Do you think Atari will ever make another console or handheld?

Azure_sky

I was looking at the thread in the Sega forum which discussed the possibility of a new Sega consoles, but what about an Atari console or handheld? I personally think it's even more unlikely than a new Sega console but could you see it happening even as far as 15 years into the future or are Atari truly finished as a console/handheld manufacturer?

Myrddin

Azure_sky wrote: »

I was looking at the thread in the Sega forum which discussed the possibility of a new Sega consoles, but what about an Atari console or handheld? I personally think it's even more unlikely than a new Sega console but could you see it happening even as far as 15 years into the future or are Atari truly finished as a console/handheld manufacturer?

Never say never, but after the Jag we can only hope Joking aside, to reflect what I said in the Sega forum, I'd welcome any prospective console manufacturer to the ring who had something different to offer us than the more often than not highly poslished rubbish we get today

I miss games, real, immersive, video games

Steve X2

Not sure about Atari, but I'd love to see a Dreamcast 2


.

Dr Bob

Doubt it.Atari exists in name only , Infogames I believe own it , and I dont think they've any interest in hardware.Unless Apple decied to buy the name (Its unlikely, but they do want to get more into games, and Steve Jobs DID work in Atari in golden age) ,or someone like samsung or lg I dont think it 'd happen

CiDeRmAn

One word answer...

No.


If I might have a few more...
Why would they?
The Atari brand means little to anyone born after 1984, since then the dominant forces in gaming have been Nintendo, Sega, Sony and MS.
Atari are a publisher, a name at that so why would they make anything other than a few licenced plug and play tv devices, allowing retro gamers to play a lousy version of Space Invaders all over again?

Dude111

luas_dublin wrote:

Doubt it.Atari exists in name only

Atari 2600 is my favourite console of the 80s!

Colecovision is #2 and then it goes to Commodore 64 (More than just a console of course) and arcade games!!

Ms. Pacman is my favourite game of the 80s!!

Jack burton

Does Atari even really exist anymore? Isnt more just a name of a publishing company now?

But in general I would love at E3 or somthing if Sega or Atari just announced a brand new console and it looked amazing! Really would love to see it, new Sega, great processing and graphics power and a lovely open development platform for it so plenty of good games come out for it.

K.O.Kiki

luas_dublin wrote: »

Doubt it.Atari exists in name only , Infogames I believe own it , and I dont think they've any interest in hardware.Unless Apple decied to buy the name (Its unlikely, but they do want to get more into games, and Steve Jobs DID work in Atari in golden age) ,or someone like samsung or lg I dont think it 'd happen

Let's be fair now.

No-one did any actual WORK at Atari during the Golden Age.

They were well-known for huffing whipped cream gas though

Myrddin

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Let's be fair now.

No-one did any actual WORK at Atari during the Golden Age.

They were well-known for huffing whipped cream gas though

Nitrous Oxide on the 2600 was brilliant

Schorpio

I wasn't around back then, so the Atari name means little or nothing to me. If they announced a new console tomorrow I'd look at it the same way I'd look at any new company coming into the market, the Atari name wouldn't sway me at all.

Also I've always thought that the 2600 was awful. It has never appealed to me in any way. The 5200 was a far superior machine, but had a dreadful controller. The only Atari machine I like is the 7800, but it got annihilated by the NES.

SirLemonhead

Jack burton wrote: »

Does Atari even really exist anymore? Isnt more just a name of a publishing company now?

It's Infogrames who aquired GT Interactive, who are now Atari. They haven't been doing well at all the last few years, and have seen a lot of CEO's come and go

paperwork

Schorpio wrote: »

Also I've always thought that the 2600 was awful. It has never appealed to me in any way. The 5200 was a far superior machine, but had a dreadful controller. The only Atari machine I like is the 7800, but it got annihilated by the NES.

The 2600 was an amazing console! It had such a huge library of great games, lots of really cool peripherals and a snazzy would finish that would impress your friends. Growing up i remember learning to walk, my first day in school and playing Yars Revenge on my mams Atari 2600.

On topic tho, Atari wont ever make another console ever again, it seems they're just a middle of the road dev now, developers are either relegated to them or work up through them on the path to better things.

CiDeRmAn

Seriously, the 2600 was not a great console!
There were far better, more capable machines out but nasty practices by Atari ensured the world barely got a sniff of the Vectrex, Intellivision or the Colecovision.
I have the former and latter and they are great machines.
The Vectrex is stunning, as many users here will attest, and the Colecovision is a really amazing console, capable of almost perfect arcade conversions rather than the poor poor efforts on the 2600, I have Donkey Kong on both and it speaks for itself, well worth looking at some of the emus of the Coleco to see what I mean.
The 5200 was never going to compete with the Nes and by the time they had the 7800 on the market the gaming world was still loving the Nes and looking ahead to the Pc Engine and Megadrive.

paperwork

I cant comment on the Intellivision, never having played one, but the Colecovision had a terrible controller and while the main Atari controller was a bit stingy, it did the trick. The Collecovisions library was no match for the huge 2600 back-catalog.
I think that when people think about the 2600 they always focus on the terrible arcade ports like pacman or zaxxon. We forget some of the deadly things that were done on it, arcade ports like Centipede and Ms Pacman were really good and pitfall and yars revenge are two of my favorites.
The problem is, with giant failures like ET and the original Pacman, gamers tend to focus on the bad.

mondeo

The only thing I liked about the 2600 was the joystick, otherwise I thought it was really horrible. I still have my 2600 games but the console itself I believed to have been accidentally binned some years back.

Myrddin

Well for me, there was nothing...and then there was a 2600. So I'll always remember it fondly

CiDeRmAn

paperwork wrote: »

I cant comment on the Intellivision, never having played one, but the Colecovision had a terrible controller and while the main Atari controller was a bit stingy, it did the trick.

Agreed, the one thing that let the Coleco down was the controller, not sure what they were thinking of there!

The Collecovisions library was no match for the huge 2600 back-catalog.

Quality not quantity!
And the reason why the Coleco never reached it's potential was the dirty tricks by Atari to keep the competition at bay, like threatening retailers to yank the supply of games and consoles if they stocked the opposition! Seriously, the best thing that ever happened to Atari was the crash of 83.
Still, Sony is still pulling not dissimilar stuff these days, getting game shops to put their wares in prime positions with promises of supply...

LoGiE

Lynx3D.... That is all.

Azure_sky

You know what I would like? If Atari re-released the 2600 in it's exact old design, except a more advanced tv input. Put the entire library of 2600 games on the machine and I'd pay one hundred Euros for that. The problem would be getting Game, Game stop, HMV, Smyths etc to stock it.

batari

You could buy a French 7800, which has a scart output, and a Harmony Cart from Atariage, and fill it with as many Roms as you like.

Plus here's your 'new' Atari handheld:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzoY8tfxEc