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Here we go again, how many delays have we seen now? This time the Atari VCS team are saying that it's so popular they don't have enough components.

Reminder: the Atari VCS is a modern-retro hybrid console, that runs a Linux OS and it can have any other operating system of your choice boot up on it. Originally crowdfunded on IndieGoGo in 2018 with multiple millions, it's relying on some pretty heavy nostalgia.

In a fresh Medium blog post, the team mentioned that they're now looking at full retail production in January 2021. Instead of late October for the first lot of deliveries for backers, they've also now pushed that back further into mid-November. They said two issues have caused part of this which is a "critical" and "very scarce component" needed for the Classic Joystick along with "a specific part" needed for their AMD Ryzen CPU that they appear to be looking around to find more sources for. The January 2021 date still might not be hit, as they say they're "assuming" what they need arrives in time and in the full quantity they need.

On a separate IndieGoGo backer update, because they decided to split the info between two places because they're still terrible at communication, they gave this updated overall plan of what's going on:

  • All Atari VCS units and Modern Controllers earmarked to fill backer orders are either in the US warehouse or will be before the end of the month.
  • After being delayed due to a late-arriving part, all Classic Joysticks for backers are now scheduled to start departing the factory on 11/5/2020.
  • To mitigate this additional delay, Atari has now arranged to import the joysticks from China via air freight, rather than by traditional trans-ocean shipping. This will significantly reduce the travel time from the typical 6+ weeks, down to 10-14 days.
  • Based on this revised schedule, and barring any unusual customs delays (we’ve already experienced a couple), we expect to have all merchandise on hand in the US warehouse and ready to ship to backers starting as soon as the week of November 16th.
  • Orders will go out via standard shipping in roughly the order that they were made. Product serial numbers will not follow any specific order sequence. This includes both domestic and international orders. 
  • We do not yet know the pace or daily outbound capacity of the fulfilment center and will share any info we can when it becomes available.

One of the bigger problems is that they've still confirmed very little in the way of games. They're getting the Plex media player along with two other minor streaming services and they teamed up with Game Jolt. We also know they're going to put on the Atari Vault classic collection but they've not shared much else which is worrying. They're also going to be messing around with an Atari Token crypto currency too, as if things weren't weird enough.

You can see more on the Atari VCS site

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Perkeleen_Vittupää Oct 30, 2020
Quotethe Atari VCS team are saying that it's so popular they don't have enough components.

Great if true, but but but .....

I hope this project won't end up being a show of shit, and then if media link Linux' name to it. Would be not-so-good now that Linux gaming is getting more hold on people.
robvv Oct 30, 2020
11/5/2020? They're late then ;-)

More seriously, who is actually going to buy this? It's been so late that I would imagine backers or interested parties would simply be looking elsewhere for their nostalgia fix. The demo was back in February and we haven't seen much since.
dubigrasu Oct 30, 2020
I would buy it for sure, it looks nice (at least in the pictures) is running Linux and seems overall a cool piece of hardware...but all this flies out of the windows when I look at the price.
slaapliedje Oct 30, 2020
Quoting: dubigrasuI would buy it for sure, it looks nice (at least in the pictures) is running Linux and seems overall a cool piece of hardware...but all this flies out of the windows when I look at the price.

I'll write a review if I ever get mine. Maybe I'll make a comparison to my 800xl :P
Purple Library Guy Oct 30, 2020
Thinking of nostalgia, the saga of this has been so long that I feel nostalgic about it even though it's not out yet.
Maath Oct 30, 2020
I purchased an Udoo Bolt Gear. That plus an M.2 SSD and RAM cost $420 if I remember correctly. I installed Kodi, but I use it to launch into Steam big picture mode mostly. It works quite well. There's some difficulty in getting games to work with a controller if they're designed for keyboard and mouse, but that's a general problem.

I think for any games that don't run well I can just use Steam Link from my main desktop.
slaapliedje Oct 30, 2020
Quoting: MaathI purchased an Udoo Bolt Gear. That plus an M.2 SSD and RAM cost $420 if I remember correctly. I installed Kodi, but I use it to launch into Steam big picture mode mostly. It works quite well. There's some difficulty in getting games to work with a controller if they're designed for keyboard and mouse, but that's a general problem.

I think for any games that don't run well I can just use Steam Link from my main desktop.
I have been looking at one of those Ryzen mini-PCs. That'd be sweet to throw GamerOS onto...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfS05JIARG4
Slackdog Oct 30, 2020
Quoting: slaapliedje
Quoting: dubigrasuI would buy it for sure, it looks nice (at least in the pictures) is running Linux and seems overall a cool piece of hardware...but all this flies out of the windows when I look at the price.

I'll write a review if I ever get mine. Maybe I'll make a comparison to my 800xl :P

Heh I've not dug out my 800XL for a while - maybe this is the weekend for it! I'd love of those units just for novelty of having a new Atari - but not at that price!
slaapliedje Oct 30, 2020
Quoting: Slackdog
Quoting: slaapliedje
Quoting: dubigrasuI would buy it for sure, it looks nice (at least in the pictures) is running Linux and seems overall a cool piece of hardware...but all this flies out of the windows when I look at the price.

I'll write a review if I ever get mine. Maybe I'll make a comparison to my 800xl :P

Heh I've not dug out my 800XL for a while - maybe this is the weekend for it! I'd love of those units just for novelty of having a new Atari - but not at that price!
Get a FujiNet,those things are AWESOME!
https://thebrewingacademy.com/products/fujinet-a-swiss-army-knife-for-your-atari
slaapliedje Oct 31, 2020
Atari VCS (202x) can Stream games!
Atari 8bit (1978) w/ FujiNet can also stream games!

8bit has a cartridge port and SIO port for adding peripherals.
VCS only has USB ports, and network. Lacks cartridge port or even optical drive.

8bit you can own your games! Like really own them, not licensed.
VCS as far as we know only 'officially' has streaming services where you don't actually own anything beyond the hardware.

8bit has a keyboard (arguably the 400s keyboard is terrible).
VCS could add one via USB.

8bit has shitloads of games and software!
VCS is an unknown at this time (though potentially a lot out of the box)

So far, I am thinking the Atari 8bit line of computers wins. :p


Last edited by slaapliedje on 31 October 2020 at 3:39 pm UTC
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