Pre-production is still ongoing for the Linux-powered Atari VCS, with the team giving a fresh update on how it's doing. So far, it seems like it's actually progressing well.
After showing it off during the recent CES trade show, they went back to their manufacturer to continue the preparation and run a fresh pre-production run of Atari VCS development units. A shot of which you can see below (click to enlarge):
They did this new test run of Atari VCS units to include various improvements discovered during their validation phase, some of which was mentioned in a blog post in January we missed which includes "streamlined and simplified electronics", "a beneficial reduction of physical parts" and a lot of testing on the cooling systems. According to the post, these new and improved units are "already in the hands of content developers" and more are shipping out this week.
We also now have a much better look at their official Dashboard UI:
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Apart from the really dumb password system (that even a young child could easily copy…), it's actually looking pretty slick. I'm genuinely surprised that it all seems to be coming together after all the delays. Dare I say it? I'm getting a little hopeful about the Atari VCS now.
You can see their full post here.
Just as a reminder, they did previously confirm that pretty standard Linux games will work on it. As well as it having the ability to load any other operating system (like a standard install of Linux), which could make it a rather versatile and handy little box.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Perkeleen_Vittupää 5 Feb 2020
I suppose they could market it as a retro gamers delight or something similar.
2 Likes, Who?
Integrated Netflix app! -> Nice!
Preinstalled Chromium Browser! -> Stadia support out of the box!
Could be an ideal box for the living room. :)
Preinstalled Chromium Browser! -> Stadia support out of the box!
Could be an ideal box for the living room. :)
4 Likes, Who?
My feelings about this thing have been up and down like a rollercoaster - sceptical, hopeful, sceptical again - but I have to say... they've done a pretty good job of that. I'm impressed.
I mean, not stunned - it just looks like another console. But it does look like a proper console, not a hacked-together, underpowered, pile of random parts that don't quite work together. Maybe they might just pull this off...
I mean, not stunned - it just looks like another console. But it does look like a proper console, not a hacked-together, underpowered, pile of random parts that don't quite work together. Maybe they might just pull this off...
3 Likes, Who?
I suppose they could market it as a retro gamers delight or something similar.It would need to cost less than pi though to do that
0 Likes
It's beginning to look like a real product - that's pretty exciting! Can anyone remember what this is supposed to cost?
And yeah, the "password" screen is murder. Hopefully they come up with a proper button/trigger-based password system instead. And hopefully it's optional anyway, or does something similar to PS4 where the password is only necessary for purchases.
Showing potential though. Great stuff!
And yeah, the "password" screen is murder. Hopefully they come up with a proper button/trigger-based password system instead. And hopefully it's optional anyway, or does something similar to PS4 where the password is only necessary for purchases.
Showing potential though. Great stuff!
0 Likes
It's beginning to look like a real product - that's pretty exciting! Can anyone remember what this is supposed to cost?
And yeah, the "password" screen is murder. Hopefully they come up with a proper button/trigger-based password system instead. And hopefully it's optional anyway, or does something similar to PS4 where the password is only necessary for purchases.
Showing potential though. Great stuff!
I was curious, too. $400!
Kind of hard to decide if I would pay that or not. I really like that it is running an X86 APU, so all existing Linux and Proton games should theoretically run on it. It's just a PC you use in the living room.
Add a Steam controller (Doh!) for games that require mouse input, and you can couch-play all day! That's my favorite place to play.
1 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje 5 Feb 2020
Someone was thinking that this was running Windows 10. I'm not seeing anything myself that shows as much. Did notice they have Disney+ on it too.
0 Likes
TheRiddick 5 Feb 2020
too many dumb and slow animations imho...
Yeah they should only show them once and maybe prompt to speed them up a bit. A 50-70% speedup would probably make them tolerable while still being able to see them. (The dash is running in a maximized windowed. )
I doubt these sell well here in Australia, we have import tax and poor exchange rate atm. People rather use their money on next gen console.
If these were $200AUD, I'd get one, but by the time they get here it will certainly be $400aud or more. Next gen consoles will maybe be $600aud (market price capped by Sony and MS) since they NEED people to get the consoles more then they need to make a large profit on the hardware.
Last edited by TheRiddick on 5 Feb 2020 at 11:57 pm UTC
0 Likes
its just me or the image of the atari logo apear on the screen before he press the power button.
password... sigh
and on screen password...
sigh.
also, its just me or the first game its not on fullscreen...
netflix with an cursor, <facepalm> that is not how you make an ui, that reminds me of zelda cd-i
also, whats that notification on the top right...
password... sigh
and on screen password...
sigh.
also, its just me or the first game its not on fullscreen...
netflix with an cursor, <facepalm> that is not how you make an ui, that reminds me of zelda cd-i
also, whats that notification on the top right...
1 Likes, Who?
TheRiddick 6 Feb 2020
Probably not in fullscreen because its in development stage, they haven't flipped the switch yet.
0 Likes
ElectricPrism 6 Feb 2020
I'm still not convinced this is anything more than vaporware after their history. However maybe they finally got so much investment they have pulled off a legitimate situation after years of crookery.
I see a background color change at 0:40 which could indicate video splicing. Anyways, I have to be pessimistic on this one but given the history it's hard not to until the bitter end. After that I'm happy to change my mind if/when products are in real consumer's hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qho51UscRU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA0oogA5ydY
Last edited by ElectricPrism on 6 Feb 2020 at 6:24 am UTC
I see a background color change at 0:40 which could indicate video splicing. Anyways, I have to be pessimistic on this one but given the history it's hard not to until the bitter end. After that I'm happy to change my mind if/when products are in real consumer's hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qho51UscRU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA0oogA5ydY
Last edited by ElectricPrism on 6 Feb 2020 at 6:24 am UTC
0 Likes
TheRiddick 6 Feb 2020
I'm sure its not vaporware, I just don't know how much better its going to be then the Ouya thing.
0 Likes
Mohandevir 6 Feb 2020
I always found the concept interresting, but at this price tag and in it's current state, it's not enough.
Let's wait and see if developers jump into the fray... Didn't they mentionned new IP exclusives too, at some point? It might have some impact, if they deliver an Atari "Breath of Wild" impact IP... I'm not putting too much faith in that though.
Last edited by Mohandevir on 6 Feb 2020 at 2:18 pm UTC
...these new and improved units are "already in the hands of content developers"
Let's wait and see if developers jump into the fray... Didn't they mentionned new IP exclusives too, at some point? It might have some impact, if they deliver an Atari "Breath of Wild" impact IP... I'm not putting too much faith in that though.
Last edited by Mohandevir on 6 Feb 2020 at 2:18 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
corona virus gave then the perfect excuse to abort the project
non listed and comments disabled...
https://youtu.be/v1wHGgt5BbI
i just downloaded the video and saw frame by frame, there is doubt, it takes almost one second from the logo apearing on screen to the guy pressing the power button.
there is no doubt, its fake.
also, the app that he uses to play metal slug is an streaming app.
Last edited by elmapul on 6 Feb 2020 at 6:51 pm UTC
non listed and comments disabled...
https://youtu.be/v1wHGgt5BbI
i just downloaded the video and saw frame by frame, there is doubt, it takes almost one second from the logo apearing on screen to the guy pressing the power button.
there is no doubt, its fake.
also, the app that he uses to play metal slug is an streaming app.
Last edited by elmapul on 6 Feb 2020 at 6:51 pm UTC
0 Likes
ElectricPrism 6 Feb 2020
corona virus gave then the perfect excuse to abort the project
non listed and comments disabled...
https://youtu.be/v1wHGgt5BbI
i just downloaded the video and saw frame by frame, there is doubt, it takes almost one second from the logo apearing on screen to the guy pressing the power button.
there is no doubt, its fake.
also, the app that he uses to play metal slug is an streaming app.
That's really fishy that the frame-time is exactly 1 second on power up, and the lighting blip at 0:40 makes me =\ too. I too noticed the Windowed Application.
I also feel like the video capture point is fishy because it's so close you can't see everything going on with the controller.
There are just elements that feel "weird" like "Why is there a notification box with a little [x] icon "Restore Game" @ 3:13 that looks like a Computer Desktop style notification when this is clearly a Controller-only machine.
And Disney+ App ??? Well okay I guess it is theoretically possible after they added Linux support over Chromium or whatever IIUC Chromium.
It's been pointed out the # of people who bought it is about 10,000 so that means a game can only sell max 10,000 copies on this thing if they launched today -- what dev is going to make a game with only 10,000 potential customers. Linux itself has at least 855,000 -- more than 85,500% as many gamers and people still complain royal about it "not being enough of a userbase".
I would be interested to see what a hardware engineer says about the screenshots of the "fabrication" boards that have recently come out to see if there is anything odd about the interior of the device as depicted since this "Atari [by-name]" company has been known to be sneaky/deceitfulbefore about this kind of thing.
0 Likes
Integrated Netflix app! -> Nice!
Preinstalled Chromium Browser! -> Stadia support out of the box!
Could be an ideal box for the living room. :)
It is NOT Netflix application. It is browser in full screen with Netflix website displayed. Probably the same situation is with other "applications" like Disney+.
Mouse emulation on gamepad - not very ergonomic, but it will work quite well to start movie. But what about fast forward/backward? Using mouse emulation - it will be horrible without some kind of "intelligent" change gamepad button mapping...
Netflix in browser means that quality of picture will not be good - 720p max. Officially only Microsoft browsers are allowed to play in 1080p/4K quality. There is external addon to enable 1080p in Firefox, but from legal point of view it is "hack" so definitely it cannot be integrated in commercial product like Atari VCS.
0 Likes
Netflix in browser means that quality of picture will not be good - 720p max. Officially only Microsoft browsers are allowed to play in 1080p/4K quality. There is external addon to enable 1080p in Firefox, but from legal point of view it is "hack" so definitely it cannot be integrated in commercial product like Atari VCS.Really?! Son of a bitch. And our legal system just lets that be the case.
0 Likes
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