Sabertooth

Because the VCS is a mini-PC, there isn't remote start-up/power from the controller as is typical for consoles. Atari did implement a "Sleep" mode from which the console could be woken with a controller. However, this was inadvertently borked in a recent update. That's a really long way of saying, we have to use the power button for now. Hopefully they fix they Sleep function soon.

382,113. I had my best ever run on my third game today. After two games not clearing the World 1 boss (Stinger), I made it all the way to World 04-01!

2' 16" 32

I forgot how hard this game is! Each play through is really different depending on weapons drops, pathways and upgrade choices.

Update from Stephen Frost of Digital Eclipse on the VCS version via Twitter:

2' 21" 37 Via Retroarch. I thought that I would get one in early.

Very excited for this emulator even though I have a Jaguar Game Drive and a complete retail collection. I just love that more people will be able to experience the Jaguar. The Atari50 inclusions really don't do the platform justice- though Atari Karts, T2K and MC3D are all great.

Here is a pretty decent first impressions video from John Hancock on this PC stick and walk through of Debian. It gives you a pretty good sense of what it can be used for from a gaming perspective but he doesn't get into productivity. Still worth checking out if you're curious about Linux on a VCS.

New to Jetboard Joust? Learn more about the game and why I named it my 2021 GOTY at this entry of the Sabertooth's Game Cave! Not a reader or detest my shameless self-promotion? Check out this review from @Mockduck:

Let's get the word out about this Recharged Squad Challenge! The more people participating the more fun the challenge! Spread the word and invite friends to play!

Jetboard Joust Atari VCS Controller: MODERN / PLAYER'S CHOICE Difficulty Level: DEFAULT Play on: Real Hardware ✔ Squad Challenge ends 11:59 pm PST December 31, 2022 Objective Play for the highest possible score using the difficulty settings defined in the challenge. Post a photo or YouTube video of your score in this thread. Scores must be achieved between December 1st through December 31, 2022. Screen captures are not allowed as they are more easily manipulated for falsified scores. Multiple submissions are permitted. The player with the highest score at the end of the competition is the victor! Eligibility This is a Club VCS Exclusive Challenge. All Club VCS players are welcome! Play Rules Games may be played on real Atari VCS hardware. Choosing which controller to play on is part of formulating your strategy. Enhancements, rewinds and hacked versions of this game are not allowed. Difficulty Level We are playing Jetboard: Joust in the default mode. Play as long as you can for the highest score possible! Fair Play Your integrity is everything. Players should play fairly, be honest, and have fun! Falsified scores will result in your immediate removal from the site. It goes without saying that we will not allow cheats, hacks, cartridge frying, enhancements, rewinds, deceitful photo manipulation, subterfuge, or any other unfair advantage. Everybody hates a cheater. More To review detailed rules on how to play, please visit the High Score Squad page here: Message Welcome to our tenth Club VCS Recharged Squad Challenge!!! For this challenge we're taking on Jetboard Joust! Jetboard Joust is a fast-paced arcade action game by indie developer BitBull. The game is a clear homage to Eugene Jarvis' excellent Defender. Jetboard Joust takes the foundational elements of Jarvis’ classic and adds branching pathways, an intriguing upgrade system and fun joust mechanic to create an excellent modern arcade game! Important note: Because of the unique way that Jetboard Joust handles continues, continues are allowed. You may choose to play until you are out of continues. You may also restart with teleports unlocked from a previous playthrough. Summon the guardians and chart your path as you surf your way to a high score in this squad challenge! Club VCS Recharged Squad Giveaway This is the final game our second Club VCS Recharged Squad Challenge Giveaway! 1) All challenge participants will receive one (1) entry for each challenge in which they submit a valid score! 2) The top scorer of each challenge will receive two (2) additional entries - for a total of three (3) entries in a single challenge! 3) On Twitch or Youtube? Stream or record and post your ClubVCS high score attempt for one (1) additional entry in each round. You must post a public link to the video in the Challenge. BUT ARE THERE BUTTONS? Yes! We've made another set of ClubVCS buttons to celebrate the games in this series. There will be two ways to get a button set. 1) Win a challenge. 2) Post a valid score to all challenges in the 5 game series. Only one button set will be mailed per member during the series. This contest is open to everybody, including Atari I/O Moderators, with a U.S. or Canada mailing address. It's really easy, all you have to do is participate be a Club VCS member and participate in our Recharged Squad Challenges.

Congratulations tripled! Congratulations to @tripledthe winner of our Gravitar: Recharged Squad Challenge! @tripled takes his second Squad challenge win at ClubVCS with a galaxy imploding score of 36,889! It was a crowded field at the top of the podium though with two other players breaking the 30K barrier. @Davpa posted a last minute 11th hour entry of 31,375 to take the silver! @stirrell came in just behind with an amazing score of 30,616 to take the bronze! @Mockduck navigated his way to a score of 19,590 and a fourth place finish. Finally, your host @Sabertooth and @RickR round out the boards with scores of 15,315 and 9,030, respectively. As the winner of this round @tripledwill receive 3 entries in the controller giveaway! @Davpawill receive two entries since he posted his attempt via Twitch. Everyone else will receive one entry! I'd like to encourage @tripled to post his high score on the Scoreboard, and let's make sure this Challenge continues on! Thanks also to @Marco1019 for getting the word out about this challenge! If you haven't already, check him out on Twitch at www.twitch.tv/retrowithmarco! Congratulations to tripled on his big win! And a big congratulations to the rest of the Squad! Gravitar: Recharged is one of the toughest games in Atari's new Recharged series and it takes patience and practice to do well. It's also a vast improvement over the original arcade and 2600 games and makes great use of the Classic Controller. I hope that everyone enjoyed navigating a variety of challenging environments and testing your skills as pilots. NOTE: Our next Recharged Squad Challenge is Jetboard Joust! Be there!

I was doing some testing with Debian 11 (Bullseye) today running as a "virtual machine" on the VCS. Using a fast USB, the VCS ran it like a champ. It was very quick for basic productivity apps and I ran a few modern games off of it without issue. I was actually surprised to get that performance out of the USB boot drive. It was also cool that it recognized my VCS Classic and Modern Controllers via BT. Those Controllers need to be wired for Windows/XBOX Mode.

It's the last day to get your best scores in! Post your final galaxy imploding scores by 11:59 pm (PST)!

I got the new PC-Mode USB from Atari for the VCS which uses the latest version of Debian. It is very snappy for the Office compatible applications (LibreOffice), web browsing, and YT (via browser). I also messed around with GIMP and it worked as well as it does on my PC. I don't see it replacing my super fast Razer Windows laptop but if I didn't have that already the VCS with Linux could easily be used for productivity applications, emulation and light gaming. I'd add that it's fairly easy to make a USB image of something like Debian or Ubuntu for use in the VCS. I picked up Atari's branded USB just to check it out.

This is the same emulator that Digital Eclipse used in Atari50. It was built for that purpose and is really solid. There were a lot of questions about whether a standalone emulator was forthcoming. I'm glad that the author is making it available.

The USB is a very streamlined, plug and play experience. Plug in the USB and Debian will launch without any action. Account setup and navigation are straightforward. The interface feels very snappy for lack of a better word. AtariOS and BIOS recovery are also on the stick and can be selected at boot-up, if needed. Overall, a neat little package for $30 and it definitely all but eliminates the barrier for PC-Mode.

I got mine today but haven't had a chance to launch it yet. My version is slightly different from what is pictured on Atari's website. I'm told that I got one from the initial batch but that it's functionally equivalent.

Here's a video from @Davpa going over initial setup and functionality on a prototype version of the stick.

Nice score @RickR! $22.50 for the t-shirts is a great deal. I had the yellow Tempest tee in my cart but I'm currently in-between sizes so I'm holding off on shirts. From Discord, the stick also includes things like GIMP and sound editing tools. I am getting one at the Black Friday price just to see what it's about and how usable it is.

One of the coolest features of the Atari VCS is its ability to double as a fully functioning mini-PC via "PC Mode." Personally, I run Windows off of a fast USB for emulation on my VCS. Others use an external HDD or have installed a partitioned SSD and boot manager. However, not everyone has the technical wherewithal to put a boot image on a second drive to access PC-Mode. Well, Atari has heard their cries. Enter The Atari VCS PC-Mode USB. This "PC On-A-Stick" is an Atari branded, 128 GB USB that is preloaded with the newest Debian OS. Just put it in the USB port of your VCS, turn it on and you've unlocked the mini-PC potential of your VCS. The stick itself is a Kinsgston 3.2 USB. No info on the transfer rate. Here are the specs: - 128 GB with 110 GB of usable free space for storage - Debian OS, version GNU/Linux 11 (Bullseye) - LibreOffice suite (fully compatible with Office 365) - Chrome web browser - Etcher (used to create bootable USB drives to use alternate operating systems on the Atari VCS) - Atari VCS OS and Bios disaster recovery images Now, it's cool that Atari have gone through the trouble of providing this "PC On-a-Stick", productivity software and VCS recovery images on a slick branded USB. But they didn't do it free. The retail price of the sucker is $39.99! What do you think of new Atari VCS PC-Mode USB?

Atari is partnering with LRG to release the first 4 Recharged games on physical: Switch, PS4, PS5.