It’s official, Atari is back in the console business! Today at GDC, the current keepers of the Atari flame officially unveiled the Atari VCS console, along with the Classic Joystick and Modern Controller Prototype peripherals. A pre-order target date of April 2018 was also announced.
The full family. Console, retro joystick, and modern controller
“Every person at Atari and every partner involved with the new platform is just as fanatical about the brand and its heritage as our biggest fans are,” explained Michael Arzt, Atari COO of Connected Devices. “With the Atari VCS name, we know how important it is to get everything completely right and that’s why we briefly paused an imminent launch late last year. It was a difficult decision with the countdown underway, but we weren’t willing to go forward with even one thing out of alignment. We hope that Atari’s fans appreciate our extreme attention to detail and are as excited about the Atari VCS as we are.”
While no official specs or prices were revealed, Atari has previously suggested that a new console would run $250 – $300, and utilize an Intel-based processor running some flavor of Linux. At that price point and spec, it would be well above other pure-retro systems such as the Super Nintendo Classic or Hyperkin’s RetroN systems. However, this would align it with the bottom of the Steam Machine spec that Valve introduced a few years ago. While that concept didn’t exactly take off (and neither has the much lower priced Steam Link, a set-top box which streams content from a high-powered local PC, allowing gamers to play their Steam games on their big-screen TV) it seems at least plausible that an Atari powered streaming system coupled with their existing retro classic library, might succeed where others have failed. At the very least, that Modern Controller Prototype looks like a near clone of an Xbox One controller, suggesting a need for more than one button and a single joystick for games played on the new console.
Atari has centered most of their latest comeback attempt around rebranding as a lifestyle product company, rather than a game systems company. Beginning in 2017 with the SpeakerHat, a Bluetooth enabled baseball cap containing integrated speakers, and the Atari PONG Coffee Table, the brand has focused on products which combine a heavy dose of nostalgia with some unique functionality. Whether the new Atari VCS console can continue that trend and bring a woodgrain look back to the entertainment center is a question yet to be determined.
