Tag: Atari VCS

Old Tommy Interview Ages Poorly (And It's Not JDF!)

Source: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/interviews/intellivision-amico/

Came across this old interview that Tommy Tallarico did when he was still the head of Intellivision. Naturally, he was talking about the Amico and bringing up points about family and such. One thing I noticed he did was slag on Stadia and Atari. With Stadia, he brought up that Google had a multi-million dollar campaign that failed to get people interested in Stadia… of course, it should be mentioned that Stadia was a largely worthless piece of shit, but we’ll let that slide.
He also brought Atari’s various attempts to bring Ataribox to life, calling out their stumbling efforts at crowdfunding and pointing out that Amico has more pre-orders than Ataribox. I’ll admit that Ataribox got off to a rough start and we all mocked the thing as it kept getting delayed and news about people leaving the project got out. But here’s the thing; Ataribox did eventually make its way into the hands of those who ordered the thing. It may not be the new hot thing on store shelves, but there are videos of people actually in possession of the machine and have showcased the machine to be fully functional PC boxes.
Amico, on the other hand? All that’s come out is an unboxing video to show that it exists and talks that it might not even see the light of day because Intellivision doesn’t have any money and could be on the verge of bankruptcy. It seems almost humorous that years ago, everyone thought Atari was the big joke and Amico was going to be the more likely to materialize.
Not trying to rail on Tommy or anything; I just find it funny that he would bring up shit about Atari and Stadia and yet both products are out on the market while Amico’s future is uncertain. Hopefully, things turn around for them and they’ll get Amico out sooner or later.

Ataribox Delayed Again… This Time Due To Coronavirus

Source: https://us.blastingnews.com/gaming/2020/02/atari-vcs-console-delayed-yet-again-due-to-coronavirus-outbreak-003063581.html

Anyone remember Ataribox? Of course, you don’t, but here’s the latest update for those who care.

IndieGoGo backers who contributed close to three million dollars to the Ataribox crowdfunding campaign and hoping to receive their brand spanking new systems next month after several delays… will have to wait a little longer since the release has been delayed again. This time due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak that has claimed over 1000 lives to date and it’ll be a while before the production plants will resume operations.

This is not the sort of thing you’d like to make a joke around; clearly, this latest delay in a series of them is out of the hands of Atari. It’s nature at work in this regard. But if the Coronavirus is a legit reason for the delay and not just a cover story for a delay that was going to happen anywhere – because I’m sure some folks will feel that – but I will give Atari the benefit of the doubt and assume the delay is nature’s fault.

So, hopefully, once everything is settled, Atari can get to release the console that they sold to people… and hopefully not delay the thing again because they need to defer money to their hotel business.

Think I’m joking? Boom.
https://hoteltechnologynews.com/2020/02/in-launching-its-first-hotels-featuring-immersive-virtual-reality-experiences-atari-isnt-playing-games/

An UK Publication Reminds You That Ataribox Is A Thing

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/gaming/1074577/PS4-Xbox-One-Nintendo-Switch-new-console-Atari-VCS

I’m confounded by the lack of news regarding Ataribox. Isn’t it supposed to be out a few months?

Speaking of Atari, I’ve played my Atari 7800 for the first time in a long while. First game I fired up was Enduro. Good times.

And yes, there will be Atari reviews… they need love, too.

From The Archives – Ataribox Ramble Script… Or Some Of It.

Note: The following is a partial write-up for a DTM Rambles that I was going to do on the Ataribox campaign. For some reason, that video never came to be and everything has been quiet on the Ataribox front, so I figure… “Fuck it. Just put what I have up here and be done with it.”

Maybe if something comes of this Ataribox project that’s worth talking about, I might revisit it. For now, I offer a sample of what could’ve been… or never was… or something.

Continue reading “From The Archives – Ataribox Ramble Script… Or Some Of It.”

Gameband Officially Cancelled…

Pretend that Steve Austin is the Gameband people and that Vinny Mac is the suckers who gave them money.

Source: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Atari-Gameband-officially-cancelled-Kickstarter-backers-may-not-receive-refund.366656.0.html

More source: https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/gameband-killed-off-1203030711/?fbclid=IwAR32FzSZcbDNH8Cr3_HjmD5SaWuaJcsJNEzVYt-zwnmzhc_gUzEjboOF3I8

So, once upon a time, there was a thing called Atari Gameband that was kickstarted because people are stupid. A gaming watch? Sure, I’ll go with that. Somewhere along the way, Gameband lost its Atari branding because even the clueless putz running today’s shell of the former company had the sense to get away from that nonsense and focus on their Linux machine disguised as a video game system. Now Gameband is officially cancelled and all those suckers who donated money might not even get a refund.

You poor, deluded fools.

All failed mocking aside, I feel bad for the folks who donated money to this thing… well, almost. And it only serves to reinforce why I have a hard time putting my faith (and dollars) into these crowdfunding bits unless the people holding it have something of a track record behind them. I’ve contributed to a couple of these things and can say that I’m satisfied with what I’ve got… but only because they’ve delivered goods in the past and proven trustworthy as a result.

Atari started a Kickstarter for their gamewatch thing and then bailed on the people making it. And despite their so-called runaway success with Ataribox’s campaign, nigh a word was mentioned since then beyond a couple signings here and there. And then there was attempt to get investors to send them money so they can release a mobile version of Roller Coaster Tycoon onto Switch despite the mobile versions being reviewed poorly. Not quite a track record worthy of forking over money.

A shame, really. That would’ve been a neat gimmick for people to presumably mock and not actually buy.