Atari Starts Another Run of Not-So-Limited VCS Consoles
Atari opened pre-orders for a wood-clad Tribute Edition of its Video Computer System (VCS) this morning.
The company originally released the VCS through crowdfunder Indiegogo a little under a month ago. At the time, it said a wood-paneled Collector's Edition of the console would only be available in limited quantities. Well, with today’s announcement, it now seems the wood paneling will be more prevalent on the Atari VCS than it was in 1950s living rooms.
The Atari VCS started life as the Ataribox in July 2017. It was little more than a render and a promise to bring new Atari hardware into the world decades after the company stopped making consoles. Then, at GDC 2018 the company told us the console would get a new name, support Atari-designed controllers and ship with several classic games. Atari also said the Atari VCS would support any Linux-compatible games.
Things were quiet until Atari opened Indiegogo pre-orders in May. The company offered a variety of packages - you could buy the Atari-designed controllers by themselves, stick with just the Atari VCS, or buy various bundles of the console and its peripherals. Two versions were made available: the Onyx Edition boasted a black chassis, while the Collector's Edition featured the same wood paneling as Atari's previous consoles.
The Collector's Edition bundle was supposed to be made in limited quantities. That changed when Atari revealed the Tribute Edition this morning. Now it seems the only benefit of pre-ordering the Collector's Edition was to save a little money - the new Tribute Edition "all-in" bundle costs $379, compared to the Collector's Edition's $339 price tag - and to receive an "individually number and certified" version of the wood-paneled console.
True collectors are probably content with saving money and getting a certified product. However, anyone else who bought the Collector's Edition right after pre-orders started might be a little perturbed to know that Atari's making the wood-paneled console more broadly available than anticipated. It's not quite a bait-and-switch, but it's still frustrating to buy a product under one pretense only to learn something new later on.
Maybe the new Tribute Edition merely indicates disinterest in the Onyx Edition console. Atari raised more than $2 million less than 24 hours after the Atari VCS debuted on Indiegogo. In the weeks since, the campaign has yet to cross the $3 million threshold. Atari only has 10 more days to raise money via this campaign. Drumming up more attention by giving people all the wood paneling they want could just be a cash grab.
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No matter the reason, the Tribute Edition console is here and available to pre-order. Atari expects to ship the Atari VCS in July 2019.
Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.
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bit_user This is pretty disappointing. First off, the APU is Bristol Ridge. For the price, I'd expect one of the embedded-series Ryzen APUs.Reply
Second is the ship date. They announced this thing like way last year, and the ship date is still 13 months out? That's just nuts.
Anyway, I hope they don't try to do anything to block the Steam client for Linux or keep its games from running. That's one of the best reasons to buy one, although you're going to be fairly limited in the titles which will play well on these specs.
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alextheblue Reply
I really wanted to like it for something other than it's retro looks. I can't find the appeal. If it had a couple cartridge slots and a frontend tied to some emulators that gave you the ability to run a bunch of Atari games off the cartridges (including Jaguar!) out of the box I'd be more interested. But as it stands it's just another low horsepower PC in a box. You'd be better off getting a steam link or if you want dedicated hardware, even a small box with a cheap Ryzen 2200G is already better. Meh.21074969 said:This is pretty disappointing. First off, the APU is Bristol Ridge. For the price, I'd expect one of the embedded-series Ryzen APUs.
Second is the ship date. They announced this thing like way last year, and the ship date is still 13 months out? That's just nuts.
Anyway, I hope they don't try to do anything to block the Steam client for Linux or keep its games from running. That's one of the best reasons to buy one, although you're going to be fairly limited in the titles which will play well on these specs. -
nigma_x Don't buy into the hype. VCS can not be trusted. Multiple reputed media sources are reporting that Atari has nothing to show. Not even a working prototype. This explains why its on Indie Go Go and not Kickstarter.Reply -
bit_user Reply
13 months away from the ship date, that's not too surprising. But, given how long ago they first announced, it does seem a little odd.21080859 said:Don't buy into the hype. VCS can not be trusted. Multiple reputed media sources are reporting that Atari has nothing to show. Not even a working prototype.
You'd think they could at least take some reference board from AMD and get some Linux distro booted on it. That shouldn't be too hard.