'Atari' are up to something

[SeanR]

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/6/12/15783074/ataribox-teaser-new-atari-product

 

Quote

A website for the Ataribox first surfaced on Friday, holding a short teaser video that describes the device as, “a brand new Atari product years in the making.” It shows a device styled after the company’s retro consoles, with fake woodgrain and slatted black plastic on top. And that’s it.

But it'll probably just be another flashback console.

 

Or a jaguar flashback.

 

Imagine that!

[SeattleStokie]

According to the AtariAge forums it's not a new Flashback


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[matt0]

Is this just a blocking tactic to scupper that Retron 77 VCS/2600 unit?

[SeanR]

https://venturebeat.com/2017/06/16/atari-ceo-confirms-the-company-is-working-on-a-new-game-console/

 

Quote

Atari CEO Fred Chesnais told GamesBeat in an exclusive interview that his fabled video game company is working on a new game console.

 

In doing so, the New York company might be cashing in on the popularity of retro games and Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition, which turned out to be surprisingly popular for providing a method to easily play old games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda in HD on a TV...

 

...

“We’re back in the hardware business,” he said.

Chesnais declined to describe a lot of details about the console. But he said it is based on PC technology. He said Atari is still working on the design and will reveal it at a later date.

 

 

[carlospie]

Comes bundled with E T

[gunrock]

 

19 hours ago, carlospie said:

Comes bundled with E T

And a shovel for you to bury it in the desert (or your back garden in Leamington Spa).

[jackfrost71]

According to this french article, Atari will crowdfund the Ataribox

 

https://www.zonebourse.com/ATARI-2168735/actualite/Atari-Le-Groupe-Atari-reaffirme-sa-strategie-de-croissance-rentable-a-l-issue-du-salon-des-jeux-vi-24638926/

 

"To limit risk taking, this product will initially be launched as part of acrowdfunding campaign"

 

 

[robotattack]

3 hours ago, jackfrost71 said:

According to this french article, Atari will crowdfund the Ataribox

 

https://www.zonebourse.com/ATARI-2168735/actualite/Atari-Le-Groupe-Atari-reaffirme-sa-strategie-de-croissance-rentable-a-l-issue-du-salon-des-jeux-vi-24638926/

 

"To limit risk taking, this product will initially be launched as part of acrowdfunding campaign"

 

 

 

I imagine that will be incredibly successful for anyone that backs it.

 

[Droo]

All sounds a bit shit. 

 

[Soulstar]

What if it suddenly turns out to be an Atari........mini?

[SeanR]

1 hour ago, Soulstar said:

What if it suddenly turns out to be an Atari........mini?

 

I'll preorder 10, and then remember that the Atari Flashback already exists

[gone fishin]

I had completely forgotten what a mess Atari are now, after making Infogrames defunct and rebranding as Atari.

 

Just looking at their wikipedia page

 

In 2014, All 3 Ataris emerged from bankruptcy and entered the social casino gaming industry with Atari Casino.[15] Frédéric Chesnais, who now heads all three companies, stated their entire operations consist of a staff of 10 people.[16]

 

Atari's overall strategy has four main focuses:

Continuing to move forward with the business recovery and turnaround plan;

Capitalizing on the Atari brand and the intellectual property portfolio thanks to strategic partnership and licensing activities;

Limiting the risks involved by focusing on partnerships: Atari will be looking into commercial partnerships on a case-by-case basis with a view to maximizing the benefits of its vast intellectual property portfolio, its brand and all its assets;

Limiting operating expenditure and striving to improve profitability: Atari will continue to ensure strict control over investments and costs

 

So it's a company with 10 people whose focus is to capatalise on the Atari brand while limiting operating expenditure. 

 

It sounds like another potential Vega+ situation...

 

No wonder 

 

 

[Blu3Flame]

Atari lost any remaining goodwill when they stopped TxK PC from being released.

 

I really don't see a crowdfunding campaign reaching its goal.

[Goose]

Ausretrogamer just posted these - 

 

[jackfrost71]

Here is the text that went with the images above.  It was a mailout to all those like myself who had subscribed to their newsletter

 

First look at the Ataribox design.

Thanks again for signing up to learn more about the Ataribox project!

We’ve been blown away by the feedback since the teaser release, and today, we’re excited to share an exclusive first look at the Ataribox design with you.  

 

Our objective is to create a new product that stays true to our heritage while appealing to both old and new fans of Atari. 

Inspired by classic Atari design elements (such as the iconic use of wood, ribbed lines, and raised back); we are creating a smooth design, with ribs that flow seamlessly all around the body of the product, a front panel that can be either wood or glass, a front facing logo, indicator lights that glow through the material, and an array of new ports (HDMI, 4xUSB, SD). We intend to release two editions: a wood edition, and a black/red edition.

As you can guess, those ports suggest modern internal specs. It also means that while we will be delivering classic gaming content, we will also be delivering current gaming content.

  

We know you are hungry for more details; on specs, games, features, pricing, timing etc. We’re not teasing you intentionally; we want to get this right, so we’ve opted to share things step by step as we bring Ataribox to life, and to listen closely to Atari community feedback as we do so. There are a lot of milestones, challenges and decision points in front of us in the months ahead. We’ll be giving you lots more information and status updates as we progress, and we are thrilled to have you along for the ride!

Hope you like where we are taking this, we’ll be in touch soon.

The Ataribox Project team.
 

PS: Please let us know what you think via our social channels; and also please like, follow, subscribe, and share as much as possible!

 

[Blu3Flame]

That's surprisingly a nice design for whatever it is.

 

A pain to dust though.

[SeanR]

[matt0]

Trackball controllers, multi tap, Rampart - make it happen.

[gone fishin]

Oh fuck off... 

 

"As you can guess, those ports suggest modern internal specs. It also means that while we will be delivering classic gaming content, we will also be delivering current gaming content."

 

Yeah, so we're looking at basically a PC in a kind of retro wooden box, running some kind of App Store so you can rent out old Atari 2600 games and maybe play some new games (so it's probably just running Windows 10).

 

So lets crowdfund some shitty PC, which will be outdated hardware wise in a couple of years and no doubt the Atari App Store will stop being supported in about 12 months. Because its Infogrames... cough... I mean "Atari".

 

 

[K]

It looks like a modem.

[Revival]

1 hour ago, moora said:

Oh fuck off... 

 

"As you can guess, those ports suggest modern internal specs. It also means that while we will be delivering classic gaming content, we will also be delivering current gaming content."

 

Yeah, so we're looking at basically a PC in a kind of retro wooden box, running some kind of App Store so you can rent out old Atari 2600 games and maybe play some new games (so it's probably just running Windows 10).

 

So lets crowdfund some shitty PC, which will be outdated hardware wise in a couple of years and no doubt the Atari App Store will stop being supported in about 12 months. Because its Infogrames... cough... I mean "Atari".

 

 

 

It's surely not going to be an emulator box for early Atari stuff again so it's going to be some kind of Android box like that Amazon one no one bought or the Ouya.

 

Unless it's simply an Atari branded steam box which would be an odd proposition.

[jackfrost71]

Well it's meant to be based on PC technology (whatever that means), so taking that as meaning x86 CPU as a guess, then perhaps it will end up something like the Nvidia Shield TV but with an x86 SOC . 

[Ninja Doctor]

so an intel android phone in a box. Maybe its because I'm in my thirties rather than forties but you know it'll be shit. 

[Blu3Flame]

I see no reason not to expect a generic Allwinner based device. 

[pranny]

They havent shown the under side yet because its actually an Atari Lynx to compete with the Switch!!? If I was making a new console right now I'd be aiming for that market seeing as how it took off for Nintendo. I thought it looked ok until K said modem.

[jackfrost71]

Finally an update posted by the Ataribox team: http://mailchi.mp/ataribox/first-look-ataribox-design-36241?e=83493d0a83

 

Highlights

1) It's going to Indiegogo this fall

2) Price on IGG will be $249 - $299

3) Based on AMD / Radeon graphics chip

4) Runs Linux

5) Will come bundled with some games

6) Wood styled version will actually have real wood panels

[SeanR]

it's an nvidea shield?

 

[edit]

IGG? No, not touching that with a barge poll. I've told them as much.

 

 

 

[gone fishin]

What with the legal action "atari" (that is the dozen or so Frenchmen that are atari now) took against kit kat, for using fucking pong in an advert, and against Jeff Minter for infringing on Tempest 2000, they can fuck right off.

[gone fishin]

There's also something hilarious about this ataribox being priced (and to be fair, aesthetically looking) as a high end system, especially compared to the SNES mini.

 

When the games are, in most part, utter shite. 

 

You'd be better off buying this if you want to play Atari games

 

 

[Mr. Gerbik]

On 17-7-2017 at 16:17, Revival said:

 

Unless it's simply an Atari branded steam box which would be an odd proposition

Winner!