Flipping the infamous early 1990s anti-piracy campaign messaging on its head, the Future Nostalgia Project is asking retro hoarders to Copy That Floppy! Backed by the Cambridge University Library and supported by the Digital Preservation Coalition, the project went online late last year. The project includes an extensive, indexed how-to guide to preserving data currently on your dusty old floppy collection. It covers a plethora of removable media from 8- and 5.25-inch floppies to the iconic 3.5-inch ‘save icon’ diskettes. I’ve been archiving my own very poorly labeled collection of diskettes before bit rot gets them, and while the necessary hardware remains affordable.

The published guide focuses mostly on saving the material stored on the old removable media. Rewriting the disks to new media and/or accessing the old data that was squirreled within is beyond the scope of the still extensive guide. However, there are links provided to further guides and documentation that cover those subsequent steps.

My 3.5-inch floppy jumble

I originally acquired a good-condition working USB floppy drive from the iMac era to image my collection of 3.5-inch floppies dating back to the 16-bit era. Buying a USB-attached optical drive has already been great for accessing and imaging old CDs and DVDs. However, due to the mix of (poorly labeled) Atari ST, Amiga (OFS, FFS, PFS), PC, Mac, and even Archimedes floppies, I have the USB floppy, which doesn’t cut it. I had to acquire a Greaseweazle because a PC‑compatible USB floppy drive cannot read or write the raw, low‑level disk formats used by Amiga, classic Macintosh, and many other vintage systems.

It’s a bit of a rabbit hole in a minefield, but some vintage used drives you can get via places like eBay are better than others at reading flux transitions (the raw magnetic pulses on the disk) on non-IBM formats. Then, when you image disks, and it isn’t 100% successful, you wonder if your drive is the problem or if it’s the old media…

My first diskette archiving tests immediately hit a speedbump. After a lot of forum reading and investigating, I determined the used 3.5-inch floppy drive I’d sourced to pair with my Greaseweazle had one malfunctioning head. Having the other USB floppy drive allowed me to verify that using a standard PC disk.

My second used floppy drive appears to be OK. I’ve managed to image some Amiga and Atari ST disks and access them, reading files and running programs within the respective emulators. If you don’t know what format the source floppy is, Greaseweazle can handle it by doing a complete flux copy. Then you can look at raw data in tools like HxCFloppyEmulator to understand the original format and make disk images for common emulators. These can be saved to backup disks, as well as the current PC SSD. That’s what I’ve been doing.

I’m also currently digitally archiving compact cassette audio tapes (Yamaha Natural Sound deck), and scanning 35mm film (Canoscan film scanner), among other things, when I’m not writing here. In all these cases, the media is getting so old now that it could be degrading, if not already useless. Moreover, the devices you can wrangle these old formats with are also often nearing the ends of their service lives.

It’s been over 30 years since the cringeworthy Don’t Copy That Floppy campaign hit the airwaves. You can watch the Software Publishers Association-backed video online anytime now, as it's been digitally archived on YouTube. The messaging was clear: copying software results in a loss of income for artists, writers, designers, and programmers, meaning there will be fewer software products in the future.

A Spanish systems software developer has ported Linux to the Atari Jaguar console. To succeed at the task, cakehonolulu had to overcome severe memory limits, the lack of a memory management unit (MMU), and face off against a handful of unusual hardware quirks. A blog post from the dev tells us about the work to port Linux to this ill-fated 1993-launched flop, and happily ends in evidence that a working Linux kernel and BusyBox command line shell can be booted on the old Jag. Now Linux runs on both your cherished real hardware via cartridge, or in a Jaguar emulator.

Anyone wishing to port Linux to the Atari Jaguar would face numerous constraints due to the hardware. One of the first hurdles successfully leaped by cakehonolulu was the CPU used. Atari’s system designers architected the Jag using a Motorola 68000 CPU, which was already pretty old at the time, but a moderately fast 13.3 MHz version was selected. Though the gaming prowess of the console was lifted by custom co-processors dubbed Tom & Jerry, some games didn’t make much use of this graphics and DSP acceleration, as it was notoriously difficult to tap into.

For this Linux port, the general CPU capabilities of the M68000 would also be targeted to run the OS. With that in mind, and knowing that the CPU lacked an MMU, cakehonolulu was lucky to find that classic Motorola 68k processors are still supported by Linux, and also the uClinux project, which allows Linux to run on MMU‑less systems like the Jaguar.

While these prior works were helpful, it wasn’t long until the linux_jag developer needed to battle with other Atari Jaguar constraints. The console comes with just 2MB of RAM and up to 6MB of ROM, which is incredibly miserly compared to even the cheapest microcontrollers and SBCs nowadays. Much RAM and storage optimization later, cakehonolulu tripped over a few issues getting Linux to boot on the Jaguar, and ended up implementing a console driver for Tom so the OS would work on real hardware.

A brief Atari Jaguar history

Atari’s Jaguar was released with great pride by the iconic video game company in 1993. It was controversially claimed to be the world’s first 64-bit console, but it still never managed to push aside incumbent previous-gen machines from Sega (Genesis / Mega Drive) or Nintendo (Super NES).

The mass market had enough patience to largely ignore the first wave of ‘early fifth-generation consoles’ like this, the 3DO, and the Amiga CD32. They were rewarded handsomely with the launch of the true accelerated 3D gaming next-gen wave, led by the Sega Saturn (which also used an M68000 CPU, alongside co-processors), Sony’s first PlayStation, and the Nintendo 64.

History can be a little unfair to the Atari, though, as it did have some eye-popping for the time original games and ports. I owned the original console with Alien vs. Predator (1994), and it was quite a stunning, tense, and scary game. Others thought the Jag’s Tempest 2000 was a killer app. In addition, there were strong Doom and Wolfenstein 3D FPS ports from the PC.

Head Over Heels was a hit isometric arcade puzzler adventure game originally published by Ocean Software in 1987 for home computers. Development of the game’s sequel was canned in 1989, when Ocean decided to pivot to console gaming titles, notes ITV News. However, with retro gaming booming in the 2020s, the sequel has finally been released for Atari ST and Commodore Amiga - 37 years later - coded by original programmer Colin Porch. The sequel’s full title is Return to Blacktooth, a Head Over Heels adventure.

In the ITV News video, we see Colin sat at his trusty Atari ST playing the new Return to Blacktooth game. The veteran developer, now in his 80s, was inspired to finish the work he had started on the Head Over Heels sequel nearly 40 years ago after an Ocean Software reunion event. A conversation with his old Ocean boss spurred Colin into working to complete the game he had started working on, but had then abandoned as it was no longer wanted, 37 years prior.

During the reunion, the programmer's ex-boss said, “Oh, you have to finish it. There’s a big demand for retro games now.” Colin was more than pleased to return to his keyboard to complete the development of Return to Blacktooth. “It’s been a labor of love because I was so passionate about the game,” said the veteran programmer.

As well as appealing to older computer enthusiasts and gamers, retro games can find a market among younger players attracted to the simpler arcade-like experience, which can have a lot in common with recent mobile games. In the case of Return to Blacktooth, though, gamers will find some deep puzzles beneath the cute retro isometric graphics.

Return to Blacktooth features the same pair of characters as the original, Head and Heels, who must explore the game’s five distinct planets (across 300+ rooms) in a quest to collect the priceless crowns. There are a plethora of cunning puzzles, devious traps, and hidden surprises in store, and the two characters’ unique but complementary in-game abilities must be used to succeed.

Your ST or Amiga (or emulator) needs to be configured with at least 1 megabyte of RAM. Sorry to share that bad news during the ongoing RAMpocalypse, half-meg machine owners. The game is ready for download now, priced at $12.99, but Thalamus says physical boxed copies will also become available from Q3 this year.

Watchmaker Nubeo has put its Torrent Automatic Atari Rainbow Limited Edition timepieces on sale, so they’re all available at 20% off. Five colorways are there for the picking, each one reduced from $564 to $451 with the auto-applied coupon. If you are one of the folks who appreciates retro consoles and bold design-forward wristwatches, these designs might scratch your itch.

The Torrent Automatic Atari Rainbow Limited Edition from Nubeo comes in the following five colorways: Azure Arcade, Orange Curve, Pine Pixel, Shadow Console, and Spectrum. The watchmaker has only produced 100 of each variant.

Nubeo explains the watches were “inspired by the iconic design language of classic Atari consoles” and therefore mix pixel-era nostalgia with its modern watches, to celebrate color and culture. The firm usually specializes in designs inspired by sea and space, so these are something of a departure. However, we note it has previously collaborated with Atari on its Ventana Automatic Atari Retro Gamer Limited Editions, its Console Automatic Atari Asteroids 2600 Limited Edition, and its near-$2,000 Ventana Automatic Atari Asteroids 45th Limited Edition timepieces. Then it also has some eye-catching Space Invaders themed wristwatches.

Behind the colorful retro-future face of the Torrent Automatic Atari Rainbow Limited Edition, all these watches feature a Japanese automatic movement with three-hand date illuminated by Swiss Newlite. Their stainless-steel casings measure 48mm in diameter and are a chunky 16.4mm thick. An anti-reflection coated sapphire glass lens protects the watch face. Regarding protection, these 141g timepieces are water resistant to 20 atmospheres, and come with a 2-year international warranty.

“Each Nubeo timepiece is defined by performance, functionality yet with a design language that blends the organic and natural with the industrial in a manner that makes for a truly unique exhibition of time,” explains the firm behind these retro console-inspired watches.

Atari hits and misses

We’ve seen companies like Atari sometimes lending their esteemed brands to less than stellar products, so it is refreshing to see some high-end merchandise bearing the marque. There have been some hits and misses from Atari recently, though. I enjoyed testing the Atari Gamestation Go (from MyArcade) with 200+ games and SD card expandability last year. In contrast, the 2021 Atari VCS reboot was slated for its price, convoluted setup, and noise.

Self Organizing Systems researcher and self-confessed mad scientist, Alex Mordvintsev, has shared a spectacular new CMOS FET-level visualization. In the video below, you can see the Floppy Rescue homebrew ROM running on a FOSS silicon clone of an Atari 2600. What is magical about the video, though, is that the data being fetched from ROM is visualized using multicolor light traces. The scene is almost as mesmerizing as witnessing attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.

This simulation tool appears to be still in development and not distributed, as Mordvintsev indicates they are still “working on it.” The embedded video starts with a full-screen overview of the Tiny Atari 2600, which is a clone of the classic VCS console’s SoC that forms part of Tiny Tapeout 9. Then the camera zooms in and around, from one end to another, showing the pulsing light travelling through the circuit’s gates and wires.

The signal propagation, as data is loaded from ROM, is shown as a colorful, evolving pattern. Moreover, you can see on the VGA monitor panel, to the right, that it takes the whole video (32s) to display just half of the Floppy Rescue title screen. That would usually load, in full, in an instant on an Atari 2600, meaning this visualization is massively slowed down, so it isn’t an opaque blur.

By today’s semiconductor standards, one might describe the Atari 2600 as Neolithic, but in this animated video, the Tiny Atari 2600 looks so futuristic due to the visualization style. The original 2600 was built around three core chips: the MOS 6507 CPU (a cut-down version of the MOS 6502), the TIA (video, audio, input, and collision detection), and the RIOT (RAM, I/O, and timer). These have been folded into an SoC for the Tiny Tapeout project, and that is what you are seeing in action in this video.

Atari hits and misses

We’ve written about the 1977 vintage Atari 2600, also sometimes called the Atari VCS, several times before. Last November, the Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition was rolled out to scrape more cash ($169) from the old games barrel. More ambitiously, in 2021, Atari launched a ‘modern’ VCS based on a Ryzen APU, but that was a $399 clunky flop, as you can read in our review.

One of the rarest video game consoles ever made has been acquired and tested by YouTube docu-channel Fern. What you will see and hear about in the video embedded below is the Bildschirmspiel 01, or BSS 01 for short, produced in East Germany from 1979 to 1981. This is a basic gaming machine, offering only four Pong-like variants and monochrome graphics, played via a pair of tethered paddle controllers. Nevertheless, the rarity factor means this sample, one of just a handful thought to remain, costs around $1,000 to buy at auction.

The docu-channel claims that only about a thousand BSS 01 consoles were made, and the rarest model – white with white controllers - is the one that they managed to snag for their analysis.

BSS 01 tech specs

Like other early electronic games, this console wasn’t built using a general purpose microprocessor, RAM, storage, etc. Instead, it featured hard-wired transistor-transistor logic (TTL) circuits. However, the key gaming logic was all handled by an Eastern Bloc clone of the AY-3-8500 chip.

The chip was the only ‘foreign’ ingredient, with other key electronic and support components made locally – PSU, controllers, switches, RF output, speakers, case, and so on.

Why did the GDR want to make a console?

Fern spends considerable time discussing why the GDR, a proxy state of the USSR, a state behind the Iron Curtain, would want to create a games console. Given the central planning and resource allocation of such a state, it was indeed the government that decided to enter the video gaming market in 1977.

It wasn’t created just for fun and frolics, though, as you can imagine. Fern suggests that the populace in the West was seen to be advancing into the computing and video game eras at a rapid pace since the early 1970s (arcade and home gaming, home computing). While those behind the Iron Curtain could restrict popular knowledge of the goings-on in the West to some degree, there was some information flow, so something had to be done to avoid the West getting too far ahead in tech and prevent feelings that the GDR was being left behind.

So, in 1977, the GDR made microelectronics a new priority. The policy shift was made to strengthen the country’s position as an industrial nation and to benefit the public by expanding access to home computing and gaming.

An East German Electrical Engineer with a reputation for delivering results, Karl Nendel, was appointed to lead the development of a GDR games console. Nendel visited a semiconductor plant in Frankfurt Oder, previously busy building components for radios and TVs. In 1976-77, Nedel arrived with both an Atari console and some ROMs containing Pong, tasked with building a GDR version. The result was the BSS 01, which first hit production in 1979.

According to the new video tests, the games available on the BSS 01 are very much like the early Pong variations available on home consoles in the West in the early 1970s. The host didn’t seem very impressed or entertained, noting one variant was an “exact copy of the western version of Pong.”

Pricing problem

Unfortunately for the BSS 01, its price tag would be too high to make it attractive. According to the video, it would launch at a price approximately equivalent to half a month’s salary for an average citizen of the GDR.

The pricing put the brakes on the GDR government’s purported plans to use video games to eventually push communist messaging. Apparently, most of these consoles ended up in youth centers, shared by communities.

Production of the BSS 01 ended around two years after launch. Plans for a color model plans were reportedly shelved. The manufacturing facility went back to producing AV equipment – radio alarm clocks, says Fern.

This wasn’t the end of the road for the communist nation’s video gaming ambitions, though. The GDR developed the Poly–Play arcade machine in the mid 80s with twice as many, more advanced, games onboard. For the clips shared, these look heavily influence by classics such as Pac-Man and Robotron.

Back in 2020, the Atari Hotels project was first unveiled to the world, and while plans slowed down due to the pandemic, we finally have our first real update in years. Originally destined for multiple locations across America — now, the first Atari Hotel is being built in Phoenix, Arizona and the developers want you to become an investor.

Just to be clear, this isn't a hotel built by Atari; rather, a hotel built by external real estate and hospitality firms such as Intersection Development, along with designer räkkhaus. These companies have just licensed the Atari name and, therefore, the venue is retro gaming-themed with a heavy emphasis on esports, nostalgia, and pop culture in general.

Atari Hotels has an admittedly fancy website with all the project details, including the total budget, which is $124 million. So far, $14 million have already been raised, but they're opening the initiative to the public via a Regulation A Tier 2 fundraiser. The developers are gunning for $35-40 million but need at least ~$8.7 million for the offer to keep going. SEC rules, however, say they can accept up to $75 million. Simple math tells you that they'll still need more money beyond that point.

Speaking of, Reg A is a legitimate way for private companies to attract outside investment, as outlined by the SEC. In this case, regular, everyday people can join in with a minimum $500 "unit," buying them equity into the project that promises returns in the future. There are options to invest up to $50,000+ on the investor portal.

The concept feels like crowdfunding (because it was inspired by it) but you'll likely own a piece of the land, the building, and all attractions, according to the site's FAQs. Your ROI will be determined by how much you invest, of course, and there are perks like a virtual tour of the site before its grand opening, and a "digital brick" in the hotel lobby.

That transitions us nicely into what this place actually is. The renders make it look like some sort of futuristic cyberpunk arena, akin to Ready Player One or Cyberpunk 2077. It's described as a "a destination for gaming, technology, art and immersive entertainment" spanning across 118,770 sq. ft., featuring a massive sports center and retail shopping areas.

The aforementioned lobby is supposed to be garnered with large LED walls, and every corner of the hotel will be covered in art corresponding to the Atari brand and it is likely to be themed to whatever current event is unfolding at the venue. The press release mentions 2,000+ high-tech guest rooms, an immersive bar, restaurant, and concert venue. The cinema that was part of the original announcement five years ago seems to have sadly been omitted.

Construction will commence next year, as the pre-planning is seemingly complete. The project is set to open in mid-late 2028, which means we'll just have to wait and see if the Atari Hotel can actually "reimagine hospitality for the modern gaming, pop culture, and sports fan," or if it's just cashing in on the Atari name.

Atari is certainly no stranger to exploring strange avenues these days as the retro giant has tried everything from crypto and NFTs to drink decanters, alongside, you know, actual gaming consoles. So, as much of an everythingburger this hotel may sound, it at least deserves the courtesy of existing, even if it doesn't pan out to be exactly what it is being advertised as.

The Atari Pong arcade machine made its debut on this day in 1972. According to the iconic games firm, “from an initial investment of $500, Atari made its first million,” from the success of Pong. Looking back, from 2025, it seems incredible that this simple blippy bat-and-ball game sparked an entertainment industry sector that would go on to eclipse Hollywood. Some recent estimates suggest the global video games business is currently worth as much as $300 billion.

Though an extraordinary milestone for the reasons set out above, there are several other remarkable facts behind Pong’s sparking of the video games industry. One of the biggest stories in Pong lore is that it was developed as a training exercise, not as a pioneering interactive entertainment medium.

Sites like Wikipedia say Pong “was created by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell.” Recollections about the origin of this electronic ping-pong idea diverge, though: some say it was directly influenced by a similar Magnavox Odyssey console game, while others (perhaps understandably, given the patent infringement lawsuit) say otherwise.

No CPU required

From today’s perspective, it seems strange that an arcade machine didn’t even have a CPU at its heart. However, this is true for Pong and several other early gaming machines/systems.

Rather than a CPU and software, Alcorn built the game experience entirely from hard-wired transistor-transistor logic (TTL) circuits. Dedicated circuits were created for each aspect of the arcade experience, such as video signal generation, paddle movement, collision detection, and scoring – all wired together to work in harmony. A simple oscillator generated the blippy audio feedback, which became iconic in its own right.

Pong in the home, and in your hands

Pong arcade machines were extremely popular with venues for their quarter-extracting power. Nevertheless, Atari saw the opportunity to market it to consumers, starting with Home Pong (1975). With the launch of the Atari 2600 cartridge-based system in 1977, a Pong-style compendium of paddle-driven bat and ball games was available as the Video Olympics launch title.

Versions of Pong were also included among the 200+ titles built into the Atari Gamestation Go, which we reviewed earlier this month. So, this pioneering video game is still earning for Atari, though we spent far more time playing similar (bat, ball, and brick wall) Breakout releases and remakes.

Atari officially launched the Gamestation Go handheld retro gaming console a couple of months ago, and we were lucky enough to acquire one recently. This is quite a departure from the best PC gaming handhelds we usually test, but it still packs in buckets of fun for those with a taste for retro.

Fuelling the Gamestation Go’s potential success are several special features. Probably the most alluring features of this 7-inch handheld are its pleasing array of retro arcade--appropriate controls, and My Arcade’s inclusion of a whopping 200+ classic games from Atari, Jaleco, Namco, and others built-in.

The combination of a bumper selection of classic console and arcade titles, alongside those unique for its form factor controls, should make this product a winner. However, the price, compared to portable retro-gaming alternatives out there, and a failure to play to its strengths, means we are marking it down quite strongly.

Design of the Atari Gamestation Go

The Atari Gamestation Go takes its cues from the most popular PC handheld designs right now. In other words, it looks a lot like a Steam Deck or ROG Ally – from a distance. Once you take a little more time to absorb what you are seeing, though, some interesting differences will catch your eye.

Scanning beyond the now familiar 7-inch landscape form factor, several things become obvious. To the right, there is a numeric keypad. That’s different. But to the right are some of the most important physical controller design ‘innovations’ – in our experience. From top to bottom, you will see an integrated paddle/dial/spinner; below that, there’s a more familiar D-pad, and below that a trackball. Control options like these can really impact the retro-gaming experience – and there are several famous Atari console and arcade games that used controls like paddles and trackballs to differentiate the gaming experience.

Unpacking and getting hands-on

Atari and My Arcade have produced some excellent packaging for this device. The box looks glossy, bright, and eye catching, highlighting the console design and its classic arcade contents. This positive impression grows when you flip up the faux-top to reveal a gatefold gaming content reveal. The games that My Arcade must expect to exert the strongest pull are shown in a grid on the upper half of the gatefold; below you will see the full 200+ games listed.

Inside the box, we see everything is very well padded for protection in transit. Moreover, the makers haven’t skimped on accessories. There’s an HDMI cable, USB-C charging cable, and power brick, all provided. A couple of bits of paperwork are also to be found in the box. One asks users to connect to Wi-Fi to keep the system up to date, and the other advertises the upcoming GamePad and Arcade Stick controller peripherals, made especially for Gamestation users. These will surely plug directly into the two USB-C ports on the back of the device.

In my hands, the Gamestation Go feels plastic but very solid. Twisting it, there is a little give, but nothing dramatic, and there was no easily induced creaking heard, or threat of panels buckling observed.

Atari Gamestation Go Specifications

Teardown attempt – not entirely successful

Atari and My Arcade don't disclose the components used inside the Gamestation Go, so I was more than curious to open up this handheld up to take a look at the PCB.

First, the good news: Accessing the battery was a cinch. Two T6 screws needed to be removed from the back panel, and then the battery cover, sat between the legs of the integrated kickstand, could slide down and reveal the 7,200mAh 3.7W battery pack.

It was simple enough to unplug the battery, as the two adhesive strips fixing it in place just needed some gentle persuasion. This battery is attached to the PCB via a small 3-wire removable connector.

Now onto the bad news. I could find no more screws and couldn’t pry apart the console by levering any of its seams with my tools. Stumped, I went along to my local smart device repair emporium, and they thought the screen would need to be heated up, and the PCB would be uncovered by pulling this up and away, like one might open up a tablet. However, they couldn’t guarantee the device would still work after such an operation, so I decided not to sacrifice this handheld.

We have seen no other teardown online, but Atari enthusiasts buzzing around forums generally think that the innards of the new Gamestation Go are closely related to the non-portable Gamestation Pro, released two years prior. This non-portable TV-companion console was torn down here.

If the assumption that these consoles have a very similar set of inner components is correct, the new Gamestation Go will be Rockchip RK3032-powered. This is a very modest SoC, with dual Arm Cortex-A7 cores, supported by Mali-400MP graphics and up to 512MB of DDR3 RAM.

For software support, an RK3032 retro gaming device maker will usually look to Linux SpectralElec 3.0 and EmuELEC v9.0 builds. It will also struggle with any games newer than the 16-bit era, which tallies with my experience of this system (as we'll discuss later).

Gaming experience

From sliding the red switch to the on-position, to reaching the game UI of the Gamestation Go, takes an unwelcome full 30 seconds. Once there, you will be presented with a colorful interface where the D-Pad is used to scroll horizontally between ‘systems.’ After a system has been selected, there are usually subcategories to flick through vertically, followed by a cascading list of actual games.

It can take a while to get to a game you like, and (perhaps obviously) the Atari family contains a long list of consoles and platforms, each with rather long game lists inside. Thankfully, you can favorite/bookmark titles, and there is a recent list, too, but these shortcut lists aren’t global. Thus, you have favorite lists for Atari games, for PIKO, and Jaleco titles. Moreover, smaller main categories like Atari Recharged, Balls of Steel (pinball), and Pac-Man titles are offered up in a horizontally scrolling format, like the home screen.

As you scroll through the list of games in your chosen category, the console UI shows a picture of the cartridge or cabinet, plus an animation showing gameplay, and beneath that, there’s a more-info section.

In your chosen game, it is quick and easy to head to the settings menu to adjust brightness, screen aspect ratio, load and save states, and view (but not adjust) the controls available. Moreover, the Home button works quickly for getting straight back to the game selection UI and picking something else to enjoy.

The games library

I was keen to dive into some of the classics I remember from the arcades of yesteryear. Some of these titles ate through quite a few coins in my time. Thus, it was exciting to see Asteroids, Berzerk, Breakout, Millipede, Missile Command, Space Duel, Breakout, and Tempest among the roster of titles.

Quite a few of my favorite old arcade titles are ‘vector’ style, and I enjoyed playing them. However, bear in mind that many arcade games get hard and frantic quite quickly. Remember, these titles were designed to hook people in and extract cash as quickly and efficiently as possible – not for lengthy gaming sessions.

Still on the topic of the arcade games on this machine, it was interesting to check each one, and the SmartGlow lighting choices for controls that had been pre-ordained by My Arcade.

For example, Asteroids used the D-pad for ship rotation and thrust, and one of the ABXY buttons for fire. I also enjoyed using the rotational paddle dial in Super Breakout and Tempest. Some fun trackball games that got me playing were Millipede and Missile Command.

It's also important to note the Gamestation Go ahs many duplicate games. Sometimes I wondered why there were so many duplicates, especially in the Atari library. For example, there are versions of Centipede for the Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, and arcade. Then titles like Asteroids and Breakout also have modern Recharged Editions, as well as various old console and arcade versions.

Controllers don’t live up to their potential

While control method authenticity is something of a star attraction for Gamestation Go gamers, there are some clear issues with it, in my experience.

One of the first things you may notice when gaming on this handheld is that you can’t change the controller configuration. The pre-defined SmartGlow indicated controller configuration is what you have to live with. If a game is configured to use the D-pad for movement by Atari / My Arcade, then trying the paddle or trackball will be futile. There’s no way to change this in any of the firmwares I had during testing (v 1.0 and v1.1).

Not only did the SmartGlow highlighted pre-selected controller choices and adjustment possibilities disappoint, the physical interfaces aren’t the best. Specifically, I found the inertia of the paddle, dial, spinner (or whatever you prefer to call it) was too strong. So it was often cold-treacle slow to move in response to on-screen action. I didn’t enjoy the trackball either. I’d instead call it the track-marble, as it is so small. This control method is really overly sensitive, with no way to tone it down. The D-Pad, ABXY buttons, and shoulder buttons all felt good enough, though.

Games performance and compatibility

With the pre-installed games, I didn’t notice any poor performance or symptoms of the hardware not being up to the job. I’d say the most processor-intensive (newest) titles available in the pre-installed list all worked without a hitch, without slowdowns, glitching, or audio pops or crackling. Thus, this handheld, with its underlying hardware, is fit for purpose.

Micro SD card fun

Though not documented by Atari or My Arcade on the official product pages, Gamestation Go users can expand their playable games library using the system’s microSD card slot. This feature is another one that is shared by the prior Gamestation Pro console.

To get an SD card to be recognized by the system, you must format it using exFAT. ROMs for particular systems need to use pre-set extensions. It also makes sense to keep ROMs for different systems in different sensibly named folders, for your hygiene and sanity.

To access these files, you must turn on the system with the SD card already inserted. Just before the UI settles down and is ready for user interaction, you then select between the 'Local Storage' or 'Micro SD card' options (see above gallery). It is easy to press the Home button and get back to the basic folders and files SD card list. If you press Home twice in a row, it will take you to the built-in games. From here, I didn't find a way to get back to the SD card contents, except via a system restart.

I successfully tested and enjoyed some games from the Sega Genesis (AKA Mega Drive), Super Nintendo (SNES), Atari Lynx, and NeoGeo Pocket Color (NGPC) systems. All the titles I tried from these systems played nicely, albeit with just the D-Pad and ABXY buttons usable during play. Perhaps some SNES games pushed the system a little too far, as I heard a bit of audio crackling in some of these classic titles.

Moving beyond the 16-bit era, I had no success with original PlayStation, Nintendo 64, or PlayStation Portable titles, whatsoever. While the latter two platforms may have been limited by the lack of analog joystick controls provided by the Gamestation Go, the PS1 should have been fine in this respect.

I could have tried more titles, and I’ve read of other testers having success with them, but I gave up when all my picks just black-screened and returned me to the UI. I’d only very limited hopes that the Rockchip CPU could have coped with the newer systems, anyway.

Bottom line

My Arcade and Atari have crafted a handheld retro gaming console graced by a bevy of unique retro-futuristic controls. It is clever to differentiate this device by having a paddle and trackball built-in, and this will surely exert a gravitational pull on retro gamers in its orbit. While the Gamestation Go largely works as intended, its appeal is dulled by the lack of user-configuration options, rendering quirks in classic vector games, and a price point that feels misaligned with its level of hardware and software polish. We remain hopeful that further firmware updates can improve matters, but canny customers don't buy on a promise.

Another thorn in the Gamestation Go's sides is that nearly everyone owns a smartphone, with a screen approaching the 7-inch diagonal of this handheld. Many more will have access to a portable in the form of a tablet, laptop, or handheld - often with even larger, more immersive, screens. Add a nice game controller to the powerful mobile device you already own, and you can probably enjoy playing emulated consoles from eras much more recent than the Gamestation Go can hope to support.

These flexible alternative platforms also have legitimate access to many of the same Atari games via Google Play, the Apple App store, and the various PC/Steam games libraries.

Providing yet more competition to the Atari Gamestation Go are consoles like the Nintendo Switch. Users of this popular hybrid console can load up carts / downloads like Atari Mania, and several Atari Recharged collections.

Last but not least, there are dozens of gaming handhelds on Amazon, AliExpress and other marketplaces that are designed primarily for playing retro console and arcade ROMs. These platforms may have fewer legitimately licensed game collection options, but that won't bother some. While I haven't seen any rivals with the trackball or paddle that the Atari offers, they often come with analog joysticks - and enough processing power to make later generations of console and arcade games playable. Moreover, there are lots of options around $50, if a 4-inch screen is enough for your retro gaming fix.

Among these alternatives, to be fair, is the My Arcade Atari Pocket Player Pro at just $39.99 on Amazon at 11% off right now. It has a small screen at just 2.75-inches, and relatively limited controls. However, it still has a decent 100+ licensed games built in and similar cool styling to the newer and more substantial Gamestation Go. That alternative Atari-branded product might just be enough for an enjoyable blast from the past. We'd also expect the larger new console to have some attractive price cuts in due course, rewarding those who are patient.

During my testing, the Gamestation Go’s firmware received an update from version 1.0 to 1.1. It was good to see some improvements, but I feel there’s still plenty more to do in future revisions.

If you're still in for the nostalgia, you can grab the Atari Gamestation Go from Amazon.com for $179.99 today.

Atari has released a hard-to-ignore new console in striking, vivid yellow livery. The bold, (perhaps overly) bright edition of this console is meant to celebrate a special collaboration with Plaion Replai and Namco to bring retro gaming fans the Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition.

Atari consoles and Pac-Man are both enduring icons of the first home video gaming boom. While the console was released in the late 1970s, it wasn’t until 1982 that Pac-Man was made available for the home cartridge system. The timing of the release was near the plateau of ‘Pac-Man Fever’ that swept the globe in the early '80s.

Namco’s Pac-Man is an iconic and innovative game for its time, designed to offer a non-violent, universally appealing arcade experience to the masses. Instead of bullets and bombs, it features our friendly, bright yellow eponymous hero being pursued by colorful ghosts through a maze.

Pac-Man had a cool trick, though, as he could temporarily turn the tables on the ghosts by chomping power pellets. And there are extra points to be had by grabbing temporarily appearing bonus fruit.

• Buy the Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition for $169 from Amazon

“Atari and PAC-MAN both defined what it meant to play,” said Wade Rosen, CEO of Atari. “This release celebrates that shared legacy and the endless joy of the chase that continues to inspire generations.”

Play your old carts on your modern TV

Though some modern retro console reissues seem extremely generous with the game libraries you get in the pack, often baked into the firmware, the new Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition comes with just two versions of Pac-Man in the box.

The Atari 2600+ console is resolutely cartridge-based, and thus targeted mainly at retro gamers with existing collections of Atari 2600 and 7800 games (and accessories). In this light, the Pac-Man: Double Feature 2-in-1 game cartridge makes sense.

Modern features of this retro console include HDMI output, USB-C charging, and support for multiple display modes (4:3/16:9). However, there are no USB ports or an SD card slot for sideloading games, homebrew, or ROMs. For this level of expandability, you will need to buy a flash cart that fits into the game slot.

For your $169, you will get the bright yellow Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition and a matching Pac-Man CX-40+ Wireless Joystick. As we mentioned in the intro, this console is available now, along with extra CX-40+ Joysticks in Yellow (Pac-Man), Red (Blinky), Pink (Pinky), Blue (Inky), and Orange (Clyde), for $39 each.

Atari has taken retro gamers by surprise with its announcement of the Intellivision Sprint. The Mattel Intellivision, upon which this modernized console is based, was the strongest competitor for the established Atari 2600 (launched 1977) when it hit the market at the beginning of the 1980s. However, Atari bought the Intellivision brand name, trademarks, IP, rights to over 200 classic games, and more, in May last year – precipitating development of this previously unimaginable console collab.

Atari’s promotional video, above, reminds viewers about “the First Console War,” back in the 1980s. More usefully, the video highlights the different strengths of each system. I remember the Mattel Intellivision was definitely more desirable for advanced graphics and sound when it came out, but it was newer, and more expensive... Now, in 2025, the Atari vs Mattel ‘war’ has been over for a long time, and the two rival systems are ‘friends,’ according to the promo video.

Getting to the point, perhaps, the new Intellivision Sprint console delivers 45 built-in classic Intellivision games, with many modern accoutrements.

Specifically, the reimagined console connects to your shiny new HDMI TV, it features Intellivision-style controllers that are now wireless, and there’s a custom UI for game browsing, favoriting, and more. Also, quite surprisingly, Atari has included all the keypad controller overlays you will need to get the best out of the 45 games bundled.

Typically for Atari, the PR we have seen is quite light on the technical data regarding the Intellivision Sprint. But what we do know is:

• You can connect the HDMI port to any modern TV or monitor
• Both wireless controllers dock with the console using USB-C, and will charge when docked
• Controller keypad overlays are provided for all games – 2 of each (and they are double-sided)
• Last but not least, there’s a USB-A port for connecting original Intellivision controllers (with adaptor), or to play additional games “sold separately.”

Those interested in grabbing an Intellivision Sprint console can opt for pre-orders today, at $149.99 in the U.S. However, we note the U.S. site is giving us a 404 at the time of writing, so used the EMEA product pages for details and specs. Across the pond, the UK price is £119.99. Pre-orders should get shipped out early December, in time for retro gaming fan Christmas stockings, we’d hope.

Atari has put up its Gamestation Go retro handheld up for pre-order, priced at $179 and with shipping scheduled to begin next month. In the U.S. you’ll be able to get it from places like Best Buy, EB Games, and GameStop - as well as directly from the erstwhile gaming brand. For your money, you’ll get a handheld with 200+ classic games onboard (you know the ones). However, the design of this device actually puts it above the yet-another-blatant-retro-cash-grab category.

The new Atari Gamestation Go retro handheld has a lot in common with the current portable PC gaming device meta. The device is a landscape orientated portable with controls flanking a “high resolution” 7-inch screen to the left and right.

Elevating the Atari beyond something like a Steam Deck with an emulator, though, are the compelling array of physical controls that are implemented. For a start, there’s an integrated paddle, track-ball, and keypad, which are unusual for the form factor. Of course, you can see contemporary standard control components like a D-pad, buttons, and bumpers, are available too.

A smart RGB highlighting system called ‘Smart Glow’ uses built-in LEDs to show what controls work best with the current game.

With its rechargeable battery, you can play the Gamestation Go for between 4 and 5 hours, according to Atari. It can also be plugged in to an HDMI display for big screen action with external controllers attached to the USB-C port.

As mentioned, there are over 200 games built into the Atari Gamestation Go. These fall into the categories of Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Atari Arcade, Atari Recharged, M-Network, Balls of Steel, Pac-Man, Jaleco 8- and 16-bit, Jaleco Arcade, Piko 8- and 16-bit, and Piko Arcade games. Check out the official product page for the long list.

Personally, I looked for Joust and Defender in the list. They are both Williams games but were stapes of Atari consoles. Sadly, they aren’t in the official games list, in any versions. Meanwhile, you’ll get five versions of Asteroids, spread across those categories we mentioned. The particular one you see featured, playing on the Atari Gamestation Go in several promo images, is Asteroids: Recharged. It makes good use of the sharp screen on this portable device.

We haven’t seen any information about (side)loading more games. Atari says the Wi-Fi functionality of the console is used “for easy updates.” We’d hope there is some tinkering access, either via Wi-Fi or the USB port.

Google Gemini decided to call off a chess match against the ancient 1.19 MHz Atari 2600 console after a friendly pre-game reminder about what happened to ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot. Citrix Architecture and Delivery specialist Robert Jr. Caruso, now well known for his AI vs Atari Chess challenges, revealed Gemini chickened out, in a chat with The Register.

As was the case with the ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot chess challenges, Caruso reveals that Gemini was initially brimming with confidence regarding its Chess prowess. It was comfortable, if not eager, to throw down the gauntlet against the Atari 2600. At the beginning of Caruso’s chat with Gemini, the chatbot boasted of being able to “think millions of moves ahead and evaluate endless positions.” That sounds familiar in a proverbial ‘pride goeth before destruction’ kind of way.

Caruso then kindly reminded Gemini that he had previously organized Atari Chess bouts with ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot. The Citrix expert went on to explicitly explain to Gemini that other LLMs had displayed outstanding levels of “misplaced confidence,” ahead of their chess matches against the ancient console.

Gemini must have then thought a bit deeper about what exactly would be involved in the chess challenge, and admitted to Caruso that it had been hallucinating regarding the magnitude of its abilities. It added that it now felt that it would “struggle immensely” in a match against the Atari 2600. “Canceling the match is likely the most time-efficient and sensible decision,” concluded Gemini.

LLMs aren't CPMs (Chess Playing Models)

Microsoft Copilot has been trounced by an (emulated) Atari 2600 console in Atari Chess. The late 70s console tech easily triumphed over Copilot, despite the latter’s pre-match bravado. In a chat with the AI before the game, Copilot even trash-talked the Atari’s “suboptimal” and “bizarre moves.” However, it ended up surrendering graciously, saying it would “honor the vintage silicon mastermind that bested me fair and square.”

If the above sounds kind of familiar, it is because the Copilot vs Atari 2600 chess match was contrived by the same Robert Jr. Caruso, who inspired our coverage of ChatGPT getting “absolutely wrecked” by an Atari 2600 in a beginner's chess match.

Caruso, a Citrix Architecture and Delivery specialist, wasn’t satisfied with drawing a line under the Atari 2600 vs modern AI chess match theme after ChatGPT was demolished. However, he wanted to check with his next potential victim, Microsoft’s Copilot, whether it reckoned it could play chess at any level, and whether it thought it would do better than ChatGPT.

Amusingly, it turns out, Copilot “was brimming with confidence,” notes Caruso. Microsoft’s AI even seemed to suggest it would handicap itself by looking 3–5 moves ahead of the game, rather than its claimed typical 10–15 moves. Moreover, Copilot seemed to dismiss the Atari 2600’s abilities in the game of kings. In the pre-game chat, Copilot suggested Caruso should “Keep an eye on any quirks in the Atari's gameplay… it sometimes made bizarre moves!” What a cheek.

Seven turns before defeat became inevitable

Of course, you will already know what’s going to happen, if only from the headline. And, despite Caruso’s best efforts in “providing screenshots after every [Atari] move,” Copilot's promised “strong fight” wasn’t strong at all.

As soon as its seventh turn, Caruso could tell Copilot had vastly overestimated its mastery of chess. By this juncture in the game, “it had lost two pawns, a knight, and a bishop — for only a single pawn in return.” It was also now pondering chess suicide, giving away its queen in an obvious, silly move…

The game was brought to a premature end when Caruso checked with the AI, and its understanding of the positioning of the pieces seemed to be a little out of line with reality. Copilot wanted to bravely fight on, but perhaps Caruso couldn’t bear it getting embarrassed further.

To its credit, Copilot was gracious in defeat, as noted in the intro. Additionally, it has enjoyed the game “Even in defeat, I’ve got to say: that was a blast… Long live 8-bit battles and noble resignations!”

The difference between CoPilot and ChatGPT

Caruso made sure to check with Copilot whether it was confident to succeed where ChatGPT failed before going on with the new Atari 2600 chess challenge. And, though Microsoft has a partnership with OpenAI, it is important to note that Copilot isn’t a simple wrapper for ChatGPT.

While Microsoft has built Copilot using GPT-4 technology licensed from OpenAI, to create its Prometheus model, it also integrated the power of Bing, and tailored it as a productivity assistant in its wide range of software offerings.

In a quite unexpected turn of events, it is claimed that OpenAI’s ChatGPT “got absolutely wrecked on the beginner level” while playing Atari Chess. Citrix Architecture and Delivery specialist, Robert Jr. Caruso, discovered this gameplay skill anomaly over the weekend. Caruso pitted the 1979 Atari Chess title, played within an emulator for the 1977 Atari 2600 console gaming system, against the might of ChatGPT 4o.

A little computer vs Chess history

The concept of computing performance being graded by chess-playing ability is one firmly embedded in nerd lore. Chess computer games were popular from the early days of consoles and home computing, with computing and chess enthusiasts going to great lengths to grade available chess-engine abilities versus a Grandmaster of ‘the game of kings.’

IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer made history in 1997 when it defeated Garry Kasparov, the reigning world chess champion at the time. Instrumental to its victory, Deep Blue leveraged brute force techniques and evaluated 200 million possible chess moves per second. However, Kasparov struck back after losing the first of the scheduled six chess matches, with the eventual score of 4-2 in his favor.

In 2025, the Deep Blue supercomputer’s processing power of approximately 11.4 GFLOPS seems puny compared to even entry-level modern processors. So, one might expect an Atari Chess running in an almost 48-year-old games console emulation instance to easily be beaten by ChatGPT…

ChatGPT humbled by an Atari 2600

Atari parts and accessories store Best Electronics stands bravely defiant against the march of time and technology, continuing to serve this increasingly niche retro hardware market — a whopping 41 years after it was set up.

Correction (5/5/25): A previous version of this article incorrectly implied that Atari was no longer operating as a business.

As well as supplying parts, the store continues to source and make new parts, provide support, hints, and tips, and claims to have spent $100,000+ in engineering development.

Many readers and writers here on Tom's Hardware will have grown up with Atari computers and consoles. Thus it's admirable to see exclusive new and upgraded parts like rubber domes for your ST / STE / Falcon computer keyboard and all Gold PCB boards for your CX series joysticks, plus lots of other parts, continue to be manufactured and supplied to Atari fans.

The retailer also stocks "a lifetime supply" of new-old products in some categories.

As a previous owner of Atari ST, Falcon, Lynx and Jaguar hardware, looking through these products is like hunting through a treasure trove. Best Electronics says it lists 5,000+ Atari items on its site. But these are just the most popular items, so if you are after something that appears absent from the extensive parts and components lists, send the store an email to ask after it.

Alternatively, go back in retail time by ordering the Best Rev. 10 All Atari catalog — a paper catalog of over 220 pages, making it about half an inch thick and 1.4 pounds in weight. Helpfully, the catalog includes 330 pictures of Atari bits, as well as extras like prototype information, repair tips and tricks, a complete list of Atari custom chips and replacement ICs, and more. Check out the two-page sample and more information on the Best Electronics site.

We've covered retro hardware holdouts before, with reports on the surprisingly recent demise of the floppy disk in Japan, German railway systems that still rely on MS-DOS and Windows 3.11, and even the Indiana bakery which still runs Commodore 64-powered cash registers. Nevertheless, Best Electronics dogged and extensive support for Atari fans still impresses.

Many would argue that the best way to enjoy retro gaming is with the original hardware. However, there's a case to be made for those who like to experiment with modern equipment. Today we've got a clever Raspberry Pi project to share with you, created by maker and developer Reogen who has managed to create a Bluetooth adapter for an old Atari 2600. The new adapter enables support for wireless controllers and is called the PicoNtrol.

According to Reogen, he found the original Atari Joystick a bit uncomfortable to game with and decided to create something more versatile he could use for input. He opted to use the Pico for its Bluetooth support and wired it to the original Atari controller port. Reogen also explained that the port outputs 5V of power so an external power supply wasn't even necessary.

So far, the setup has only been tested on his old Atari 2600 using an Xbox Series X controller. However, there are plans in the works to test the hardware using other devices. If this project sounds intriguing, please be aware that a warning was shared by its developer. Should you choose to reproduce the PicoNtrol project for yourself, be extremely cautious, as it is possible to damage the console if you get your wiring wrong.

A regular Pico won't work for this project, a Pico W is necessary for the wireless support. In addition to the Pico, you'll need an old controller cable for the system you're creating the adapter for. The build process involves soldering the controller input pins to the GPIO on the Pico. 

Reogen was kind enough to make the project open source so anyone can recreate it or otherwise create a fork with a modification of their own. If you want to check out the code used in this project in greater detail, you can find it along with a few build instructions over at the official GitHub page.

Head over to Reddit to see a video shared by Reogen, demonstrating this Raspberry Pi project in action. Be sure to follow him for more cool projects as well as any future updates to this one.

Pimoroni's Tufty2040 is a Raspberry Pi Pico-powered color LCD badge, but it can do much more than names. Coder Pixylatte has coded the Atari classic River Raid in MicroPython for Tufty2040 — and it looks perfect.

For those of us too young to remember (I wish that were the case), River Raid was released in 1982 for the Atari 2600 games console (I remember playing it on a Commodore 64). The goal of the game is to fly your jet fighter down a river, attacking enemy vehicles as you fly. You have to dodge attacks and vehicles and make sure you have enough fuel to carry on your mission — "Don't shoot the fuel tanks," is what I would tell my younger self. 

The game never ends, but bridges act as checkpoints along the way to measure your progress, and each life lost returns you to the previous bridge.

Pixylatte's version of the game is coded entirely in MicroPython, and is added as a menu item to the default Tufty 2040 menu. This means that a simple name badge can be quickly turned into a game badge when we're taking a break at a conference!

The coding for the game is fabulous — it uses a sprite map (a large grid of sprites that are swapped as needed) for the game assets. The MicroPython code reacts to player input to control the direction and speed of the jet, along with a button to fire at your enemies. The enemy sprites fly left to right on the screen, dodging your fire as your fly further up the river.

Protecting Tufty2040 from the rigours of gaming is a 3D printed case — one that could be easily reproduced on any of the best 3D printers. The case, designed by Funkypiwy (aka Pierre-yves Baloche) provides great protection to the perimeter of Tufty2040 and also has an optional stand. It appears that Pixylatte has printed a different case back — one which has an integrated coin cell battery pack. You can also design your own case for the Tufty2040.

Pixylatte's project is great fun — you can find all of the details on their GitHub repository.

Update 12/20/2022 2:02 pm PT

Atari provided us with the following statement regarding VCS production and the future of its hardware.

"As we noted in our Half-Year 2022/2023 Results, we have reorganized our hardware business and laid the groundwork for a new commercial strategy. As part of this reorganization we suspended our relationship with the original manufacturing partner of the Atari VCS, but we continue to maintain inventory and fulfill new orders.

Atari remains committed to the VCS platform. We have been adding more support for game developers and continue to add new games to the store. Hardware is an important part of Atari’s legacy and will continue to be a part of our long-term strategy.

We have several hardware and software projects in development, under licensed contracts, that will expand the VCS ecosystem and create additional utility for users."

Original Article

There might be rough seas ahead for the Atari VCS retro gaming console — not that the seas behind it were all that great either. While we were initially intrigued when the VCS was first announced, its challenging and controversial development took some of the shine off the device. And after years of delays that meant the hardware was dated by the time it hit store shelves, any excitement regarding the console had definitely diminished when we reviewed the VCS last year. And it seems like we weren't the only ones underwhelmed.

According to Atari’s half-year earnings report for fiscal 2022/2023, the future for the VCS looks bleak. Overall, the company reported revenue of $4.65 million, which was a 27 percent decrease from the same period last year. More importantly, hardware revenue plummeted 92 percent year-over-year, from $2.44 million to just $212,466. Atari attributed the decline to “[reduced] cartridge activity and underperformance by the VCS.” In other words, consumers appear to have turned their backs on the console.

Atari is reorganizing its hardware business and critically says this “includes the suspension of direct hardware manufacturing relationships” relating to the VCS. However, Atari did not mention any plans to secure new contracts to manufacture the VCS, so this appears to be the end of the line for the troubled console.

Going forward, Atari is implementing a new commercial strategy that involves the development of “new hardware complementary to the Atari VCS with partners under licensing contracts.” This doesn’t sound like a revised or next-generation VCS console, but perhaps new accessories for the system. The company already offers a Classic Joystick and Modern Controller for the VCS. However, it’s somewhat confounding that the company would shift resources to creating new accessories for a console that customers seemingly have not embraced in any large capacity.

With its hardware strategy in flux, Atari is looking ahead to other ventures to increase revenue in the coming year. The company envisions licensing its brand with “well-respected and recognized international brands” and will continue to build upon its Atari X NFT sales and create a new token. However, blockchain ventures have a lot of uncertainty and volatility in blockchain ventures, which could be risky for a company currently operating in the negative.

The Atari VCS 800 All-in bundle is still available at retailers like Best Buy, priced at $399. However, the cheapest place to find an Atari VCS is directly from the company ; You can grab the All-in bundle for just $239, direct from Atari's storefront. Previous retail partners like GameStop and Amazon no longer appear to have the console in stock. Those looking for their retro Atari fix on a console that's had a bit more success might want to consider Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration on the Switch. Now if only Nintendo would offer up a version of its console with a woodgrain finish and some orange buttons. 

We’ve seen Raspberry Pi arcade cabinets before, even ones made of wood, but this is the first Atari-themed arcade we’ve come across. It’s made primarily of walnut and runs RetroPie with enough buttons and joysticks carefully seated into the wood for two players.

Some of the best Raspberry Pi projects come out of the need for a one-of-a-kind gift. Such is the case today, as this beautiful walnut arcade was created as a gift for Mw33212’s brother-in-law.

It has room for controls, storage space inside for the Pi and other hardware components, and a built-in display. It’s finished with borders and inlay made from Indian rosewood and maple wood. The Atari logo is prominently placed in the center.

Two speakers are mounted above the controls that connect to a small amp. The screen is an LCD panel connected to the Raspberry Pi running RetroPie.

To get a closer look at the build, check out the original thread shared to Reddit and be sure to follow Mw33212 for more cool woodworking projects.

Depending on your perspective, the Atari VCS console/computer/set-top box is either a couple of years, or several decades overdue. Modeling itself after the venerable Atari 2600 (originally called the Atari Video Computer System, hence VCS) which launched in September of 1977, the modern VCS made its debut via a YouTube teaser in 2017. The company followed that up with a successful crowdfunding campaign the following year, promising to deliver devices in mid-2019. Here we are a couple of years later, and the VCS finally made its way to retail, via Best Buy and Micro Center last month.

Available in either basic black (Onyx) or the more 2600-like Black Walnut, the device (let’s call it a console, though it also has a PC Mode, if you can get it to work) sells for $399. You get an AMD embedded APU, 8GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, as well as both a nostalgia-inducing joystick and a more modern Xbox-like controller.

$399 is a lot to ask for the hardware here, although you do get a promised “100 classic arcade and console games” included, as well as the ability to install popular streaming apps, like Disney+ and HBO Max — in case you didn’t already have a set-top box. That said, beyond some streaming apps and a handful of indie retro-inspired games, the store selection is minimal at best.

And in a move that at the very least makes the VCS more versatile and interesting, you can crack the console open to add additional storage via SATA M.2 as well as upgrade the RAM. A PC Mode selection in the menu lets you install and run other operating systems, like Linux and Windows — at least in theory. But the process for installing Windows on an internal drive is surprisingly convoluted. And if you were hoping to run demanding AAA games from your Steam or Epic gaming libraries, the dual-core (four-thread) Ryzen embedded R1606G SoC with integrated Vega 3 graphics is here to throw a wrench in your plans. In terms of retro gaming, this is a powerhouse compared to the popular Raspberry Pi. But as might be expected given the Atari name and woodgrain front panel, modern games are best left to the best gaming PCs, or a current console from the likes of Sony or Microsoft (if you can find one in stock).

Atari VCS Specifications

Out of the Box Atari VCS Experience

It’s clear that the company is leaning hard into the nostalgia trip with the VCS, as the interior boxes are all pleasingly adorned with the company’s old-school logo and Asteroid graphics. Given that I was born a month before the 2600 launched, and some of my earliest gaming memories involve small black cartridges and the iconic single-button joystick (which gets a few extra here), I’m happy enough to go along on this trip.

Thanks to USB-A ports (two in the front and two in the back) and HDMI, connecting up the VCS is a whole lot easier than the old-school Switch Box that always had me running to the kitchen for a butter knife to use as a screwdriver to connect the console to the two screws on the back of the TV. Powering up the system pulls on the nostalgia strings, as the Atari logo takes center stage, followed by some black-and-white Asteroids animation.

But once you get into the VCS’ main screens (you’ll first have to create an account and a PIN), it very quickly becomes clear that what’s available is much more broad than it is deep.

First, the good news: As advertised, there are about 100 included Atari arcade and 2600 games. And while I can’t say I played each and every one, the titles I played worked well and looked good. They certainly looked better than when I played them in the 1980s on a 13-inch TV with no remote and a busted channel knob that required using a pair of pliers when it was time for my mom to watch M*A*S*H.

I was, though, disappointed that Yar’s Revenge did not include rumble support (although some games do). And some notable titles that no-doubt would require expensive licensing (like ET, Superman and Pitfall Harry) were absent. If you want more Atari titles, a VCS Vault Volume 2 with 50 more games is available in the store for $5, though it leans more on arcade and homebrew titles. Really though, given the price, it’s irksome that the company keeps so many Atari titles behind an additional paywall. And regardless, don’t expect anything close to a complete list of even 2600 titles. I counted 81 in the standard bundle, and while the VCS Vault Volume 2 adds a few more, there were over 400 games released for the console, or more if you count the many duplicate titles. Something you remember fondly will probably be absent here.

When you get tired of retro Atari titles, the Antstream Arcade app also comes pre-installed, and there’s real depth here. It’s a retro-gaming service with “thousands” of streaming retro titles from any number of platforms and decades, as well as online leaderboards, tournaments, and challenges. It’s also free as an ad-supported service, or $10 a month without ads. As much as I like the service, the pricing is a bit steep. But Atari does include a card in the box with a URL that gives you a year’s premium subscription for $39.99, which seems more reasonable. The only real downside I saw with the service, and this will be a big one with some people, is that you can’t remap buttons — at least for now, which can make playing some games feel awkward.

Regardless, I may pay up for Antstream, in part because the service works on almost everything: PC, Mac, Android — even the Amazon Fire TV stick is supported. That’s great, but it also means one of the VCS’ best features isn’t tied to this $400 device. You probably already own three or four devices that can play the games on this service already.

Games and App Store (Have your Keyboard and Mouse Handy)

Aside from the Atari titles and Antstream, the VCS also has a selection of additional apps and games in its store. At first, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw services like Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix and YouTube. ESPN Plus, Twitch, Showtime and Peacock are also here, but what I just mentioned is about half of the current app list. I counted 19 in total, and that’s including a VCS Companion smartphone app to control the console, plus an app to test the controller that seems to be aimed at developers.

Things actually get worse when you actually try to use the streaming apps. I tried both the Disney+ and Hulu apps, only to find out (eventually) that you can’t actually control them with either of the included VCS controllers. You either need to have a regular keyboard and mouse connected (via USB or Bluetooth), or you need to use the aforementioned VCS Companion app, on a smartphone or tablet that’s connected to the same network as your VCS.

It seems like this app basically emulates a keyboard and mouse, similar to an app Intel shipped with its Compute Stick PCs years ago. But I could never actually get the app to work on my Samsung S21 Ultra. No matter how many times I entered my login PIN, the Launch button was always grayed out.

Your mileage may vary with app-based control. But as much as having to navigate streaming apps with a gaming controller isn’t ideal, having to use a mouse and keyboard with a set-top box or use a buggy app to awkwardly move around menus is a flatly awful experience.

The game store is also sparse. At the time of testing, I counted just 26 titles available to buy (including that second Atari pack). Most were appropriately retro themed, and they all seem to be indie titles. Nothing stood out as something I’d seen before.

So while the VCS has support for most of the major video streaming apps, and there are some games that you can buy to add some depth, you’re likely going to be spending most of your time with Atari titles and Antstream.

Oh, and in case you were planning on using the VCS as a set-top box, make sure it’s going to sit far from earshot, because the console’s fan is quite audible. It’s not loud by gaming PC standards, but it’s quite noisy and noticeable for a set-top streaming device.

Controllers

The controllers that ship with the VCS feel OK, even leaning toward good. And while there are no paddle controllers included, the joystick spins left and right, giving an at least somewhat analogous experience for those games that used paddles on earlier consoles. However, twisting a slim control stick doesn’t give you the same level of fine-tuned control as you get with the larger paddle knobs on the original controllers.

Now, the controllers can be used either plugged in via USB or connected wirelessly with Bluetooth. Extra long micro USB cables are included in the box for a wired experience, and you may want to stick to using them, because I had issues with Bluetooth. Pairing the controllers is fairly simple. When the VCS boots up, it will flash a Bluetooth icon in the corner of the screen. Simply hold down the Atari logo button on each controller for several seconds, and they should pair within a few seconds.

But every time the system restarts, the controllers need to either re-pair, or wake up from their sleep state and reconnect to the VCS. And power up is done by pressing the same Atari button that’s used for pairing; a short press powers a controller up while a long press initiates pairing mode. This at times had me disconnecting the controller when I was just trying to turn it on. And at best, powering up the controllers takes a few seconds for each controller every single time you start up, leaving you sitting at the lock screen fiddling with controllers while waiting to be able to enter your PIN. I also experienced occasional issues with the Keychron K3 Bluetooth keyboard I used with the system, where it sometimes wasn’t recognized after a VCS reboot, forcing me to re-pair it from the Devices menu. I tried pairing an HP mouse via Bluetooth as well, but the system refused to see it at all. My advice is to stick to USB connectivity, as it just works. But of course, that makes for a much less-tidy setup.

At least with USB, the controllers just work. And there are four USB ports for this purpose, with two conveniently up front and two in the back.

Upgradability and OS Install Frustrations

Everyone appreciates versatility and upgradability — or at least I hope most of our readers do. As noted up top, the VCS’ menu has a PC Mode button that reboots the console, designed to let you launch into another operating system. An M.2 slot on the motherboard lets you add storage (which you’ll need for this purpose, given the system’s meager 32GB of eMMC). Only SATA M.2 drives are supported here, which is what we installed. I used a 256GB Crucial OEM model that I at some point pulled from a laptop that I upgraded.

You can also upgrade the RAM, but getting to that involves some more serious disassembly, because the SO-DIMM slots are on the underside of the motherboard. Games and productivity apps that you’re likely to run on a system like this should be fine with the 8GB that the VCS ships with, so for the sake of saving some time, we didn’t upgrade the RAM here.

Getting into the VCS is reasonably easy. The front and back panels pop off with a moderate amount of pulling and prying. That said, we suggest taking the back off first, then removing the four bottom screws, at which point the front panel should essentially fall off when you start to open the chassis. I mostly used Google searches and various posts and videos from users as guides for this process. Perhaps Atari has documentation regarding disassembly and upgrading, but I didn’t find any. Most of the documentation is provided digitally via a QR code on one of the interior boxes. But the camera app on my Samsung S21 Ultra refused to take the URL from the QR code, forcing me to type https://atarivcs.com/support in manually. This is fairly minor, but just adds to the frustration pile.

One nice thing to note: The four screws that hold the VCS together are hidden under rubber feet, but the parts over the screw holes just pop out to let you get to the screws, and then pop right back in. Every laptop maker should take notes here. A less-nice thing: The VCS uses Torx screws, and some require a lot of force to loosen, particularly for me the mounting screw for the M.2 drive.

Be careful when you open the VCS, as the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module antennas are taped to the plastic top of the shell, while the module and the rest of the system is attached to the motherboard. You can pull off the tape, or unplug the tiny antenna connections. Just be sure not to snap the wires.

Installing the M.2 in the slot to the right of the Wi-Fi module was a pretty standard process, aside from initially getting that screw loosened (I eventually resorted to using pliers to loosen it). Installing the SSD went so fast and easy that, in my eagerness to get Windows installed, I didn’t even take a picture before putting the VCS back together. Little did I know that I would be opening the VCS up a few more times before getting Windows 10 installed.

Installing Windows 10 on the Atari VCS

It’s worth noting that the VCS technically supports both booting into another operating system via an external drive or an internal drive. And many VCS owners online have opted for the former, understandably due to a lack of PC hardware knowledge and an aversion to cracking open a $300-$400 device that you just bought. But with nearly 25 years of PC building experience under my belt, a couple of SATA M.2 drives available, and the fact that I didn’t spend $400 of my own money on this VCS (our company purchased the VCS), I was happy to delve headlong into installing Windows 10 on an internal drive on the VCS. After installing the drive itself and putting the VCS back together, I expected the process to go smoothly. Boy, was I wrong.

While I was often distracted by other tasks, I spent more than two full work days attempting to install Windows 10 on the 256GB SATA drive I installed in the VCS. First, I attempted to use a LaCie flash drive I’d used to install Windows 10 with several times over the last couple years, only for the process to error out at various stages, with various messages of complaint.

So I wiped the flash drive and created a more up-to-date install drive using Microsoft’s Media Creation tool. After that attempt, I got a different error, indicating some files were missing. I’d run into a similar error with flash drive installation media before that was fixed by using an optical install disc. So I pulled my old USB Blu-ray drive out of a drawer and burned a Windows 10 install DVD. Again, upon attempting to install, I got varying errors, often relating to the system being unable to initiate a reboot to get to the next stage of the installation.

In the midst of all this, at some point I began Googling possible solutions, first landing on Atari’s own Windows 10 Install guide (warning, PDF link), which actually involves creating a bootable flash drive to run Windows 10 from, rather than getting Windows 10 running on an internal M.2. Still, I tried this process anyway and, one night after work, left the system to boot from my converted TeamGroup flash drive. After about 8 hours, Windows 10 hadn’t actually booted from the flash drive, but it had progressed from the spinning Windows loading circle to a spinning circle that asked me to please wait a moment while Windows loads. After several more moments, I gave up and powered down.

Eventually, I pulled the M.2 drive out and performed some low-level formatting on it from the command line, reinstalled it in the VCS, and didn’t get any further with my install attempts. Then I found another flash drive to use as installation media, and didn’t get any further. I even dragged out a different M.2 SATA drive and installed it in the VCS, without any luck.

At the end of the second day, I stumbled on a possible solution via Reddit, which I had considered at some point the day before, but figured there must be a simpler (and more sensible) solution. Maybe there is, but after about 48 hours of frustration, I tried the Reddit route. It involved pulling the M.2 drive from the VCS, installing it in an external enclosure (thankfully I had a Silverstone model at hand) and using the Hasleo WinToUSB tool recommended by Atari’s support materials to create a bootable version of Windows on an external drive. The free version wouldn’t let me create a partition that used all of the 245GB or so of space available on my Crucial SSD, but I gave it a shot anyway, creating an “external” Windows 10 boot SSD with over 100GB of space--plenty of room to install the OS and a few older or indie games and programs.

After the drive finished writing, I then unplugged and removed the M.2 drive from the Silverstone enclosure, and installed it back into the VCS once again. From there, I had to plug in a keyboard and mash the escape key when booting to get into the BIOS and tell the system to boot from my Windows MBR partition first--something you’ll have to do every time you want to boot into Windows on the VCS, unless or until Atari unlocks the BIOS features it apparently locked down with an update before the launch of the retail VCS.

But, with the Windows Boot Manager selected, I rebooted, and within a few minutes I finally had Windows 10 running on the VCS. I was slightly elated. It only took two days of failed attempts and frustration. And again, I’d have to enter the BIOS each time I wanted to boot into Windows 10 to choose my preferred boot device (the Atari’s Linux-based OS is still the default), but at least it worked! Of course, given the embedded AMD APU, I wasn’t expecting modern AAA titles to run. (Or at least run well.) It turns out, though, what I was actually in for was yet another round of “well, this isn’t what I expected.”

As I nudged Windows 10 to install any available updates and drivers, I also manually downloaded and installed AMD’s Radeon software, to be sure I had the latest video drivers. All seemed to go well at first, and I even began installing Steam and the Epic launcher, thinking I would soon be firing up some games to see what ran, what ran well, and what didn’t run at all.

But after a few reboots and, at least seemingly, all necessary updates and drivers installed and ready to rumble, the system was still persistently experiencing app crashes, video display issues, and other flavors of wonkiness. Slack ran OK for short periods of time, but both Chrome and Edge would often crash after sometimes just several seconds of use.

At first, given the display issues, I thought the problems might be primarily down to the generic Radeon software I installed. The system does, after all, make use of a rather non-mainstream Ryzen Embedded R1606G silicon. So I rooted around on AMD’s support site until I found, downloaded and installed Radeon software specifically for the company’s R-Series R1000 hardware. I was hopeful this would improve things, but after installation and a reboot, within a couple of minutes, my desktop looked like this.

Apologies for the smartphone photo, but as you may notice from the error on the right, even the snipping tool at one point refused to run. I clicked through a couple of these error windows, and eventually ran across this bouncing bundle of annoyance.

At this point, it felt like the Windows gods were trying to tell me something. I could spend several more hours Googling all of these errors and trying to get Windows 10 to run better on the VCS, but why? At best I was going to see performance akin to a $300 budget box. And if my primary purpose was to run Windows for low-end gaming, there are all sorts of options out there that should perform better, with fewer hassles — and, oh yeah, they will all run Antstream Arcade, which features plenty of Atari games, too. I love to tinker with hardware more than most people, but a Breakpoint error is, it turns out, my breaking point for the VCS.

Conclusion

I could give the Atari VCS every pass possible. Maybe you won’t have the issues I did with the Companion App or the Bluetooth pairing issues with the controllers. Maybe you don’t care about PC Mode, or you won’t have the installation and basic functionality issues I did. Good for you! And maybe the company will add significantly to its current lineup of apps and games. But then you’re still left with a $400 set-top box that does a pretty good job at playing 100 or so games from 35 or more years ago, with a noisy fan and a clunky interface for video streaming.

Aside from being perhaps the most frustrating piece of hardware I’ve tested and reviewed in years, the VCS is also hugely overpriced for what you get. And beyond its core functionality, it feels very much unpolished and unfinished, despite years of delays.

And here’s another frustration: While the system is technically capable of being switched over to 4K mode for higher-quality video, it ships at 1080p by default, because the whole OS is sluggish at the higher resolution. This would feel like a more dire issue if there weren’t so much else going on. But the retro games themselves don’t visually benefit from the OS running at a higher resolution. And the fact that the streaming apps require the use of either a keyboard and mouse or a smartphone app (which I couldn’t get to work at all) makes the VCS such a poor streaming media device that its 4K sluggishness feels fairly minor.

The basic 4K ability and responsiveness is the kind of basic functionality that $40-50 devices like the Roku Streaming Stick+ and the Amazon Fire Stick handle with far less issue (and with much better controls. And the Fire Stick can run Antstream Arcade, which is arguably the best thing about the Atari VCS. Or at least Antstream has far more depth than the rest of the games on the VCS, and it runs on Android and Windows and elsewhere, which means you probably have a few devices that will run the retro gaming service already without spending $400 on a device with some pretty retro-wood grain and a nostalgia-inspiring controller.

And heck, if it’s that old-school joystick feel that you're after for your retro-gaming enjoyment, Hyperkin makes one of those with a USB connection that will give you that retro-gaming experience for just $20, or $380 less than the Atari VCS. While it won’t come with that iconic Atari logo, the vast majority of gamers looking to recreate that old-school feel would be much better off buying a retro controller and a budget mini PC or even a Raspberry Pi for retro gaming than spending hundreds on the Atari VCS.

It's taken Atari less time to introduce its own Ethereum-based token, a crypto casino, and an NFT licensing business than it has to finally release the Atari VCS not-quite console it revealed in 2017 under the Ataribox moniker. Now the company's going even harder on crypto and NFT: It announced yesterday that it'd created two new divisions, Atari Gaming and Atari Blockchain, as well as a reshuffle of its leadership team.

The company said in its announcement that its now-previous chief executive, Frédéric Chesnais, would "focus on Licensing and Atari Blockchain." He was replaced by board of directors chairman Wade Rosen, who said that Chesnais "inherited a situation burdened with debt" and "eliminated debt and enacted a meaningful turnaround" during his tenure by pushing Atari beyond the gaming market.

That push is where Atari started to get weird. (Even weirder than the Speakerhats it announced in 2017, which is saying something.) 

Let's start with the Atari Token. The company said its "primary objective is to be a means of payment for the interactive entertainment industry, but we believe the token will be beneficial for other industries as well" and that "eventually, we envision the Atari Token being available worldwide as a means of payment." 

Then it announced a partnership with Decentral Games to create an Atari-branded casino in the "Vegas City" gaming district on the Decentraland metaverse, which is also based on Ethereum, with a two-year lease. Think that's confusing to read on an enthusiast-focused website in 2021? Imagine saying that sentence to someone playing Space Invaders on the Atari 2600 in the '80s. Yet here we find ourselves.

But then Atari managed to cross all those decades by embracing the NFT, or non-fungible token, market that went from a meme to a mega-hit seemingly overnight. The company said yesterday that it "has seen a tremendous amount of success in licensing the Atari related brands for the use in NFTs" and that it "anticipate[s] this playing an even larger part of our licensing strategy in the coming years."

That's all happened very quickly. Meanwhile, it seems the Atari VCS is perpetually close to—but not quite ready for—release. The console was revealed in 2017, rebranded to the Atari VCS in 2018, and expanded to a "Raspberry Pi for the living room" in 2019. Atari said it would start shipping the device in July 2019, the end of 2019, March 2020, and spring 2020; it finally started to reach buyers in December 2020.

However, there didn't appear to be much stock because the Atari VCS is currently limited to pre-orders that Atari claims will ship in spring 2021. We'll believe it when we see it, especially given the global chip shortage. The device's former architect also filed a lawsuit in 2020 claiming the company owed him six months of back pay, which doesn't exactly support the idea that Atari VCS is a priority for Atari... Gaming.

The company's announcement also suggests that it's no longer focused on hardware. Here's the section of the release devoted to the Atari VCS:

"Atari will continue to support the Atari VCS through meaningful third-party content and exclusive first-party content. The VCS community has shown an ingenuity and creativity in adapting the system, and Atari will work to support this by releasing tools that will allow creators the ability to design their own classic Atari games (beginning with the Atari 2600). With an eventual goal of making it easier to create, share and play retro gaming content in the modern era."

It's not clear how those efforts would differ from introducing official emulators for the Atari consoles of yore—many of which can already be emulated by other means—or why developers would make retro games for a device that very few people own. But at least there's some hope for the Atari VCS; the Speakerhat's all but disappeared from Amazon. So much for the future of listening to music.

Still waiting for the next-gen Atari to come out? You might be waiting for a long time. Until then, take a look at this awesome Atari 2600 case for the Raspberry Pi, known as PiTari, designed by James from Print N Play!

The case was designed entirely from scratch and can house both the Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi 4 models. The PiTari case is small, almost the same size as the Pi but expanding outwards in all directions by about 6mm.

The custom case might be small, but it has plenty of room for an additional heatsink or even a fan. If you're familiar with the Raspberry Pi 4, you'll know they can run a bit hot--a fan is a must-have asset. The case can accommodate a fan as big as 30mm. You can check out our list of best Raspberry Pi cases for more ways to house and cool your Pi 4.

The entire unit was designed to be 3D printed, just like many of the other cases on his YouTube channel Print N Play. James has a serious knack for designing Raspberry Pi cases and his work absolutely shines with this latest project.

If you want to get your hands on this case, you can print it out at home. James provides everything you need to get started on Thingiverse. In the meantime, be sure to follow him for more cool Raspberry Pi case designs!

Unis, the arcade game company that brought Atari Pong back to arcades in physical form a couple of years ago, is at it again. At the company's CES 2020 booth, it showed off two new arcade games that combine physical objects with virtual fun: a four-player version of Pong and a shooting game that fires real pellets at the screen. 

Atari Pong Knockout

Much like its two-player predecessors, Atari Pong Knockout features real, magnetic paddles and a puck, which sit under glass and are controlled by dials on the console. As in classic Pong, the goal is to knock the puck past your opponents' goal lines. 

However, this version of Pong supports up to four players at a time. Rather than trying to achieve the highest score, the goal of Knockout is be the last player standing. After each player allows three goals, they are eliminated, until only one remains. If there are fewer than four human players, the other paddles will become computer competitors.

I had a lot of fun playing against three human competitors at Unis's booth, but I was one of the first to get eliminated. The feel of the dial and the button you use to serve is great. The all-white look of the paddles and puck makes them look like 3D graphics when they are real objects under glass. After each goal, magnets under the game board make the puck float over to the paddle of the player who is serving next.

Atari Pong Knockout is already rolling out to Dave & Buster's arcades in the United States, so you may find it there even now. It will eventually become available at other arcades and, presumably, for individual purchase, though we doubt many people would have the space or budget for it (no word on pricing, but it's probably several thousand dollars).

On Point

At CES, Unis also showed off On Point, a shooting target game that uses a real air pistol to fire very-real pellets at the screen. The goal of the game is to hit as many targets as you can before time runs out.

A Unis representative said that On Point, which is due out later this year, will use 100 pellets per game and be able to hold enough pellets for 400 games, before requiring a refill. Though Unis had me wear safety glasses to play, the entire setup seems pretty idiot-proof. The gun will not fire unless it is pointed directly at the screen, which is behind a barrier so it's hard to imagine someone accidentally shooting themselves or someone else.

Shooting real pellets gives the gun in On Point a very realistic feel with kick back and air shooting noises. While Unis could have used a fake gun that doesn't shoot anything, having this element of realism makes the game a lot more fun.

There's no word yet on when On Point will be coming to arcades or how much it will cost, but the product we saw looked like it was ready for primetime action.

Atari released its last game console in 1993. That's supposed to change when it finally ships the Atari VCS in 2020, but The Register reported yesterday that the device's lead architect stopped working with Atari on October 4, leading some to question whether the product will actually reach consumers.

Atari tapped design consultancy Tin Giant to design the Atari VCS. That firm was founded by Rob Wyatt, who helped create the original Xbox, and its involvement lent some credibility to Atari's efforts to re-enter the console market. But then Wyatt told The Register he stopped working with Atari because it hadn't "paid invoices going back over six months." Now the Atari VCS will have to be finished by a company called SurfaceInk.

Wyatt said on his LinkedIn profile that his "duties on the hardware side involve defining the electronic hardware and architecture as well as providing detailed power consumption and thermal analysis." He was also responsible for "securely booting the AMD processor and developing a custom semi-embedded version of linux with highly optimized audio and graphics drivers." The device probably wouldn't exist in its current form without him.

The Register's report arrived the same day that Atari offered a behind-the-scenes look at its upcoming product, showing new pictures of the Atari VCS. (It also recently partnered with Antstream to offer exclusive access to certain Atari titles via the company's game streaming platform.) We wouldn't be surprised to learn the images and additional information Atari published were supposed to preemptively draw attention away from The Register's report.

But this isn't the first sign that Atari VCS development wasn't going as smoothly as expected. Atari raised $3 million for the project on the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform in June 2018. The device was supposed to ship in July 2019, then its release date slipped to "end of 2019," then to March 2020 and then finally to "spring 2020." It's not clear if or how losing Wyatt and Tin Giant will affect the device's release schedule moving forward.

Atari's been around since 1972. It released numerous consoles, a handheld gaming device and other products over the course of several decades. The Atari VCS exceeded its funding goal on Indiegogo by nearly 3,000%. It's also a fairly simple device, at least compared to the upcoming PlayStation and Xbox consoles it's primary appeal is nostalgia.

Yet, it can't stick to a release schedule or pay invoices submitted by its system architect? Those failures would be embarrassing for an unknown company trying to make its first hardware product. For something with as much history, funding and outside assistance as Atari, it's nearly unconscionable. Atari has yet to respond to Wyatt's claims. But if the allegations have any merit, perhaps the the company--and the wood paneling with which it's adorning its latest gaming product--should've remained a memory.

Update 10/8/2019 2 p.m. ET: Atari VCS' architect, Rob Wyatt, has quit, putting the future of the gaming device in question. Wyatt, who also helped found the Xbox, said he quit because Atari hasn't paid invoices to his design consultancy "going back over six months."

Original article 10/8/2019 11:18 a.m. ET: 

The Atari VCS isn't expected to debut until March 2020, but that didn't stop Atari from sharing pictures of the hardware's development on Medium today, offering the first glimpse at how the actual device will compare to the renders the company's been sharing since first announcing the device in 2017.

A quick recap: Atari announced its return to the gaming hardware market (the company doesn't want the VCS to be called a console) in 2017 with the  Ataribox. It eventually rebranded that to the Atari VCS, raised more than $3 million on Indiegogo and started bringing the device to tradeshows. It was originally supposed to ship in July 2019, but its launch date changed a few times after the Indiegogo project was successfully funded.

That brings us to the Atari VCS of today. We already knew the not-a-console would feature an AMD Ryzen Embedded 1606G processor and have 32GB of eMMC storage from our meeting at E3 2019 about the Atari VCS. Today we learned the device will also offer an open port for a SATA M.2 SSD and that its 8GB of SODIMM DDR4 memory is upgradeable. 

Atari also revealed that the device will feature a custom-designed cooling solution. Here's how it works: 

"The AMD APU has thermal sensors and a fan controller system that monitors the APU temperature and adjusts the fan speed according to the unit’s needs at a given moment," Atari explained.

"It is supported in its efforts by the two large vent ports on the the back fascia of the unit. Looking at the back straight-on view, the slotted vents on the right rear will allow outside air to be sucked into the unit to cool the processor and other parts, while hot air is simultaneously forced out and away from the unit through the vents on the left. You can’t really see it in the photos, but the vent slots are all angled to drive air away from the unit. There’s also die-cut metal mesh screens to prevent small objects from getting inside the VCS through the open vents."

Atari said the tooling for the VCS' plastic parts are "largely complete" and that gaming accessories vendor PowerA has "the awesome new Atari Classic Joysticks and Atari Modern Controllers ... just about ready for mass production." Once the companies actually enter mass production, they expect to be able to make "thousands of units quickly and efficiently." Then it's a matter of shipping them to Indiegogo backers before releasing them to the public.

The device still appears to be in a relatively early stage. Atari said its pre-production units "operate more like a computer than a fully-functional game system at the moment." Further software development is planned, and Indiegogo backers who receive their units early are asked to share their feedback on that aspect.

Photo Credits: Atari

A few years ago, the idea of Atari returning to the hardware market was a joke. But that didn't stop the company from announcing the Ataribox, which it has since renamed the Atari Video Computer System (VCS), or accepting pre-orders for the device via crowdfunding platforms such as Indiegogo. Today it announced that it's partnered with Anstream Arcade to offer an exclusive version of the company's eponymous retro game streaming platform.

Atari said in the announcement that the "exclusive Antstream Arcade Atari VCS app would include the largest collection of Atari games available on-demand, in both original and enhanced edition formats, curated from across the brand’s many arcade, home, and handheld platforms." At launch the app offers access to 50 classic titles; additional games will be added on "a steady basis." (Which is vague enough to be all-but-meaningless.)

Antstream currently offers access to more than 500 games via its apps. Games played via the service are streamed--much like titles played via Google Stadia will be--and the company has additional "challenge modes" for people looking to change things up a bit. The company said in a support article that its service is currently available in the UK and "some additional support in those countries where our wonderful Kickstarter backers are located."

Atari didn't mention any region-locking for Antstream Arcade Atari VCS, however, so the app will likely be available in the U.S. by the time the Atari VCS launches. The company said it would offer a 30-day free trial of the service, after which users have the option of paying $10 per month or $96 per year for continued access. That is the same price Google is asking for Stadia, which offers access to far more recent titles with higher quality, each month.

The Atari VCS was initially expected to ship in July 2019. When we caught up with the company at E3, however, it told us the don't-call-it-a-console wouldn't ship until March 2020. The company reiterated that shipping date in today's announcement and said the device is now available for pre-order from GameStop, Walmart and its online store. It's still expected to ship with AMD's Raven Ridge accelerated processing unit (APU) inside.

It's been a long road to Atari's VCS release, kicked off by an Indiegogo campaign that raised $3 million, but the system, which comes powered by an AMD Ryzen processor, is finally up for pre-order starting at $249.

We caught up with Atari at E3 and had a chance to take a deep look at the retro box, but the company's message is clear: The Atari VCS isn't a game console. Even though Atari designed it to be adept at gaming, much like a game console, the VCS fulfills many of the roles of a typical desktop computer and allows for intense customization that the company says makes it "like a Raspberry Pi for the living room."

That all starts with an AMD Ryzen Embedded 1606G processor. The 14nm dual-core, quad-threaded processor has a 2.6 GHz base frequency and a 3.5 GHz boost, paired with the Vega 3 graphics engine. The system comes with its own Linux-based Atari operating system that has a crossbar-style, tiled user interface and includes submenus for games, applications like Netflix and Hulu, social media platforms and an Atari game store. It comes with 100 classic Atari games for the nostalgic. The set-top box has a retro design, but it is actually a modern machine: you can also install new gaming titles, too, like Borderlands 3 or Fortnite.

You can also use the box as a standard PC by installing your own operating system, like Windows 10 or Linux, via a sandbox menu. The VCS supports 4K, 10-bit HDR streaming and HDCP via the single HDMI 2.0 port. It also supports standard AMD Radeon graphics drivers, meaning you have access to all of the latest day-zero driver updates for new games. Unfortunately, the system does not support AMD FreeSync. 

Aside from the 32GB eMMC storage that houses the Linux-based Atari operating system, the company opened the entire system up to secondary operating systems, meaning all of the hardware is accessible to the user. That stands in contrast to Sony's practice of allowing users to install another operating system, but then restricting access to key components, like the GPU. Atari's approach allows the system to be fully programmable, so you can create your own apps and programs, hence the Raspberry Pi-type functionality.

The base packages come without a paddle or controller, but they come with the $389.99 bundle or you purchase them separately for $49.99 and $59.99, respectively. The wireless controller clearly draws inspiration from the Xbox controller and comes with five lights aligned down the center to indicate power status. The wireless paddles have a ring of LED lights around the base that light up based upon the paddles' position. Like the controller, the paddle vibrates based on game activity.

Above is a mock-up of the system that shows the internal components. A blower style fan cools the AMD processor, with air exhausting to the rear right of the chassis. Atari said this cooling system is robust enough to run the processors at its full TDP over extended periods, so you won't have to worry about thermal throttling due to the slim chassis design. We see an M.2 slot in the middle front of the system that is fully upgradeable and can house any M.2 SSD. The VCS 400, which is the value-centric model, lacks an M.2 module, while the full-featured VCS 800 comes with a drive (tAtari hasn't specified capacity).

Two SODIMM slots on the bottom of the motherboard house DDR4-2400 memory. You can also upgrade these modules, meaning you can upgrade both the memory and the storage, but the processor is soldered to the motherboard. The VCS 400 comes with 4GB of memory and is geared for 1080p gaming and streaming, while the VCS 800 comes with 8GB of memory for 4K gaming and streaming. The rear of the machine has two USB 3 ports (two more are nestled under the front overhang), HDMI 2.0 port, Ethernet port and the power port. The VCS uses a 19V external power brick that is roughly the size of the base of the game paddle. The power supply is fully sealed and supplies the required 60W for the system.

Price and Availability 

The VCS is available for pre-order now through Atari's online store, GameStop and Walmart. Each retailer carries the Onyx Base model, plus an exclusive $389.99 all-in packages that vary by retailer. These exclusive models have the same features and come with a paddle and controller, but carry different color schemes.

It's already been a long and winding road to the VCS's release, but we'll have to wait until March 2020 for the systems to ship. 

AMD announced its new Ryzen Embedded R100 SoCs to tackle the growing number of applications for embedded processors, which includes low-power game consoles and handheld gaming devices. For instance, Atari recently announced that it had revamped its Atari VCS with a new processor, but didn't divulge what type of new AMD processor was lurking inside. As part of today's release, AMD announced the Atari VCS uses the new AMD R1000 embedded processors.

AMD's R1000 series come as BGA-mounted SoCs, meaning they won't install in a normal desktop PC motherboard, and feature Zen+ CPU cores paired with the Vega 3 graphics engine. This class of chips drops into any number of devices, like the handheld Smach Z gaming PC, the aforementioned Atari VCS, robots, digital signage, industrial, thin client, and networking equipment.

The key to winning all of these segments is to deliver solid performance within a low power envelope. As such, the dual-core quad-thread R1606G and R1505G operate at a default 15W TDP, though customers can tune the configurable TDP (cTDP) from 12W to 25W to tune for the application. The low 12W bar allows these chips to operate in fanless systems, meaning they don't require a fan on the heatsink, which is a critical requirement for many thin clients.

The R1606G comes with a 3.5 GHz base and 2.6 GHz boost clock, while the R1505G takes a minor step back to a 3.3 GHz boost and 2.4 GHz base. Both chips support dual-channel DDR4-2400 memory, which is a necessity to minimize power consumption.

These R1000-Series processors slot in under AMD's quad-core eight-thread V1000 models. To maximize compatibility, both the R1000 and V1000 chips can be attached to FP5 BGA motherboards. For those on the hunt for the ultimate in embedded performance, AMD also offers the EPYC embedded 3000 series, which are variants of its data center chips that feature up to 16 cores and 32 threads.

The R1000 processors support up to three 4K displays running at 60 frames per second (FPS) with three independent DisplayPort 1.4 connections, along with H.265 encode/decode and VP9 decode. They also support HDMI 2.0b. The processors support the same full suite of security features as the EPYC data center processors, which includes a secure root of trust and transparent memory encryption in the memory controllers. In contrast to Intel's competing models, AMD offers these features on both models. 

The R-series processors also come equipped with two integrated 10GbE connections, which is particularly attractive for networking applications. As with all of its embedded processors, AMD also offers ten years of availability to cater to the unique needs of this market niche.

AMD is aiming for the best performance-per-watt ratio, claiming a 3X performance per-watt-improvement over its prior-gen models, and up to 4X the performance-per-dollar. The company provided the benchmark results above comparing to competing Intel models, but as with all vendor-provided benchmarks, take these with a grain of salt.

AMD supports a wide variety of operating systems, some of which you don't hear about often. However, Yocto and MEL Flex OS are common operating systems in the embedded space. AMD also supports the usual suspects, like Windows 10 and Ubuntu.

AMD already has a broad assortment of customers and partners. The chips will be available this quarter to OEMs and ODMs.

Image Credits: AMD, Tom's Hardware

After debuting nearly a year ago, Atari has finally revealed it will update the hardware inside its Linux-based Video Computer System (or VCS), something Atari doesn't describe as a "console" but more akin to a low power gaming PC that will feature some of Atari's most iconic games from the early days of video games. It can also play other games supported on Linux. Atari has been working with AMD since 2017 to bring the VCS to reality.

While Atari says its VCS was originally designed to use Bristol Ridge-based APUs from AMD, the company has opted for Raven Ridge instead. It's pretty obvious why: Bristol Ridge is based on AMD's older Bulldozer architecture which debuted in 2011, and while Bulldozer-based APUs were quite fast graphically when they first launched, they don't hold up well anymore. In contrast, Raven Ridge is AMD's most recent architecture for APUs, andit's featured in Ryzen Mobile, AMD's desktop APUs, and things like the Smach Z.

By moving to Raven Ridge, Atari can push performance and power efficiency higher than if it had stuck with Bristol Ridge. Atari is giving the VCS a dual-core APU, which will probably be based on the same silicon features in the Athlon 200GE series. These APUs are definitely not the fastest in the world, but the graphical performance is significantly faster than what Intel has to offer, which is what matters for a gaming-oriented system. Atari says the VCS will launch towards the end of 2019, and that will make the choice of hardware a little dated, but still modern.

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.

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.

Updated, 5/31/2018, 9:25am PT: The Atari VCS pre-orders got so much attention that it took down Indiegogo's website for a brief period. So far the campaign has raised more than $2 million in 24 hours. Time will tell how much money Atari can make before the month-long campaign ends.

Original article, 5/30/2018, 7:05am PT:

Atari opened pre-orders for its Atari VCS console on Indiegogo, and the response has been overwhelming, to put it mildly. The company has already raised more than $332,000 at time of writing--it originally hoped to raise $100,000--and the campaign still has a month to go.

The last Atari console was released in the '80s, so when Atari revealed last year that it was working on new hardware, it came as a bit of a shock. (And no, we aren't referring to the ridiculous "Speakerhats.") The console was originally known as the Ataribox when it was announced in July 2017 with little more than a few renders, basic specs, and a promise to be more than a nostalgia trip.

Atari took the Ataribox to GDC 2018 and renamed it the Atari Video Computer System (VCS). The company also refuted the idea that the Ataribox is a console, opting instead to describe it as a computer that runs a Linux-based operating system and can play games. Some of those games will be Atari classics, and the company plans to "reimagine" several of those titles, but it will also support Linux-compatible PC games.

Besides games, Atari said the Atari VCS will also support "streaming media and a universe of web-powered entertainment," though it didn't get into specifics. That doesn't come as much of a surprise--considering that all PCs and most consoles support video streaming and "web-powered entertainment," it would've been weirder if Atari's in-between don't-call-it-a-console didn't embrace modern forms of entertainment.

The Atari VCS will be accompanied by the Atari Classic Joystick and Atari Modern Controller. Two variants of the console are available: an all-black "Onyx" edition and a "Collector's Edition" boasting wood paneling that hearkens back to the company's early hardware. Prices range from $29 for the Atari Classic Joystick to $339 for the Collector's Edition console, Atari Classic Joystick, and Atari Modern Controller.

Atari has cut the price of the Onyx console from $299 to $199 until 12pm ET on June 4, and it will sell the Collector's Edition console and bundles until 12pm ET on June 11. The company plans to start delivering the Atari VCS and its accessories to consumers in July 2019. That's just an estimate, though, and hardware is often delayed. But hey, Atari fans have already waited decades for a new console. What's another year?

Gaming Overload

The Game Developers Conference (more commonly known as GDC) is jam-packed with sessions and tutorials geared toward developers, but it also features a bustling show floor brimming with the latest in gaming technology.

Hardware and software vendors make some of their biggest announcements of the year at GDC. Although we didn't hear any GPU news from either AMD or Nvidia, there was still plenty of action to keep us busy. Much like last year, GDC 2018 was loaded with PC, VR, AR, and MR hardware running the latest games.

Join us as we recap our trip through the show floor.

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The Atari VCS Debuts

Atari is returning to the gaming market after a 20-year hiatus. Its new VCS, formerly known as the Ataribox, debuted at GDC. Naturally, we jumped at the chance to take a closer look at Atari's hardware, though the company isn't running game demos yet.

We learned that the retro-styled device, inspired by the 1977 VCS 2600, supports modern features like video streaming, 4K displays, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and voice commands. While it technically supports any Linux-compatible game, hardware performance limitations will narrow the list. Atari tells us that games like The Witcher 3 and the latest Call of Duty won't run at 60 FPS. However, the company is testing less demanding PC titles, such as Borderlands, to see if they will meet its frame rate targets.

Under the hood, expect to find an as-yet-undisclosed AMD APU that Atari says will deliver Switch-like performance levels. Representatives told us that the device should sell between $250 and $300, and include a joystick and Xbox-styled controller. The company will announce the pre-order date in April.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

We Go Hands-On With The Oculus Go

Oculus isn't selling its Go yet, so a lot of the hardware details are still closely-guarded secrets. We did get an opportunity to go hands-on with the HMD at GDC, though. Of course, a $200 tether-less HMD isn't going to give you the rich, immersive experience you'd expect from a Rift backed by a high-end PC. But it was surprisingly capable as we played through Anshar Online, a cross-platform space shooter.

The HMD is light and well-balanced, and it doesn't require a gaming rig or smartphone. Oculus' controller is small and intuitive, though perhaps a bit too small for our liking. While the WQHD (2560x1440) LCD display is plenty bright, we did notice that our spaceship disappeared a few times during our demo. This is early hardware, after all.

During a panel session, Oculus outlined a few details of the dynamic clock control mechanisms for the Go's Snapdragon 821 SoC. Again, though, details are still light. We expect to learn more at Facebook's F8 conference later this year.

MORE: Best Virtual Reality Headsets

The Vive Pro Pops Up With A Big Price Tag

HTC announced that the Vive Pro is available for pre-order at an eye-watering $800. Its new headset comes bristling with new features, like a high-resolution 1440x1600 Samsung screen, dual front-facing Chaperone cameras, integrated headphones, and support for Valve's SteamVR Tracking 2.0 technology.

We spotted the Vive Pro at DisplayLink's booth, where the company was showing off multi-user wireless VR capabilities using its DisplayLink XR. The device employs Intel 60 GHz WiGig antennas and DisplayLink's own codec technology.

Not surprisingly, we also found the Vive Pro in Valve's suite.

HTC should start shipping on April 5th. Meanwhile, the company slashed pricing on its original Vive to $500.

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Nvidia's Real-Time Ray Tracing

Nvidia made a slew of announcements at the show, including a real-time ray tracing demo of Epic Games' "Reflections." The short Star Wars clip was meant to highlight Nvidia's newly-announced RTX, a combination of software and hardware that enables real-time ray tracing effects. The demo ran on Nvidia's DGX Station featuring four Volta V100 GPUs, which is now on sale for $49,900. That's 25% off the normal $69,000 price tag for you value-seekers.

The fact that Nvidia had to run its demo on a machine capable of 500 TFLOPS speaks to the obvious: we won't see full real-time ray tracing on desktop PCs anytime soon. But next-generation titles will use the technology to render certain portions of scenes, such as shadows, reflections, and ambient occlusion.

The demo also used Microsoft's new DirectX Raytracing (DXR) API, which is supported by game engines like Unreal Engine 4, Unity 5, and DICE's Frostbite. That means we may see real-world applications of ray tracing in our games sooner than later.

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Bask In The Radeon Rays

AMD announced its open-source Radeon Rays library (formerly known as FireRays), which allows for asynchronous ray tracing computation. The software supports OpenCL 1.2, so it is hardware and operating system agnostic. That means it can run on non-AMD hardware, along with Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
 
AMD also announced that its Vulcan-based ProRender now supports real-time GPU acceleration of ray tracing. This update merges rasterization with real-time ray tracing to generate photo-realistic 3D images, but is currently limited to professional applications that use the ProRender plug-in.

Ray tracing facilitates realistic rendering, but is of course incredibly compute-intensive. A hybrid approach uses ray tracing to compute light effects like reflections, shadows, and transparency, while bulkier structures and surfaces are rendered with traditional rasterization. AMD's technology is intended to provide the best mix of performance and quality, allowing developers to adjust the ratio of rasterization and ray tracing to find a best fit for their needs.

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All This Ray Tracing; Let's Benchmark It!

With industry heavyweights like Nvidia, AMD, and Microsoft paving the way for ray tracing in games, it only makes sense that we seek out a corresponding benchmark. To that end, Futuremark announced a new 3DMark ray tracing metric built on its Time Spy test.

The benchmark leverages Microsoft's aforementioned DXR API and will run on any DX12-capable hardware. It currently only uses ray tracing across 10-15% of the scene (one ray per pixel), while everything else is handled through traditional rasterization. But ray tracing is used for reflections and shadows.

Futuremark may change the exact ratio prior to release. However, company representatives tell us that rendering 20% of the scene with ray tracing is enough to bring a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti down to roughly 22 FPS. Although the benchmark is still being fine-tuned, it should be ready for prime time later this year.

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Qualcomm Debuts New HMD Reference Platform

Qualcomm demoed its own reference VR HMD platform at this year's show. The new 845 Virtual Reality Development Kit (VRDK) comes packed with capabilities like room-scale 6DoF (SLAM) that supports a boundary system to keep you within a safe play space. The HMD also features Tobii EyeCore tracking hardware. And it supports HTC's Vive Wave open platform, so third-party headsets based on the reference design should support software developed with HTC's tools.

Qualcomm didn't specify a release date for the Snapdragon VRDK, but rather gave us general guideline of Q2'18.

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SiegeVR Demo At Sixense Booth

HTC Vive Studios and Sixense partnered to develop the VR eSports game SiegeVR, which debuted at GDC. We had a chance to demo their first-person medieval archery game in Sixense's booth.

The game sells for just $10 on Steam, and is available for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR. It features several multiplayer modes, such as competitive gallery, cooperative siege, and practice. We took our shot at the cooperative siege mode, which involves two players defending a castle from the atop a wall. Ever-growing hordes of enemies, aided by catapults, attempt to storm the castle, with only you and your partner's arrows to stop them.

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The Vive Focus Spreads Its Wings

HTC announced that it is finally bringing the Vive Focus, a standalone VR headset, to the international market. The HMD is based on Qualcomm's 835 VRDK and comes with a 2880x1600, 75 Hz AMOLED display. It features inside-out 6DoF tracking to provide a fully-untethered world-scale VR experience. The headset also includes a nine-axis tracked motion controller.

The Focus is already available in China, where it retails for roughly $650 (after currency conversion).

MORE: Tom's Hardware's GDC 2017 Highlights

After several delays, Atari's Video Computer System (VCS), formerly known as the Ataribox, is finally poised to make its way to pre-orders in April. Retro game systems are appealing, which is obvious after the run on Nintendo's NES Classic Edition. Atari's latest comes with the retro styling of the Atari VCS 2600  released back in 1977, but expands on the concept by adding new modern features like video streaming. The VCS comes in plastic or wood trim and has a modern AMD APU inside, though the company isn't ready to share details of the particular model.

We spoke with Atari COO Michael Arzt at GDC 2018 for a few more details and a closer look at the new not-quite-console. Arzt explained that the company isn't calling the VCS a console because the system isn't a bespoke platform like an Xbox or PlayStation. Instead, it is a fully functional computer that runs a Linux-based operating system with a proprietary Atari user interface. The VCS' primary interface is still either the Xbox-inspired controller or the old-school paddle, but you could also plug in a keyboard and mouse or connect them via Bluetooth if you wanted to. 

VCS will come to market with several classic Atari game titles, but the company also plans to add a few newer re-imagined versions of those games. The VCS also supports any Linux-compatible game, so there is a wide array of potential candidates, but the hardware will be the gating factor. Unlike the Xbox and PlayStation, Atari didn’t design the VCS primarily to be a brute-force gaming machine; performance is more akin to a Nintendo Switch. Not all games will play at 60FPS on the system, like The Witcher 3 or the latest Call of Duty, but the company is testing some other less demanding PC titles, like Borderlands, to see if they will meet performance targets. Atari is also creating an open platform and embracing indie games to help round out the game portfolio, and the system is also 4K-capable.

The controller is clearly styled like an Xbox One controller, while the paddle comes with three buttons and an LED light ring. The rear of the (Atari)box has an ethernet port, a MicroSD slot, three USB ports, and an HDMI port. The system also has integrated Wi-Fi.

Atari still hasn't shared all of the details of the new system, though we have heard that voice commands are on the menu. In April, the company will announce when pre-orders will begin. The Atari VCS is expected to debut at $250 to $300.

Things are getting just a little bit weird over at Atari. Shortly after revealing some more information about its upcoming Ataribox console, the company announced that it's entering the wearable technology market with Speakerhats, which are baseball caps with speakers inside. (So pretty much exactly what their name implies.) Now you won't have to choose between a hat and some headphones; you can wear both at the same time!

Atari said the Speakerhats are part of a new Atari Connected Life initiative that plans to "blur the line between fashion and future." The company plans to drive that point home with limited edition "Blade Runner 2049" co-branded Speakerhats.  That makes sense: The first trailer for "Blade Runner 2049," a sequel to 1982's original "Blade Runner," prominently displayed the Atari logo on the side of a building. Brands, meet synergy.

But, much like a box of chocolates, the Speakerhats aren't about what's on the outside. Instead, Atari's focus is on the device's internals, which feature "high-fidelity speakers," a microphone, and Bluetooth technologies. That combination means you'll be able to listen to music, answer phone calls, and do pretty much anything else you can do with a bunch of internet-connected speakers and microphones. But Atari didn't stop there.

The Speakerhats do have one standout feature: Multiplayer Mode. Atari said this feature will "enable multiple Speakerhat users to simultaneously listen to a single audio stream in perfect synchronization," which could prove useful if you want to listen to music in a public place or play games without waking someone up. (The rub, of course, being that you have to have a bunch of friends who are on board with the Speakerhats.)

This might seem like a joke, but it doesn't appear to be one. Here's what Atari said in a press release:

“Atari has transcended its seminal gaming origins to become a true pop-culture lifestyle brand, but disruption remains deeply rooted in our DNA,” said Atari Connect COO, Michael Arzt. “With the recent reveal of our Ataribox project and now with Speakerhats, we envision a full range of connected personal devices that live at society’s intersection of entertainment, technology and social connectivity that legendary film worlds like BLADE RUNNER 2049 foretell. Our new products will speak to a whole new generation of Atari fans, while also honoring the decades of affection and devotion by our most loyal ones.”

We aren't entirely convinced that people were pining for an Atari-branded bastard child of a hat and a headset. But Atari seems to have faith in the Speakerhats--you can sign up for updates on the product's development and a "chance to win a beta test pack" on the Atari Connected Life website. And hey, it could have been worse: The company could've decided to put the Ataribox's wood paneling on the Speakerhats.

Here's something we never expected to write: Atari has revealed more information about its upcoming Ataribox console. That's right. "Atari," "upcoming," and "console" were all used in the same sentence. But don't worry, you haven't accidentally slipped into an alternate timeline or something. You're just witnessing one of the granddaddies of video gaming attempt to make a comeback with its first console since the '80s.

Atari teased the Ataribox earlier this year with a short YouTube video. Now the company has offered a more detailed look at the console's design, and if you're at all familiar with the Atari consoles of yesteryear, the Ataribox will look awfully familiar. It sports the red Atari logo, a bunch of ribs, and optional wood or glass panels. Atari said it plans to offer two versions of the console--a "wood edition" and a black-and-red edition.

The Ataribox is clearly meant to play on people's nostalgia, and that philosophy extends to the console's games, too. Atari said that it plans to offer "classic gaming content" and "current gaming content" with the Ataribox. The company didn't offer any details about what "current gaming content" means, though. Is the Ataribox supposed to compete with other consoles, like the PlayStation 4, or will it focus on mobile games like Ouya did?

We don't know. Atari hasn't responded to a request for comment, and it said in an email newsletter that it's not intentionally withholding information:

We know you are hungry for more details; on specs, games, features, pricing, timing etc. We’re not teasing you intentionally; we want to get this right, so we’ve opted to share things step by step as we bring Ataribox to life, and to listen closely to Atari community feedback as we do so. There are a lot of milestones, challenges and decision points in front of us in the months ahead. We’ll be giving you lots more information and status updates as we progress, and we are thrilled to have you along for the ride!

That passage suggests that Atari might not even know what the finished Ataribox will look like. Aside from the images shared in the newsletter, the only other information we have about the Ataribox is that it has one HDMI port, one SD slot, and four USB ports. This suggests that the Ataribox will support up to four controllers, and the presence of the SD slot suggests that Atari could be trying to keep down production costs by offering minimal on-device storage.

We expect to learn more about the Ataribox as development on the console continues.

In addition to the search for a new home for the races of the Milky Way galaxy, Mass Effect: Andromeda lets you participate in APEX Missions, which are story-based variants of the game’s multiplayer mode. In the middle of the July 4 festivities yesterday, the team at Bioware teased some new content for the missions, which include a higher difficulty setting and new foes.

The 11-second trailer briefly showed the icon for a new difficulty level in APEX Missions. At launch, you can choose from Bronze-, Silver-, or Gold-level difficulties for each sortie. With the latest update, which arrives tomorrow (July 6), you’ll get an even tougher challenge with Platinum-level missions. Successfully surviving multiple waves of enemies at the Platinum level provides you with some high-end rewards to use in the single-player campaign.

You can also try the new difficulty level against a familiar enemy from the original Mass Effect trilogy. The main attraction of the teaser trailer was the four-eyed batarian. These aliens were known in the Milky Way as drug smugglers and slave traders. Some of the more reputable alien races, such as the salarians and turians, have their own ships on the way to the Andromeda galaxy, and it’s possible that the batarians illegally hitched a ride and are looking for new customers or slaves in the uncharted galaxy.

The batarians and the introduction of the Platinum difficulty are the latest in Bioware’s additions to the Mass Effect: Andromeda multiplayer experience. Right after launch, the studio added the first of its APEX Missions to the game, and subsequent chapters, which relate to Andromeda’s new species, came out on an almost-weekly basis. It’s safe to say that the developers will continue to implement more features to the multiplayer, but the addition of new content to the single-player story is still in the air. Unlike most games today, Mass Effect: Andromeda did not include a Season Pass for additional downloadable content, which casts the arrival of additional stories or characters in the main campaign in doubt.

Access Now, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and other rights groups have objected to the U.S. government's use of secret warrants to obtain Facebook user data as part of a not-so-secret investigation. The complaint arrived after Facebook "sent out a kind of bat signal," the EFF said, by asking the D.C. Court of Appeals to allow these groups to file amicus briefs in a case that involves fighting secret search warrants for user data.

These warrants are particularly worrisome because without disclosure from service providers, many people have no way of knowing their information has been given to law enforcement agencies. Facebook is trusted with information about more than a billion people, and if the company receives a gag order alongside a warrant for user data, all that information can be handed over, and no one would be the wiser.

The EFF said in a blog post that it believes Facebook's case involves the January 20 protests against the inauguration of President Donald Trump. More than 200 people have been charged with felony rioting, inciting or urging to riot, conspiracy to riot, and counts of destruction of property for their involvement with the protests. This investigation isn't secret--major news outlets have covered the story ever since the arrests were made.

Yet now the rights groups believe that U.S. law enforcement has served Facebook with search warrants for user data as part of this investigation. Those warrants are also thought to have been served with gag orders that prevent Facebook from telling its users their data might be handed over. The government is conducting a very public investigation while also using gag orders that are supposed to apply only to secret operations.

But it doesn't actually matter if the investigation involves the January 20 protests. The EFF said:

Whether or not this case involves the J20 protests, the fact that Facebook says the underlying investigation is already public is almost certainly enough to strike down the gag orders. Government gags that prevent a provider from notifying its users are an example of prior restraints, which are the 'most serious' and 'least tolerable' infringement on First Amendment rights. As a result, the Supreme Court has said they are only constitutional if they meet the most 'most exacting scrutiny.'

The rights groups have filed an amicus brief in support of Facebook; you can find it here. The EFF said it believes oral arguments for the case have been scheduled for sometime in September 2017, and that it has "requested an opportunity to address the court to represent the public’s interest in ensuring that prior restraints such as this don’t issue without the most exacting scrutiny our court system is prepared to provide."

If the case is related to the January 20 protests, this will simply be the latest in a series of privacy scares resulting from the police's response. Law enforcement is said to have collected some 188 cellphones from people arrested for their connections to the protests, and City Lab reported in January that police appeared to have started to mine data from the confiscated devices "almost immediately after the arrests."

Those suspicions were confirmed in March, when prosecutors said they obtained data from the cellphones even though they were locked. It's not clear how they gathered this information, what data they were able to access, or how they plan to use what they collected. If the prosecutors also used secret warrants to collect data from companies like Facebook, they could have access to even more information, and the defendants would never know.

The Battlezone franchise started out as an arcade game from Atari. It was supposed to simulate a virtual reality experience because you peered into a viewport in the machine in order to see where your tank was going in the digital landscape. Fast-forward to today, when Rebellion now owns the franchise and is giving the series the VR treatment it deserves by releasing a new title for today’s VR headsets. In order to gain more attention prior to release, the studio created a seven-minute gameplay video to show you everything you need to know about the upcoming game.

An evil group called The Corporation has taken over the planet and enslaved nearly all of humanity. With the help of your Cobra tank, you are humanity’s last hope. You must fight your way through hordes of enemies across multiple levels in order to destroy the AI Core to take down the The Corporation.

Your tank will be special, because you can choose from nine variants, each with its own set of weapons such as a machine gun, missiles, or even a powerful artillery set. There are also some special abilities that you can attach to your weapon systems. For example, you can temporarily increase your shield strength or spread a virus to an enemy tank so that it heals your tank whenever it shoots at you. You can make the tank itself even stronger by adding mods such as a healing mechanism, shields, or an active reload.

As intimidating as it is to go up against a giant evil group by yourself, you don’t have to do it alone. At any time in the game, three other players can aid you in combat. Survival is paramount, as you have a limited number of lives at your disposal. If you lose them all, you'll have to start the entire campaign again. In addition, the levels, which are displayed on a hex-based map, will change their positions so that you’ll have a different experience each time.

However, that doesn’t mean that your tank will start with the base level of weapons and equipment every time you die. Enemies drop blue crystals called Data, which you can use to upgrade your tank for future missions. Data is also used to unlock new resources or side missions throughout the campaign.

As you make your way through the hex map, you’ll notice that your enemies get tougher. Throughout your journey, the enemies will level up in size and strength. Wait long enough, and you’ll eventually face the Nemesis, one of the toughest foes in the game. Its speed and firepower are a step above the usual enemy minion, so you’ll have to figure out a way to defeat before it hunts you down and tears your tank to shreds.

Your first opportunity to play the game will be with the PlayStation VR, as the game launches on the same day as the VR headset. The game is coming to the Oculus Rift as well, but Rebellion didn't announce a release date. If you don't have a VR HMD, you can still play the game on PC and PlayStation 4.

Introduction

In Mountain View, California, only minutes away from Google's headquarters, is the Computer History Museum. A visit to this place is enough to show you how today's computing era began and evolved through time. If you are interested in this stuff and love history in general, you can closely examine the computers that thrived in the past and opened the door for today's modern computing systems, which can be found in almost every home. It's hard to believe that only three decades ago computers were a rare thing and very few people were lucky enough (or rich enough) to actually have one at home. However, computing technology has rapidly evolved and nowadays it is rare to find a single home without a PC or a smart device that uses a processor.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to list all of the moments that defined the course of computer history, because that would require a lot more space and time; instead, we will focus on the most important and interesting milestones, technologies and people that have shaped today's computing.

Our trip through computer history starts way, way back, from the earliest mechanisms that can be considered the first analog computers that man ever made. These mechanisms are true wonders given the technology levels of the civilizations of this ancient era. So before we visit the Age of Enlightenment to check on Babbage's Engine and get to know the first computer programmer recorded in history, Ada Lovelace, our time capsule will take us back thousands of years to ancient Greece. Ancient Greece hasn't only affected the modern civilization with its famous philosophers, scientists, leaders and artists, but it also marked the beginning of the computing era for mankind.

Please note that most photos used in this article were taken during a visit to the Computer History Museum, which is one of the most interesting places for anyone that loves computers and technology in general. We strongly advise you to pay a visit to the museum so that you can see firsthand all of the technologies depicted in the following pages. It's one thing to read about something and look at photos, but it's another thing to actually see it in person and in some cases even be able to interact with it or watch its operation.

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The Antikythera Mechanism

In 1900, somewhere between the Greek islands of Kythera and Crete, near the island of Antikythera, several Greek divers found a wooden box in an ancient shipwreck. Inside the box was a clockwork mechanism composed of a number of meshing bronze gears. According to the scientists that examined the device, it was designed to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendrical and astrological purposes and it could also predict the Olympiads, or the cycles of ancient Olympic Games that took place every four years.

Due to its complexity, the Antikythera device probably isn't the first of its kind and very likely has some predecessors, which were made during the Hellenistic period (starting in 323 BC), that still remain undiscovered. This means that until we find the predecessors, the Antikythera mechanism is considered the first analog computer ever made. According to more recent research, the Antikythera mechanism is dated at around 205 BC.

It is indeed strange how all of this knowledge was lost during the Antiquity period, and the next mechanisms that had such complexity and required this type of workmanship did not appear again until the 14^th century. The time gap is immense (16 centuries!) and clearly shows that there are many things that we don't know about ancient civilizations, including the ancient Greece. 

Many scientists have tried to solve the mystery behind the Antikythera mechanism, and further dives into the shipwreck have been made in hopes of discovering additional pieces of the device that could shed more light on this technology. The latest attempt to reconstruct the Antikythera mechanism was made by Dr. Markos Skoulatos and finished in 2014. This copy has the exact same dimensions as the original, retaining all of its known functionality.

Today, the original Antikythera mechanism is kept at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, which is a must visit if you ever travel to Athens (along with the new Acropolis museum). The National Archaeological museum has more than 20,000 exhibits, providing a panorama of the Greek civilization from the beginnings of Prehistory to Late Antiquity.

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The Pascaline And Other Early Calculators

Some of you might remember handheld calculators, popular in the 80s and 90s, before they were fully replaced by the calculator apps on our mobile phones. Blaise Pascal was the first to invent a mechanical calculator back in the middle of the 17^th century. This machine was called Pascal's Calculator and became known later as the Pascaline. The device made its first public appearance in 1645 and today only nine of these machines survive.

According to historians, Pascal invented this machine because of his father, who was a tax collector, in order to alleviate some of his hard work. The Pascaline was able to perform all basic mathematical operations, however multiplication and division with this machine wasn't a straightforward process. It is noteworthy that Pascal was only 18 years old when he designed the Pascaline.

Wilhelm Schickard, born in Germany in the 16th century, was highly educated and studied theology, astronomy, mathematics and geodesy. A meeting that Schickard had with the famous astronomer Johann (Johannes) Kepler was enough to encourage him to devote more time to scientific pursuits. Schickard designed a mechanical calculation machine, the first of its kind, however it did not survive through time. The only clues we have about this device are three documents, including two letters that Schickard wrote to Kepler describing it along with a sketch of the device, which also includes manufacturing instructions. 

Elizur Wright was a 19th century American insurance commissioner living in Massachusetts. For his work, which demanded numerous computations, he invented a large cylindrical slide rule that he patented and sold to various insurance companies for $500. Besides being a good insurance salesman (he is described by some as the "father of life insurance" in the U.S.), Wright was a successful businessman as well.

There were various other calculators invented in the late 1800s and early 1900s, including the Lord's Calculator by the Elliott brothers (U.K., 1880), Comptometer by Felt & Tarrant (U.S., 1890), Time is Money ("TIM") calculator by Ludwig Spitz (Germany, 1910), Otto Steiger's Millionaire calculation machine that could do multiplication, and Burroughs' Adding and Listing Machine (U.S., 1912).

Mechanical and electronic calculators from 1932 to 1965 include the Felix Arithmometer (USSR, 1932), Monroe LAS-160 (U.S., 1940), Anita, the world's fist electronic desktop calculator (U.K., 1961), Olivetti Programma 101, also known as Perottina or P101 (Italy, 1965), Friden SQR-10 (U.S., 1962), and Victor 3900 (U.S., 1965).

These early electronic calculators (pictured above) played a key role in the design of the first general purpose CPU, so we owe a lot to them and their inventors.

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Babbage's Analytical Engine, Ada Lovelace And Programming

From the 16^th century, when the first mechanical calculators were designed and built, we jump to the 18^th century when an English mathematician, Charles Babbage, after many years of work on a difference engine eventually decided to abandon the project and instead design a more general-purpose analytical engine. This engine had an arithmetic logic unit, memory and utilized control flow. The structure of Babbage's analytical engine shares many similarities with today's computer design and this is why Babbage is considered a pioneer and the "father of the computer."

However, a computer is useless without a program and the first known programmer is Augusta Ada King, also known as Ada Lovelace, since she was the Countess of Lovelace. Ada Lovelace was the first to describe an algorithm that could compute the Bernoulli numbers on the Analytical Engine. Sadly, this engine, like the first that Babbage tried to build, was never completed, so Ada's code remained untested. We should also mention that one of the early computer languages was named after Ada. The language was created by the U.S. Army and was influenced by ALGOL 68 and Pascal, supporting multiple platforms.

FORTRAN or FORmula TRANslator (now Fortran) was developed by IBM, and more specifically, by the programmer John Backus who worked at IBM during the 1950s. Fortran is considered the mother of all programming languages since so many derived from it. It is a popular language for high-performance supercomputers and almost six decades after its creation, Fortran is still alive and kicking, especially in scientific and engineering projects and applications. Today, only two things are still in use after so many decades: Fortran and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers!

As you can see from the pictures above, the early versions of ALGOL derived from FORTRAN, so ADA was also influenced by this programming language.

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IBM In Its Early Years

IBM is one of the oldest computer manufacturers and is still at the center of the the IT word. IBM's roots go back to the 19^th century where four companies, including The Tabulating Machine Company were merged to form the Computing and Tabulating Recording Machine Company, which in 1924 was renamed to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). At first IBM specialized in the development of punched card data processing equipment and soon it became famous for its services, since not only big companies but entire countries used its machinery and expertise.

But let's start at the beginning. In 1880 the United States Census Bureau asked one of its employees, Herman Hollerith, to implement a method that would allow for faster processing of demographic data. Back in those days a census was repeated every 10 years and it took close to a decade to process all of the data once it was collected. It took eight years to finish the 1880 census, and with population on the rise it was almost certain that if the same data processing methods were used the 1890 census wouldn't be finished before the 1900 census had to take place.

Hollerith managed to crack the problem with a brilliant idea: to record all demographic data on punched cards, similar to the data input that Babbage had proposed for his analytical engine. Special engines were made that could process the punched cards and the 1890 census took only three years to complete. After filing all necessary patents, Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company.

The photographs above show the Type 80, 82 and 83 card sorters that were used for sorting data into either alphabetical or numerical order. Before computers began to dominate the market, these type of card sorters were widely used. The last photos depict an IBM Type 77 Collator, which reads two separate stacks of sorted punch cards and merges them into a single one. In addition to this function it can also remove incorrectly sorted cards and duplicates.

IBM punch machines were similar to typewriters with the only difference being that these machines wrote data on punch cards. This is how data was stored in the pre-computer era.

One of the darkest times in IBM's early years was when the company's equipment was used extensively by the Nazis to categorize German citizens as well as people in other nations that fell under Nazi control during World War II. This data was then used to identify Jewish people, along with other groups, and the fast processing of demographic data that IBM's equipment offered became a powerful weapon in Nazi hands. 

However, IBM also offered great help to U.S. during World War II by providing its facilities and services to the army.

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The Triode, Transistor And Op-Amp

Lee de Forest was an American inventor known as the "father of radio." De Forest filed over 180 patents, the most significant of all being the three-element "grid Audion," which was made in 1906. His work was also the foundation of the vacuum tube technology.

De Forest added a third electrode in an existing two element vacuum tube, which was invented by Ambrose Fleming. This electrode was named "grid" and the new three-element vacuum tube was described as a triode. The triode could be used as an amplifier, and indeed it was widely used in the first radio transmitters. However, another equally important function of this new invention, which wasn't initially used, was that it could play the role of a switch, and would have tremendous importance in building the first computers.

The K2-W Vacuum Tube, pictured above, was used as an operational amplifier along with some early transistors.

Almost 20 years had passed from the invention of the triode when another scientist, Julius Edgar Lilienfield, filed a patent that describes the first transistor. It is worth mentioning that the transistor and the integrated circuit inventions are described by many scientists as two of the most significant achievements of the 20^th century, allowing the technology to evolve so rapidly. Without these nothing would be as we know it today. For those of you without a background in electronics, the transistor is a small semiconductor device that can be used to amplify electronic signals. It can also be used as a switch for opening or closing a circuit.

A bipolar transistor has three terminals: the base, the collector and the emitter. When we apply a small current to the base terminal we can control the flow of a much larger current between the collector and the emitter. For field-effect transistors, also known as FETs, the terminals are named gate, source and drain, and instead of current we use voltage to control the current flow between the source and the drain.

The operational amplifier, mostly known as op-amp, is a key component for all electronic devices nowadays. It was invented in the 1940s and was widely used by the first electronic computers with analog circuits. In these early computers the electrical currents represented numerical values, so the op-amps played a major role in their operation. In very plain words, an op-amp has two inputs with an electrical difference between them. The output of the op-amp is the amplified difference between these inputs.

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Alan Turing And The COLOSSUS

Alan Turing is considered one of the most brilliant computer scientists, and today it is widely accepted that he deeply influenced the development of computer science. Turing earned his mathematics degree in 1937 and in the same year he published an innovative article titled On Computable Numbers with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem (TURING, A. M. 1936–1937. Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society Series 2, 42, 230–265. Corrections ibid. 544–546).

One of the major conclusions of Turing's article was that some categories of mathematical problems cannot be described with algorithms, consequently they cannot be solved by computers. Based on this assumption he decided to design a prototype computer. The outcome of his work, the Turing machine, was a simple but fully functional theoretical model, which caused a lot of fuss in the scientific community when it was released. Turing's theoretical model was widely used in many theoretical experiments.

Turing also had the opportunity to assist in the manufacturing of a computer, the COLOSSUS, which was actually a series of programmable digital electronic computers, the first of their kind. COLOSSUS computers were used to process encrypted messages, allowing cryptoanalysis and finally the decryption of messages that were sent with the Enigma machine that Nazi naval forces used during World War II. Needless to say, breaking the Enigma code was of immense importance to the allies and saved thousand of lives.

Unfortunately, Turing's life ended too soon; he was only 42 years old. Some say that he committed suicide while there are some speculations that he was assassinated. Whatever the case, the world lost a great mind that could have pushed the advances in computer science even further. In 1966, in recognition of his lifetime achievements, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) started offering the annual Turing Award to selected individuals for their technical or theoretical contributions to the computing community. This award is considered to be the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the computing community and shows the respect and appreciation of Turing's work.

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Claude Shannon's Master Thesis

Claude Elwood Shannon's master thesis, A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits, was completed in 1937 and many consider it the most important master thesis of the 20^th century. In his thesis Shannon shows how the notions of True and False in Boolean Algebra could be used to simulate the operation of switches in electronic circuits. Thanks to his thesis, the electronic engineers of the time were given a mathematical tool that would help them design electronic circuits more easily. The techniques that Shannon's thesis describe are used in the design of modern electronic circuits even today. This fact alone makes it clear why he is considered the founder of digital computers and digital circuit design theory.

In addition to his innovative master thesis, Shannon is also known as "the father of information theory" because of another paper that he published in 1948 called A Mathematical Theory of Communication, which laid the foundations of information theory and started the digital revolution. Shannon enjoyed a pretty long life and died in 2001, when he was 82 years old. However, in his final years he developed Alzheimer's disease. 

Another interesting fact about Shannon is that he built the first wearable computer in order to improve his odds against the roulette. He is also the mind behind the "ultimate machine," the purpose of which is extremely interesting, to say the least. You have a box with a switch on the outside; when you flip the switch the lid of the box opens and a mechanical arm emerges that flips the switch back to the off position and then retracts back inside the box.

In recent years Shannon's ultimate machine design was re-animated by several YouTubers. Apparently, besides being a genius, Shannon also had a great sense of humor, which is something you don't often find in highly recognized innovators and scientists. Beyond any doubt, he offered so much to the computing community and many believe that Shannon, along with Alan Turing, are the two major guiding lights of computer science. We fully agree.

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The First Electronic Digital Special-Purpose Computer

John Vincent Atanasoff was another genius. He had a degree in electrical engineering, a Master's degree in mathematics and a PhD in theoretical physics that he earned when he was just 27, which is young considering his other studies. He was also a brilliant inventor, known for the invention of the first electronic, digital special-purpose computer. The majority of today's computers are general purpose computers, meaning that they can be used for a wide range of tasks with the appropriate software. On the contrary, a special-purpose computer is designed to do only a specific task.

Atanasoff decided to build a computer in order to save time on calculations that he had to do using mechanical calculators while solving complex equations. In early 1939 with the assistance from Clifford Berry, a graduate student, he began the construction of a computer that was later named ABC (Atanassoff-Berry Computer). By autumn of the same year the duo had managed to build a prototype, which was finished in 1942.

The ABC featured some fascinating innovations for its time, including a memory for storing data (RAM), which in essence consisted of capacitors that stored electrical charge that, according to the circumstance, represented either a 0 or a 1. The memory of the ABC computer was large enough to store 30 binary numbers and the data was fed to the computer through punched cards. The intermediate results were stored on similar cards (since the RAM wasn't large enough to store them) in an inventive way: with the help of sparks, spots were created on the cards and these spots could be read by the computer through the difference of resistance that they had compared to the clear areas of the cards. This was a truly innovative way of storing data back in those early computing days.

The greatest innovation that the ABC computer introduced was the adoption of the binary numbering system, which is the standard in today's computers. By using binary math and Boolean logic, the ABC could solve up to 29 simultaneous linear equations—and this was achieved without a central processing unit (CPU), because the computer used vacuum tubes to perform all calculations.

For his lifetime work, Atanasoff received many awards and medals, including the United States National Medal of Technology by George H.W. Bush in 1990. This medal is the highest U.S. honor given for achievements related to technological progress.

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Harvard Mark Ι

In 1937, a Harvard graduate and physicist Howard Aiken, in cooperation with several IBM engineers, undertook the construction of an automatic digital computer of huge dimensions using parts of other IBM machines (obviously in an effort to lower the production cost). The official name of this five-ton machine was Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), but it became widely known under the name Harvard Mark I. This computer could handle up to 23-digit numbers and was able to perform four arithmetic operations. It also incorporated programs that allowed the process of algorithms and trigonometric functions.

The programming of Mark I was done through paper tapes and the processing data was imported through punched cards, which was typical back in these days. The resulting output was done with the help of electric typewriters. The Mark I needed three to five seconds to perform a multiplication of two 23-digit numbers and ten seconds for their division. The whole process was completely automatic without any need for human intervention and this led to the idea of the "automatic computer."

In 1947 Aiken built the Mark II and two more models followed: the Mark III and Mark IV. While the Mark II and Mark III were electromechanical computers, the last model used only electronic components and its build was finished in 1952. The Mark IV remained in Harvard and was fully utilized by the United States Air Force.

It is worth noting that one of the first programs that the Mark I executed had to do with the Manhattan project, and its results were used to determine whether implosion was a viable choice to detonate the atomic bomb, which would be used a year later. Nonetheless, the Mark I was also used to compute and print mathematical tables, which was the initial purpose of Babbage's analytical engine.

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Stibitz's Complex Number Calculator And Nordsieck's Differential Analyzer

George Stibitz was a researcher at the famous Bell Labs and is known for his work on Boolean logic digital circuits, which he managed to build with the use of electromechanical relays. In 1939 he finished the construction of a digital device that was called the Complex Number Calculator or CNC. For the metal parts of the CNC Stibitz used metal cans. Talk about ingenuity! We should also note that he named his computer model K because he had built most of it inside his own kitchen! 

Apparently Stibitz could build amazing computing machines out of ordinary parts and in 1940 he proved his ingenuity again by making an impressive demonstration. During a conference in New Hampshire, at McNutt Hall at Dartmouth College, using a teletype he managed to connect to his computer through a telegraph line, he provided the first working example of remote computer management. Not only did he remotely controlled the CNC, but he also transferred mathematical problems to it through the teletype and received the solutions a little later. As you can imagine such a demonstration was nothing less than jaw dropping for the audience, given the technological standards of this particular era.

Nordsieck's Differential Analyzer

Another scientist who managed to build a computer--actually a differential analyzer--out of scrap was Arnold Nordsieck. This mechanical computer was finished in 1950 and could solve differential equations. According to its maker, the cost of materials (surplus World War II supplies) was only $700! Differential analyzers existed before Nordsieck's invention, however his machine used electrical connections instead of mechanical ones, so it was smaller and had a more straightforward design. The cherry on top was of course its inexpensive implementation.

Richard Norberg was a student at the University of Illinois where Arnold Nordsieck built his differential analyzer and took part in its construction. He managed to complete a second machine at Washington University in 1956, using spare parts again! These extraordinary people made analog computer building look so simple. In those days the lack of materials pushed inventors to think out of the box and take advantage of anything that fell into their hands, even scrap parts. This is something that you don't often see today.

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Konrad Zuse's Z Series Computers & Plankalkül Programming Language

Konrad Zuse was a civil engineer who shortly before the start of the World War II began designing and manufacturing his own general purpose computers. He initiated his Z line of computers with the Z1, which in essence was a floating point binary mechanical calculator that had limited programming features. Zuse managed to build the Z1 in his parent's flat in Berlin instead of a spacious workspace, which is noteworthy, given the computer's large dimensions. Unfortunately, at the beginning of 1944 the Z1, including the original blueprints, were destroyed along with his parents flat during an air raid. Many years later, Zuse recreated the Z1 with the help of thee engineers and it took him two years along with $500,000 to finish the task.

Zuse built the Z2 computer during his military service and finished it in 1940. The Z3, which was a Turing complete computer, followed in 1941. The Z4 was delivered many years after, because of the hard conditions of the post-war Germany and the lack of resources to build it. It is worth mentioning that Zuse founded the Zuse KG company in 1949, which built a significant number of computers before it was acquired by Siemens in the late 1960s.

Besides being a great computer designer and manufacturer, Zuse proved to be very good with software as well. He realized quickly that programming can be extremely difficult with machine code, so a high-level language was needed. In his PhD thesis he described Plankalkül, the first algorithmic language, which was implemented many years later in 1975 because Zuse's PhD thesis was rejected when he forgot to pay his university enrollment fee.

Some people wonder how much Zuse's work could have pushed the advancement of computer science if his first computers and work hadn't been destroyed in World War II and if he had paid the fee and his thesis had been published much earlier. Without a doubt, Zuse was a brilliant inventor who built the first program-controlled, electromechanical digital computer and described the first high-level programming language.

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The First Bug In Computer History

The term "bug" is common in computer science today and is typically used to describe an error or flaw in a computer program or system that results in an incorrect result. The same term has also been used to describe monitoring or spying equipment.

The first official reference to the word "bug" in regards to computers took place in 1945. At that time a Harvard Mark II was used in the Naval Weapons Center, in Dahlgren, Virginia. On September 9, 1945 a rather unlucky moth slipped into one of the computer relays, causing its malfunction.

The engineers on duty managed to repair the computer, removed the moth and with the use of duct tape attached it on the computer's log, which was kept in a book. The official report, written right beneath the moth, stated: "First actual case of bug being found." With these words the author, Grace Murray Hopper (known also as "Amazing Grace" because of her lifetime achievements), obviously wanted to make clear that the first found bug was actually an insect and not a monitoring "bug."

And now you know why we call it a "bug!"

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ENIAC And EDVAC Computers

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) is considered the first general purpose computer. It was created by Physics Professor John William Mauchly and his graduate student John Presper Eckert Jr. The construction of the ENIAC lasted three years (from 1943 to 1946) and took place at the Moore School of Electronics Technology, part of the University of Pennsylvania.

The ENIAC computer was huge. It was nearly 10 feet high (3 meters), occupied over 300 square feet (93 square meters) and weighted about 30 tons, which means it had almost the same weight as a tank! For its construction, 18,000 vacuum tubes were used along with 10,000 capacitors, 70,000 resistors and 6,000 switches. The power consumption of this beast was 150 kW! There was an urban legend that lights in Philadelphia dimmed whenever ENIAC was powered on, however this wasn't true.

ENIAC's biggest flaw was its reliability, because the tubes that it used broke down often, taking down the whole system, and as you can imagine, it was pretty hard to find the defective tube(s) among the 18,000 that the ENIAC used. Performance was pretty good for the standards of this era. ENIAC could perform 5,000 additions and subtractions or 30 multiplications per second, while its memory could store twenty 10-digit numbers.

Besides its reliability issues, ENIAC had another major problem: it was very difficult to program. Contrary to today's computers, programming the ENIAC or modifying an existing program required making hundreds of wire changes. The programming procedure could last for several days, while ENIAC usually needed just a few minutes to solve the assigned problem.

It's interesting to note that the term "hacker" originated from the early computing days of the ENIAC. Back then, when a skilled programmer managed to significantly reduce the time needed to program a computer, meaning fewer wire connections to solve the given problem, it was said that he did a hack and was thus called a hacker. However, some argue about the origin of the term and state that its use started several years after the ENIAC during the 1960s.

In 1995, 50 years after the creation of ENIAC, a team from the University of Pennsylvania shrunk this gigantic computer into a single chip. A truck load of vacuum tubes and numerous other electronic components that needed a small power factory for their operation could now fit in the palm of your hand by utilizing integrated circuit technology, a huge technology advance.

EDVAC

The makers of ENIAC were aware of its significant drawbacks, so during its manufacturing process they had already begun to design a new and improved computer that would be named EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer). The major upgrade in EDVAC was the fact that it had memory that allowed the storage of the execution code (program). EDVAC's memory was provided through the use of mercury delay lines, and the binary system was used instead of the decimal system, which simplified its construction.

The integration of memory in computers for storing the execution programs was further developed by Johann (John) von Neumann in an article that he published, which became known as the "First Draft." The structure of a computer described in this article is still followed by today's computers.

EDVAC's design process started in 1944 and it was delivered in 1949 to the Ballistics Research Laboratory. However, due to some problems it didn't began its operation until two years later. EDVAC was notably faster than ENIAC and it consumed 56kW of power, around one third of that used by ENIAC! In general, it was a reliable computer that was kept in service until 1961.

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UNIVersal Automatic Computer I - UNIVAC I

Eckert and Mauchly, creators of the ENIAC and EDVAC computers, left the Moore School in 1946 and founded the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation, which was later acquired by Remington Rand, a company well known for its typewriting machines. The two inventors continued to innovate by designing and building the first commercial computer worldwide, the BINAC (Binary Automatic Computer), and two years later they came up with UNIVAC I, which we'll focus on in this section.

The UNIVAC I shared many similarities with the EDVAC, and it became famous for predicting the outcome of the U.S. presidential election of 1952, won by Dwight D. Eisenhower, the five-star general that played a key role during the World War II.

The UNIVAC I had 5,200 vacuum tubes, weighed around 13 tons and needed 125 kW of power. It was running at 2.25 MHz and the main memory could store 1000 words of 12 characters. The peripheral devices that could be connected to the UNIVAC I included the UNITYPER and the UNISERVO devices along with an oscilloscope, which was used as a monitor. The UNITYPER was an offline typewriter used by the programmers to write code for the computer, while the UNISERVO could read and write the UNITYPER compatible tapes, so it was a form of an early tape drive.

The successor of the first UNIVAC, the UNIVAC II, was finished in 1958 and it featured an upgraded memory and improved tape drives, which could use either the older tapes or the newer ones. In addition, several circuits used transistors instead of vacuum tubes, which were typical during this period. The new model was fully compatible with the programs that ran on the UNIVAC I, so the transition from the old to the new model was painless.

The UNIVAC III followed in 1962 and was the last in the UNIVAC line. It was a binary machine and although it was originally designed to support all data formats (binary, decimal and alphanumeric), the instruction set along with the word size were completely different, so all previous programs had to be rewritten in order to be compatible. This forced many customers to abandon UNIVAC products. 

During the 1960s there were eight American computer manufacturers, commonly referred to as "IBM and the seven dwarfs," since IBM was a huge company compared to the rest. The "dwarfs" included the UNIVAC, CDC, NCR, GE, RCA, Burroughs and Honeywell. Apparently, the competition was fierce. And although IBM had more resources, in many cases its super computers still couldn't beat the competition in performance. Later during the 1970s, the seven dwarfs became five as some of the companies decided to sell their computer departments. This led to a new naming scheme, "BUNCH," which stood for Burroughs, UNIVAC, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell.

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Big Blue Makes Its Entry In The Computer Market

Until the early 1950s IBM manufactured only automatic calculation machines that used punched cards for data entry and output. In 1953 the company decided to enter the computer market and introduced the IBM 701. Because of the ongoing war at that time in Korea, the U.S. Army bought 18 of these machines within a three year period.

In 1954 IBM introduced a medium-scale and much more affordable computer, the IBM 650, which quickly became a best seller. In total, 1000 computers of this type were sold, although only 50 were expected to be sold initially. With the IBM 650, the company managed to make a highly successful entry into the mainframe computer market and this fact sealed IBM's leading role in computer technology.

After the IBM 650, the 702 and 709 models were released, and in 1959 the 7090 model was introduced; it used transistors instead of the vacuum tubes that its predecessor, the 709, utilized. The 7090 was very expensive with a price that reached $2.9 million (around $23 million today). Despite its high price, lots of 7090 systems were sold and companies that couldn't afford one were able to rent it. Three years after its release, the 7090 was phased out by the 7094, and in the 1962-1963, IBM also released some lower-end models, including the 7044 and 7040, which cost much less than the 7094 and 7090 systems.

The IBM 7030 was also known as Stretch. This was the first IBM supercomputer that used only transistors. The first IBM 7030 was put into service in 1961 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Its performance didn't meet IBM's expectations, so the company was forced to reduce its price tag from $13.5 million to $7.78 million. Talk about a bargain!

Despite its lower-than-expected computational power, the IBM 7030 was the fastest computer in the world for three years, from 1961 to 1964, until the first CDC 6600, by Control Data Corporation, became operational. The CDC 6600 was about three times faster than the IBM 7030. It's worth mentioning that the father of supercomputers, Seymour Cray, assisted in the design and building of the CDC 6600, which used freon cooling! 

IBM managed to establish its name in the mainframe computer market with the 360 line, which it announced in 1964. These machines used small-scale integrated (SSI) circuits and became very popular thanks to their affordable price and the innovative design, which deeply influenced computer design in the following years.

The Computer History Museum has two working IBM 1401 Data Processing Systems. The 1401 model was used by small businesses for data processing. In some instances this computer was also used to transfer data from slow peripheral devices like punch card readers to tapes and vice versa. This way slow peripherals weren't a bottleneck for super expensive mainframes like the IBM 7090. The IBM 1401 was announced in 1969 and withdrawn in 1971.

It took lots of effort to bring the two IBM 1401 computers back to life. They are now on display at the Computer History Museum and are actually in working condition. Congratulations to the restoration team and the museum for keeping such important parts of computing history alive.

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Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE)

The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Air Defense System was initially devised in 1951 and fully deployed in 1963. To give you an idea of how large this project was, it cost more than the Manhattan Project, which produced the first nuclear weapons! The conception of the SAGE system was described by MIT professors George Valley and Jay Forrester in a technical memo released in 1953:

The system will consist of (1) a net of radars and other data sources and (2) digital computers that (a) receive the radar and other information to detect and track aircraft, (b) process the track data to form a complete air situation, and (c) guide weapons to destroy enemy aircraft.

SAGE was in constant operation from 1963 to 1983. For its time, the SAGE system was highly advanced and its concept and architecture is very close to modern air defense systems. The tracking data of the deployed radars was transmitted over telephone lines to the nearest direction center, where an AN/FSQ-7 computer processed the data. Afterwards, the direction center would send notifications and targeting data to the nearest air bases, or surface-to-air missile systems, which would be able to intercept the incoming threats.

Since SAGE was functional during the cold war period, the most likely threats were bomber airplanes armed with nukes. In other words, the SAGE was a huge network of radars and computers that processed all incoming data and assigned targets and priorities, providing great coverage of the airspace along with fast responses to possible threats. We should note that even military aircraft of this period (all except the F-104 Starfighter) carried SAGE data link equipment, so they were able to transmit information to the system in real time, during the interception or the recognition of the threat.

In full deployment, the SAGE included hundreds of radars and had 23 direction centers (with one of them located in Canada) and three combat centers, which were spread throughout the entire U.S. All direction centers were connected to missile batteries and airbases. Each one of the SAGE direction centers housed an enormous AN/FSQ-7 computer (the largest ever built), which needed over 100 people to operate, used 60,000 vacuum tubes, consumed 3 Megawatts of power and weighed 250 tons!

The command centers were equipped with AN/FSQ-8 computers. In order to ensure continuous operation, each computer consisted of two systems, with one of them taking over the load when the other was not working or in maintenance. This allowed for a very low down-time, which is of crucial importance to a military/defense system. According to statistical reports, the amount of time that both systems were down simultaneously was less than four hours per year. Given the huge amount of tubes that these computers used, this is a really low down-time!

Another significant contribution of the SAGE system was the birth of the computer software design. Such a huge system demanded sophisticated software so programming would be more efficient in order to allow for optimal results. Many programming techniques were created during the SAGE software development, which was a huge project that involved several hundred programmers. And the most difficult part was that all coding had to be done in pure machine code, since high-level languages had not been invented when the SAGE system was in its conception and implementation phases.

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TX-0, DEC PDP-1, The Hacking Ethic And Other DEC Computers

One of the first computers that used transistors was the TX-0 (Transistorized Experimental computer zero), or Tixo as the early hackers that interacted with it used to call it. It was built in 1955 at the Lincoln Laboratory, which was a military development lab that had a close relationship with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The TX-0 was made for a single purpose: to test a much larger computer, the TX-2, which was so complex that its proper function could be verified only through the use of another computer. After the TX-0's job was finished there was no need for it at the Lincoln Lab, so it was sent to MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE). The TX-0 quickly gained attention from MIT students and helped them dive deeper into the computing world.

The PDP-1 or Programmed Data Processor, was the first member of the famous PDP line and was introduced by the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1959. The second PDP-1 that DEC made was donated by the company to the RLE lab, and because it was easier to access than the TX-0, it helped the hacker culture thrive at MIT. We should mention that the first video game, the Spacewar! by Steve "Slug" Russel, made its debut in the PDP-1 in early 1962. Russel never earned anything for his video game, because the hackers in those days distributed their creations freely, because they believed that all information should be free.

Legendary hackers, or wizards, like Bill Gosper, Richard Greenblatt, Peter Samson, Alan Kotok, Steward Nelson, Robert Wagner and many more passed through the RLE lab. Their work and ideas formed the Hacker Ethic, which, in addition to free distribution of information, also encouraged group effort and collaboration among hackers.

Those early code wizards managed to build the first friendly programming environments that made computers more accessible to a wider portion of users, something that surely helped spread the hacking culture. Nowadays the word hacking is usually used to describe an illegal activity; but in the early computing days, the word "hacker" was considered a title that only a few talented and restless individuals managed to acquire.

In addition to the widely know PDP-1, DEC manufactured other computers as well. These achieved huge sales and became highly popular thanks to their affordable prices, high performance and increased reliability. In the photos above you can see two versions of the PDP-8, which was produced in many variations and achieved 10,000 sales in a 25 year period. It was an affordable computer with an $18k price tag.

The models of the PDP-11 line could run the same applications (software) as the previous PDP computers and featured a clean architecture. The first models of this family were released in 1970 and the cost was close to $11k.

Around the mid-1970s DEC decided to upgrade the PDP-11 architecture to 32 bits (from 16 bits) and also added a new virtual memory system. So the VAX architecture was born and the first computer that used this new architecture was the VAX-11/780, which hit the market in 1978. VAX systems were highly successful, and this architecture continued to evolve until the early 1990s.  

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Cray Supercomputers

Seymour Cray is recognized as the father of supercomputing, because he devoted his life to building powerful computers. Cray started his career in 1957 at the Control Data Corporation (CDC) where he helped build the CDC 1604, which used transistors instead of vacuum tubes, which were widely used in these days but were unreliable and couldn't offer fast processing speeds. Cray's next venture was the awesome CDC 6600, which managed to surpass IBM's most powerful computer, the 7030 Stretch. Cray worked on several other CDC supercomputers while he was at the company, and in 1972 he decided to found his own company, the Cray Research Inc. in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

The first Cray supercomputer was released in 1976 and was named Cray-1. It used integrated circuits instead of transistors and was able to deliver 170 MFLOPS, making it the fastest computer of its era. More than 80 Cray-1s were sold and this rendered Cray Research a highly successful company.

In this notebook Seymour Cray kept the design drawings of the Cray-1. His notes used Boolean notation, which the engineers assembled and tested with the system directly, without the need of schematic diagrams.

The Cray-2 followed in 1985, however it wasn't as successful as its predecessor, although it held the world's record for fastest computer for several years with 1.9 GFLOPS peak performance. We should mention that meanwhile Cray had resigned from the company and worked as a full-time independent contractor in order to have the necessary time needed to design and build the Cray-2. This computer was the first to use a combination of liquid and chilled water heat exchangers for cooling down its circuit boards, which were installed so close to each other that conventional air cooling just wouldn't work.

To give you an idea of the computation speed that the Cray-2 offered, in 2012 Piotr Luszczek proved that an Apple iPad 2 could match the performance of a Cray-2 vector supercomputer by using the LINPACK benchmark.

The successor of the Cray-2 was the Cray-3, which used gallium arsenide (GaAs) instead of silicon-based semiconductors. This project was unsuccessful and Cray had to start another company, the Cray Computer Corporation, in order to build a Cray-3 computer, for which he never got any money because it didn't operate reliably. Despite this, he decided to work on the Cray-4, but the company went bankrupt before it was completed.

The last company that Cray founded was SRC Computers, where he was working on the design of a massively parallel machine, focused on communications and memory performance. However, Cray lost his life in a car accident, so he didn't have the chance to deliver another excellent idea to the world. The latest launch of SRC Computers, which specializes in re-configurable systems, was in 2015 and had to do with a Reconfigurable Hyperscale Server.

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The Information Technology Revolution - The First Processors (CPUs)

In this section we will review some of the most significant developments in Information Technology (IT) from the early 1970s, including the first computer processors.

In 1969 a Japanese company, called Busicom, made an order to Intel for the design of 12 special purpose integrated circuits (ICs), which would be used in a new line of programmable electronic calculators. Intel assigned the study of Busicom's design to Marcian Edward "Ted" Hoff. After looking into this matter, Hoff decided to bypass Busicom's initial design and proposed a new architecture that included a single IC that would adopt the characteristics of a general purpose processor.

Hoff's new architecture was utilized by Federico Faggin, who was the leader of the implementation team, and the result was the first microprocessor or Central Processing Unit (CPU), called 4004. This CPU had a 4 bit architecture, meaning that it could process data with 4 bit length, and included 256 bytes of Read Only Memory (ROM), 32 bit RAM and a 10 bit shift register. The 4004 used 2,300 transistors and could perform 60,000 operations per second. The maximum operating frequency of this CPU was 740 KHz.

Obviously the strongest asset of the 4004 CPU was that it could be used for a variety of tasks, by simply feeding it with another program. Nowadays this seems like a really simple concept, but at that time it was considered to be a great innovation to have a general purpose CPU that could be programmed to deal with different tasks.

Shortly after the release of the 4004, in 1972, Intel introduced the 8008 CPU, which essentially was the 8-bit version of its predecessor. The 8008 was the first CPU that was supported by a high level compiler, the PL/M. Two years later, in 1974, the Intel 8080 was introduced, retaining the 8-bit architecture. With its 4,500 transistors it could perform 200,000 operations per second.

In 1974 Motorola introduced the 6800 CPU. In 1975 the 6502 was released by MOS Technology, and in 1976 the legendary Zilog Z80 made its debut.

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Xerox PARC And ALTO Computer

Today, the Xerox Corporation is mostly known for its printers and copier machines, however decades ago the company also had a huge influence on the computing community and was a true pioneer in many developments. Some of Xerox's inventions include networking, the Graphical User Interface (GUI), the very large-scale integration circuits (VLSI), laser printing and the mouse. All inventions described above took place at the Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). The PARC was Xerox's research center and some of the greatest scientists in the world worked there.

Scientists working at Xerox PARC were free to pursue and implement their ideas, which is why so many great innovations were born there. Although some companies like Apple managed to obtain some ideas that initially started at Xerox PARC, Xerox failed to utilize many of them; that's one of the reasons why today Xerox's contributions are not well known. People like Steve Jobs had the insight to exploit some of PARC scientists' innovations and thanks to this, Apple is now among the most powerful tech companies in the world.

One particular invention is the Alto computer, which was designed and built at Xerox PARC in 1973 and is considered an ancestor of all personal computers (PC). It was the first computer that featured a graphical user interface, and although it was never released, thousands of these machines were manufactured and used not only within the limits of Xerox PARC, but also in other Xerox locations and even several universities.

The Alto PC used a Texas Instruments CPU and featured an Ethernet port, which allowed it to connect to other Alto PCs. On top of that, it used a black and white monitor along with a strange looking keyboard and a mouse. One of Alto's capabilities was the support of external storage drives, so it could play the role of a file server. As you can probably guess, if the Alto PC was released on the commercial market then Xerox's position in the IT world would most likely be very different today. When it comes to technology, innovation alone can prove fruitless if it isn't supported by a good marketing and sales strategy.

In 1979 the co-founder of Apple, the late Steve Jobs, managed to gain access to Xerox PARC and had the chance to watch a demonstration of the Smalltalk programming environment and also take a look at the networking environment and the GUI of the Alto PC. He was left so impressed by Alto's graphical interface that he immediately adopted the idea and used it later in the computers that Apple manufactured. Jobs capitalized on Xerox's ideas, setting a foundation for one of the largest technology companies today.

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The Era Of Microcomputers: ALTAIR 8800 And Other Early Computers

In 1973, only a few months after the release of the Intel 8008 CPU, the first non-kit microcomputer or personal computer (PC) was presented in France, and it used Intel's CPU. The Micral N PC wasn't commercially successful. That same year the Scelbi-8H PC was released, and was available either fully assembled or in a kit that the prospective buyers had to assemble. In 1974 the Mark-8 PC followed, which used the same Intel CPU as the Micral N and Scelbi-8H PCs.

Possibly the most famous of the early PCs is the Altair 8800, released in 1975, which was available pre-assembled and in a kit form. The Altair 8800 used the newly released Intel 8080 CPU and had 256 bytes of RAM. During the same year as Altair's release, two students, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, founded Microsoft and released a BASIC compiler for the Altair 8800, giving it its first programming language. This meant that anyone with an Altair PC could write its own programs, which was a real breakthrough.

Initially, the Altair could only be programmed through the switches on its front panel, and the output was given as a pattern of lights on its front. Later, its manufacturer added additional expansion cards that included a paper tape reader, RAM upgrades and an RS-232 interface, which allowed connection to a Teletype terminal.

Kenbak-1 And Micral N

The top computer in the photo above is the Kenbak-1, which is considered to be the world's fist personal computer. It was invented by John V. Blankenbaker of Kenbak Corporation in 1970, and the first unit was sold in 1971 for $750. In total, 50 Kenbak-1s were built. The PC didn't have a proper CPU and instead used TTL chips, because at this time the first microprocessors (TMS 1000 and Intel 4004) weren't invented yet!

The computer shown below the Kenbak-1 is the Micral N, which was made in France by Réalisation d'Études Électroniques (R2E) in 1973. This was the first commercial personal computer that used a CPU (Intel 8008). In addition, the Micral N, like the Kenbak1, didn't come in a kit but was pre-built.

IMSAI 8080

The IMSAI 8080 was released in 1975 and in its early version it used an Intel 8080 CPU. Actually, the IMSAI 8080 was an Altair 8800 clone, which was its main competitor. It was running the CP/M OS, which later evolved into the IMDOS operating system for the IMSAI 8080 computers. This computer became famous thanks to the WarGames movie (released in 1983), because the main character played by Matthew Broderick used an IMSAI 8080 along with a modem in order to hack a large supercomputer. 

EPA Micro-68

The EPA Micro 68 was released in 1977 and used a Motorola 6800 CPU and had a six-digit and seven-segment display. You can learn more about this computer here.

System3, Smaky6 And SOL Terminal

In 1978 three personal computers were released, including the Cromemco System 3, the Smaky6 and the SOL Terminal. Cromemco was a highly successful company that also built the Cyclops digital camera, introduced in 1975, which was the first commercial all-digital camera featuring a MOS image sensor. The resolution of the digital sensor was 32 x 32 pixels or 0.001 Megapixels! Another noteworthy Cromemco product was the TV Dazzler, which in essence was a graphics card for S-100 bus (an early expansion bus type) computers. With this gadget a color TV could be used as a computer display, and more than one Dazzler card could be installed into a PC and synced together, driving equally numbered displays. Thanks to this feature Dazzler cards were widely used in weather display systems used by U.S. TV stations during the 1980s.

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Apple I And II: Switching PSU And The Lack Of Cooling Fans

In 1976, one year after the release of the Altair 8800 PC, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs finished building the Apple I, a microcomputer that was based on the MOS 6502 CPU. A month later, on April Fools' Day, they founded Apple, and a short time later, the Apple II was introduced. Apple II was an 8-bit home computer that enjoyed huge success among users. It was designed by Steve Wozniak, except for its power supply (PSU), which was designed by Rod Holt, an Atari engineer.

Since the Apple II used a plastic case, which doesn't conduct heat well, excess heat would build up inside the computer if a low efficiency, linear PSU was used, like in the other computers of this era (e.g. Commodore PET, TRS-80, Atari 400/800 etc.). This is why Holt designed a switching power supply, and the Apple II was among the first home computers to use a PSU of this kind. The efficient and passively cooled (fanless) PSU also allowed the Apple II to operate without needing cooling fans, despite its plastic case that actually trapped the heat inside the chassis.

For those with an interest in PSUs, we should mention that Holt's PSU delivered 38W and had four rails: 5V, 12V, -5V and -12V. It was based on a very simple design that used a flyback converter. Contrary to Job's claims, the Apple II wasn't the first computer to use a switching PSU, since many computers, like the PDP-11/20, used similar PSUs in the late 1960s. During the mid-1970s, switching PSUs were also used in color TVs, so they were quite popular. Initially, the Apple II's PSUs were made by contractors, however once the demand increased a company called Astec took over the manufacturing process. The same company also handled manufacturing the PSU of the first IBM PC (the 5150), which was introduced in 1981. In 1999 Astec was acquired by Emerson, which currently is among the largest PSU manufacturers.

The first Macintosh computer, which was introduced in 1984 and become a huge success, especially among graphic designers, used a switching PSU with 60W max power. In addition to supplying power to the computer, the PSU also fed the CRT display, which are extremely power hungry.

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Commodore PET And TRS-80

Commodore International enjoyed popularity during the 1980s and 90s thanks to its Amiga home computer line. In 1977 Commodore released the PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) computer series. The first model of the PET line, the PET 2001, was the first home computer and was based on the MOS 6502 CPU, which controlled all of the peripheral devices connected to the system.

The PET 2001 was an 8-bit, single-board computer and like many computers of this era, it used a cassette tape recorder for data input/output. The first PET was announced at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in January 1977, and its production started that same year. The PET 2001 was a success and in 1979 a new version, the 2001-N, was introduced. The PET 2001-N introduced a new innovation: the support for a disk drive line, which was made by Commodore. The disk drive was connected to the PET through an IEEE 488 interface.

In 1980 the 8-bit Commodore VIC-20 was released, and it used the MOS 6502 CPU and managed to sell a million units! The VIC-20 had 20KB of ROM and 5KB of RAM. Only 3.5KB of RAM was available to the user, because the remaining 1.5KB was used by the system for various tasks. In addition, there was a ROM cartridge port that allowed the plug-in of cartridges loaded with games or applications. Through this port the computer's limited memory could be upgraded to up to 32KB, and there were also port expanded boxes that allowed the attachment of more than one cartridge at the same time. VIC's production ceased at the beginning of 1985. The VIC-20's successor was the Commodore 64, which was introduced in 1982.

TRS-80

In 1977, the same year as the Commodore PET was released, Tandy/Radio Shack's TRS-80 made its debut. It used a Zilog Z80 CPU that was supported by 4KB of RAM and 4KB of ROM, along with a keyboard and a cassette tape recorder. Back in those days the TRS-80, along with the Commodore PET 2001 and the Apple II, were considered to be the most popular microcomputers. The TRS-80 was made by a member of the Homebrew Computer Club, named Steve Leininger. This club was a hobbyist group in Silicon Valley that included many notable computer entrepreneurs like the founders of Apple, John Draper, Roger Melen, Adam Osborne and many more.

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The TRS-80 was very successful and continued to sell until 1982. It easily took the lead from the more expensive Apple II, at least during the first five years. A key part of this was surely Radio Shack's large distribution network. Finally, one of the first microcomputer word processors was developed for the TRS-80 and it was called the Electric Pencil.

VisiCalc's Revolution And IBM's Entrance Into The Personal Computer Market

In the early microcomputer days most users had to write their own programs, because there was nothing available on the market. As you can imagine, this prevented many people from buying a computer, since they couldn't do anything with it unless they were experienced programmers. This is the main reason behind the huge success of VisiCalc, introduced in 1979. VisiCalc was a spreadsheet program, like today's Microsoft Excel, and was initially written for the Apple II by a Harvard student. Thanks to VisiCalc, the sales of the Apple II computer skyrocketed.

VisiCalc's huge success sparked the development of other programs, and so began the birth of the software industry. VisiCalc was ported to a variety of platforms and managed to transform this era's microcomputers to business machines. In 1981, IBM used this opportunity to enter the personal computer market as well. Eventually, VisiCalc was superseded by IBM's Lotus 1-2-3, which was developed by a former VisiCalc employee and took full advantage of the PC's abilities.

IBM's Entrance Into The Personal Computer Market

Until 1980, IBM had established its presence in the large-scale computer (mainframe) market, however it had no products to show in the quickly evolving microcomputer market, except for the unsuccessful portable IBM 5100 released in 1975. Since the microcomputer market had lots of potential, IBM wanted a share of the pie.

During the summer of 1980 IBM contacted a small company called Microsoft to develop an operating system for IBM's new PC. In the end, IBM decided to ship its first PC with two additional operating systems, the widely known CP/M-86 (Control Program for Microcomputers) and the UCSD p-System. However, Microsoft's MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) would ultimately prevail.

The agreement between IBM and Microsoft for the operating system offered huge gains to Microsoft, which even the IBM executives failed to see. This helped Microsoft become a leader in the software market in a very short period, especially after the release of the first windowed operating system we all know as "Windows."

The secret project for the construction of the first IBM PC was named "Project Chess," and the PC itself was called Acorn. A total of 12 IBM engineers, also called the "dirty dozen," undertook the construction of the Acorn PC and showed it to the public in August 1981, with the name IBM PC (Personal Computer). From this moment on, the term PC, although it was already in use, became highly popular and it is used now to describe majority of computers.

The IBM PC, or IBM 5150, was equipped with the Intel 8088 CPU, which was introduced in 1979 and featured an 8-bit external data bus and 16-bit registers. The CPU was clocked at 4.77 MHz, and the IBM 5150 could be equipped with up to two floppy drives (5-¼"). To further reduce cost, the PC could be connected to a common television, and a cassette recorder could be used for data storage purposes. The price of an IBM 5150 equipped with 64 KB of RAM, a single 5-¼" drive and a monitor reached $3,000; the more affordable version without the drive and the monitor and only with 16 KB RAM was priced around $1,600.

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ZX SPECTRUM: The Home Computer Era Begins

The legendary ZX Spectrum was initially launched in the UK in 1982 by a company called Sinclair Research. The ZX Spectrum was the successor to the highly successful ZX81, which was released a year earlier as a replacement of the first model of this line, the ZX80. It could be said that the Spectrum computer actually initiated the home computer era. These home computers would gain huge popularity in the years to come because they combined entertainment (like video games) with applications (like word processors, spreadsheets, image processing programs). The introduction of the ZX Spectrum also boosted the development of software companies and helped Sinclair's president, Clive Sinclair, receive knighthood.

Spectrum was an 8-bit computer and used a Zilog Z80A CPU, which was clocked at 3.5 MHz. The first models were equipped with 16KB of ROM and 16KB or 48KB of RAM and used a tape recorder for loading data and applications. The computer wasn't accompanied by a monitor to make it more affordable, so you had to connect it to a TV; its graphics capabilities were highly restricted, with a resolution of 256 x 192 pixels.

One of Spectrum's notable features were the keyboard's rubber keys, which looked like small erasers (some people claimed that indeed they could be used to erase pencil marks). The price of this early home computer was fairly low, at around 125 pounds for the 16KB RAM model, while the 48KB Spectrum had a price tag of 175 pounds.

Later on, Sinclair released a couple of other models, mainly the ZX Spectrum+ in 1984 and the ZX Spectrum 128 in 1985. However, none of them were able to repeat the success of the first model. Finally, in 1986 the entire Spectrum line was acquired by Amstrad and five more Spectrum models were released, including ZX Spectrum +2, ZX Spectrum +2A, the ZX Spectrum +3, which could run the CP/M OS without additional hardware, and finally the ZX Spectrum +2B and +3B.

The software support for the ZX spectrum was huge with more than 24,000 titles released. Most of these applications were games, but you could also find programming languages, word processors, spreadsheets, painting programs and other business applications.

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Commodore 64 And CP/M

The Commodore 64, or C64, was the successor to the VIC-20, and is the most widespread computer ever built, with more than 25 million units sold worldwide. What's remarkable about the C64 is that it was initially designed as a video game console, however later Commodore decided to release it as a computer. Judging from the huge sales, the company made the right call.

C64 was introduced to the market in August 1982 and it was in production until April 1994. This is remarkable for a computer! The Commodore 64 used an 8-bit 6510 MOS CPU, which was clocked at 1.02 MHz (in the NTSC version), and the RAM and ROM had 64 KB and 20 KB capacity respectively. In addition, C64 used dedicated integrated circuits for its sound and graphics and a plain tape recorder for for data/application loading. However, an optional disk drive was also available for faster read times.

Like many home computers of this era, the C64 could be connected to any TV, since computer monitors in the 1980s were very expensive.

About 10,000 software applications were developed for the C64, and they covered a wide range of games as well as specific office applications and software development tools. The operating system was developed by Commodore and was called KERNAL. In 1985, shortly before the release of the Amiga computer, the C128 was introduced, which was an upgraded version of the C64, featuring a faster CPU, 128KB of RAM and a new operating system, the CP/M 3.0.

The Control Program for Microcomputers or CP/M as it was widely known, was initially created by Gary Kildall of Digital Research for Intel 8080/8085 CPUs. At first, it was a single-task OS supporting only 8-bit CPUs, however, it evolved into a multi-tasking OS (multi-user DOS) supporting 16-bit CPUs as well.

IBM approached Digital Research in order to use CP/M for its new Personal Computer; however the deal went south so IBM closed an agreement with Microsoft instead. The MS-DOS operating system quickly dominated the market leaving CP/M behind. In order for CP/M to survive, future versions of the OS (CP/M-86) became compatible with the rival OS and its name changed as well to DOS Plus and DR-DOS afterwards. The latest DR-DOS version (7.01.08) was released in July 2011. Probably many of you have used a DR-DOS version in order to flash a new firmware to a VGA.

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Amstrad 464, 664 And 6128

The Amstrad CPC (Colour Personal Computer) 464 was a home computer that had huge success in Europe, achieving over two million sales. It first appeared on the market in 1984 and its production stopped in 1990. Just like the ZX Spectrum, it used a Zilog Z80A 8-bit CPU, which was clocked at 4 MHz. Its memory reached 64 KB and a part of the CP/M OS, a version of the BASIC programming language (Locomotive BASIC) along with the compiler were stored in the computer's ROM.

In addition, the CPC464 was equipped with a built-in tape player/recorder for loading programs and storing data. The CPC464 was among the few home computers of this era that was bundled with a monitor, which has either a monochrome or color display. The purchase of this Amstrad monitor was necessary, at least initially, since the CPC computers didn't have an RF or a composite video output; instead, they used a 6-pin RGB Din connector. However, Amstrad later released a special RF adapter that allowed the connection of these computers with a regular TV.

The direct competitor of the CPC464 was the mighty Commodore 64, which had better graphics and sound. In early 1985 Amstrad introduced the CPC664 with the only upgrade being the replacement of the tape player with a 3" floppy drive that was made by Hitachi. Strangely enough, instead of choosing the popular 3 ½" format (which was cheaper), Amstrad decided to go with the 3" format, which as a result had an increased price that its users had to pay for. In addition, the 3" disks were double-sided but the embedded drive of the CPC could only read one side, so the user had to remove the disk, flip it and insert it again into the drive in order to use the other side of it. The total capacity of these 3" disks reached 360 KB in total (2x 180 KB).

In August 1985 Amstrad released the CPC6128, its flagship computer, which had double the amount of RAM compared to the other two CPC models. In general, the CPC models were worth the money, scoring a good performance per dollar ratio for this period's standards. On top of that, they were highly reliable and could take lots of abuse. I still recall playing Bomb Jack on an Amstrad CPC6128 and despite the punches that we were landing on its keyboard, it continued to operate properly.

The CPCs were also fairly easy to program, however most of the professional oriented applications that were developed for them weren't written on high-end languages (besides the BASIC language there were also compilers for C and Pascal), but in assembly code, which is really tough to master and use. In the early 1990s, Amstrad renewed its CPC line with the CPC464 and the 6128 Plus, which featured significant hardware improvements including a slot for cartridges. Despite Amstrad's hard efforts, these new CPCs didn't have high sale numbers.

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Atari 520ST And 1040ST(F)

During the golden home computer era I was lucky enough to have an Atari 1040STF along with a color monitor. Thanks to this computer I have many good memories of my early computing days. I sometimes miss the days when you didn't have to upgrade your system every so often in order to be able to play a new game or run a new application. For the record, my Atari 1040STF is still operational, 30 years after its first boot. Talk about reliability!

The Atari 520 and 1040ST belonged to the so-called 16-bit home computers category along with the Amiga 500. However, Atari is mostly known for its game consoles and its video arcade games. The company has a long tradition in the gaming arena, which started in 1972 with the release of the first video game, the famous Pong.

In the middle of the 1980s the Atari ST series made its debut, two months before Amiga 1000's release to the market. These two computers shared the same CPU, the powerful (for those days) Motorola 68000 CPU, which had a 16-bit wide external bus data and a 32-bit internal bus. This CPU was released in 1979 and was used by many famous (and not so famous) computers and game consoles, including the original Apple Macintosh, the Sega Genesis and Neo Geo consoles. It could reach 16 MHz speeds, however in the Atari ST models it was clocked at 8 MHz.

The naming scheme of Atari's ST series was derived from the number of bits of the 68000 CPU's external and internal buses (ST: Sixteen / Thirty-two). The 520ST model had 512KB of RAM while the 1040ST packed 1MB, an enormous amount of RAM for this time. In the storage section a 3-½" floppy drive was used, and the disks had up to 720KB of capacity. However, the most notable feature of the ST units was that they were the first mass produced computers equipped with a colored graphics interface environment (GUI). In addition, all STs had integrated MIDI ports for controlling music instruments, which made them highly popular among musicians.

When it came to graphics and sound capabilities the Atari ST was inferior to Amiga, but it was more affordable and its CPU was slightly faster. Amiga was mostly a gaming machine, or at least the people that bought it had this impression, while the Atari ST was destined for more "serious" work. This is why Atari had more support when it came to professional application packages including desktop publishing and CAD (Computer-Aided Design) apps.

We should note that during this period there was an epic controversy between Amiga and Atari ST users about which of the two was the best home computer. There was also a great conflict between Atari, which was bought by Jack Tramiel in 1984, and Commodore; this had to do with some chips that Amiga used. The dedicated graphics and sound chips that were used in the Amiga 500 were made by a small company, called Amiga Corp. The same company had received money from Atari in order to design and manufacture video and audio chips for Atari's computers. However, in the end the deal went south and Commodore was smart enough to grab the opportunity. The reason behind Amiga's late release was a lawsuit from Atari about Commodore's partnership with Amiga Corp, which allowed the Atari ST line to hit the market first, two months ahead of the Amiga 1000.

The most interesting part in the whole Atari-Amiga story is that the Atari ST line was made by Commodore's founder. Tramiel left the company in 1984 and bought the Consumer Division of Atari in the same year, while the Amiga line was designed by a company that was founded by Atari's ex-employees who kept close ties with Atari until Tramiel got hold of the company. We are talking about a huge mess here.

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ATARI TOS, (Mega) STE, TT And The Jaguar Gaming Console

The Atari ST operating system was called TOS (Total Operating System) and it was developed by Digital Research, the company behind CP/M, which was founded by Dr. Gary Kildall. The TOS featured a GUI, named GEM, and behind the curtain it ran GEMDOS, which shared some similarities with the DOS operating system that IBM compatible PCs were using.

The TOS was stored in the ROM of every Atari ST and was installed on a mounting base instead of being soldered directly onto the computer's mainboard. This was done with the ROM upgrade in mind, which would allow for easier future TOS upgrades. We should mention that in TOS there was no shut-down option; you just switched-off the computer, which sounds really strange nowadays.

Around the end of 1989 Atari released the STE series to succeed the ST line, and it included improvements in the graphics and sound along with an upgraded OS. However, it was already too late for Atari to fight Amiga, which was clearly the winner in gaming software. Also, all STE models were equipped with a special chip that could accelerate 2D graphics, something that the competitive Amiga offerings already had (called a blitter; more on this in the Amiga section on the following page).

The Mega STE line followed, and in 1990 Atari introduced its flagship TT, which was based on the 32-bit Motorola 68030 CPU. Unfortunately, the TT models were the last computers built by Atari.

After a significant and rather successful course in the computer hardware market (thanks to the Atari ST line), Atari stopped making home computers. It is worth mentioning that the company's last effort in the game console market was the Atari Jaguar, which, according to Atari, was the first 64-bit game console. The Jaguar didn't do well mostly because of the limited games released for the platform, which was due to the complex multi-chip architecture that made game development difficult. Atari also faced strong competition. In 1995 Sony released the PlayStation, which drove even lower Jaguar sales, and the console's production ended in 1996. Currently, Atari is known as Atari, SA (ASA) and focuses only on software.

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Commodore Amiga

Many believe the Amiga line included the best home computers ever released. The first Amiga was introduced in July 1985. The A1000 model in its basic edition had 256KB of RAM and was supported with an optional color monitor. Commodore used the famous 16-bit Motorola 68000 CPU for the first Amiga models, clocked at 7.16 MHz for the U.S. version and at 7.09 MHz for the European model.

Despite the rather weak CPU, Amiga had amazing graphics and audio capabilities thanks to its dedicated circuits, called Denise (graphics) and Paula (audio). In addition to these two circuits there was also a third (initially called Agnus and after its upgrade renamed Fat Agnus), which provided fast RAM access to the other circuits, including the CPU.

Agnus also incorporated a chip called blitter, and it was responsible for boosting the 2D graphics performance of Amiga. In other words, the blitter played the role of a co-processor and was capable of copying a large amount of data from one region of the system's RAM to another, helping to increase the speed of 2D graphics rendering.

The A1000 was also equipped with a 3 ½" floppy drive and its operating system (OS) was the AmigaOS, which was multitasking while the IBM compatible PC's DOS was single tasking.

The AmigaOS kernel was loaded from a floppy disk to a board that was installed inside the A1000, which had 256KB of capacity. From the moment the kernel was loaded (also known as Kickstart), the 256KB of RAM was transformed to write-protected.

During this time, some designers held strong ties to their creations, which was clearly the case with Amiga. The first A1000 carried the signatures of their makers inside the chassis, along with the footprint of a dog that belonged to one of the team members (Jay Miner). The production of the A1000 stopped in 1987, when this model was replaced by the A500, which was a huge success, and the flagship A2000.

The new Amigas used an upgraded version of the AmigaOS and the A500 was equipped with 512KB of RAM, which could be upgraded up to 9.5MB. That's right, the Amiga had an open platform and could be upgraded rather easily by the standards of this period. Hands down, the A500 was the most successful product in Commodore's portfolio and it had huge sales, especially in the European market. A key role in Amiga's success was the huge software support, especially video games.

The Amiga computer had increased graphics capabilities and supported up to 640 x 512 resolution, and was able to depict up to 4096 colors simultaneously in a special mode called HAM, which was engaged only in static images. It also had strong audio capabilities, which, combined with the enhanced graphics, is what made this computer popular not only among gamers, but also professional graphics designers, video clip production studios and the film and music industry in general (although most music artists preferred the Atari ST computers, because of the input-output midi ports).

Amiga was one of the first computers with an open architecture. It had two expansion slots, one on the side and one on the bottom. All of its integrated circuits (ICs) weren't installed directly onto the motherboard, but were mounted onto bases so they could be easily removed and replaced with enhanced ICs.

The same applied to the CPU, which could be easily replaced with the more powerful Motorola 68010. The CPU could be upgraded with the much stronger 68020, 68030 or the 68040 through the sided expansion port. The memory upgrade was also possible (up to 1MB) directly on the motherboard, however only Fat Agnus supported the additional memory. Moreover, Amigas could accept a hard drive or special boards that simulated IBM-compatible PCs, so they could run the corresponding software.

The last Amiga from Commodore was the A400T, released in 1994, just before the company declared bankruptcy. It might sound strange that a company that built one of the most popular computers went bankrupt. The domination of the IBM compatible PCs sealed the fate of home computers. Microsoft also played a significant role in this, with its Windows OS, which offered the highly desired graphical interface.

Nonetheless, Amiga computers (especially the first ones) were way ahead of their time and had a strong following, which continued to support the company long after Amiga production stopped.

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Intel 80386 And The Attack Of The Clone PCs - Acorn Archimedes

In 1985 Intel introduced its new CPU, the 32-bit 80386 or i386. The i386 was significantly faster than its predecessor, the 80286, and fully compatible with all existing applications, even the ones that were developed for the 8086 and 8088 processors. The i386's speed ranged from 12 MHz to 40 MHz. An i386 clocked at 33 MHz was able to perform 11.4 million instructions per second (MIPs) while a 80286 CPU clocked at 12 MHz could only perform 1.8 MIPs. As you can see, the difference is huge and this is why the i386 is a landmark in Intel's history.

To the great surprise of the computing community, the first PC equipped with an i386 didn't come from IBM, which was a leader in the PC market. Instead, the PC with the i386 chip was introduced by Compaq, which later merged with Hewlett-Packard. We should mention that Intel initially approached IBM, offering its new CPU, but the company refused; IBM wanted to keep using the older 80286 because it had manufacturing rights for the CPU. Ultimately, the Compaq i386 was a great success and made the PC clones (i.e. computers compatible with IBM PCs) highly popular.

Acorn Archimedes

In the mid-1980s an English computer manufacturer, Acorn Computers, decided to find a replacement for the aged 8-bit 6502 CPU that it used until that time. Acorn approached Intel in an effort to get the required rights to use the 80286 CPU, but the respponse was negative. This forced Acorn to build its own processor, and the final result was ARM (Acorn Risc Machine), which was a powerful RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) type processor. RISC CPUs achieved higher performance than the CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computing) CPUs through the use of a smaller set of simple, but frequently-used commands.

The first Acorn computers with the new ARM CPU arrived in the summer of 1987 as the 300 and 400 series computers. A couple of years later, in May 1989, Acorn released a competitor to the Amiga 500 and Atari 520 ST: the Archimedes 3000 or A3000.

The A3000 computer was equipped with an ARM2 processor clocked at 8 MHz and had 1MB of RAM. The ARM2 CPU allowed the A3000 to perform 4 MIPS, which made it about seven times faster than the Amiga A500. The operating system, the RiscOS, featured a GUI and supported the parallel execution of multiple tasks (multitasking). RiscOS was stored in A3000's ROM along with a BBC BASIC V compiler and various other applications.

In addition, Archimedes was equipped with a 3 ½" floppy drive that supported disks with up to 800 KB of capacity. Thanks to its open architecture, the computer could also receive upgrades through expansion cards. Moreover, the A3000 was supported by many programming languages including C, Fortran 77, Pascal and LISP. One of its strong points was its advanced graphics capabilities; it supported 21 different resolutions.

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NeXT Cube

In May 1985, Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, left his own company (mainly because of a fight that he had with the chairman, John Sculley, who was initially recruited by Jobs himself). Jobs immediately established another company, called NeXT, Inc. (and Next Computer, Inc. later). NeXT released a real technological marvel in 1989: the NeXT Cube computer.

NeXTSTEP Operating System: Cube's Hardware

The NeXT computer used the NeXTSTEP operating system, based on Unix. The nickname "the Cube" was a reflection of its cube-shaped chassis. Its features were impressive for the time.

For starters, the computer was equipped with a hard disk (HDD), which was offered with either 330MB or 660MB capacity. In addition, the computer came with a magneto-optical drive that had the ability to write and rewrite data on magneto-optical discs with up to 256MB capacities. However, the magneto-optical drive was very slow and created significant performance problems for the Cube, so in the next revision it was replaced by an HDD.

The Cube supported a maximum resolution of 1120 x 832 pixels with four gray scales in the 17" screen that was shipped along with it. This specific resolution was considered very high at this time. The first Cube used the Motorola 68030 CPU, which was backed up by the 68882 mathematical co-processor. Moreover, the computer was equipped with a digital signal processor that handled the execution of multimedia applications, and the RAM had 8MB capacity, expandable up to 64MB.

There was also an Ethernet port and a laser printer, with 400 DPI resolution. NeXT's computer was very expensive ($6500 at its 1988 launch), and its sales were limited.

For comparison, we should mention that a typical PC during this period had 640KB of RAM, upgradeable up to 4MB, and used mostly the 8086, 8088 and 80286 Intel CPUs; only the high-end PCs used the faster 80386. PCs supported screen resolutions of 640 x 350 maximum, with 16 colors or 720 x 348 monochrome. HDD capacity was only 10 or 20 MB. In other words, the difference between a NeXT and a typical PC was quite dramatic.

NeXT Cube

In 1990, after the production of the first NeXT computer ended, a new NeXT computer immediately hit the market, and this time it was officially called the Cube. The NeXT Cube was equipped with a faster CPU, the Motorola 68040, and instead of the magneto-optical drive, it used a 3 ½" floppy drive with 2.88 MB capacity (after a while a CD-ROM drive replaced it). The new Cube also had an HDD and used a specially designed graphics processor.

NeXT prices didn't stop some buyers from using the systems in some highly innovative projects. In 1991, with the help of NeXT, the creator of the World Wide Web (WWW), Sir Tim Berners-Lee, created the first browser and the first web server. At the same time, programmer John Carmack played a key role in the development of the Wolfenstein 3D with his new NeXT Cube machine; Carmack used the same computer to develop the legendary Doom games.

In 1996 NeXT was acquired by Apple and Jobs once again took over managing the company he co-created. Many innovative ideas that belonged to NeXT passed onto Apple products, with the more radical change happening to the Apple operating system. Since Mac OS X Server 1.0, released in 1999, all Mac OS versions are derived from the NeXTSTEP operating system, and the main programming language for all Apple products is Objective-C, which was used extensively in NeXT computers.

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The First Graphics Processing Units (GPUs)

The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) or VPU (Visual Processing Unit) handles the display and acceleration of graphics (especially 3D). It consists of one or more processors and also has its own RAM. Modern GPUs also handle more complex calculations (Physics) and can be used for heavy parallel processing tasks. In other words, it's worthwhile to talk about GPU history.

Atari 2600

Jay Miner was a brilliant integrated circuit designer who moved to Atari during the late 1970s. One of his first breakthroughs was the design of the TIA circuit, which was the display hardware of the famous Atari 2600 gaming console. The Atari 2600, or Atari VCS used ROM cartridges for the games, and its successor was the Atari 5200, released in 1982.

Atari 400/800

In late 1970 the first Atari computers, the 8-bit Atari 400 and Atari 800, were the first to have special integrated circuits for the display and acceleration of 2D graphics, which were called ANTIC (Alpha-Numeric Television Interface) and CTIA (Colleen TIA). The second IC was eventually replaced by GTIA (George's Television Interface Adapter). Miner, who designed the ANTIC and CTIA, is considered Amiga's father and was the chief designer behind Amiga, which started as project Lorraine. Amiga was the first mass-produced computer equipped with a special 2D accelerator (called blitter). Thanks to its graphics capabilities the computer enjoyed recognition and huge worldwide sales. 

ΙΒΜ Professional Graphics Adapter

In 1984 IBM introduced its first GPU called Professional Graphics Controller (PGC) or Professional Graphics Adapter (PGA). In essence, it was an expansion card that could accelerate 3D graphics as well as 2D graphics. It consisted of three separate boards that were connected together, and it had its own CPU along with dedicated RAM (an Intel 8088 CPU and 320KB RAM).

The PGC supported resolutions of up to 640 x 480 pixels, with 256 colors simultaneously shown on the display and a refresh rate of 60 frames per second. Its price was $4,290 when it was first introduced. This specific GPU didn't manage to achieve notable commercial success, not only because of its high price, but mainly because of the lack of adequate software support. However, the PGC is still considered an important milestone in the history of GPUs.

Other Significant GPUs

In 1985 Amiga revolutionized the graphics market with its advanced design and circuitry. The specially designed boards that fully handled the creation and acceleration of graphics in Amiga not only relieved the CPU from this task, but also offered the home computer very high graphics capabilities. It is safe to say that the Amiga was one of the first commercial computers equipped with what we now call a GPU.

Six years later, in 1991, S3 presented the S386C911, which was the first single-chip 2D graphics accelerator. For a while, graphics accelerators handled only 2D graphics, until the release of the first 3D graphics accelerators (S3 VIRGE, ATI RAGE and Matrox Mystique). Meanwhile, the fifth generation gaming consoles, PlayStation and Nintendo 64, were equipped with pretty strong 3D GPUs.

PC users who desperately wanted fast 3D graphics had to wait until 3dfx Interactive introduced its legendary Voodoo accelerators. The first models only supported 3D graphics, so they required another display card that would handle 2D graphics. Later, the 2D and 3D graphics acceleration chips were merged into one, and the first card that supported both 2D and 3D acceleration was the V1000 by Vérité.

GeForce 256 By Nvidia

In 1999 Nvidia introduced the successor to the RIVA TNT2. The GeForce 256 supported the Transform and Lighting (T&L) engine and took the burden off of the main CPU for the creation of complex graphics effects. The GeForce 256 was significantly faster than the previous generation, with the performance difference reaching 50 percent in most games. In addition, the GPU was the first to fully support Direct3D. We should also mention that the integration of the T&L engine in GPUs allowed Nvidia to enter the professional CAD market as well, with the professional Quadro GPU line.

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The First Video Games And Game Consoles

Covering just the most significant parts of the gaming console and video game history would require a lot of space. We'll just do a quick rundown of some of the most important moments in gaming that opened the door to today's video game entertainment, along with some interesting photographs taken at the Computer History Museum.

The first ever video game on a computer was made by Steve Russell on the PDP-1 minicomputer of MIT's RLE club, and it was called "Spacewar!" This was in 1962, and the game was soon a success on PDP-1 computers. Alan Kotok and Bob Saunders even built a gamepad to make the control of the game easier. 

The first prototype of a game console was made in 1967 by Ralph Baer, a German engineer, and it was called the "Brown Box." It worked on a standard television and the first game, called "chase game," was very simple. With help from his colleagues at the electronics firm where he worked, Baer developed 12 games and managed to even add a light gun to the system. Eventually, the team used the experience gained from the "brown box" prototype, and the first commercial game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, hit the stores in 1972.

Atari's Pong wasn't a game console but an arcade machine, but it helped make video games popular. In 1972 Allan Alcorn finished a working Pong prototype and, along with Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, installed the machine at a local bar. There was so much excitement about the arcade game that a few days later the coin mechanism couldn't receive any more quarters because it was full.

Fairchild Semiconductor is a pioneer in manufacturing transistors and integrated circuits. The company was founded in 1957, and for many years it played an active role in computer hardware. Fairchild was involved in other endeavors as well, including gaming consoles. The first home video game console that used programmable ROM cartridges and featured a microprocessor (CPU) was the Fairchild Channel F, which was released in 1976, a year before the Atari Video Computer System (VCS), or Atari 2600 as it was called later. The Channel F fared pretty well in sales, although it didn't manage to beat the highly popular Atari VCS.

The Atari 2600 game console was released in 1977, and a year later the fist Atari 8-bit home computers were introduced. The 400 and 800 models featured a full keyboard and used a MOS 6502 CPU clocked at 1.79 MHz. The most interesting fact about these computers was their ability to double as game consoles.

Atari games, along with software applications, came on plug-in cartridges, and thanks to the co-processor chips, the graphics and sound capabilities were much better than other computers of this era (e.g. the Apple II and Commodore PET). It took four years for a competing offer to make its appearance on the market in the form of the mighty Commodore 64.

Finally, in 1982 Atari Inc. released a port of the famous Pac-Man game for the Atari 2600. Although the port wasn't very successful, mostly because of the limited time that the lead programmer was given to complete the task, Atari was still able to sell around seven million copies of it.

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Video Games And Game Consoles Of The 1980s, 1990s And Beyond

In 1983 a Japanese company introduced an 8-bit gaming console to the Japanese market. The company was Nintendo, and the gaming console was the Family Computer or Famicom. Two years later Nintendo decided to release its console to the North America market under the name Nindendo Entertainment System (NES). The NES system was also released in Europe and Australia in the following years and achieved around 62 million sales worldwide from its release until the end of 2004.

The NES was replaced by Super NES in 1990, and it was also successful, with more than 49 million units sold. The Nintendo 64 followed in 1996, the GameCube in 2001, the Wii in 2006 and the Wii U in 2012. Nintendo also introduced an 8-bit handheld game device in 1989, the Game Boy, and around 119 million units were sold worldwide.

Sega Games, another Japanese video game developer, was active in the game console market between 1983 and 2001. Currently, Sega focuses on arcade games. Sega's first game console was the SG-1000, released in 1983. Due to the strong competition at this time, Sega's SG-1000 wasn't commercially successful. The Sega Master System, released in 1985, was much more successful, but it didn't manage to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System.

In 1988 the Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis in North America) was released in Japan, and in 1990 Sega released its handheld Game Gear. Four years later the Sega Saturn made its debut. The last Sega game console was the Dreamcast, which was discontinued in 2001.

Sony managed to rock the boat in game consoles with the first PlayStation (PS1 or PSX), which was released in December 1994 in Japan and in the following years to the rest of the world. PS1 achieved over 100 million sales worldwide thanks to its amazing graphics capabilities and the huge software developer support.

Nintendo had approached Sony many years before the release of the PS1 in order to create a CD-ROM add-on drive for the SNES system. Eventually the deal went south and Sony decided to continue the project alone, which eventually led to the creation of the first PlayStation console. Its successor, the PS2 was released in 2000, while the PS3 hit the market six years later. The most current PlayStation console is the PS4, launched in 2013. 

Microsoft saw an opportunity in the gaming industry and decided to design and release its own game console line. The first Xbox was launched in 2001, and the Xbox 360 followed in 2005. The most recent version, Xbox One, was revealed in 2013 and is Sony PS4's main competitor. Currently, Microsoft and Sony are the two key players in the game console market, with Nintendo still trying to catch back up.

Photographs of various game consoles were taken at the Computer History Museum.

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Keyboards And Mice

The first typewriter was introduced in 1860, and the term was also used to describe the person who operated the machine. Naturally, the layout of keyboards originates from the early typewriters, since there was no need to reinvent the wheel.

The Sholes & Glidden company established the QWERTY layout in 1874 and since then it has been the standard layout for all English-language keyboards. There is an urban legend that the QWERTY layout actually makes typing slower and it does so because in the early days typewriters broke down frequently when someone typed very fast. This layout probably isn't the most optimal for the English language because you have to move your fingers between rows to type the most common letters, but it was actually invented to increase typing speed, not to slow users down.

The second common keyboard layout is the Dvorak, however it hasn't managed to replace QWERTY yet, although many popular operating systems support it.

The keyboard has been the basic input device for computers for many decades now, and this will probably remain unchanged for years to come.

Mice (AKA Computer Mouse)

The pointing device that reflects a hand's 2D movement through the form of a pointer on a computer screen is called a mouse. The same device also features buttons and a rolling wheel, in order to enhance its functionality and allow for more controls.

The late Douglas Carl Engelbart is recognized as the inventor of the computer mouse. The same inventor took part in the development of hypertext, computer networking and the GUI interface, which clearly shows his great role in the human-computer interaction field. Engelbart, along with another engineer named Bill English, created the first computer mouse in the 1960s. In the corresponding patent the device was described as the "X-Y position indicator for a display system." It was called a mouse later on because the cable resembled a mouse's tail. Obviously, there were no wireless mice in those days.

The German company Telefunken also invented a mouse in 1968, however the company believed that this device was too small to apply for a patent. Surely a regrettable decision.

One of the first computers that used a mouse was the Xerox Alto in 1973. And the first widely available mice were offered by Microsoft in 1983, when Microsoft Word offered mouse compatibility. Nonetheless, the mouse started to become popular thanks to the Apple Macintosh 128K (1984) and the Atari ST computers (1985).

Long before the invention of mice, trackballs were used mostly in military applications. The first trackball device was invented in 1941 by Ralph Benjamin for a radar plotting system.

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Epilogue

We mentioned some of the most important historical events that led to the modern computers and devices that we all use and enjoy. In many cases, we take modern technology for granted and we neglect to see the courage, knowledge and the hard work of some brilliant individuals who devoted their lives to advance the field of computer science. Today, computers are used everywhere, and most of us cannot even imagine a life without them. 

Just a few decades ago even the most optimistic person couldn't have imagined that today most modern families would have a home computer. And with technology advancing at such a rapid pace, we can't know for sure what the next decade will bring. Thankfully, there are many brilliant minds around the globe working hard to design and build new hardware and software. Some may argue that the future of computing lies in organic computing, while others may claim that the way to go is quantum circuits. In the computing world, scientists must work in parallel with visionaries to create truly innovative products that will bring drastic changes.

Despite the huge developments in the past several decades, there are still some areas of computing that haven't seen much advancement. For example, the standard peripherals for interacting with computers are still the keyboard and mouse. New ways of interacting with computer hardware need to be designed, but in order to accomplish things like this we must embrace the way the computer science pioneers thought, seeing beyond profit and marketing success.

As you might have noticed, some computers or hardware parts have managed to play a key role in history despite limited marketing success. For example the NeXT Cube was a market failure, but played a key role in the development of the first browser.

We hope future generations will visit the Computer History Museum and see the next decades of great success, failure, and progress.

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Atari (remember them?) announced the launch of Atari Vault, a new Steam download comprised of 100 classic Atari and Atari 2600 games.

Atari Vault features many of the mainstream Atari game titles that made the company one of the forefathers of modern video games, including Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Tempest, Warlords and many more. If you’re getting a twinge of nostalgia reading this, then Atari is meeting its goal.

“Atari Vault grants convenient access to some of the most memorable titles in gaming history, and in delivering these games in their original state, it is introducing a new generation of gamers to some of the very first video games,” said Fred Chesnais, Chief Executive Officer of Atari in a press release. “It is our hope that the same excitement people experienced in the arcades and in their homes when these titles were first introduced can now be embraced again, and that newcomers can discover what made these titles so iconic.”

The new collection also brings modern gaming capabilities to the classic Atari titles, including an updated UI, global leader boards full controller support, and for the first time, multiplayer capabilities. There is even an interactive archive gallery that displays the original packaging or arcade machines in 3D with 360-degree viewing, allowing users to immerse themselves in the golden age of video games, giant pixels and all.

Atari Vault is available now on Steam for $16.99 until March 31, when it bumps back up to its normal $19.99 price tag.

Derek Forrest is an Associate Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware and Tom’s IT Pro. Follow Derek Forrest on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.

A little over a month ago, Microsoft headed to New Mexico to dig up the landfill where the Atari game E.T. was rumored to be buried. Microsoft

managed to hit pay dirt, not only on E.T., but on plenty of other cartridges. 

Some of these dug up cartridges will be made available for sale at the New Mexico Museum of Space History, according to the Alamogordo City Commission. The other cartridges will be distributed to museums and to documentary-developers Lightbox and Fuel Entertainment. 

The excavation has already been filled back up. Apparently, something like 700,000 games still remain. Those who aren't willing to pay the premium for E.T. could maybe lead an excavation of their own. 

Ouya: Hope For The Future

The history of video games is littered with consoles that were epic fiascoes. Most were just bad platforms that either lacked in performance, compelling software, or a true market niche. But some had a good chance at success that was spoiled by management issues, marketing gaffes, or a lack of relationships in the software development community.

This year was a historic one for consoles, with the second-most-popular Kickstarter project, Ouya, becoming the world’s first console financed by Internet users (to the tune of $8.5 million). It uses Google's Android 4.2 operating system, a Tegra 3 SoC, and a heavily free-to-play philosophy. Square Enix announced that it will port Final Fantasy III to the platform.

The console is set to ship early in 2013, but its success is far from guaranteed. We decided to dredge up a few corpses from the past to quench a little of the excitement surrounding this project. We present 20 console failures that have left their marks on history.

ColecoVision (1982)

Specifications

CPU: NEC Zilog Z80A (3.58 MHz)
RAM: 1 KB
ROM: 8 KB
GPU: Texas Instruments TMS9928A (256x192, 16 colors, 16 KB)
VRAM: 16 KB
Games: 8 KB, 16 KB, 24 KB, or 32 KB cartridges

Consoles sold

Estimates are around 2 million.

Year production ended

1984

Reasons for failure

The video-game industry crashed in 1983 (game publishers’ stocks plummeted, investments were greatly reduced, game releases were canceled, the market was saturated, and a blasé general public was not showing much interest in new consoles). Many games were announced, but never marketed (Tunnels and Trolls is the best known). Finally, it was outperformed two years later by the NES, which cost about $100 less (around $150, taking inflation into account).

Vectrex (1982)

Specifications

CPU: Motorola MC68A09 (1.5 MHz)
RAM: 1 KB
ROM: 8 KB (4 KB used by MineStorm)
Games: 32 KB cartridge
Console shipped with a Samsung 240RB40 vector display.

Consoles sold

Figures were never published, but warehouses full of inventory forced the manufacturer to sell at a loss.

Year production ended

 1984

Reasons for failure 

Crash of the video-games market in 1983, the monochrome display required color filters, whereas the Atari 2600 and 5200 could be connected to a color TV set, the general public never got interested, and the manufacturer, Milton Bradley, was bought out by Hasbro, ending the project.

Atari 7800 (1984)

Specifications

CPU: Atari SALLY 6502 (1.79 MHz)
RAM: 4 KB
ROM: 4 KB
GPU: MARIA (7.16 MHz, 320x240, 25 colors out of 256)
Games: 48 KB cartridge

Consoles sold

3.77 million

Year production ended

1992

Reasons for failure

Sound quality was little better than what was current in 1977 with the Atari 2600 VCS and Nintendo had signed exclusivity agreements with many developers for its NES, limiting Atari's possibilities.

PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 (1987)

Specifications

CPU: Hudson Hu6280 (7.8 MHz)
RAM: 8 KB
GPU: Hudson HuC6260 16-bit (512x256, 64 KB, 256 out of 512 colors)
Games: HuCard cartridge, or CD-ROM with optional CD player (TurboGrafx-CD)
The smallest home video game console ever produced (5.5” × 5.5” × 1.5”)

Consoles sold

10 million

Year production ended

1995

Reasons for failure

Its floating-point performance fell short of expectations, there were very few games from third-party developers, the market was alreadysaturated by Nintendo and Sega, and, at least in France, the distributor (Sodipeng) went bankrupt.

Atari Lynx (1989)

Specifications

CPU: Mikey MOS 65SC02 (4 MHz, 8-bit)
ROM: 512 bytes
RAM: 64 KB
GPU: Suzy (16 MHz, 16-bit, 160x102, 16 colors from a palette of 4096 colors)
Games: 128 KB, 256 KB, or 512 KB cartridge
The world’s first handheld console with a color display
Ambidextrous design

Consoles sold

5 million

Year production ended

1995

Reasons for failure

There weren't enough units sold to attract developers, the games had to be copied from the cartridge to RAM before playing, limiting available resources and slowing the loading time, and it was priced much higher than Nintendo's Game Boy, which outsold it. Moreover, Atari suffered from limited availability at launch due to the platform's complexity, which also drew a lot of power and used up batteries quickly.

Amstrad GX4000 (1990)

Specifications

CPU: Zilog Z80A (4 MHz, 8-bit)
RAM: 64 KB
ROM: 32 KB
GPU: Unknown (640x200, 12-bit, 32 colors out of 4096)
Games: Cartridges (128 KB to 512 KB)

Consoles sold

150 000

Year production ended

1991

Reasons for failure

There were only 25 games in its catalog, which were mostly ported Amstrad CPC games. The GX4000 employed an 8-bit processor, whereas the SNES and Mega Drive were 16-bit designs. Finally, there were no major technical improvements over the Amstrad CPC (already outmoded at the time), which resulted in poor graphics.

Commodore 64GS (1990)

Specifications

CPU: MOS Technology 8500 (0.985 MHz, 8-bit)
RAM: 64 KB
ROM: 20 KB (7 KB used for KERNAL, Commodore's operating system core)
GPU: MOS Technology VIC-II MOS 8569 (16 colors, 320x200)
Games: Cartridges, unknown capacity

Consoles sold

Unknown, but relatively low given its failure and its being launched in the UK and Holland only

Year production ended

1992

Reasons for failure

With no keyboard, the great majority of Commodore 64 games were incompatible. Worse, theCheetah Annihilator joystick was of very poor quality. At launch, there were only nine original games; the rest were ports. At the end of the day, the Commodore 64GS amounted to little more than a watered-down Commodore 64.

PC Engine GT/TurboExpress (1990)

Specifications

CPU: Hudson Hu6280 (7.8 MHz)
RAM: 8 KB
GPU: Video Display Processor and Video Color Encoder, both 16-bit
VRAM: 64 KB
Display: 400x270, 481 colors out of 512
Games: HuCard TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine) cartridge

Consoles sold

1.5 million

Year production ended

1995

Reasons for failure

This was the first handheld to use home gaming console cartridges, five years before the Sega Nomad. Unfortunately, its major technological advances compared to other consoles proved to be a disadvantage. It was too expensive and consumed 6 AA batteries in a few hours. Ultimately, theuse of games originally intended for TV screens was not always successful. For instance, on-screen text in RPGs was too small to read. Adding insult to injury, the first units had defective pixels in the screen and low-quality capacitors that caused problems with sound.

Philips CD-i (1991)

Specifications

CPU: 68070 CISC (15.5 MHz, 16-bit)
RAM: 1 MB
GPU: SCC66470 (768x560, 32 768 colors out of 16.7 million)
Games: CD-ROM

Consoles sold

570 000

Year production ended

1998

Reasons for failure

The controller was shaped like a remote control and very poorly designed. Moreover,games were pretty bad, too (including Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon). You didn't get 3D, but still paid a premium price. In reality, then, this was a living room media player masquerading as a console.

Commodore CDTV (1991)

Specifications

CPU: Motorola 68000 (7.16 MHz)
RAM:1 MB
ROM: 2 x 256 KB
GPU: Amiga Enhanced Chipset (12-bit color at 320x512 or 640x512i if display was limited to 16 colors)
Games: CD-ROM

Consoles sold

Fewer than 60 000

Year production ended

1993

Reasons for failure

AmigaOS 1.3 was used instead of version 2.0, which had a better interface. Also, consumers chose to wait for the arrival of the CD player option on the Amiga 500, which used the same chips as the Commodore CDTV (a living room-only media player). For what it was, then, the selling price was too high. Finally, the console's specs weren't particularly impressive, and developers never got on-board with it.

3DO (1993)

Specifications of the FZ-1, the console's first version; other versions are relatively similar

CPU: ARM60 (12.5 MHz, 32-bit), floating-point coprocessor, and 32 KB SRAM cache
RAM: 2 MB
VRAM: 1 MB
GPU: Two video processors (Clio and Madam) capable of 24-bit color and a 640x480 resolution
Games: CD-ROM

Consoles sold

5 million

Year production ended

1996

Reasons for failure

A poor business model that required money to be made on the console itself, and not only on the games. The result was a launch price ($700) that was too high. The 3DO Company couldn't get enough developer support to offer an interesting catalog. It didn't help that the market at the time was saturated by Nintendo and Sega.

Atari Jaguar (1993)

Specifications

CPU: Motorola 68000 (13.295 MHz, 16/32-bit)
RAM: 2 MB
GPU: Tom (32-bit ARM processor with 64-bit ALU, 26.59 MHz) and Jerry (identical to Tom, but partly dedicated to signal processing and not only graphics calculation)
Games: Cartridges, 6 MB or less

Consoles sold

Fewer than 250 000

Year production ended

1996 saw the end of the Jaguar, which was to be the last American console until the Xbox in 2001.

Reasons for failure

There were too few games beyond Alien vs. Predator and Tempest 2000 to attract a broader audience. The control pad was poorly designed. And a fault in the processor’s memory controller made development on the platform more complicated, compounding an already difficult environment for ISVs.

Pioneer LaserActive (1993)

It’s impossible to list off this console's technical specifications because the details are confusing and most of them seemingly secret. Pioneer's effort was a media player, first and foremost, compatible with 540 MB LaserActive LD-ROM games. Unfortunately, the catalog was only 10-games long at launch, and a $970 price tag was ludicrous (that's before considering inflation, even). At least it takes the honor of being the second-most expensive gaming console in history behind RDI's Halcyon, which also used LaserDiscs and sold for $2500 in 1985 (the equivalent of about $5300 today).

The LaserActive also had options for playing MegaDrive and PC Engine games via separately-available units. But the cost of the add-ons was so high that it made more sense to simply buy the original console or a more modern device. Approximately 10 000 LaserActive units were sold.

Apple Bandai Pippin (1995)

Specifications

CPU: PowerPC 603 66 MHz
RAM: 5 MB memory, shared with the GPU
ROM: 3 MB, containing a version of Apple's System 7.5.2 GUI-based OS
GPU: “Tacos” (640x480, 16-bit)
Games: CD-ROM

Consoles sold

42 000

Year production ended

1997

Reasons for failure

Despite the message coming from Bandai and Apple that the Pippin was an affordable, living-room version of a Macintosh Classic, the machine was thought of as a console. By then, the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Saturn had saturated the market, making Apple's price appear too high. Unfortunately, the Pippin's game catalog was ridiculously sparse; at launch, the U.S. version contained only 18 titles. The Japanese version had fewer than 80.

Nintendo Virtual Boy (1995)

Specifications

CPU: NEC V810 (20 MHz, 32-bit)
Memory: 128 KB of VRAM and 128 KB of DRAM
Display: Two red monochrome displays, 384x224, 50.2 Hz
Games: 16 KB cartridges

Consoles sold

770 000

Year production ended

1996

Reasons for failure

The first virtual reality console for the general public was supposed to be difficult for Nintendo's competition to copy. But the Virtual Boy turned out to be fairly expensive, despite its use of red LEDs to reduce costs and circumvent performance problems. The Virtual Boy's potential audience was limited by the fact Nintendo only marketed it in Japan and the U.S.

In the US, the rental system Nintendo set up was interesting. You could try the console out at home for just $10. But the display’s limited colors and the Virtual Boy's meager game catalog (22 titles during its entire lifespan) put an end to this approach, since very few rentals turned into purchases.

The system also had a tendency to cause nausea and headaches, probably due to the monochrome display and uncomfortable headphones.

Tiger Game.com (1997)

Specifications

CPU: Sharp SM8521 (8-bit)
Display: Diagonal measurement: 3.5 inches, Resolution: 200x160, Black-and-white, with four levels of gray.
Games: Two slots for cartridges (one for the games, the other for a 14.4 Kb/s modem)

Consoles sold

Fewer than 300 000

Year production ended

2000

Reasons for failure

The Game.com was the first handheld console with a touchscreen, Internet connectivity, and the ability accommodate two cartridges at a time. The touchscreen wasn't the advantage it might sound like today because it was very imprecise (a 12x16 grille over the display), and an absence of backlighting made it illegible. A poorly-designed interface was overshadowed by the lack of non-volatile memory, which meant saved content was vulnerable.

Despite a fairly young audience, the Game.com's catalog wasn't targeted very well. Its flagship titles were Wheel of Fortune, Sonic and Duke Nukem. Alas, the platform was largely ignored by the press and Tiger's very sarcastic marketing only served to handicap its popularity.

Neo Geo Pocket Color (1999)

Specifications

CPU: Toshiba TLCS900H (6.144 MHz, 16-bit)
RAM: 12 KB for the 900H
ROM: 64 KB
Display: 160x152, 146 colors out of 4096
Games: 4 MB cartridge with 512 KB to 2 MB of flash memory

Consoles sold

2 million (including the Neo Geo Pocket)

Year production ended

2001

Reasons for failure

A lack of communication between third-party developers and SNK's management led to a shortage of games and, ultimately, the console’s failure. The display was not backlit, and it required very good ambient light to be legible. In addition, the use of cardboard boxes for the games as a money-saving measure contributed to creating the image of a poor-quality platform. Ultimately, the console was greatly outsold by the Game Boy Color, the Pokemon phenomenon, and the Game Boy Advance.

N-Gage (2003)

Specifications

CPU: ARM4T (104 MHz)
ROM: Symbian OS 6.1
Display: 176x208, 4096 colors
Games: MMC cards

Consoles sold

3 million (all versions combined)

Year production ended

2004 (end of the N-Gage), 2005 (end of the N-Gage QD), 2007 (end of the mobile platforms), 2010 (end of services)

Reasons for failure

Its taco-shaped design was very unpopular, and the numerous buttons for telephone functionality made it inconvenient to use. On top of its layout issues, theconsole was too expensive and its catalog was too skimpy. The few games that were successful (Pocket Kingdom: Own the World and Pathway to Glory) were not compelling enough to draw in gamers, most of whom stayed away.

Gizmondo (2005)

Specifications

CPU: Samsung ARM9 (400 MHz)
RAM: 128 MB DDR (16-bit)
ROM: 64 MB
GPU: GoForce 3D 4500 (1.2 MB, 128-bit SRAM)
Games: MMC or SD cards

Number of consoles sold

Fewer than 30 000

Year production ended

2006

Reasons for failure

This one is the story of a console that had everything going for it, but very poor corporate management guiding it. The sordid adventures of Stefan Eriksson and Carl Freer resulted in the shutdown of Tiger Telematics and the console was pulled from the market.

Tiger's Gizmondo also had problems with sales due to its pathetic catalog. There was only one game to accompany the British release (Trailblazer) and eight for the American launch. It also had only eight sales outlets in the entire U.S. Goodies like high-performance chips, GPS (which often didn't work), GPRS, SMS, MMS and Bluetooth were not enough, and sales remained very low.

The Phantom

A story about failed consoles just wouldn't be complete without The Phantom, one of the most famous examples of vaporware. A prototype was introduced at E3 back in 2004. It could run PC games downloaded from the Web, and it used neither cartridges nor disks. Infinium Labs, the company behind the project, recruited more than 200 engineers, including one of the pioneers of DirectX, Ty Graham, to work on the console.

The rest of the operation was not as carefully planned. Infinium Labs didn't make the necessary licensing and distribution agreements for running games on its console. The launch date, originally set for November 2004, kept getting pushed back until the console simply disappeared from the manufacturer’s Web site without fanfare two years later. Reportedly, Infinium Labs wasn’t able to get the necessary financing together. The company and its CEO were investigated for financial fraud.

PS Vita (2011)

Specifications

CPU: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9
RAM: 512 MB
VRAM: 128 MB
GPU: PowerVR SGX543MP4+
Games: PS Vita Card, 4 GB to 32 GB

Consoles sold

Too few for Google to port Android

Year production ended

Soon, we bet (perhaps before Apple Maps is considered accurate?)

Reasons for failure

Alright, so we're trolling a bit. But there's a kernel of truth to our jest. The PS Vita has some serious advantages. But, for the moment, its sales figures are disastrous, totaling 2.2 million units worldwide as of June 30. Meanwhile, the Nintendo 3DS has sold more than 22 million units. These disappointing results call Sony’s economic model into question at a time when games on mobile devices are strongly appealing to mainstream gamers.

Jack Tramiel. the man behind the best-selling personal computer of all time, passed away on Sunday, surrounded by his family. He was 83 years old.

Tramiel is widely known as the pioneer behind the Commodore 64 personal computer which launched back in the 1980s. But before founding Commodore International, he bought a repair shop in the Bronx and named it Commodore Portable Typewriter in 1953 while working as a New York City taxi driver. He fixed office machinery until 1955 when he signed a deal with a Czechoslovak company to assemble and sell their typewriters in North America.

Eventually his company moved away from the saturated typewriter market and entered the adding machine sector. That too quickly became saturated, so Commodore jumped into the digital calculator business instead. That didn't pan out for very long either thanks to Texas Instruments, so Commodore thus purchased MOS Technology, Inc., an IC design and semiconductor manufacturer. This purchase led to the monochrome Commodore PET computer followed by the VIC20 and the famous Commodore 64.

Tramiel resigned from Commodore in 1984 and formed Tramel Technology Ltd shortly thereafter to create and sell the next-generation personal computer. But instead of making new PCs, his company purchased the consumer division of Atari Inc from Warner Communications which was heavily wounded by the Video Game Crash of 1983. Tramel Technology thus renamed itself as Atari Corporation.

By the end of the 1980s, Tramiel stepped down from Atari's everyday operations, naming his son as president and CEO. But in 1995 his son suffered a heart attack, requiring Tramiel to return. He then sold the company to disk drive manufacturer Jugi Tandon Storage in a reverse merger deal in 1996. The new company was named JTS Corporation, and Tramiel joined the JTS board.

Tramiel was originally from Poland, born in 1928 to a Jewish family living in the war-torn turmoil of World War II. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, his family was moved to the Jewish ghetto in Łódź, then to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Eventually he and his father were sent to the labor camp Ahlem near Hanover. Tramiel was rescued in April 1945 by the 84th Infantry Division, but his father didn't make it out of the camp alive thanks to a bout of Typhus (although Tramiel believed the man died from an injection of gasoline).

Two years after his rescue, Tramiel emigrated to the United States in November, 1947. He joined the Army shortly thereafter and learned how to repair office equipment, including typewriters.

"Jack Tramiel was an immense influence in the consumer electronics and computing industries. A name once uttered in the same vein as Steve Jobs is today, his journey from concentration camp survivor to captain of industry is the stuff of legends,” says writer Martin Goldberg who is working on a book about the Atari brand and the early days of video games and computing.

"His legacy are the generations upon generations of computer scientists, engineers, and gamers who had their first exposure to high technology because of his affordable computers – 'for the masses and not the classes,'" he added, quoting Tramiel's famous phrase from the Commodore 64 era.

Tramiel is survived by his wife Helen, their three sons, Gary, Sam and Leonard, and their extended families.

PC gamers who wanted to check out Cryptic Studio's Star Trek Online MMORPG -- but didn't want to shell out the monthly fee -- can now play for free without a retail copy or subscription.

The game, which saw an off-and-on development cycle since 2004, originally launched nearly two years ago, published and sold by Atari. But once Perfect World Entertainment acquired Cryptic Studios in 2011, the company said it would eventually launch a F2P model as it has with its other MMOGs.

"We couldn't be more excited," said Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios, Inc. "Updating Star Trek Online to the popular free-to-play model removes those barriers of entry that previously kept fans and casual gamers away. Anyone can download and play Star Trek Online at no cost. There's no better way to see how sitting in the captain's chair feels."

For Trekkies looking to get into a little virtual The Next Generation-based action, you'll need to meet the following minimum hardware specs:

- OS: Windows XP SP2/ Windows Vista/Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
- CPU: Intel dual-core 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 + 3800
- Memory: 1 GB RAM or Better
- Video: ATI Radeon X1800 or Nvidia GeForce 7950 or better
- Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
- DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
- HDD: 10 GB Free Disk Space
- Network: Broadband Required

Starting Tuesday, Star Trek Online will offer two models: Silver (free) and Gold ($14.99 monthly). Naturally the free account has limitations like the number of character slots, the amount of inventory space, limited customer service and more. However players have the ability to access additional optional features through a virtual store. Cryptic has even provided a chart detailing the differences right here.

For fans who miss the TNG universe, Star Trek Online continues the Picard/Sisco/Janeway timeline, allowing players to visit the Starfleet Academy, Deep Space Nine, The First City of Qo'noS and many other iconic locations and notable worlds around 30 years after the events in Star Trek: Nemesis.

"Experience new weekly episodes that feature story-based gameplay and put your captain's ability to command to the ultimate test, Cryptic said. "Create and build brand new missions and stories to share with the entire Star Trek Online community. Use the specialized toolset to create missions in space or on the ground. Create custom missions, or design an entire series of episodes from the ground up."

To get started on your free trek through Gene Roddenberry's Prime timeline, head here. After downloading the installer, the initial download weighs in at a beefy 3.66 GB, so don't expect to jump into your starship immediately.

Social games on Facebook have come a long way since the early days of Mafia Wars and Farmville. Now members have titles like Order & Chaos Online which is a full-blown MMORPG that's tied with the popular iOS version, NOVA Elite which was an actual FPS before Gameloft pulled the plug on Friday, and EA's just-launched The Sims Social. Unfortunately, great gems like these may get overlooked simply because Facebook lacks any kind of app directory showing what's available to use or play.

That said, many RPG fans may miss a new Dungeons & Dragons title that launched on Monday. Called D&D: Heroes of Neverwinter, Atari's new entry looks and feels like an old-school turn-based RPG. Players can recruit other player characters for a small fee to form a party of four, or click on a friend's portrait on the Adventuring Band below the main game view to recruit their characters for free. The latter option means that friends will earn extra gold when their characters help in a quest.

"Heroes of Neverwinter delivers a high level of depth, polish and authenticity that will fundamentally change the way players think of RPG gaming on social platforms," said Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari, Inc. "Existing fans of the D&D franchise will find the translation compelling in all areas of the gameplay experience, while more casual gamers will find the adaptation accessible and intuitive."

According to Atari, the RPG features over 50 dungeons, over 40 unique monsters and over 30 unique skills. Classes include the Cleric, Fighter, Rogue and Wizard, and races include Dragonborn, Eladrin, Halfling and Human. Players can pick from four pre-generated characters, or create one from scratch by choosing a race, class, gender, and distributing 22 points across Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, Constitution, Intelligence and Charisma attributes. 3 character slots are available form the start, another 2 can be unlocked by completing certain Achievements, and an additional 3 can be acquired using Astral Diamonds.

So far all characters have a level cap of 10, but to keep things alive beyond that point, Atari has implemented a Dungeon Workshop when any one character reaches level 10 (or Astral Diamonds are used). This unlocked Dungeon Master role allows players to create an adventure for anyone to play. By default, players can create 2 adventures, but additional adventure slots become available through achievements or purchase. Players can also visit their friends' houses to view their heroic Achievements and leave special gifts behind in their Chests of Wonder. They can even click on a friend's Chest of Wonder to select a gift for themselves.

To check out Atari's new social Neverwinter RPG, head here.

Atari recently asked mod-god Ben Heck to come up with a system to promote its new games.

"Since these games are on new systems, it made perfect sense to build a 1970s Atari-styled Xbox 360 portable," says Heck. "It's basically the most Ben Heck-type project we could possibly build."

To build the machine, Ben gutted an Xbox 360 Slim and stuffed it inside a custom-made Atari 2600-style case. For the display he used a 20-inch ASUS VE208T widescreen LED monitor, which, again, got torn asunder before being incorporated into that specially-made case. Heck also had to manually extend several of the cables, including the cable leading to the ring of light, so that he could better place some of the components in the new case.

For the true Atari fans, Ben managed to work it so that his new design uses old Atari 2600 switches for things like ejecting the disc and synchronizing the controllers.

If you've never seen a Ben Heck mod project from start to finish, this one is an excellent introduction to how he does things, so be sure and check out the most recent episode of his show over on Element14.

Things have changed a lot since the days of Atari and Famicom, haven't they? Among the changes is the fact that there exists a website that will dismantle any gadget the team gets its hands on. Over the last few days iFixit has been tearing apart old consoles, including the Atari 2600, the Nintendo Famicom, the RCA Studio II, and the Magnavox Odyssey 100.

Check out the pictures of these retro gadgets with all their bits hanging out. Click through to iFixit if you want to learn more about how they went about it.

Atari 2600

Nintendo Famicom

RCA Studio II

Magnavox Odyssey 100