Tempest 4000 is real, Jeff Minter is developing it and Atari is publishing it

[Scott Stilphen]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-08-08-tempest-4000-is-real-jeff-minter-is-developing-it-and-atari-is-publishing-it

 

 

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 08/08/2017

Surprise! Atari has announced Tempest 4000, the sequel to the classic arcade game Tempest, is coming out later in 2017 for PC and consoles.

 

And get this - Tempest 4000 is being developed by Jeff Minter, creator of Tempest 2000, the 1994 remake of the Dave Theurer 1981 arcade game, Tempest.

Here's the official blurb, courtesy of Atari:

"In Tempest 4000, players are once again in control of the Claw, a powerful spacecraft equipped to destroy deadly creatures and other obstructions with rapid-fire shots on vibrant geometric prisms. With three game modes to choose from and 100 levels to conquer, players must eliminate all enemies as quickly as possible to survive and achieve that coveted spot at the top of the leaderboards."

Those three games mode are standard, pure and endurance. There's a 4K resolution and a retro soundtrack inspired by 1990s techno.

Here's a quote from current Atari boss Todd Shallbetter:

"The original Tempest is a beloved arcade classic with a unique style and intense, edge-of-your-seat gameplay.

"We're thrilled to be able to work with Jeff Minter again, someone who is a legend in the industry and has made a huge impact on the history of video games, to develop this highly-anticipated next installment of the Tempest franchise, updated with today's technology."

News that Minter is once again working with Atari comes as something of a surprise. Back in 2015 Minter said he was "beyond disgusted" with Atari after the company blocked the release of his Vita game TxK on new platforms over similarities with Tempest.

 

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Jeff Minter

 

@llamasoft_ox

So yeah all the stuff we had ready or near ready will now never see the light of day.No TxK PC, PS4, Oculus, GearVR, Android. Thank "Atari".

7:34 AM - Mar 18, 2015

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TxK, which Minter called a "distantly related sequel" to Tempest 2000, launched on Vita to critical acclaim in February 2014. Martin Robinson wrote in his 9/10 review: "All you need to know right now is that TxK is Minter at his finest, and it's absolutely mint."

 

Well, it sounds like the pair have patched things up. Here's a quote from Minter from Atari's press release:

"At the end of the day, video gamers always win. I am very happy to work with Atari again to bring a long-awaited sequel of Tempest to our legion of fans and a new generation of gamers worldwide."

As for Tempest 4000 itself, Atari hasn't released any screenshots or gameplay footage, but did say the game will be at Gamescom later this month, so hopefully it won't be too long before we see some footage.

[RickR]

Well that resolved itself nicely.  A rarity these days. 

[nosweargamer]

Well that resolved itself nicely.  A rarity these days. 

 

Yes. I think it's great they can get together and make something official.

 

I know that the modern Atari has gotten a ton of flak in recent years for just trying to make $ from suing and licensing, but recently its seems like they are trying to make an honest go of being a whole lot more than that. They are trying to actually make a new console, get imaginative with the speaker hat and now this.  I think it's popular to keep bashing them, but I actually hope they succeed a "Make Atari Great Again" 

[TrekMD]

I'll be looking forward to playing this on my PS4. 

[RickR]

I think we -- the nerd community -- are way too harsh on many companies and movies etc. 

[Justin]

I think we -- the nerd community -- are way too harsh on many companies and movies etc. 

 

That is so true. 

[TeddyGermany]

Guess, a dream comes true.

 

They should develop a deluxe version of T4K for the Ataribox! Would be a nice exclusive.

[Mcorleonep]

I love Jeff MInter's games.  He had some great ones on the iOS store (Gridrunner being my favorite) but they were pulled sadly due to lack of sales.  TxK is great too if you have a Vita.  A fully blown console (or PC) edition would be great...

[Ballblaɀer]

First footage?

 

https://twitter.com/llamasoft_ox/status/896159971984855040

[pizzabear]

First footage?

 

https://twitter.com/llamasoft_ox/status/896159971984855040

 

Thanks for the notice! Game looks snazzy. Definitely looking forward to more deets. 

[Scott Stilphen]

https://twitter.com/llamasoft_ox/status/908815610418692096

 

 

I was hoping for new music instead of the same soundtrack used for T2K, but still looking forward to playing it.

[Clint Thompson]

Feel like the original Tempest 2000 will never be topped (I just love the pixels too much and it's really perfection) but very looking forward to playing some amazing 4K T4K soon

[Control Issues]

Anyone playing this here?  I've played a bit of it... and think I like T2K better... but I need to play it more.  

[Tempest Nut]

Yes I play it daily, I'm Tempest Nut on Steam, I am the first and only Ultra Atarian in Tempest 4000 PC that has unlocked 21 out of 21 achievements and I'm #1 on the Steam leader board in all three modes of play, I lead 2nd place by a million points +/- a hundred thousand points or more...

[Control Issues]

Uh oh... @Tempest Nut is over here, too?  lol  (know you from AtariAge =)  )

[Control Issues]

Played a little more of it the other day.  Was testing out streaming on the Xbox One.  (I've started doing some streaming on Twitch... not much, but it's fun.)  Anyway, I need either a new controller or to fix the one I have.  I don't like using the thumbstick for this and my d-pad has issues.  It's doing a double or triple click when I press left, so while going one direction (when pressing right on the d-pad) everything is fine, but going the other direction (pressing left) it kind of hesitates and stutters, throwing timing off and making things more difficult.

 

I did still get a new high score (for me) though, so it's not all bad.  Still hate that the enemies congregate at the top when you die and don't start over at the bottom like in 2000.  That seems a major flaw to me and makes recovering from a death super difficult.

[Sabertooth]

I picked this up a while ago on PS4 and finally gave it some real play time. The visuals can be very distracting/overwhelming at times. It definitely took some getting used to but it's good, solid fun.  if you're a fan of T2K or the arcade original, it's well worth a look.