Atari Opens Pre-Orders For Retro 'VCS' Console

[Guest]

Atari opened pre-orders for its Atari VCS console on Indiegogo, and the response has been overwhelming, to put it mildly.

Atari Opens Pre-Orders For Retro 'VCS' Console : Read more

 

[10tacle]

About 20 years ago my mother sold my childhood Atari 2600 and NES consoles and dozens of cartridge games for them in a garage sale. To say I was pissed at her considering she didn't even ask me if I wanted them would be an understatement. Ever since, when I moved out and started earning my own living, I have kept every generation console and game collection owned since (Sega Genesis, N64, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4..........).

In any event I'm glad to see retro gaming coming back. I have noticed that children don't so much care about all the latest eye candy graphics as they do the general fun gameplay. Perhaps no better example of that is the extreme mind blowing popularity of the blocky 1980s-era graphics of Minecraft. What I wonder about though is if these retro developers/publishers have made the retro games for today's 16:9 format wide screen HDTVs vs. the old 4:3 ratio of the tube TVs the older consoles were originally programmed to use in native resolution format.

 

[captaincharisma]

does anyone know what company owns the atari name these days? lol

 

[10tacle]

^^LOL Atari has been through more owners than Warren Beatty.

 

[drgruney]

What do you mean Atari's last console came in the 80s? The Jaguar was released in 1993.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Not putting a penny down for this vaporware till the boxes show up in stores. No thanks.

 

[cryoburner]

1980s-era graphics of Minecraft

I wouldn't describe Minecraft as having "1980s-era graphics". This is what cutting edge 3D graphics looked like in 1989...

https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/indianapolis-500-the-simulation/screenshots/gameShotId,112/

Minecraft looks more like a mid-90s game than an 80s game in terms of visual fidelity. Of course, it allows for way more polygons on screen than you would see in any game from even that time period.

 

[10tacle]

I wouldn't describe Minecraft as having "1980s-era graphics". This is what cutting edge 3D graphics looked like in 1989...

https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/indianapolis-500-the-simulation/screenshots/gameShotId,112/

Minecraft looks more like a mid-90s game than an 80s game in terms of visual fidelity. Of course, it allows for way more polygons on screen than you would see in any game from even that time period.

What I meant by that comment was about the simple blocky 90-degree angle graphics like living in a world of Lego or something compared to the extreme realistic polygon and lighting complexity of modern game graphics. My point was that today's kids find gameplay more fun than pure eye candy. I find that a good thing to stimulate the mind.

 

[helfer.pesche]

I wouldn't describe Minecraft as having "1980s-era graphics". This is what cutting edge 3D graphics looked like in 1989...

https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/indianapolis-500-the-simulation/screenshots/gameShotId,112/

Minecraft looks more like a mid-90s game than an 80s game in terms of visual fidelity. Of course, it allows for way more polygons on screen than you would see in any game from even that time period.

What I meant by that comment was about the simple blocky 90-degree angle graphics like living in a world of Lego or something compared to the extreme realistic polygon and lighting complexity of modern game graphics. My point was that today's kids find gameplay more fun than pure eye candy. I find that a good thing to stimulate the mind.

Was it ever any different? If I can choose between a great looking game with poor gameplay and a simple looking game with great gameplay I still choose the latter. Can't talk for everyone, though.

 

[dabeargrowls]

If they would only release it with paddles then I would jump on it. Anyone remember the game where you catch chicken eggs (or some bird) and it dances when you get egged? My mom loved that one. I want to hook her up with it again.

 

[cryoburner]

If they would only release it with paddles then I would jump on it. Anyone remember the game where you catch chicken eggs (or some bird) and it dances when you get egged? My mom loved that one. I want to hook her up with it again.

I wasn't actually familiar with that one before, but a search tells me it might be Eggomania...

https://www.mobygames.com/game/atari-2600/eggomania

 

[bit_user]

The launch timeframe on this is pretty disappointing. This should be hitting in July 2018.

BTW, $200 is a steal for an AMD APU-based mini-PC w/ RAM and storage - even if graphics are just Vega 8. That's really what this is and how it should be seen.

Current RAM prices might mean it's limited to 4 GB ... or maybe that's why they're delaying 1 year.

 

[dzunja]

That thing is going to overheat like crazy. I know, I have regretted buying Ryzen 2200G. Diode reads over 70C on both CPU and GPU after just few seconds of load. At 80C the thing throttles, at 90C+ it will crash. And that's with AMD included cooler, which is decent. IHS is probably just terrible.

 

[bit_user]

That thing is going to overheat like crazy.

This is obviously going to use a <= 35 W chip.

I know, I have regretted buying Ryzen 2200G. Diode reads over 70C on both CPU and GPU after just few seconds of load. At 80C the thing throttles, at 90C+ it will crash. And that's with AMD included cooler, which is decent. IHS is probably just terrible.

How do your temps compare with others'? I don't know if this is normal, but maybe there's something wrong with your CPU, or the heatsink isn't seated correctly? I don't recall seeing those kinds of temps in the launch reviews.

 

[dzunja]

That thing is going to overheat like crazy.

This is obviously going to use a <= 35 W chip.

I know, I have regretted buying Ryzen 2200G. Diode reads over 70C on both CPU and GPU after just few seconds of load. At 80C the thing throttles, at 90C+ it will crash. And that's with AMD included cooler, which is decent. IHS is probably just terrible.

How do your temps compare with others'? I don't know if this is normal, but maybe there's something wrong with your CPU, or the heatsink isn't seated correctly? I don't recall seeing those kinds of temps in the launch reviews.

There is no mobile Bristol Ridge APU yet.
As for temps, people read default regular sensor temps, which look fine. They are within 50~60C range on load like 3DMark or Uniengine Valley. But if you read GPU and CPU diode temps as well, they are 25C over that. There are articles that also confirm this. IHS is really bad. You start noticing that something is wrong when you see CPU throttling. Then you pay attention to Diode temps read out and see that the actual 80C threshold has been reached although your regular CPU Temps sensor says ~60C.

Also, you cannot seat the cooler "badly". It comes with a backplate and screws that will only go as much as they need to.

edit: From tech spot review:
"Whereas the Wraith Stealth was pushing into the high 80s with just the GPU overclocked, the Gammaxx 200T setup never saw temps rise above 55 degrees, which remarkable. Please note I maintained an ambient room temperature of 21 degrees."

So, better cooler helps, a lot. Still, at default clock speeds with stock cooler, something is not right. The stock cooler doesn't look that bad at all and the only way to prevent overheating on my machine was to set it to max fan speed at 50C (since it reads cpu package temp, not diode on my mobo). It's not very loud at those 1480rpm. And thankfully, that PC is just for office-like work.

 

[Rogue Leader]

There is no mobile Bristol Ridge APU yet.

I think you mean Raven Ridge and yes there is and has been for a while. I have one in my laptop, the Ryzen 5 2500U, there is also the Ryzen 7 2700U. Bristol Ridge is the old architecture but on AM4, those were out last year and will be obsolete shortly.

 

[bloodroses]

If they would only release it with paddles then I would jump on it. Anyone remember the game where you catch chicken eggs (or some bird) and it dances when you get egged? My mom loved that one. I want to hook her up with it again.

From what I had read, the 'classic' joystick has the ability to rotate the stick, so it could act similar to the traditional paddles. I haven't seen 100% confirmation on that though.

 

[linford585]

Their choice of CPU/GPU is interesting to me... According to their Indiegogo campaign, they're using an A10 Bristol Ridge chip. Those chips use Excavator/Volcanic Islands... That CPU architecture debuted in 2011, and GPU architecture in 2014, and this product isn't even launching until 2019. I know Bristol Ridge is more advanced than the 2011/2014 products, but A10 itself still launched in 2016, which will be 3 years old by the time this launches.

I'm aware that this "not-a-console console" isn't meant to be a powerhouse, nor does it need to be... But choosing Bristol Ridge over something similar to Raven Ridge for a 2019 launch? Sounds to me like they cut quite the deal with AMD to manufacture some old cheap parts, and that they're looking to grab very very high margins on this product.

Add in the severe lack of game play shown so far, and this is really starting to look like a nostalgia cash grab gimmick. I really do hope that I'm wrong, though...