"ATARI" today and the new AtariVCS dumpster fire...

[MaximumRD]

Firstly, a huge and long time ATARI fan here like many of you and still owner of several original Atari consoles and computer and accessories 😉 I lived and love the history of Atari OBVIOUSLY and it saddens me that Atari will never be even a fraction of what it once was even in the different stages (Atari / Warner / Tramiel) back in the day. But at the same time many people seem blindly loyal to that name and logo to the point the will even today, grab up anything officially labeled "ATARI" even though most of it is overpriced junk conning Atari fan consumers and gambling on their nostalgia. This is why even though Atari managed to market and complete a fund raising goal for the new upcoming AtariVCS, early on called the AtariBox but fans and backers keep defending them even though the console they were promised has changed, has been delayed several times with promised shipping dates over and over being pushed back, any engagement has been very controlled and curated with comments often getting removed or people being banned in forums or groups where they represented themselves whenever challenged or backed into a corner where they could not provide a "real" answer, hype marketing talk or skirting around the questions or giving non-answer answers seems to be their specialty. And yet the funny (sad? pathetic?) thing is backers or fans that STILL insist on defending them for really NO OTHER REASON than that blind nostalgia for a long dead company that keeps making promises but actually delivering on very little. Oh and to be clear, I AM NOT SAYING NOR DO I BELIEVE that the backers will never receive what they paid for, in fact at least at this point I still believe they will all receive something....eventually....maybe? 😜  but even that will be far from anything worth what they paid outside of collector purposes or that "official" Atari name and logo being worth a LOT (and admittedly it clearly is to some) I truly believe even the most hard core defender of the AtariVCS and the people behind it would have a totally different view and opinion of what's on offer and for the amount it cost as well as the project developers behaviors to date if it were all being handled by some small unknown start up that were not incorporating the ATARI brand name. 

And once again, because I know some get triggered by such heresy defaulting to the usual claim I am a "Hater / NO FUN / troll / pessimist etc" this is not the case at all, I WOULD HAVE LOVED Atari to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes and again I am a long time Atari collector who has played and enjoyed Atari through history during all the ups and downs, I even loved and completed Raider of the Lost Ark and E.T. for 2600 backing the day 😎 But with I grow tired seeing the beloved Atari name whored out constantly on garbage product merely to capitalize on the once great brand. 

Some of you may not even be aware of what I am babbling on about but even if you DO you might not be up to snuff about it all. This video by REREZ sums it all up quite well imho. 

Honestly, did not expect much but this video actually contains some good points and well stated views regarding "ATARI" today as well as the AtariVCS etc. Sure it is just regurgitating what many of us already know but before you dismiss it have a watch, some people could use this wake up call about modern ATARI especially the blind faithful who think anything modern day ATARI still has something worthwhile to offer. 

 

 

 

 

[RickR]

I agree.  At the same time, I just have no clue why this ever got the attention it did.  Shit or get off the pot.  Until it gets released, it gets zero of my attention.  And I may be the only one that feels this way, but same for the Intellivision Amico.  Talk to the hand until there's a real physical product to talk about. 

[DegasElite]

13 minutes ago, RickR said:

Talk to the hand until there's a real physical product to talk about.

Agreed. If they have a product, just market it and get it over with. If it were me, I would have gone RISC architecture. That would have made it different, if it ever comes out.

[TrekMD]

Nostalgia is a powerful thing.  Shane makes good points about the current "Atari." 

[HDN]

Glad someone made this video. This is something people need to know. I have been a Rerez fan for many years.

[StormSurge]

5 hours ago, RickR said:

I agree.  At the same time, I just have no clue why this ever got the attention it did.  Shit or get off the pot.  Until it gets released, it gets zero of my attention.  And I may be the only one that feels this way, but same for the Intellivision Amico.  Talk to the hand until there's a real physical product to talk about. 

This x 1000. 

[LeeJ07]

Really, Atari is like a guy that went out and shot another, more famous person, then took his name and pretended to be the real deal, somehow fooling thousands of people in the process.

I'd call Atari a shambling, walking dead version of itself, but it's not even that. It's actually a shambling, walking dead version of Infogrames, I believe.

[socrates63]

When I told my neighbor yesterday that I've been playing Atari 2600 games for the past several months, she commented, "Aren't they coming out with a new Atari?" I was very surprised as she's not the gamer type.

Outside of the brand name, nothing about the AtariVCS connects it to the past history of Atari, so I have no interest. I'm re-living it all things Atari right now with original hardware, so what more do I need?