Atari VCS (2021)

Atari VCS (Codename Ataribox) is a microconsole produced by Atari SA. Initial units for backers were shipped in December 2020, while the console had a general release on June 10, 2021 in Oceania and on June 15, 2021 in North America.

Why It Flopped

 * 1) Extremely overpriced, costing $849.95 in Australia and $399.99 in the United States. This is $100 more than the price of a PS5 with a disc drive or an Xbox Series X in Australia ($749.95).
 * 2) There's next to no exclusives whatsoever with many of its titles being available on Steam for far cheaper prices.
 * 3) * Since Atari is now a former shell of itself, it seems that they can barely afford or have the skills to make AAA games (or games in general) that can rival mh:awesomegames:Sony, Microsoft, or mh:awesomegames:Nintendo.
 * 4) * It also lacked a system seller which is a main priority for a console at launch.
 * 5) * The whole point of the console is to emulate and play various classic Atari games, but you can get these games for only $8 from the Atari Vault compilation pack on Steam.
 * 6) There are several shady practices that happened during the whole development cycle, for example:
 * 7) * At first, Atari claimed that the console would have its own operating system along with its own online store. However, Atari later reverted their statement by saying that it will only be a Linux-based built-in console without online store features.
 * 8) *While Atari vaguely gave information about the specification of the console on a crowdfunding page on Indiegogo, the backers never received any information or update about the console's development progress.
 * 9) *In 2018, Feargal Mac Conuladh, the original designer of the VCS, sued Atari after they had reneged on a deal to give him a four-per-cent cut of crowdfunding revenues over $200,000, plus 25 per cent of the limited company set up to launch the console. Conuladh later received $82,400 compensation from Atari after they have settled their dispute out of New York court in 2019.
 * 10) *On their Fortnite "gameplay" video, a big "Activate Windows" watermark appeared on the screen despite the VCS supposedly being a Linux-based system.
 * 11) * According to Rob Wyatt, Atari VCS' former lead designer and programmer in 2019. He claimed that Atari haven't paid his team for six months.
 * 12) * Atari has delayed the VCS' launch several times, the first time from June 2019 to March 2020, and later to December 14, 2020 (to backers), until it got released worldwide on June 15, 2021. Most fans are doubtful if Atari have actually polished the console. The fact that Atari is no longer a huge company and doesn't even have the manpower to make AAA titles since their bankruptcy in 2013 doesn't help either.
 * 13) *Atari announced that the game Tempest 4000 would be a launch title for the Atari VCS microconsole in 2019, but this was denied by Llamasoft (the creator of the Tempest series)
 * 14) The controller is just a knockoff Xbox One controller with the exception of a really terrible D-Pad that lacks a lot of grip.
 * 15) *The Micro-USB port of the controller is very thin and deep to connect, it can be a major disadvantage to bulky/large Micro-USB cables.
 * 16) No dedicated apps built for the console since it loads up a web browser just to access them.
 * 17) Very inferior hardware that can only rival the 7th generation of consoles, mh:awesomegames:PlayStation 3 and mh:awesomegames:Xbox 360, or 8th generation of Nintendo consoles, Wii U and Nintendo Switch. It wouldn't have been able to compete against even the 8th generation of consoles but the fact that it came out around the 9th generation of consoles, which is twice as more as the 7th generation of consoles, is all the more embarrassing.
 * 18) It lacks basic security measures which allows the console to be easily pirated.
 * 19) It's completely digital meaning you cannot play games on discs or cartridges.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) There's a variety of indie or classic Atari games to play.
 * 2) The UI is well designed.
 * 3) Despite being a knockoff controller, the modern controller feels great.

Videos
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