Atari VCS preorder starting May 30's with AMD processor

Vader1975

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Atari VCS™ Pre-Sale Opens May 30th on Indiegogo!
Featuring The Limited Atari VCS Collector's Edition
Special Retro-Inspired Wood Front and Certificate of Authenticity



Early Bird packages Start at $199 for Atari VCS Onyx
Updated Classic Joystick and Modern Controller Also Available to Order



Enjoy the Linux-powered Atari VCS to play, create or port your own games and multimedia content.

Many popular modern titles will be playable on Atari VCS.
As an homage to our past, every Atari VCS includes
the Atari Vault of more than 100 classic games.[/B]
Play all-time arcade and home entertainment favorites like Asteroids®, Centipede®, Breakout®, Missile Command®, Gravitar® and Yars’ Revenge®

A completely modern connected device, the new VCS was designed in California by Atari. The company is partnered with AMD, who provides the VCS custom processor with Radeon Graphics Technology. The Atari VCS platform will offer support for 4K resolution, HDR and 60FPS content, onboard and expandable storage options, dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0, as well as USB 3.0 support. A complete list of Atari VCS product specs will be posted at the time of pre-sale.

Atari appreciates your support and intense curiosity about VCS games and content, hardware specifications, production timelines and other key information. We're confident that we are putting the right pieces in place for a successful product and launch!
 
This thing is going to be overhyped garbage.
I doubt that. I suspect it will be overpriced nostalgia. However I expect it to not be garbage. They have put a lot of work into the controllers and any company with enough funds can order the basic APU from AMD and build a baby PS4 for decent gaming on a linux style OS. If its half as good as expected at its price point it will be worth goofing around with.
 
I doubt that. I suspect it will be overpriced nostalgia. However I expect it to not be garbage. They have put a lot of work into the controllers and any company with enough funds can order the basic APU from AMD and build a baby PS4 for decent gaming on a linux style OS. If its half as good as expected at its price point it will be worth goofing around with.

I have absolutely zero faith in Atari. Even under new management they have produced crap. To me this feels like a shoddy, cheap, attempt to cash in on nostalgia. At $200 for the early bird I imagine they're at cost, or a tiny bit under cost, so I wouldn't expect anything interesting. I would not be at all surprised if it was weaker than the normal PS4, maybe on par. We're talking about the same company that can't even make a bloody roller coaster sim without royally fucking up everything, twice. The Switch game will probably be a third royal fuck up with RCT. There is absolutely no reason to ever trust Atari.
 
I have absolutely zero faith in Atari. Even under new management, they have produced crap. To me this feels like a shoddy, cheap, attempt to cash in on nostalgia. At $200 for the early bird I imagine they're at cost, or a tiny bit under cost, so I wouldn't expect anything interesting. I would not be at all surprised if it was weaker than the normal PS4, maybe on par. We're talking about the same company that can't even make a bloody roller coaster sim without royally fucking up everything, twice. The Switch game will probably be a third royal fuck up with RCT. There is absolutely no reason to ever trust Atari.
I was wondering where the strange hostility was coming from. Roller Coaster Tycoon. Interesting. I have a similar hatred of Sony Online Entertainment America who destroyed Everquest. They are now called Daybreak Studio's. They destroy everything they touch.
 
I was wondering where the strange hostility was coming from. Roller Coaster Tycoon. Interesting. I have a similar hatred of Sony Online Entertainment America who destroyed Everquest. They are now called Daybreak Studio's. They destroy everything they touch.

I've been hostile towards Atari/Infograms for years. I genuinely cannot remember the last good thing they released. All of the plug-and-play Atari things have been meh to bad, their game releases across the board have been meh to horrible. As far as I can tell, when they were purchased out of bankruptcy the company that bought them kept a lot of the old leadership in place, the same people that did nothing but ruin Atari until they were forced for file for bankruptcy. I don't think the new owners care at all about quality or anything but cashing in on nostalgia as their other game company were the people that made that awful new Bubsy.

I will say, I do really like the look of the collector's edition of the system with that wood grain look. Its a pity that's not the look of all versions of the system.

Apparently a video appeared showing the VCS playing games, but I can't find it.
 
Looks like the specs for the VCS have leaked.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DeV0vv9V4AADD6j.jpg

So, there is an obvious typo on that. There is no such thing as a Bristol Ridge A1. Most likely it is the A10. Earlier leaks pointed to it being the 9700, but I wonder. The 9700 is a 65w TDP chip. That is a decent amount of heat to expel from a tiny case. Given that the specs say it is a low TDP arch I'm guessing it will be the 35w 9700E. There are not a huge amount of differences between the two but I'll lay them out here for people that don't want to hunt down specs:

The non-E runs at a base clock of 3.5GHz with a boost clock of 3.8GHz. The E runs at a base of 3GHz with a boost clock of 3.5GHz.
Both of them are unlocked quad core processors. Same L2 chache, same number of GPU cores (10) and same number of compute cores (4 CPU + 6 GPU).
The R7 on the non-E runs at a core clock of 1029Mhz vs 847Mhz on the E.

It won't cause a huge difference in performance either way, just the E will be a lot easier to cool.

Performance wise, the 9700/9700E seems fine for an indie box. You are not going to be running demanding games at high settings and Bristol Ridge is still Excavator so keep performance expectations in check.

That 4GB of RAM is something that worries me when it comes to performance. Even with how efficient Linux is, you're still sharing 4GBs between the CPU and GPU. I feel like 6 or 8 would have allowed the system to run at peak performance a little easier.

32GB of storage is kinda shitty, but it supports external drives and SD cards so not as big of a deal.

Side note: It is also possible that it is using the 35w A12-9800E which would provide a slight performance bump over the 9700, but I'm going to err on the side of earlier leaks and stick with expecting a 9700 or 9700E.
 
Wow, Bristol Ridge? That architecture was a pile of crap.

And I say this as a guy who usually throws AMD a bone..
 
Pre-orders are live. The leaked specs are 100% real. Including the confusing Bristol Ridge A1 APU. So either Atari made a massive typo on their spec sheet or this is some kind of special APU that AMD is giving them. If it is the later then I am utterly baffled at why they would go for an Excavator based APU instead of something better.

Also, it is really bloody stupid that they do not include a controller in the box nor give any kind of discount for buying the system and controller in a bundle.
 
For $200, I am a bit hesitant to pre-order one since they won't be available until next year. Bristol Ridge is already old. If they can do an upgrade to the CPU/RAM/Storage (which was mentioned in a comment as a stretch goal) it might be a good proposition. Then again, what kind of hardware can you expect for $200?
 
Hey if Atari could Brand a half dozen games under their own name I would be impressed the original 2600 had a pile of games. Bring back pitfall
 
I've been hostile towards Atari/Infograms for years. I genuinely cannot remember the last good thing they released. All of the plug-and-play Atari things have been meh to bad, their game releases across the board have been meh to horrible. As far as I can tell, when they were purchased out of bankruptcy the company that bought them kept a lot of the old leadership in place, the same people that did nothing but ruin Atari until they were forced for file for bankruptcy. I don't think the new owners care at all about quality or anything but cashing in on nostalgia as their other game company were the people that made that awful new Bubsy.

I will say, I do really like the look of the collector's edition of the system with that wood grain look. Its a pity that's not the look of all versions of the system.

Apparently a video appeared showing the VCS playing games, but I can't find it.

You obviously never grew up using Atari's kid to be talking like this.
 
I don't think its an "ouya 2.0" because if nothing else its a full Linux based PC, which is a major reason to back them. However, the specs are what bother me. I can't believe they're currently basing this thing on an Excavator APU! If absolutely nothing else, it should (for planned manufacture and launch next year) be planned on the new Ryzen+ 2000 series APUs with Vega GPU cores that are debuting now! Likewise, 4GB of RAM is insufficient for the long term. It should be 8gb minimum and if they won't offer slotted DIMMS/ SODIMMS there should be an option for 16gb.

I don't have any use for a $300-ish underpowered retro emulation box. If that's all I wanted I could roll up a Raspberry Pi , an ARM streaming box or something for around $100 or less. However, I would be interested in a fully open Linux powered HTPC and I'd be happy to support Atari offering that, but it has to be powerful enough to endure with my uses into the future.
 
You obviously never grew up using Atari's kid to be talking like this.

This is not the same Atari that make the 2600. This "Atari" is nothing more than a rebranded Infograms after they bought the name and IPs. Maybe do a tiny amount of research?
 
$200 isn't much. Was expecting it to be a lot more.

No idea why you are complaining about such a small amount?
 
No reason to buy this. It is a ouyu (sp?) 2.0.
You obviously either do not know what the Ouya was, or what the AtariVCS is, or neither.

This is not the same Atari that make the 2600. This "Atari" is nothing more than a rebranded Infograms after they bought the name and IPs. Maybe do a tiny amount of research?
And this may be a good thing. The Atari of old ruined a good thing. This "new" Atari can't do any worse!
 
This is not the same Atari that make the 2600. This "Atari" is nothing more than a rebranded Infograms after they bought the name and IPs. Maybe do a tiny amount of research?
I don't need to research anything when I have been around them since they started.
 
Clearly you do seeing as you were talking about a company that no longer exists and using that in some kind of lame defense of the company cashing in on their name.

Umm, the Atari name still exists. Clearly you are delusional.
 
Umm, the Atari name still exists. Clearly you are delusional.
The name exists, the original company does not. You cannot defened the current Atari by talking about the company that ceased to exist. This Atari is not the Atari that released Atari game systems and computers. That Atari is dead and has been for a long time. This Atari is nothing more than the publisher Infograms using the Atari name and IPs that they purchased when the original Atari went bankrupt.
 
$200 isn't much. Was expecting it to be a lot more.

No idea why you are complaining about such a small amount?

$200 isn't much in the grand scheme of things, I agree, but this doesn't really look like it's worth what they're charging for the system plus controllers. For $279+ you can get a PS4 or Xbox One, or a used Switch, and get much more mileage. I understand that argument is apples to oranges. That being said though, I'd say you'd have to be a pretty die-hard Atari fan to subscribe to this, and in that case, you're probably already the owner of an original unit. The design of the system looks neat, and the controllers look great, I'll give them that.
 
Well things are looking a little fishy in regards to Tempest 4000 on the VCS. Atari showed it in their video, making it seem like it was running on the VCS. After the developer of T4k said he had absolutely no idea about this and that no Linux binary of his game existed someone asked Atari about it.

post-39941-0-88358700-1528396001.jpg


Okay. A little misleading, but not a big deal. Can be chalked up to bad messaging on Atari's part. However, it does not end there. Turns out they were straight up lying on their Facebook page, claiming that T4k was running on the VCS. They then edited their post after it was found out.

post-39941-0-58727500-1528396025.jpg


And then there is this:

post-39941-0-58946700-1528396258.jpg


Here is the post where the developer says he never heard about this.
 
The real advantage of the system right now is that it is potentially an open, Linux based platform. That is what sets it apart. If people wanted to play retro Atari games they could do so on their phone, or a Raspberry Pi or anything else that can emulate Atari (note: just about everyhing) for cheaper. However, it being based on Linux, an open platform where users can install what they want, and much of the hardware (except for the APU and RAM) is sound/modern that you can put whatever kind of software you wish upon it. The problem is the antiquated Bristol Ridge (pre-Ryzen era) APU and only 4GB of RAM especially if its not used replaceable.

I wrote to the AtariVCS team using the email on their page and imploring them to 1) Modernize the APU by using a modern, Ryzen+ w/ Vega GPU platform from Raven Ridge 2018 and 2) allow either slotted, user-replaceable RAM and/or bump the default to 8GB and offer a 16GB option.. They did respond to me favorably but I guess we'll see what will happen. I know it would up the cost of the platform but given their 2.5M + success some stretch goals upgrading the hardware seem like a plausible idea. With these upgrades, the AtariVCS becomes an amazing SFF PC . Sure you can use it to play Atari games and other retro stuff, but you can also install MAME or other emulators, install Steam for Linux and get a ton of modern game titles, or use Kodi / VLC / mpv etc... in order to watch any media you wish knowing that it will have the processor power and RAM to handle it! No , it wont' t be a high end gaming system but for the value it will be phenomenal and give you more options than ARM based set top boxes or proprietary consoles. All they need is a few upgrades to the hardware....
 
The real advantage of the system right now is that it is potentially an open, Linux based platform. That is what sets it apart. If people wanted to play retro Atari games they could do so on their phone, or a Raspberry Pi or anything else that can emulate Atari (note: just about everyhing) for cheaper. However, it being based on Linux, an open platform where users can install what they want, and much of the hardware (except for the APU and RAM) is sound/modern that you can put whatever kind of software you wish upon it. The problem is the antiquated Bristol Ridge (pre-Ryzen era) APU and only 4GB of RAM especially if its not used replaceable.

I wrote to the AtariVCS team using the email on their page and imploring them to 1) Modernize the APU by using a modern, Ryzen+ w/ Vega GPU platform from Raven Ridge 2018 and 2) allow either slotted, user-replaceable RAM and/or bump the default to 8GB and offer a 16GB option.. They did respond to me favorably but I guess we'll see what will happen. I know it would up the cost of the platform but given their 2.5M + success some stretch goals upgrading the hardware seem like a plausible idea. With these upgrades, the AtariVCS becomes an amazing SFF PC . Sure you can use it to play Atari games and other retro stuff, but you can also install MAME or other emulators, install Steam for Linux and get a ton of modern game titles, or use Kodi / VLC / mpv etc... in order to watch any media you wish knowing that it will have the processor power and RAM to handle it! No , it wont' t be a high end gaming system but for the value it will be phenomenal and give you more options than ARM based set top boxes or proprietary consoles. All they need is a few upgrades to the hardware....

I completely agree. At the launch price of $300 ($200 is only the early bird price) it really does not represent a great value with a Bristol Ridge and only 4GB of RAM. If they can somehow figure out how to get a better APU and more RAM into it before launch (even delaying launch a few months to do it) at the same price point then Atari could have a pretty killer deal on their hands. A Raven Ridge R5 with 8GB of RAM at $300 would definitely get some attention, especially if the system itself is well built.
 
Things are super shady again:

The Register did an interview with Atari about the VCS. The article is pretty scathing, understandably so. Since the interview Atari has clarified some details, but other questions from that interview remain unanswered.

How does Atari react to this article? By accusing Register of making it all up and "trolling".

Atari said:
We honestly can't explain that article either. Our executives sat with that reporter for half an hour and he wrote what he wanted instead of what was discussed with him. Sadly there are even irresponsible trolls in 'professional' positions i guess.

We clearly said that we were bringing engineering design models to GDC and lots of people clearly don't understand what that means. Hunks of plastic? Well, yeah, that's how you finalize the designs and confirm that you can get the look and feel you want for the finished products. Sad.

Register decides to respond to this accusation by posting the entire interview, which they recorded.
 
Wow.

Not great. I still think the overarching idea is decent. I no longer have any confidence in their ability to deliver.

This doesn't surprise me at all. I was just hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
 
The real advantage of the system right now is that it is potentially an open, Linux based platform. That is what sets it apart. If people wanted to play retro Atari games they could do so on their phone, or a Raspberry Pi or anything else that can emulate Atari (note: just about everyhing) for cheaper. However, it being based on Linux, an open platform where users can install what they want, and much of the hardware (except for the APU and RAM) is sound/modern that you can put whatever kind of software you wish upon it. The problem is the antiquated Bristol Ridge (pre-Ryzen era) APU and only 4GB of RAM especially if its not used replaceable.

I wrote to the AtariVCS team using the email on their page and imploring them to 1) Modernize the APU by using a modern, Ryzen+ w/ Vega GPU platform from Raven Ridge 2018 and 2) allow either slotted, user-replaceable RAM and/or bump the default to 8GB and offer a 16GB option.. They did respond to me favorably but I guess we'll see what will happen. I know it would up the cost of the platform but given their 2.5M + success some stretch goals upgrading the hardware seem like a plausible idea. With these upgrades, the AtariVCS becomes an amazing SFF PC . Sure you can use it to play Atari games and other retro stuff, but you can also install MAME or other emulators, install Steam for Linux and get a ton of modern game titles, or use Kodi / VLC / mpv etc... in order to watch any media you wish knowing that it will have the processor power and RAM to handle it! No , it wont' t be a high end gaming system but for the value it will be phenomenal and give you more options than ARM based set top boxes or proprietary consoles. All they need is a few upgrades to the hardware....
It would be DOA with those specs. That is not their target audience. With those specs you would be looking at a $500 console that still won't play modern ges cause they have no 3rd party developers on board. That price is to high to grab the nostalgia group. Hell $200 is also. What made the NES classic a hit was the price and quality of the games included.
 
It would be DOA with those specs. That is not their target audience. With those specs you would be looking at a $500 console that still won't play modern ges cause they have no 3rd party developers on board. That price is to high to grab the nostalgia group. Hell $200 is also. What made the NES classic a hit was the price and quality of the games included.

The NES Classic and whatnot was a sub-$100 piece of kit. That's a nostalgia purchase, not this. Not something that is well over $200 and has a $300+ model (even at indiegogo prices). If they only wanted to target the "nostalgia audience" exclusively, they could do it with much lesser specs on an ARM SOC, slimmed down OS etc etc. However, they have decided to build this as a "full PC" that is runs on Linux etc. They are already not targeting the cheap, nostalgia, "oh look an Atari, I remember those" purchases. With the choices they've made thus far they HAVE to make a change - either "up" or "down" - because sitting where they will mean that the device won't serve anyone's interests or needs.

With the specs and features I listed, they could make a strong showing as the kind of "branded HTPC" they seem to wish to be. It would not need to be a $500 console, especially given the interest in the indiegogo campaign. Hell, I saw a report the other day that AMD has offered them a newer chip so I assume they could be making some sort of alteration already. They do not need many third party developers on board, given that it can act essentially as a standard Linux based PC. Plenty of games and other content run easily on Steam and with a modern Zen+ APU at least it could play many of them at good settings/framerates at 1080p,. I'd consider it a grave misstep for them to try and make a proprietary platform that needs 3rd party developers for content when they have a much better road.

90% of what they describe and their specs suggest more than an Atari emulation box, so they should dive in. Set themselves apart and take advantage of the openness and "real PC" features of the platform.
 
The NES Classic and whatnot was a sub-$100 piece of kit. That's a nostalgia purchase, not this. Not something that is well over $200 and has a $300+ model (even at indiegogo prices). If they only wanted to target the "nostalgia audience" exclusively, they could do it with much lesser specs on an ARM SOC, slimmed down OS etc etc. However, they have decided to build this as a "full PC" that is runs on Linux etc. They are already not targeting the cheap, nostalgia, "oh look an Atari, I remember those" purchases. With the choices they've made thus far they HAVE to make a change - either "up" or "down" - because sitting where they will mean that the device won't serve anyone's interests or needs.

With the specs and features I listed, they could make a strong showing as the kind of "branded HTPC" they seem to wish to be. It would not need to be a $500 console, especially given the interest in the indiegogo campaign. Hell, I saw a report the other day that AMD has offered them a newer chip so I assume they could be making some sort of alteration already. They do not need many third party developers on board, given that it can act essentially as a standard Linux based PC. Plenty of games and other content run easily on Steam and with a modern Zen+ APU at least it could play many of them at good settings/framerates at 1080p,. I'd consider it a grave misstep for them to try and make a proprietary platform that needs 3rd party developers for content when they have a much better road.

90% of what they describe and their specs suggest more than an Atari emulation box, so they should dive in. Set themselves apart and take advantage of the openness and "real PC" features of the platform.

That’s why I am/was interested. Not that I really care much what the Register has to say, but that Atari rep sounds like a total moron. That’s not helping. If they pop a Zen in, and put this thing out properly, I’d still consider it.
 
That’s why I am/was interested. Not that I really care much what the Register has to say, but that Atari rep sounds like a total moron. That’s not helping. If they pop a Zen in, and put this thing out properly, I’d still consider it.

Atari's PR in general is pretty shit. When accused of faking footage they edit descriptions to hide the fact instead of apologizing for not making things clear. When called out on how poorly they're handling things so far they accuse people of making things up and only doing it for money. Instead of either ignoring the Register article or giving a good response they accuse it of being fake and "trolling". Every single step of the way Atari has come off as a bunch of hostile jackasses.

By the way, the guy the Register talked to was not a "rep". Artz is the COO of Atari and the guy in charge of the entire VCS project. One of Atari's top executives could not answer simple questions about the project he is running.
 
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