New Atari console!?

[Misfit]

$229 for a black one with Joystick ($100 off retail rrp)
$299 for a 'Collectors' wood one with joystick

+shipping +VAT/duty for those outside the US.

They've already broken $1.5m

I don't think I'm prepared to pay around £300 for a black one imported, with most of that cash upfront and no guaranteed release date.

I've bought too much hardware on these crowdfunding sites, and whilst most have finally turned up, not much has been worth the wait.

[Tyke]

$229 for a black one with Joystick ($100 off retail rrp)
$299 for a 'Collectors' wood one with joystick

+shipping +VAT/duty for those outside the US.

They've already broken $1.5m

I don't think I'm prepared to pay around £300 for a black one imported, with most of that cash upfront and no guaranteed release date.

I've bought too much hardware on these crowdfunding sites, and whilst most have finally turned up, not much has been worth the wait.

Ah yes the Open Pandora wait, now that was fun, the wait that is... Nearly as fun as the wait for the Vega +

I'm on the fence and would love to hear from Yak or Giles if they are in on this. Is Atari now holding T4K back to be exclusive on the new VCS? I guess it's their (ATARI's) game to do as they wish depending on agreements/commercials with llammasoft.

Oh hi by the way

[Misfit]

I'm on the fence and would love to hear from Yak or Giles if they are in on this. Is Atari now holding T4K back to be exclusive on the new VCS? I guess it's their (ATARI's) game to do as they wish depending on agreements/commercials with llammasoft.

Oh hi by the way

Hello stranger!

It appears Jeff and Giles know nothing about the console and had nothing to do with getting it running on the box. It's probably running the PC version in the demos.

[MegaZoid.]

I'm gonna wait till retail.... If it gets that far.

[Firefox]

Does that mean there's a version of T4K for Linux, then?

Oh hi by the way

[The Gardner]

Does that mean there's a version of T4K for Linux, then?

This was discussed over in the Tempest 4000 thread. To summarize: Giles has not worked on a Linux version, Atari has not told him anything about the VCS, Atari has not contacted him about doing a Linux version. It is an utter mystery what Atari is on about with advertising T4K on the VCS.

http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... &start=195

[Firefox]

Does that mean there's a version of T4K for Linux, then?

This was discussed over in the Tempest 4000 thread. To summarize: Giles has not worked on a Linux version, Atari has not told him anything about the VCS, Atari has not contacted him about doing a Linux version. It is an utter mystery what Atari is on about with advertising T4K on the VCS.

http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... &start=195

Thanks, TG! I don't get over to the T4K forum very often...

[Baggypants]

Does that mean there's a version of T4K for Linux, then?

This was discussed over in the Tempest 4000 thread. To summarize: Giles has not worked on a Linux version, Atari has not told him anything about the VCS, Atari has not contacted him about doing a Linux version. It is an utter mystery what Atari is on about with advertising T4K on the VCS.

http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=4 ... &start=195

I'd thought the the VCS was going to just stream games from your PC. but at £229 I can only imagine they're going to run T4K in a virtual machine running Windows.

[RiK]

[everklear]

Sheesh. The power of nostalgia. $2.2M USD and climbing.

I'm interested, but not that interested. I shall also wait for retail to avoid the heartbreak of vaporware.

[Little stoned kiwi]

So many more questions. Are they going to make Giles do a Linux port of 4k? Can anyone make him do a Linux port? Will that be listed in Steam as well? Will the Atari VCS Store and games be usable on other distributions or tied to the hardware and OS?
I wouldn't blame Atari for locking it down to make it more like a console (hardware they control) with software for and exclusive to it. Their brand name still has the pulling power to enter the hardware market again. Properly, instead of a half-assed job like Valve's Steam Machine.

[Little stoned kiwi]

https://www.linux.com/blog/2018/5/atari ... arting-199

<snip>
Bristol Ridge A1 chips with Radeon R7
<snip>
The hardware is not open source, and the games will be protected with HDCP. However, the Ubuntu Linux stack based on Linux kernel 4.10 is open source, and includes a “customizable Linux UX.” A Linux “sandbox” will be available for developing or porting games and apps.

Developers can build games using any Linux compatible gaming engine, including Unity, Unreal Engine, and Gamemaker. Atari also says that “Linux-based games from Steam and other platforms that meet Atari VCS hardware specifications should work.” Developers must register with Atari, and the games must be pre-approved. Atari VCS Store will take an “industry-standard percentage” of the sale price.

Manufactured by Flex, the Atari VCS ships with 4GB DDR4 RAM, as well as 32GB eMMC and a microSD slot. The 14.5x5.3x1.6-inch system is further equipped with dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0, as well as HDMI 2.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and 4x USB 3.0 ports. A 4-mic array supports voice commands, and the system is compatible with typical Bluetooth and USB controllers in addition to Atari’s Bluetooth-connected joystick and controller.

They are doing their own version of SteamOS/Steam Machine! The right way. The hardware is weak but probably selected on price rather than performance. A choice you can't blame them for. To the consumer this will seem like an out-of-the-box-plug-in-and-play console that will keep the kids occupied.
Politically a bold move. They are encroaching on the fringes of Microsoft's console turf and threatening the dominance of Windows in PC gaming. Valve weren't brave enough to poke the bear like that. SteamOS was a bargaining chip. A brave move by Atari to include access to a competitor's store, but makes sense if someone buys a VCS (which gives them access to the Atari Store) to do so.
Atari is capitalising on their IP and leveraging Steam's Linux content - a lot of those games will already run and with a fixed target they could be optimised for it. If Unity and Unreal Engine target the VCS to make that easier then Atari could find itself a dominant player as the hype-train gains momentum.

[The Gardner]

Over in the T4K thread, Giles says that Atari has finally contacted them, and that there will be T4K on the VCS. All details are up in the air, but the VCS is still over a year off, so there certainly isn't anything to worry about.

I'm not sure if it's a bold strategy, or a conservative one. They are basically selling a plain old PC in a box, that you can optionally get some Atari branded controllers for. However, maybe the low-end SteamOS box is a good move. I wasn't interested in one at $500, but at $200....

[sonixtorm]

This is a bit hilarious. The Register reponds to criticism from Atari on an article of theirs with audio from the interview:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/06/2 ... w_in_full/

[Flojomojo]

Get the popcorn out. This has the potential to be the biggest disaster of the year.....

Seriously though I don't see how this could possibly gain traction in the current market unless they have something truly amazing and groundbreaking planned.

They're actively deleting negative comments on their IndieGogo comments page. It sure feels like "put up or shut up" time to me. My popcorn is getting stale!