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.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Quoting: DuncI'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.If they change it now, I don't expect them to release this year.
Wait and see. As before.
The Smach Z team had to design the core board themselves due to rhomb.io.
They are at it since late 2017. They now have working small series which need another iteration to squash the defects that were emitted by some of the units.
So that's about 1.5 years from a total new design of a cpu board before the now expected delivery to the crowd funder.
And you are right, the main reason I did not fund the Atari at that time, was that it came with an old soc, while the Smach Z was announced with a new soc.
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Quoting: NarvarthQuoting: Geppeto35A 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.
it shall be funny and I will disavow when you will get this Atari on your hand, working as claimed...for the moment, the implied guys are pros for crowdfunding resulting in nothing (demonstrated with facts on their previous projects in those series of paper). Moreover, concerning the author, he is not "just a guy like you and me" but develops with real factories (...not communication agencies, see the difference?) small computers and related hardware solution for years (being before those years himself a specialized journalist on mini-computers and laptops in a high audience specialized journal). Yep, for sure "a guy like you" as you say (not me, you don't know my job dude). Thanks for your reasoned and factual return
But I understand that it can be disturbing I wanted to believe in this project also :(
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Quoting: Geppeto35it shall be funny and I will disavow when you will get this Atari on your hand, working as claimed...for the moment, the implied guys are pros for crowdfunding resulting in nothing (demonstrated with facts on their previous projects in those series of paper). Moreover, concerning the author, he is not "just a guy like you and me" but develops with real factories (...not communication agencies, see the difference?) small computers and related hardware solution for years (being before those years himself a specialized journalist on mini-computers and laptops in a high audience specialized journal). Yep, for sure "a guy like you" as you say (not me, you don't know my job dude). Thanks for your reasoned and factual return
But I understand that it can be disturbing I wanted to believe in this project also :(
This guy is not involved in the Atari project. So he has no more information than you and me.
Quoting: Geppeto35it shall be funny and I will disavow when you will get this Atari on your hand, working as claimed...
So what's the point of your link ? Obviously, this guy was wrong. Or does it mean that Atari is patently lying ?
If you assume that Atari is lying, and the VCS is a scam, you can absolutely say what you want. So again, what's the point ?
Quoting: Geppeto35Yep, for sure "a guy like you" as you say
Ho please, not with me. Just read his articles. Without more informations than anyone alse, this guy wrote one year ago that "The Atari VCS is just a bad Tvbox made in fake plastic, and you will just play asteroid with it".
Is that "journalism" ?
In addition to the Ryzen, he also denies the fact that the VCS will be able to run Linux games.
At least, he should now correct these obvisously wrong informations.
Skepticism is a good thing, but not bashing.
>But I understand that it can be disturbing I wanted to believe in this project also
Don't get me wrong, i'm not even a backer. But all this hate about this project is really disproportionate.
Last edited by Narvarth on 19 March 2019 at 10:12 am UTC
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Quoting: NarvarthSkepticism is a good thing, but not bashing.
Pierre Lecourt bashing ... yeah right obviously we frenchies have a very different way of performing bashing and voicing concerns than you dude ...
First off the article is tame compared to what other french outlets said , second of all it's mother effin' Pierre Lecourt if this guy calls you out you pipe down until you have something to show for to prove him wrong with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY ...
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Quoting: TheSyldatto prove him wrong with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY ...It's funny to write "Absolute certainty" here : Pierre should first prove he is "absolutely right". It's a beautiful - how do you say that in english ? - Reverse Onus ?
Anyway, obviously, he was wrong about many claims :
-The VCS is not just an android box
-It is not just a retro box (to "play asteroid and old atari titles")
-It can run Linux games (See the 7th update so he was also wrong about the number of available games (a big problem according to him).
-It will have a Ryzen APU.
But, of course, if your point is just "It's a scam, Atari is lying", you'll always be right. We can easily play this game : "maybe Atari will deliver a Raspberry pi with retroarch", and "maybe you will get a serving of cheese with baguette" (after all it's french now, and cheese is expensive, so you will get your money back...).
Last edited by Narvarth on 19 March 2019 at 10:58 am UTC
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Quoting: NarvarthCongratulations that amount of bad faith on your part is so big that you just landed yourself on the mute list ...Quoting: TheSyldatto prove him wrong with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY ...It's funny to write "Absolute certainty" here : Pierre should first prove he is "absolutely right". It's a beautiful - how do you say that in english ? - Reverse Onus ?
Anyway, obviously, he was wrong about many claims :
-The VCS is not just an android box
-It is not just a retro box (to "play asteroid and old atari titles")
-It can run Linux games (See the 7th update so he was also wrong about the number of available games (a big problem according to him).
-It will have a Ryzen APU.
But, of course, if your point is just "It's a scam, Atari is lying", you'll always be right. We can easily play this game : "maybe Atari will deliver a Raspberry pi with retroarch", and "maybe you will get a serving of cheese with baguette" (after all it's french now, and cheese is expensive, so you will get your money back...).
Especially given that the article by Pierre Lecourt that was linked didn't say any of the above
I dunno what article you're referring to but you're obviously not talking about the one originally provided ...
So as with any bad faith mofos of your ilk on the mute list you go .
Last edited by TheSyldat on 19 March 2019 at 2:35 pm UTC
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Quoting: Narvarth...
You seem to be keen to defend this project, which is probably laudable.
In the meantime, this VCS Atari does not exist and the list of things you write are only ads for the moment, not real. We are only discussing communication, which is "our" point. Moreover, their communication plays on two bankable teats that cannot defend against such image grabbing: nostalgia and geek/linuxian desire for such an emblematic flagship machine.
When the console will be there, people like me at worst will be silent, at best will take their hat off.
Personally, my only fear is that this kind of project will add one argument more to Linux detractors against our OS as suitable for gaming, which should affect us all at GOL
New paper on the VCS Atari (with facts ;) ) ... why we should fear this project
the translated paper
Last edited by Geppeto35 on 19 March 2019 at 3:40 pm UTC
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Quoting: TheSyldatI dunno what article you're referring to but you're obviously not talking about the one originally provided ...
You will find these quotes in 3 different articles (+comments) : first, second, and third (the article mentionned above).
Quote1) Si vous finissez par ne recevoir qu’une TVBox bas de gamme sous SoC ARM et pilotée par un android 4.0 avec 30 jeux mal implantés, Atari aura rempli sa mission. Et il ne vous restera que vos yeux pour pleurer.
La petite console [ouya] promettait grosso modo la même chose que la VCS
2) On peut donc s’attendre à une belle fluidité de jeu sur la VCS. Simplement on jouera à Asteroid. [...] Mais qui va regarder une partie de Missile Command ?
3) Encore une fois, [la disponibilite de jeux Linux] est totalement hypothétique. [...] Quel contenu ? On ne sait pas non plus. On va vous demander de faire confiance.
4) A moins que cela ne soit qu’une excuse à posteriori pour justifier les choix faits non pas par la marque mais par son partenaire Flextronics qui va concevoir la machine. La seule personne qui aurait pu avoir un réel impact sur le matériel, c’est Feargal Mac Conuladh.
Quant à la puce embarquée, je ne vois pas pourquoi le nouveau responsable hardware de la VCS confirmerait une puce Bristol Ridge si il compte installer autre chose. Le financement participatif est terminé, il n’y a plus de raison de faire de cadeaux.
So please, read these articles...
Rough translation in english :
Quote1) If you end up receiving only a low-end TVBox under SoC ARM and driven by an android 4.0 with 30 poorly implemented games, Atari will have fulfilled its mission. And all you'll have left is your eyes to cry.
The small console [ouya] promised roughly the same thing as the VCS
2) We can therefore expect a good fluidity of game on the VCS. We'll just play Asteroid. You can stream on Twitch, but who's going to watch a game of Missile Command?
3) Again,[the availability of Linux games] is totally hypothetical. [...] What content? We don't know either. We're going to ask you to trust us.
4) [about the Bristol ridge choice] Unless it is only an excuse in retrospect to justify the choices made not by the brand, but by its partner Flextronics who will design the machine. The only person who could have had a real impact on the equipment was Feargal Mac Conuladh. As for the embedded chip, I don't see why the new VCS hardware manager would confirm a Bristol Ridge chip if he plans to install anything else. Participatory funding is over, there is no longer any reason to give gifts.
And yet, i cannot quote everything...
Last edited by Narvarth on 19 March 2019 at 3:31 pm UTC
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Quoting: Geppeto35ly fear is that this kind of project will add one argument more to Linux detractors against our OS as suitable for gaming, which should affect us all at GOLThis also fucking this .
This entire Atari box affair has been announced way to early is poorly handled , surfs on the popularity of crowdfunding systems right now and although they seem to be painstainkingly taking good design decisions at long last ... Well as just said "AT LONG LAST" took them a fucking while to start having a somewhat sensical and sensible communication.
And again as far as we can judge so far it's just in prototyping phases ...
Even the Dragon Pyra is further along in its developement ...
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slaapliedje Mar 19, 2019
Quoting: ArdjeQuoting: DuncI'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.If they change it now, I don't expect them to release this year.
Wait and see. As before.
The Smach Z team had to design the core board themselves due to rhomb.io.
They are at it since late 2017. They now have working small series which need another iteration to squash the defects that were emitted by some of the units.
So that's about 1.5 years from a total new design of a cpu board before the now expected delivery to the crowd funder.
And you are right, the main reason I did not fund the Atari at that time, was that it came with an old soc, while the Smach Z was announced with a new soc.
The difference here is it's pretty much a standard board in a small case (at least that's what the original looked like). They may have to move some things around to make it fit right for them, but that's easy enough to do. Thermals aren't going to be as tight as they would be in a hand held.
They at least make it sound like AMD is helping them out with some of that anyhow, and from what others have said, the thermals on the original board weren't going to work out, but the newer one should do better with heat/throttling.
We do need to remember that this is not really Atari, but just some French company that bought the name many years ago. Then went bankrupt, and had to auction off IP to get back to business. Too bad Battlezone is no longer owned by them, we could have gotten the new version on Linux. It's fun by the way, especially in VR.
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