$250? Seems a bit steep for a nostalgia-box. Interest level wanes, significantly.

Looks very neat. Personally will purchase it if besides basic features and games (curious what it will be able to actually push out) it will be able to play various high resolution media.

cryohellinc:

Looks very neat. Personally will purchase it if besides basic features and games (curious what it will be able to actually push out) it will be able to play various high resolution media.

Yeah the games and features are what makes it interesting or not to me I have to admit. Still no real intel on that, or did I miss it?

fantaskarsef:

Yeah the games and features are what makes it interesting or not to me I have to admit. Still no real intel on that, or did I miss it?

Quote from Techcrunch - "The upcoming Ataribox retro gaming console will indeed ship with a selection of classic Atari games, as many suspected when the thing was initially announced – but it’ll also have a Linux OS on board and the ability to play games from other platforms, since it’s going to keep the “open” nature of the OS instead of trying to lock it down to Atari content only." "It’ll also have streaming, apps, social features, web browsing and music, meaning it should compete with devices like the Apple TV and the Shield TV from Nvidia in the set-top streaming world, too." Basically if I will be able to hook up this thing to my TV and besides all the features, for example install some side software on it (SVP as an example), and run high quality media by it, I will be sold on it.

Ahh, thanks for clarifying cryo

Looks very weak

I used to love my Atari, and i remember making new friends just so they could come in my house and play games like pacman and space invaders .

Atari Steam Machine.

Atari? Infogrames they mean.

kastriot:

They should stick to old games this is overkill so it will fail.

I'm inclined to agree. I think this would've been a better product if they: * Replace the CPU with an ARM based one. Even ARMv6 ought to be plenty powerful to emulate Atari games. If they went with a Cortex A9 or better, it could still be used for media purposes. * Support USB controllers, but also support the original Atari controllers (not sure if this already does so). * Composite and/or S-video connectors, in addition to HDMI (so it works on older TVs). * Drop the price by over $100.

So then is this going to run Steam games? The way they marketed it before, it sounded like it was going into the console race. Now that being said, The PS4 and Xbox One are basically the same at this point, and have a few different exclusive titles. But adding a third home console to the mix would just be silly at this point.

vbetts:

So then is this going to run Steam games? The way they marketed it before, it sounded like it was going into the console race.

In theory, yes, it should. Steam is available on Linux now, and there are a pretty decent amount of games available for Linux (including AAA titles, albeit, outdated ones). Linux's AMD drivers get noticeable improvements every month, so it ought to be a comfortable experience, at least as smooth as the hardware is capable of. It really comes down to how much the developers lock down this system. But in the event you can't install steam, you should be able to copy the Atari-specific binaries and just install your own distro. I'm sure this might be a bit more challenging if you can't change the boot drive, or, if the supplied storage is soldered to the motherboard.

0blivious:

$250? Seems a bit steep for a nostalgia-box. Interest level wanes, significantly.

Totally agree.

kastriot:

They should stick to old games this is overkill so it will fail.

Yep, looks like its heading down that path. :/

drac:

Totally agree. Yep, looks like its heading down that path. :/

1st of your quote is from person thinking that it will run just old games. And that $250 is too much for such limited feature. You happen to agree with statement based on false premise. 2nd quote thinks exact opposite and author knows that this is much more than emulator for old stuff. And he wants it to be just low end emulator without additional features at low cost. You again agree with that. Funny thing is that those quotes contradict each other. They only agree that they do not like it. So, you either lack logical ability or quoted those for their common misinformed negativity towards this. Maybe you can add following quote to improve on contradictions.

sunnyp_343:

Looks very weak

There are no known specifications except that it will have AMD's SoC. So statement like this is analogical to looking at volleyball and saying: "Looks very heavy."

Fox2232:

1st of your quote is from person thinking that it will run just old games. And that $250 is too much for such limited feature. You happen to agree with statement based on false premise. 2nd quote thinks exact opposite and author knows that this is much more than emulator for old stuff. And he wants it to be just low end emulator without additional features at low cost. You again agree with that. Funny thing is that those quotes contradict each other. They only agree that they do not like it. So, you either lack logical ability or quoted those for their common misinformed negativity towards this. Maybe you can add following quote to improve on contradictions. There are no known specifications except that it will have AMD's SoC. So statement like this is analogical to looking at volleyball and saying: "Looks very heavy."

You are over analysing and thinking way too hard about all this mate lol. How can you assume to know what someone means with a single fleeting (and very generalised) statement? (that it will only run old games). There is also the fact that the unit, even with those other features that you place such value on is still not worth what is being asked, media players, or TV box's are not expensive. "2nd quote thinks exact opposite and author knows that this is much more than emulator for old stuff. And he wants it to be just low end emulator without additional features at low cost. You again agree with that." Not really It just looks as if they are going to over complicate it with useless features and in turn spoil the product. People already have other devices to fill these roles, like other consoles or a TV with the feature built-in. Products and games trying to do too much and then losing sight of what made them successful and fun in the first place... this seems to be a trend lately. People don't want all this extra crap and as a direct result, old games are becoming more popular. Same goes for products, would you not prefer what you are buying to just do what it specialises in really well?

drac:

Same goes for products, would you not prefer what you are buying to just do what it specialises in really well?

It would seem preferable to these "does everything" units that can't do any of these things all that well. Just focus on your core mission and make that spectacular. This Atari is nearly as expensive as the other consoles with exactly zero incentive for anyone to buy it. Unless I missed some key feature. Some killer, exclusive title? Some ability that no other console has? This is just a Linux/Steam box with "Atari" slapped on it. Perhaps there's something I'm just not seeing.

This is really more of a nostalgia bait for people who grew up with atari rather than young people. Seems a bit steep though.