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Remember the Atari VCS, the Linux-powered gaming console? Well it's still alive and they've decided to give it a bit of an upgrade.

After crowdfunding on IndieGoGo back in 2018, we're still not seeing a huge amount of information or overall progress being shared on how it's doing. What we do know now, is that they're getting rid of the old Bristol Ridge APU and replacing it with the much newer Ryzen which should hopefully make it a more versatile unit. This also means it will be using Radeon Vega graphics and not Radeon R7 which it was previously.

It seems they've been working with AMD on this, as the APU they're going to be using apparently has yet to actually be announced officially by AMD. From what they say it will be a 14nm, with two Zen CPU cores.

As a result of the changes, they said the North American schedule for delivering the final product has been pushed back until the end of 2019.

You can see their full post about it here.

As far as we know, the Atari VCS is still being powered by Linux with the ability to run a normal Linux distribution on it which is why it's a pretty exciting device. I just hope once they eventually ship it, that it lives up to the backers expectations. If it does turn out to be a reasonable little unit, we will happily take a look if it interests readers.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Hardware
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Luke_Nukem 18 Mar 2019
They could have easily used the Athlon 200GE CPU, it's pretty damn decent for what it is.
finaldest 18 Mar 2019
This is good news from my prospective as this upgrade could now allow potential for running the bigger AAA games and thus offer a wider appeal. I am definitely more interested in this now and may pick one up on release subject to final specs of course.

I do hope that this VCS becomes successful.
Dunc 18 Mar 2019
I'd almost forgotten about this. That said, the Christmas period is the right time to release something like it, so I wouldn't have expected to see anything until Q4 or late Q3 anyway, and this does look like a reasonable upgrade; the main complaint about the original spec was that it just didn't look powerful enough.

Wait and see. As before.
Beemer 18 Mar 2019
i am willing to bet this thing never sees the light of day,i feel bad for anyone that backed this.

I agree. TBH - I wouldn't bother giving them any "airtime" until at least a functioning prototype is vetted by an objective third party. Same for the new Intellivision console as well, and I'm really hoping that won't be vaporware.

When they skip Kickstarter (which requires some kind of functioning prototype), and start straight with Indiegogo, I stay away until it ships.

Beemer
ElectricPrism 18 Mar 2019
Hello Fans!

The team entered the year 2019 with a lot of great momentum and excitement around the Atari VCS project, confident in our direction and progress. Atari is working with some of the top talent and companies in the business, all helping to implement the vision for both the product and all the elements that go into it.

This project’s integrity and backers’ emotional and financial investments are and will always be our top priorities. Today’s new Atari VCS blog, linked below, discusses our recent decision to upgrade to an all-new AMD chip, and its impact on the product’s delivery which is now end of 2019.

When reading the blog, we hope you all appreciate the reasons why we decided to make this upgrade and why, when given an opportunity to improve the product in exchange for a new delivery date, we chose to upgrade. Working together with project partners and stakeholders, we took the time to fully-mature this important decision before making it public. The team is listening to your comments and questions and are confident that this change positively reflects many of our fans’ and backers’ feedback.

We also acknowledge your requests for more frequent updates, but please bear in mind that Atari and its partners are constrained by mutually-agreed approval processes and other restrictions that may be legal, self-imposed, regulatory and/or some combination of these. Details about the product(s) and strategies of both Atari and its partners can and will be shared only when all stakeholders agree.

We cannot thank you enough for your support!

— The Atari VCS Team

I dont like promises and setbacks.

I know its extermemly difficult to accurately predict human resources, research, development and production but it stinks.

We literally need videos of the prototype.

Also, I pray to god their top prioities arent coddling the fragile emotions of backers.

You literally have one job to do, dont butter us up, make the fucking product work.
Purple Library Guy 18 Mar 2019
i am willing to bet this thing never sees the light of day,i feel bad for anyone that backed this.
You're quite likely right. On the other hand, a lot of people were grumbling about the chip, so if it ever does come out, this is probably better.
KerbiePlays 18 Mar 2019
i am willing to bet this thing never sees the light of day,i feel bad for anyone that backed this.

I think it will come out, Atari won't delay or lie as much as RCL did with the catastrophically bad vega + handheld nor get into legal trouble with indiegogo and the VPlus really is as bad as people say it is i have seen and used one for real it actually really hurts and the plastic is cheap and I bet the vcs wont be and everything will work.
TheSyldat 18 Mar 2019
Soooo is it time to call it SMACH Z 2.0 (or whatever its current name is now ) ?
Because it feels like a SMACH Z 2.0
Whitewolfe80 18 Mar 2019
well the 3300g and 3600g are coming both are six core 12 threaded apus with navi igpu with the 3300g rumoured to be 100 pounds according to the leak from that singapore website and rough conversion.
emphy 18 Mar 2019
Colour me surprised. I know I promised not to comment on Atari any more, but this is too rich. They needed months to find out that, contrary to their claims at the time, ryzen thrashes the bristol ridge, even within the same power and thermal envelopes?

What's next, some research into whether a via c3 would not have been better?

It's also going to put them straight back at square one with development: no way in hell are they going to get it shipped in 2019.


Last edited by emphy on 18 Mar 2019 at 11:27 pm UTC
mylka 19 Mar 2019
still dont know who needs another console
do they have a exclusive titles?
WJMazepas 19 Mar 2019
I want to believe in this and on Smach Z. I want it to but boy, it's hard.
Purple Library Guy 19 Mar 2019
well the 3300g and 3600g are coming both are six core 12 threaded apus with navi igpu with the 3300g rumoured to be 100 pounds according to the leak from that singapore website and rough conversion.
100 pounds?! Surely that's way too heavy to put in something like this :P
lucinos 19 Mar 2019
My opinion from was that they had to use Ryzen, otherwise this would not had a chance. So now they are doing what I believed was the right thing. :P I still do not think this project takes too long but that it took so long for that decision is not exactly reassuring, neither they give at least some info that would show that they are really doing something real.


Last edited by lucinos on 19 Mar 2019 at 5:07 am UTC
elmapul 19 Mar 2019
an console is nothing without exclusives, nvidia shield is there to prove, an great concept but it only took of when they took the same hardware and made an partinership with nintendo to make the switch.

currently, the only exclusive that atari has is cut'n run
watch?v=z0qyUhb3VXI

but, if they really relase that thing, at least it will be better than what they promissed.
tonR 19 Mar 2019
I hope VCS really been launched or Linux especially Linux gaming will get bad reputation.

Seriously, I didn't want "Linux" word being synonymous as the word "scam". No thanks to lots of not-so-convincing crowdfunding program.
Ardje 19 Mar 2019
Nice, during the kickstarter I already had to many funds spend on the WIN2 (still needs a better cooling and better batteries), and the SMach Z. So maybe I can still step in and get a decent linux box.
Narvarth 19 Mar 2019
A paper by a specialist on this project (google translate it ;) )

The author of this blog is not a "specialist", but just a guy like you and me. There is litterally no information in this (old) article, just his opinion and assumptions.

He explains that Atari has been lying since the beginning of this project, and why the Atari VCS will never get a Ryzen. So funny when you read this news.
Ardje 19 Mar 2019
I hope VCS really been launched or Linux especially Linux gaming will get bad reputation.

Seriously, I didn't want "Linux" word being synonymous as the word "scam". No thanks to lots of not-so-convincing crowdfunding program.
Mostly due to crowds screaming Scam, or worse, crying wolf when there is a kitten.
There are a lot of fake crowdfundings, and it promises everything, and never starting anything. They are easily spotted though.
There are also a few crowdfunding programs that get severely damaged by the Scam crowd, a crowd of teenagers that needs to scream at everything that the leader of the herd says to scream at. Actually, this can be found not only at crowdfunding.
So, personally, I don't think it would hurt the Linux "brand", until the leader of the herd will point at Linux as a scam. And no point in telling that leader that 1/2 his household runs linux, because the herd only listens to the leader.
Actually, when you think about it, it's a very very interesting scientific study, mod/crowd psychology. Especially since the crowd is now connected by internet instead of being in a small space.
Sorry, psychology, how absurd it may sound, was my second interest after electronics (Computers were essentially non existent, as the one computer we had at school filled a small classroom). Electronics obviously has been largely replaced by computing, especially since it was obvious that I would never understand antennas, and computer science classes: I did that literally sleeping.
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