-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
BREAKING NEWS: Atari reentering the video game hardware market
- Thread starter Agent X
- Start date
shoplifter
Member
Hugely overpriced, and NO 5200!?!?!
JoshuaJSlone
Member
Give it a cartridge port and I'll give you my money.
Mr_Furious
Member
Hmmm...
$45 for this unit w/ 20 games
or
$20 for Anthology w/ 80+ games
Duh, lemme see now...
$45 for this unit w/ 20 games
or
$20 for Anthology w/ 80+ games
Duh, lemme see now...
Alex Anderson
Member
JoshuaJSlone said:
Yeah, for real. Why is this even newsworthy if it doesn't have a port. Must be its design
Agent X
Member
I agree--if this had a cartridge port, I'd be all over this.
I might get one anyway, as I tend to collect Atari stuff and this has a pretty good lineup of games. I already own 19 of the 20 games on their actual cartridges--Sprintmaster is the only one I don't have. Interestingly, one of the included games is Saboteur, which was a very cool game that very few people have played. The game was developed in 1984, but it never saw public release until just a few months ago. I talked about Saboteur for a bit in this thread (post #12).
The market for this isn't necessarily the same type of person who would buy Atari Anthology for the PlayStation 2 or X-Box, but rather people who are buying all of those self-contained video game devices that companies like Jakks Pacific and Radica are putting out. This is just something cheap that you can easily hook up to the TV, that doesn't require another console--great for young children and some older casual gamers who don't want to be bothered with a $100+ machine and discs being tossed all over the floor. I'd probably guess it's the success of the Jakks Pacific Atari-licensed products that's motivated Atari to create their own product here.
I agree that it's a bit expensive compared to the others, but then again it has a lot more games and two joysticks for head-to-head action. I'm hoping that the controllers are detachable so that other controllers could be connected, particularly because Breakout and Warlords are included, and those would be much better with paddle controllers.
I might get one anyway, as I tend to collect Atari stuff and this has a pretty good lineup of games. I already own 19 of the 20 games on their actual cartridges--Sprintmaster is the only one I don't have. Interestingly, one of the included games is Saboteur, which was a very cool game that very few people have played. The game was developed in 1984, but it never saw public release until just a few months ago. I talked about Saboteur for a bit in this thread (post #12).
The market for this isn't necessarily the same type of person who would buy Atari Anthology for the PlayStation 2 or X-Box, but rather people who are buying all of those self-contained video game devices that companies like Jakks Pacific and Radica are putting out. This is just something cheap that you can easily hook up to the TV, that doesn't require another console--great for young children and some older casual gamers who don't want to be bothered with a $100+ machine and discs being tossed all over the floor. I'd probably guess it's the success of the Jakks Pacific Atari-licensed products that's motivated Atari to create their own product here.
I agree that it's a bit expensive compared to the others, but then again it has a lot more games and two joysticks for head-to-head action. I'm hoping that the controllers are detachable so that other controllers could be connected, particularly because Breakout and Warlords are included, and those would be much better with paddle controllers.
fennec fox
ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
Note to Paul Bryant: It's Yars' Revenge, not Yar's Revenge
Agent X
Member
fennec fox said:
You'd better remind Atari, too. That's the way they have it spelled in their press release.
Atari: 80 Classic Games in One! for the PC also misspells it as Yar's Revenge on the box, although in the program itself, it's presented correctly as Yars' Revenge.
FortNinety
Member
I can't believe people here actually want a Jaguar 2.
Scalemail Ted
Member
Its not *really* Atari...it's infogrames in disguise.
So I would never expect any REAL hardware from them.
So I would never expect any REAL hardware from them.
ArcadeStickMonk
Member
What about River Raid?
And where the balls is Combat?
And where the balls is Combat?
mightynine
Member
I like how it hypes that it "PLUGS INTO YOUR TV!" and you can "PLAY RIGHT AWAY!"
Those are selling points now?
Those are selling points now?
TekunoRobby
Tag of Excellence
Atari realized that Jakk's Pacific is making steady cash (atleast I assume so) from their Atari branded mini consoles so they wanted to offer a similar product and make more money on their own.
Robert-GCA
Member
No thanks, I still have my original 2600 and 7800 systems and games .
.
Agent X
Member
bobafett said:
You're kidding, right?
bobafett said:
The menus are somewhat unwieldy--you have to know what "category" (sports, racing, space, etc.) the game you want to play is listed under. Other than that, though, the package is really good. I'm not sure what you meant by the "Atari Official Seal of Quality," but I haven't found much to complain about.
bobafett said:
Er, you know these games are emulated, right? Damn fine emulation, too--they run full-speed on my five-year-old PC. Digital Eclipse even went through the trouble of creating a patch to add Stelladaptor support, so that the games could be played using actual Atari 2600 controllers.
Really, have you tried Atari: 80 Classic Games in One!, or are you just venting? Just about every review I've read is overwhelmingly positive. If you've already got lots of emulators and ROM images and you don't see the value in this package, then that's fine, it's not for you. It's not for everyone. It is, however, a great way to easily (and legally) obtain a whole pile of cool arcade and Atari 2600 games in one shot.
Agent X said:
I was not kidding. Actually I bought this package. IMHO, Atari doesn't have the compromise with quality and attention to detail. I didn't like the package for some reasons, among them:
1) The emulation is not Atari 2600 or arcade perfect (in some games). This is a complete absurd for today's standards. I can play these games on an emulator 100% platform perfect.
2) The package is cheap. I mean, the menus are ugly and confusing, the retro stuff is low quality, the CD takes a lot to install in your computer.
3) The best Atari games are not included. I know that Activision, Namco and etc didn't allow them to be in this package but, come on, the best games on Atari 2600 were not Atari games.
Well, that's it.
Check some reviews here: http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/918395.asp?q=Atari
Agent X
Member
bobafett said:
This is about as good as I've seen on any commercial classic game compilation. I'd agree that most of the free emulators are better for the various options they have (filters, save states, even the menuing systems for some of them), but the emulation here is quite accurate. The only complaint I have is that color palette is off a bit on a small handful of Atari 2600 games--I'm certain 2600 Asteroids has the wrong colors (might be the PAL palette rather than NTSC).
On the positive side, it works extremely well, with in-game manuals, and the emulation speed is excellent. One other positive aspect that you may have overlooked is that it's very easy to get this up and running. Most "downloadable" emulators require the user to go through various tweaks and toggles to get it running acceptably, but this one ran properly (full screen graphics, proper sound, proper speed) the first time and every time.
bobafett said:
The menus are a bit clunky, but the retro stuff is fine. There's more historical information in this compilation than in most of the others out there.
I don't know what you meant by it taking "a lot to install in your computer." You don't even have to install it at all--you can run it directly from CD (a rarity in today's market). If you do prefer to install it (for convenience), then it only takes a few hundred megs at most (if you install everything). Unless your computer is barely scraping the minimum requirements and you're starving for hard drive space, I can't see this being a concern.
bobafett said:
You mean great games like Adventure, Missile Command, Warlords, Super Breakout, Yars' Revenge, Gravitar, and Millipede aren't on here? Oh, wait a moment...they are!
While I agree that Activision also produced some of the best 2600 games, that's what Activision Anthology is for. Namco didn't produce any games for the 2600 themselves--they just licensed a few of their arcade games for conversion. While those games are great in their own right, the point is that this is supposed to be an Atari collection, so people are buying this for Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, and some of the others I named above, and maybe to revisit some of the less popular (but still fun) games like Canyon Bomber, Dodge 'Em, and Human Cannonball.
I'm not sure why Indy 500 and Solaris aren't on here, though...especially Solaris, as that's considered by many to be one of the 2600's finest games (in graphics as well as in gameplay). Oh well, at least that'll be on the Atari Flashback console. Anyone who picks up that game is going to be in for one wild ride. If Atari wants to score bonus points, they'll add those games (and Saboteur) to the PS2/X-Box Atari Anthology discs, too.
Agent X said:This is about as good as I've seen on any commercial classic game compilation. I'd agree that most of the free emulators are better for the various options they have (filters, save states, even the menuing systems for some of them), but the emulation here is quite accurate. The only complaint I have is that color palette is off a bit on a small handful of Atari 2600 games--I'm certain 2600 Asteroids has the wrong colors (might be the PAL palette rather than NTSC).
On the positive side, it works extremely well, with in-game manuals, and the emulation speed is excellent. One other positive aspect that you may have overlooked is that it's very easy to get this up and running. Most "downloadable" emulators require the user to go through various tweaks and toggles to get it running acceptably, but this one ran properly (full screen graphics, proper sound, proper speed) the first time and every time.
The menus are a bit clunky, but the retro stuff is fine. There's more historical information in this compilation than in most of the others out there.
I don't know what you meant by it taking "a lot to install in your computer." You don't even have to install it at all--you can run it directly from CD (a rarity in today's market). If you do prefer to install it (for convenience), then it only takes a few hundred megs at most (if you install everything). Unless your computer is barely scraping the minimum requirements and you're starving for hard drive space, I can't see this being a concern.
You mean great games like Adventure, Missile Command, Warlords, Super Breakout, Yars' Revenge, Gravitar, and Millipede aren't on here? Oh, wait a moment...they are!
While I agree that Activision also produced some of the best 2600 games, that's what Activision Anthology is for. Namco didn't produce any games for the 2600 themselves--they just licensed a few of their arcade games for conversion. While those games are great in their own right, the point is that this is supposed to be an Atari collection, so people are buying this for Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, and some of the others I named above, and maybe to revisit some of the less popular (but still fun) games like Canyon Bomber, Dodge 'Em, and Human Cannonball.
I'm not sure why Indy 500 and Solaris aren't on here, though...especially Solaris, as that's considered by many to be one of the 2600's finest games (in graphics as well as in gameplay). Oh well, at least that'll be on the Atari Flashback console. Anyone who picks up that game is going to be in for one wild ride. If Atari wants to score bonus points, they'll add those games (and Saboteur) to the PS2/X-Box Atari Anthology discs, too.
Well, I still prefer the emulators to play these classic games. About the retro stuff, the quality of the video is very poor and I've seen better interviews from Nolan Bushnell on the NET. If you check Atari HQ or Atari Ages, you'll find a lot of information about retro games that, IMHO, Atari shoudn't have missed.
I didn't know you could run the CD without installing, it is my fault. And finally, about Atari Games. I agree with you we have a bunch of classic right here, but... The Atari Collection is not an Atari collection without Pitfall, River Raid, H.E.R.O, Pac Man (licensed by Namco), Keystone Kapers, Star Raiders and etc.
Peace.
Similar threads
- Locked