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Atari Announces an Official Portable 2600 System
Bill Kendrick writes: "Infogrames (the folks who now own Atari) have just struck a deal with another company to produce a 10-in-1 video game system based on the Atari 2600. It'll be joystick-shaped, plug into a TV set, cost only $20, and include games like Combat, Asteroids, Missile Command, and my favorite, Adventure! It won't replace my Atari 2600 Jr and 60 cartridges, but it's a step in the right direction!"
Now if only I could get games for my lynx :)
I know I'm going to hell, I'm just trying to get good seats.
I mean, imagine having a joystick-like thing in your pocket, walking to a friends house down the street?
Think nothing is impossible? Try slamming a revolving door.
It's amazing how Atari are constantly heard to resurrect itself only to push out the same games again and again, only to surprise itself when it doesn't pay off profitably... even in this instance, cheap many-in-one tv classic games systems have been sold so it's not even first with this strategy...
Sony reacted to the new product as expected. Effective Friday, the price on all PS2's will be dropped to $19.95....
10 games and a console for $20 !
think about getting richer !
it's the same with MAME or P2P to get
records from the 80's : my purchasing power
has increased by millions, well beyond
my wildest dreams of the time !
10's of consoles and computers for a few bucks,
thousands of games and weeks of pop music...
funny how a 1981 Porsche in good shape
still costs a lot...
(think Risky Business here)
Google passes Turing test : see my journal
There's something like this already available in the mega joy 2 - since the games are all unlicenced, they all have different names, but you get three-times the names.
Though you can get a NES clone in the UK - built into a N64 controller - for £15-30!
Does anyone have the Atari 2600 schematics and details of its consruction and roms? Every year the third years have to create something as a part of their third year project and its allways something that never gets used anyway. So making all the chips in hardware on an FPGA might be cool.
Mouse powered Chips, Open source Processors and Lego
It would be perfect (in my book) if it had an actual 2600 cartridge slot. Both joysticks for my 2600 are pretty much dead, the console itself may be too. But I have a bunch of games I miss playing, and emulation doesn't cut it for me.
:) Too bad it doesn't have River Raid built in. Oh well.
That said, it's still cool.
SIGFEH
It's sad to see Atari's legacy being abused by yet another company who just lives on Atari's fame.
Atari used to be a great systems manufacturer as well as a gaming company. Their ST line was very good and could compete with the Amiga in it's days. Their STacy an STBook were great portables where the STBook was way better then what any company could offer as a portable. It took years for the industrie to reach the same kind of portability as the STBook offered.
Alas, Atari is no more. The companies diverse owners just broke it into little parts and sold them to the highest bidders.. There are few companies which have had a change of ownership so frequently as Atari has.
Take a look at http://www.atari-history.com for some background information on Atari and it's products
Ergo be damned, I miss the Atari and (blast from the past) Wico joysticks of old. They withstood my lower-middle-class whiteboy-in-an-ethnic-neighborhood angst, plowing photon torpedos against the Krylons in Star Raiders.
Error: PANTS NOT FOUND. Press <F1> to continue.
I believe, until I'm corrected, that this is not actually an Atari 2600 (or anything even vaguely similar) but rather Jakks existing hardware system with classic Atari games ported to it.
(Just to clear up the comments about "wish it had a cartridge slot).
-marc
I'm sorry, would someone please enlighten me a bit on this matter?
:)
Who on earth wants to play atari 2600 games?
Think of it this way..
Playing atari games is kinda like bringing back good memories really cheaply.. hell if it comes with pit-fall i'd pay 20 bux to be able to plug into an rca jack anywhere and play.. it's fun..
Think if it this way..
Its the same thing as wanting or going back to an old gf(or bf i suppose.. dunno not, gay) ya know what your getting, when your getting, know where and how to hit all the right buttons and since you've played it alot before you can just shut it off when your done
I got my first one fourth-hand, and it was smooth and awesome. I was always looking for its equal in a stick for a second player (mostly for use with my c64,) and was never able to find it.
What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey
"Name one single atari 2600 game that actually has a decent plot, good replayability, long shelflife and non-repetitive gameplay."
Plot: Do you complain when your game of checkers doesn't have any love interests in it?
Replayability: the name of the game with these old Atari games. You never really beat them- you're mostly competing against yourself.
Shelflife: Witness the plethora of 2600 emulators out there. Geez.
Non-repetitive gameplay: See "plot", above. What are you looking for, final fantasy?
Old Atari games may not have beautiful, amazing graphics, but many of them are unbeatable in the arena of actual gameplay.
What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey
It'd be cool if someone brought out a colour, handheld Atari system. It wouldn't cost much, I mean, compared to something like the NeoGeo handheld or gameboy.
Just imagine it, sitting on the train, and people start hearing the classic Asteroids noises coming from your handheld.
Within minutes everyone will want a go. Nostalgia at it's best!
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story..."
It's a bit deceptive to refer to it as a portable system considering you need to plug it into a TV to actually to use it. By using the word portable I thought something along the lines of Puma the portable Atari 2600 where a Sega Game Gear has been converted into a portable Atari 2600 complete with its own display.
There is a whole site dedicated to Atari 2600 portable conversion projects that has been discussed in this and repeated in this Slashdot article.
aus.music.scrapbook
Moon Patrol.
? Softwar eID=1159
More (screenshots etc) here:
http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html
Don't answer me. Moderate. Slashdot is about moderation, not discussion.
Why can't I have one with _ALL_ the commercially released games? Connected to some compactflash card or whatever? Think about how much space your old atari carts are taking up. And those 5 million E.T. carts in the landfill.
Same goes for NES, SNES, SMS, Genesis, and PCE and I'm set for life.
Sorry, it's late/early and I'm rambling.
Yeah, the toymax unit I mentioned earlier comes with 10 activision games, one of which is pitfall. You may find it for $20, maybe even less.
Ok,
How about parents with younger children, who don't want to spend much on something that will probably get broken fairly quickly.
It retricts the kids to playing it on the TV which allows for greater control over it's usage than say a GameBoy which they can sit anywhere out of sight with.
The games relied on gameplay rather than complicated plots, much easier for a younger child to master, take 2 young children. Explain to one how to play space invaders, try and explain to the other how to organise the members of thier team in Dungeon Siege and the benefits of +x modifiers and don't forget to keep the 4 or 5 health bars on the left of the screen up...
Just because you do not play with duplo bricks, it does not mean there is no market for such a product.
Must of been a hella big pile. Those cartridges cost upwards of $100 at least when they came out. I remember years later in a department store seeing the same game for $1.99.
Unfortunately the Mega Joy 2 seems to be PAL only. A converter would help, but it'd be nice to just take it anywhere and plug it in.
-Steve
Is if you could somehow download new ROMS to the joystick. Perhaps even the ROMS that are out there on the internet. I wonder if someone could easily hack one of these things to do that? It'd be nice to see some hardware specs.
This is something that would *so* fit ThinkGeek's product line. I hope someone from there keeps an eye on the status of this product and gets them in stock when they are finally availabe.
A little planning goes a long way...
I still have one ;)
;)
I works some of the time but is a little bit flakey. It has tennis, squash, hockey and breakout.
For a really authentic time I can even tape some coloured cellophane to the screen to get coloured bricks in breakout
heh
John
Troc's dubious podcast and blog: http://www.trocnet.net
That doesn't have mean more than 1... he could have had 1, dumped her, and that's been it =]
What?
I'll pony up the $20 ...
...
... you ment the game pad, though if they have a hit this X-mas with it, the stocks currently at a good price to.
The debate, game for $20, share of stock for $17
TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken
Atari still lives!
Oh how I miss those arcades.
Now bring back pinball!
This device, however inferior it may be to current game systems, proves that the MAME Critics are justified in their complaints. There is a commercial market for old ROMS. As long as the sales value of these ROMS is above zero, copying unlicensed ROMS, like those for ATARI, is stealing. Okay, maybe each one is about $1.00, but it's still theft, and now it's objectively quantified.
There's already a similar system out there.
Just go to 9the Tee and look at their Arcade Video Game System - complete with two controllers, a light gun, and 76 built-in games. $36.95 Sure, it won't fit in your pocket, but still...
"Population 1,656"
Ergo be damned, I miss the Atari and (blast from the past) Wico joysticks of old. They withstood my lower-middle-class whiteboy-in-an-ethnic-neighborhood angst, plowing photon torpedos against the Krylons in Star Raiders.
Krylons? The evil overlords of paint?
At any rate, while the Atari 2600 joysticks were nearly indestructible, they weren't my favorite. The best joystick ever invented (and I've yet to find it's equal anywhere in the land of PC or console) was the Epyx 500XJ. Ergonomic, gave solid feedback with it's switches and was durable too.
I don't suppose this will see the shores of Europe any time soon. We're still waiting the SL-5500 (I'm glad I got mine while over on business).
A C64 version would be cool though, it'd actually be an improvement over the original as we wouldn't have to wait for the loading time (unless we want to lisiten to the often groovy loading music (Ocean) or pretend we're being interrogated by watching a Mutant Camels loader.
Please, please don't brain wash me MR. Torturer...
From my Autobiography - "Lifestyles of the Sad and Desperate"...
I've seen this about 6 months ago at a BJ's warehouse in CT (USA).
*shrug*
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
You know, there is a "portable NES" that hooks up to your TV. It looks like a controller.
Difference: 100 some odd more games.
It is also ~$60 or something like that.
I saw it on QVC a few months ago, and it may have been on HSN. I wonder how easy it would be to turn one into a portable. (since its in seeming wide availability, and is small...)
Oh, back on topic, Pic of the "portable" atari: http://www.qvc.com/img/E/41/E29241.jpg
http://www.angryburrito.com/ The best, completely unfinished software review site ever.
I really liked Stun Runner. The starter's voice was sexy.
Atari Games was a different company than Atari Corp. They had no relation at all.
There are enough trademarks in that story to gag the most jaded lawyer!
CDE open sourced! https://sourceforge.net/projects/cdesktopenv/
The 500XJ was the only piece of hardware I've ever owned with a five-year warranty. Telling. I wish everything were built that well.
>It's piratanical trolls like you that killed Atari the first time!
...
... as for stock, I do feel this could be a sleeper, but need to research it first.
??? so my debate on buying the product or investing in the company is evil because I pay for software and invest in that software model, maybe you should re-read what I stated.
Atari is getting royalties of of this, and it was the attempt to live off of the 2600 and not investing in new console technology that killed them the first time
btw. at $20 I will be buying one
The software model I use is, you buy our instrument, it acts as your software key, so we give you the latest software (of course our hardware 'keys' are between $5K and $200K depending on model).
TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken
The offical model number for the joysticks is CX40.
You can ususally track them down on eBay or via google.
nuclear iraq bioweapon encryption cocaine korea terrorist
I bought a bunch back to the states for Christmas. It was a VERY cheap way to entertain my entire family. My mom has become a Tetris freak, challenging all comers to head to head matches.
Lasers Controlled Games!
This sounds sort of neat, except that Combat won't be nearly as cool if it's single-player only.
-- dR.fuZZo
Those who remember coming home from school and ignoring our homework to see how many times we could flip Asteroids before supper.
Those who remember having to mow two lawns to afford to buy Missile Command
Those who despise today's multi-function "game controllers" and long for the day of a one button joystick
Those who now have the cash to buy all the games they could never afford as kids.
That, IMHO, is who will buy it.
Real software engineers regret the existence of COBOL, FORTRAN and BASIC.
- As a Lynx owner myself, I can reccomend The GOAT (Games Of All Types) Store [goatstore.com].
The only way I'd touch a link to "Goatstore" on Slashdot would be with lynx from the command line...-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
You can buy new 2600 joysticks (and a bunch of other great stuff) here. I bought two and have been very happy with them.
Both joysticks for my 2600 are pretty much dead
Joypads designed for the Sega Genesis console will work in an Atari 2600 console.
Will I retire or break 10K?
I don't get why this is newsworthy when "x games in a controller" have been out for a while, and the price cut with the PS2 and Xbox doesn't get a story. Yay!
Must be a different game than the one I'm thinking with. It'd be difficult to type 'xyzzy' with just a joystick.
But hey, you have my personal permission (not that it has any legal standing) to play all the Wall Ball you want.
This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander
As a Lynx owner myself, I can reccomend The GOAT (Games Of All Types) Store [goatstore.com]. Decent prices and an OK selection, and customer service is great; they sent me a second free game because I screwed up my address on the order form the first time. And, they ship internationally
Thanks I'll check them out.
But stay away from Hydra and Batman Returns; big stinkers there
Too late. But thanks anyhow.
You might also try GameDude [gamedude.com]; you can buy & sell cartridges from old systems through them, and they're in California, so shipping to BC should be fairly quick. Haven't done business with them in a while, but they were easy to deal with.
I used to go there it's like an hours drive from where I live and I don't drive.
Thanks for all the links
I know I'm going to hell, I'm just trying to get good seats.
Atari Games was a different company than Atari Corp. They had no relation at all.
Well, not quite "not at all." I mean, STUN Runner was licensed by Atari Games and released for Atari Corp's "Atari Lynx" handheld, for example.
I'm a huge Atari fan (own a 2600, 2600 Jr, two Jaguars, two Lynxes, a 1200XL, an 800XL and an 800), but honestly, I never liked the ST.
The Amiga was MUCH more impressive to me. I still want to get a 500 or 1000 one of these days.
One of the things not many people know is that the Amiga was actually designed by a lot of the same people who designed the 2600 and/or 400/800, and some of whom went on to design the Lynx.
They share a lot of the same nifty architecture. (Atari 800's "Display List Interrupt" was just the early version of Amiga's "Copper"... and the Atari Lynx has the same feature, though I don't know if it has a specific name)
Atari ST was pretty much Tramiel's idea which he brought over when he moved from Commodore to Atari.
Weird, no?
The 5200 was just an 800 whose memory map got stuck in a blender, the OS yanked, and the controller turned into an easily broken analog piece of crap. :) There were also not very many games.
:)
;)
I'd like to see an 800/XL/XE portable.
Atari800 on my Zaurus will suffice for now.
(Ooh, or maybe a 7800!)
I got on a nostalgia kick after reading this story and found a great site for Star Raiders. You, sir, are correct. I bow to your superior recollection.
Error: PANTS NOT FOUND. Press <F1> to continue.
Ten K!? Son, back in the day we worked in 4K (and the poor sods at Atari did the early games in 2K). The 128 bytes of RAM made things interesting too.
This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander
Of course, youi'd have to have a II+ kicking around...
This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander
Hey, that one was made ages ago: Commodore Executive 64 (SX64/DX64). =)
(Though neither had Datassette port, and I'm not sure about cartridge support - but on C64, floppy loading times were never Utterly Horrible (especially with disk turbo), even if they're slow by today's standards...)
(Oh, and getting a SX64/DX64 is a bit hard. An used laptop, a Linux install and VICE would probably be cheaper =)
I specifically remember asteroids cost over $100 when it was released. Only one friend, who's father was a doctor, could afford it. There were others.
This was $100 Canadian, in the late 70s.
The 500XJ was my favorite joystick of the era, but the stick seemed to have an awful tendency to break just above where the metal inside ended. My friends and I went through several of them when we discovered Activision Decathlon on the C64, so the frantic back-and-forth motion to run in that game may have played a part in the plastic's fatigue and eventual failure.
I have a pair of NES 500XJ's as well, but for the real nostalgia-inducing times, you really have to use the original, boxy NES joypads (ergonomics? what's that?).
God, I miss Epyx. So many afternoons spent after school playing their games.... [sigh]
~Philly
It was going to be the Next Big Thing, downloading games over the phone into your Atari. It ended up being a niche product for fanatics.
We were developing, so the Apple was our host platform. Assemble the code into that stretch of RAM, flip the soft switch, and watch it fly -- or crash. The audio part would have been painful.
This next song is very sad. Please clap along. -- Robin Zander