No, Infogrames isn't making a "comeback".

All we know is they are doing....something....rumor says it's based on PC hardware and they are working with a third part on it.

Rhuwyn wrote:

All we know is they are doing....something....rumor says it's based on PC hardware and they are working with a third part on it.

The CEO confirmed it at E3 and stated that the console has been in the making for a few years.
What we know is that they are making a home game console based on PC hardware. Weather its a competitor for the Xbox and PlayStation or just another flash back system is not known.
Honestly Atari Never had been good with marketing and they really need to give more details about it. My bet is that if they gave more details it would tank before even getting out so they're using the lack of info to stir up interest.

I hope it's not just another PC in a cheap VCS plastic shell.
That "idea" lacks any imagination and showed up several times already.
Just thinking back to that C64-PC or the first Flashback with Atari look-a-like NES games.. *shrug*

That's what I'm afraid of and what will likely happen, but still if its well made and runs on PC hardware and can run a PC OS I may just buy one for the case and fun of modding it.

Can't wait for the introduction of the Atari 10400.

I have the impression that the idea of "Steam boxes" has already met with an abysmal failure. Is anyone even bothering with SteamOS anymore?

Given those failures, I can't imagine anything "Atari" comes up with meeting with some kind of success.

Valve hasn't taken down the SteamOS page yet or quietly swept under the rug the system itself, so they must still care.

Also Atari isn't even the same Atari we knew back in the VCS era...

DracoNihil wrote:

Valve hasn't taken down the SteamOS page yet or quietly swept under the rug the system itself, so they must still care.

Also Atari isn't even the same Atari we knew back in the VCS era...

I've got two of the Alienware SteamOS (AKA Alienware Alpha) systems which I got on black friday for 50% off. They are actually really compact and I've been saving them for a project. I've got one i3 model and one i7 model. I had the i3 model up and running, but never actually used it on the regular. Too many games are just not compatible with SteamOS. It's almost better to just get the Steamlink and stream games if your wanting to play Steam games on the big screen.

At this point I am considering running Lakka (basically a Linux distro that is put out by the retroarch guys) on the i3 box and pairing an 8Bitdo controller with it and using it as a emulator box.

As far as Atari making a comback. Even if it's not the same Atari the more competition the better. I wouldn't call it a comeback at least until we actually see a prototype in action and understand what kind of console it is designed to be.

yeah I know people are saying its not the same atari, but if Sega got back in the game it be the same case.
Heck how meany people at Nintendo from the 80s are still around? What about people in sonny at the time of the PS1?

Jade Falcon wrote:

yeah I know people are saying its not the same atari, but if Sega got back in the game it be the same case.

If PCs were to have ended at (say) the year 2000 and suddenly reappearing now, people would also say it's not the same PC (and it isn't, obviously. But it's different as now there's a link for PCs).

Jade Falcon wrote:

yeah I know people are saying its not the same atari, but if Sega got back in the game it be the same case.
Heck how meany people at Nintendo from the 80s are still around? What about people in sonny at the time of the PS1?

There's at least some sort of continuity chain in play there: maybe people who worked at Sega in the 80's aren't around anymore, but there are probably at lest people who worked with people who were there at the time. Not so with Atari/Infogrames.

This has happened before though hasn't it? Late 80s Atari had little in common with late 70s Atari. Tramiel fired everybody and brought in his own (ex-Commodore) people.

What happened to Atari-branded games? Do they still exist?

Well, they did just release the "Atari Vault" a few weeks ago.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/400020/Atari_Vault/

Almost a year ago they were auctioning off IPs, thinking infogratarmes is desperate for anything at this stage and it's going to die on unsuccessful nostalgia-dork-appeal-only hardware yet again.

leileilol wrote:

it's going to die on unsuccessful nostalgia-dork-appeal-only hardware yet again.

You can say that, from pesonal experience it seems a lot of people collect Atari because it is cheap ($.50/game to $2/game), I doubt they will care to buy an emulated system, I don't recall any of the flashbacks doing very well, except the flashback II was pretty popular among modders because they could add a real atari 2600 cart port to it because it pretty much contained real Atari 2600 hardware albeit highly integrated. The later flashbacks were just crappy software emulation which I don't find to be impressive since I can just download an emulator on my computer and it is essentially the same thing.

First look at the Ataribox design. Thanks again for signing up to learn more about the Ataribox project! […]
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First look at the Ataribox design.
Thanks again for signing up to learn more about the Ataribox project!

We’ve been blown away by the feedback since the teaser release, and today, we’re excited to share an exclusive first look at the Ataribox design with you.

Our objective is to create a new product that stays true to our heritage while appealing to both old and new fans of Atari.

Inspired by classic Atari design elements (such as the iconic use of wood, ribbed lines, and raised back); we are creating a smooth design, with ribs that flow seamlessly all around the body of the product, a front panel that can be either wood or glass, a front facing logo, indicator lights that glow through the material, and an array of new ports (HDMI, 4xUSB, SD). We intend to release two editions: a wood edition, and a black/red edition.

As you can guess, those ports suggest modern internal specs. It also means that while we will be delivering classic gaming content, we will also be delivering current gaming content.

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!

Some kind of Raspberry PI plus Retropie animal again maybe 😁