing, reminding the public of the joys of Atari which would boost sales overall.

 

You mark my words, sir. I am right about this, and you are simply misguided. I just feel bad that I had to correct you so openly about this. I'm not one to school a fellow gamer unless they are at the other end of my joystick.

 

 

Warmest regards,

 

Justin J. Scott

[NovaXpress]

Sorry Chuckles, you're full of shit.

 

Try going to college, take a course called Marketing 101. You'll increase your knowledge of what sells to the public a hundredfold. Then maybe read a book or two on the subject.

[Ferris]

Au contraire! Not only did I attend College, I learned Advanced Marketing directly from the man (Dr. Gene N. Landrum, Ph.D.) who Nolan Bushnell brought on board in 1976 to launch the home consumer division and who was personally responsible for creating the launch marketing process for the 2600. Same guy who created Chuck E Cheese with Nolan. In my possession I have hundreds and hundreds of pages of original 2600 marketing documentation as well as current figures. If you'd like I can give you his phone number and he can have fun schooling you too.

 

Tell ya what. Make you a deal. If I'm wrong about this, PM me in 24 months and remind me just how wrong I am. If I'm that wrong, I'll PayPal $100.00 to Albert so that you can pick out anything you want from the Atari Age store. If I'm right, you apologize for your uncouth tone and your childish unwillingness to admit when you are wrong.

 

 

With Warmest Regards as always....

 

Justin

[highinfidelity]

Atari would sell millions more of the 2600 units if it were to be reintroduced, especially if it had 7800 compatability and modern connections.

And so it would NOT be a 2600 reissue.

[LU8]

It's a valid point concerning shops having to stock carts. Jakks certainly gets around that problem with its low cost all in one nature. That makes me wonder about the "imitation" 8 bit game console sold on TV shopping network. This thing is a console with controllers, and even a light gun! But, it can't take game carts, all the games are built in. It's graphics capabilities seem on a par with an Intellivision console.

My mind goes back to the times in the latter half of the Intellivision's career when INTV sold it just through catalogues rather than in the store. If you could put the 2600jr into production at low cost it would be in its 1986 form, no technical upgrades. Either built in games or a single new cart which contained several. But, if anyone had a cart lying around they could slot that in too.

I'm not talking about a masterplan to make the 2600 beat current consoles, that's impossible and the 2600 had its day as a top console in 1977-82. Just a low cost console made cheaply overseas and not necessarily offered in places like Walmart. Just a step further than the Jakks that would allow people to buy something brand new and play an actual mini console. BTW my 2600jr & 7800 were both made in China after 1990.

There are many people out there that own more than one system (Gamecube & PS2), and for them maybe an extra $39.99 for a novelty isn't much. But, as others have said Jakks have more than likely taken up this niche, if you can call 3 million a niche. Anyway, it's nice to daydream about the hypothetical new $39.99 2600jr with 32 built in games. Just a discussion, lets keep things nice.

[NovaXpress]

After around 72 hours of work with 4 hours sleep I can't bother with specifics and so I resort to my invective. Now that all that is over with and I have a day of sleep and kicking MegaManFan's ass at Joust to look forward to. So now allow me to spell it out for the kids.

 

School me? That ticked me off. I can be schooled on a lot of things in the world of gaming. You might school me on collecting. You might school me on game strategy. Anyone can school me on programming. But when I comes to the history of selling consumer electronics, now we're on very familiar turf for me. I don't give a shit whose lectures you slept through.

 

First let me SCHOOL you on why the Jakks toys have scored beyond all expectations for a classic gaming product. A huge percentage of those sales are to parents with very young children, kids who are too young to be turned loose on even a $99 Gamecube. They are perfect for parents who want to have a video game to distract the toddlers but want to keep it cheap ($20 is low for any toy) and simple (no messy nest of cables or switching programs). This was an unexpected market that appeared when the Pac-Man stick was released. The parents were attracted by this toy from their own youth and bought in droves. So the Atari editions were natural follow-ups. But now that Jakks has recognized that children are the target, they are trying sticks like the SpongeBob edition. And the kids are loving it. And that is why you all should enjoy the classic sticks while you have them, because after another year the sticks will be far more advanced. The kids will pick out the ones they want and they'll be picking out Kim Possible sticks, not classics from Imagic. By the time the kids are old enough for the parents to give them a real system, the kids sure as hell won't choose a 2600. Why force one on them when a Playstation is just as cheap? If you know anything about marketing, then you know that kids drive toy purchases. Now that the kids have options, Jakks will find far hotter games to sell than Atari. They're already gearing up for the NES/Sega generation. The eventual Genesis Sports sticks will sell like crazy. Those shitty mall Nintendo clones that you mentioned? Do you really think they are going to move backwards technologically and revert to the 4K era? The next step is the shitty 16-bit clones which will be widely available around Xmas.

 

The number of classic gamers who buy these for themselves is about the same as the number who buy compliations. Maybe 250,000 or so. And the majority of said gamers would never even think of going to the trouble of owning an actual system. They don't have the time or enough of an interest. The compilations and sticks give them everything they need. If they decide they want a system, they'll get a cheap original and pay fifty cents for a cart. Do you think that you could put 2600 games on the shelf at Target for fifty cents?

 

So we're back to the truth: that the 2600 fanbase is limited to a small percentage of those who played it as a kid, plus a small number of younger games who have to insight to respect and enjoy their gaming heritage. That's enough people to support some small efforts, but it will never have a prayer of wresting shelf space from Nintendo. And so you will never see the 2600 manufactured and seriously marketed ever again.

 

You want to see the 2600 era reborn? You're looking at it right now. Soemthing amazing has happened with this system. Not only do we have thousands who actively play and promote it, we have amazing people who've rewritten its history. From people like Cybergoth who create fantastic new games to collectors like Tempest who are the museum keepers of the hobby. We From technical geniuses like Chad Schell who create peripherals we thought we could only dream of to weirdos like Nukey Shay whose inspired hacking causes us to reimagine what might have been. And of course you have AtariAge itself, which provides a pipleline from the creators to the gamers. We have a fantastic thing going here! Why waste a second fantasizing about seeing Haunted House sold in stores again when so many great things are happening for the Atari gamer right now?

[candiru]

I don't think it will happen. Also I think 7800 compatibility would needlessly drive up cost, and for the general public not really increase the appeal of the item. You might be surprised how many people don't know that there are other Atari systems than the 2600.

 

I suppose it would be cool if it were reproduced, and I'd probably buy one just to have it, but I just don't think it has much of a chance. If it does though, I've got a buttload of Pac-Man carts I'd let go for the very reasonable price of ....hmmm..... $25 apiece.

[sku_u]

Sorry Chuckles, you're full of shit.

 

Try going to college, take a course called Marketing 101. You'll increase your knowledge of what sells to the public a hundredfold. Then maybe read a book or two on the subject.

 

No offense, but you're being way out of line.

 

Restoration hardware brought back the original vic troller, the slide ruler (although that one never actually went out of production in the first place), wind up tin toys in boxes identical to the original boxes, erector sets, etc...

 

I can go on and on with the lists of items that were/are being re-released. It's not at all out of the realm of possibility to suggest that bringing back something like the original VCS ten years down the road when our generation are in our 40s and taking over the adult mass-consumption market of the Baby Boomer generation would not only sell, but do well.

[sku_u]

EDIT: The out line comment is in response to the statement "Sorry Chuckles your full of shit."

 

Just because someone comes up with an idea contrary to an idea of your own doesn't mean you have to make off-base comments like these.

[leoger]

Well I think a reintroduction of atari 2600 is still possible, why do I think so? A webshop in the Netherlands is offering new Commadore 64 machine for sell , they also sell new Amiga' s. Well to be honest their not comletely like the originals. http://www.computercity.biz/

[Agent X]

Atari would sell millions more of the 2600 units if it were to be reintroduced, especially if it had 7800 compatability and modern connections. What is important is that it "feel" like an Atari... I dont want to be playing a crappy Jakks controler, I want a real Atari product.

 

Be careful what you wish for--you just might get it!

 

Atari Flashback Classic Game Console

 

This is a genuine Atari product, which is apparently being released by Atari itself (not Jakks Pacific or another company). It's designed to look like a smaller version of the 7800, and will come preloaded with 20 classic 2600 and 7800 games. I don't think it has a cartridge slot, though.

[LU8]

I am buying one! I like the way they worked in the spirit of the 7800 with this tribute console. I have always thought the 2800/7800 was a very stylish case, it deserved to be reutilised in some form.

I look at this new item as a form of "hi tech" home Pong console. So it's the first Atari made electronic game unit since the end of Jaguar production in 1996?

The Atari company responsible for all the great consoles ended in 1996 with that reverse takeoever merger with JTS, but Infogrames has possibly gone further than Hasbro in doing something concrete with the Atari identity. I even saw an Atari TV advert for one of their platform software games the other day. It's interesting to note that on some of the other general gaming boards there is sometimes an Atari section and it often say "like Sega, Atari now does software for current platforms". Posters on these boards also make the comment that Sega and Atari are alike, great console past, currently doing software. Make of that what you will, I am just mentioning what I have seen.

[NovaXpress]

Jakks Pacific is NOT Atari.

[BlackAtarian]

call me dumb, but I was under the understanding that Atari went out of business a few years ago.

[NovaXpress]

call me dumb

Done.

[Curt Vendel]

Jakks Pacific is NOT Atari.

 

 

That is correct, Jakks simply licensed the Atari games and joysitck/paddle design from Atari and pay Atari a royalty fee per unit.

 

 

To date, the original 10 in 1 joystick has sold 2.7 million units, the Paddle controllers were just released, so it'll be 6 months before those figures come in.

 

The Namco sticks and now Radica's 6 in 1 Sega controller all in one are still new on the market as well, however sales apparently have been quite strong and while these consoles don't appeal to those of us hardcore gamers, these have very strong appeal to the general masses, I was surprised while at a neighbors home a while back, his daughter was strolling past his office while we were talking and in hand she had 4 different all in one controllers, the 10in1, the namco's and Sponge Bob, I asked her what she thought of them, her response "My brothers Playstation is boring, I don't like having to wait while stories are told on the screen and these games are just easy to pick up, play and try again later." Apparently kids in the 9-12 range swap and loan each others all-in-ones to each other, so it seems a new generation does in fact like and enjoy these old games. The demographics are wide open, so this is why this particular items are so hot and will remain so for at least another 2-3 years.

 

 

 

Curt

[WaverBoy]

The only problem with this retro console, besides the 7800 controllers, is that there aren't nearly enough games preloaded, especially since there doesn't appear to be a slot for media containing extra games. 20 measly games??? Everyone knows darned well they could have fit tons more 2600 games into that console, even with the 5 7800 games included. I think I'll stick with my 2600, 5200, and original carts and multicarts.

 

Although, I will say that I think this is a step in the right direction. Maybe one of these days they'll get it right; the Jakks controllers certainly left much to be desired as well.

[+Andrew Davie]

And what about sliderules? They must be ready to make a comeback as well.

 

The real irony here is that I am a current moderator, and originally setup, the International Slide Rule Group groups.yahoo.com/group/sliderule -- which now boasts around 1000 members worldwide. Don't knock sliderules; they're very interesting and useful!

 

Cheers

A

[Rob Mitchell]

I can tell you that a unit will never be released.

 

Never say never again!

 

I like sliderules and the mathematical concept, nomography, on which they are based. Every now and then I see a modern nomogram and I snatch it up!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[LU8]

A new Atari console from Atari is good news. I look forward to seeing it in the shops.

As was said earlier with this sort of technology they could have added more games. In addition to the 20, a further 10 2600 games and some of the 7800's games (Klax, Midnight Mutants.) Then the console would be stunning value as a brand new all in one.

[NovaXpress]

45 bucks for 20 games. That won't fly. These stand-alone game sticks are brilliant, but now the kids are going to want something cooler than Pitfall to play. And this Xmas they will have many options. They certainly don't want something that only looks like a real game system when they could get an actual Playstation for the same price.

 

The first Jakks sticks (PacMan and Atari) had no competition, which is why so many kids played them. But now now the format is a hit, there's no reason not to head straight for ther 16-bit era. Which means the end of the Atari knockoffs.

 

Don't knock sliderules; they're very interesting and useful!

I happen to love sliderules. In the right hands they perform remarkably well. But we have calculators and they work even better. So while I have a few sliderules and would always look at another one, I don't expect them to take any shelf space from Texas Instruments.

[Ferris]

Whoa Atari released a new retrosystem? Son of a...

 

And they said I was effing insane

[AtariLeaf]

EDIT: The out line comment is in response to the statement "Sorry Chuckles your full of shit."

 

Just because someone comes up with an idea contrary to an idea of your own doesn't mean you have to make off-base comments like these.

 

I agree. AA seems to be getting out of hand. And its not just trolls, its the regulars too. I miss the AA of a couple years ago, much friendlier.

[NovaXpress]

I agree. AA seems to be getting out of hand. And its not just trolls, its the regulars too. I miss the AA of a couple years ago, much friendlier.

I resent that. I was just as much of an asshole back then.