While Analogue is very cool, it’s actually a real inefficient way to release a product and will never happen at scale.
A software emulator can be an excellent user experience.
Comment on This looks awesome, and plays the original carts: Atari 2600+ - Official Announcement Trailer
drcouzelis@lemmy.zip 1 year ago
It really does look cool. 🙂 But two things have me worried…
One, it’s not an FPGA with “Atari hardware” inside (sorry, I don’t fully understand these things…) which makes it less like the Analogue Pocket / Game Boy cartridges and more like an emulator.
Two, Atari has release similar “Atari Flashback” console in recent history promising advanced features that turned out to be overpriced, half baked, and barely functional.
I hope that’s not the case this time.
AProfessional@lemmy.world 1 year ago
xyzzy@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I mean, does it need to happen at scale? How many people are clamoring to replay Atari games with real cartridges who haven’t been satiated by the many previous releases at much cheaper price points? FPGA would at least make them stand out from those other attempts and might have gotten me to bite the bullet.
Analogue seems to do OK and has a much larger built-in audience (more nostalgia for NES era and newer). And their 16-bit consoles have been around the same price point as this.
This looks well-designed, but I think it’s a misfire at the conception stage based on its (presumed) intended audience.
AProfessional@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Atari wants higher profit margins, it wouldn’t be realistic in any capacity.
Also Analogue has had a hard time shipping any units. An FPGA is the wrong product for a large company making a simple product.
paultimate14@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Last year they released the 50th anniversary edition flashback, which included 130 games, 2 joysticks, and 2 paddle controllers. It’s currently selling for $70.
atgames.us/…/atari-flashback-gold-50th-anniversar…
I’m really struggling here… What is this 2600+ offering? Only 1 joystick controller and a measly 10 games. I guess the ability to play 2600 and 7800 cartridges? Are they going to re-print some? How much would those be?
For $30 you can get the Atari 50 collection for whatever console you have it Steam. 103 games, including 5200, 7200, Lynx, and Jaguar, plus tons of bonus content.
What could they possibly add to make this thing worth $130? This feels like something that should be $40-$50.
AProfessional@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Company releases low volume collectors item to make a profit. How confusing?
xyzzy@lemm.ee 1 year ago
They’ve already released reprint cartridges in original-style packaging, and they have special edition versions of some games coming out with new features and bug fixes.