The New Atari 2600+ Console

[intric8]

In case you haven't heard, pre-orders for the "Atari 2600+" was launched today on atari.com.

The 2600+ is essentially an Atari 7800 "emulator in a box" - albeit a very pretty box. Why is that cool? Because it means you can use real 7800 as well as 2600 cartridges in a brand new home console.

The 2600+ brings with it no-brainer modern necessities:

• HDMI
• Original 9-pin joystick support (console comes with 1)
• Widescreen Mode
• Larger cartridge slot to reduce sticking
• No ads
• No load times

Featuring a Rockchip 3128 SOC microprocessor with 256MB DDR3 RAM and 256MB eMMC fixed internal storage.

And, the Atari logo lights up.

Most importantly, unlike other Atari recreations, this one is not an obvious cash grab. That Crystal Castles cartridge I bought earlier this year? That cost about $100. This new console - with 1 joystick and a 10-game cartridge - is only $129. And the shipping here in the US is a mere additional $12.

Considering my birthday is tomorrow (Aug 23), I decided to get myself my own present. I picked up the console, a 2nd joystick and the Berzerk "Enhanced Edition" cartridge.

Happy birthday to me!

hee-yah!

Meanwhile...

The VCS seems to be settling down in price. Remember those?

[intric8]

Update, from my friend mattsoft:

rumors are the 2600+ cartridge port is simply a ROM dumper. this means multi-carts, custom chip (mappers), and some bank-switched ROM games will not work. looks like OG only carts on this one!

Honestly that would kind of suck. But if true, I could see Atari Co thinking this would be a way to control their IP in some way. Kind of a weak argument IMO.

Not being able to use my Harmony cartridge with the 2600+, if the rumor is true, would be a bit of a bummer. Not a deal breaker by any means, but a little bit of a bummer.

[Zippy Zapp]

Yeah it looks cool but it is a bummer it is running emulation. Basically all the 2600 emulator consoles work the same way.

It is a shame they did not go the extra mile and recreate it using FPGA tech like Analouge devices does. It would undoubtedly cost more but be worth it in the end. Then it would work with any cart or multicart.

[dalek]

tempted to buy one and gut it for my MiSTer

[intric8]

Hah!!

[McTrinsic]

To be honest - it’s not like there aren’t any 5200, 7800 or 2600 around.

While it is cool in some way I fail to see the business case without the option to use milti-cartridges.

[intric8]

Mine finally arrived after being delayed several weeks for some reason. I was sent an email update weeks ago about the delay with no projected arrival date.

But this morning, it quietly arrived on my doorstep.

My wife also grew up with a 2600, and 5 male cousins. She says she "held her own" during their A2600 matches. I look forward to a little tank Combat tonight!

[McTrinsic]

Awesome!

The visual design of the game boxes from back then is still outstanding.

[obitus1990]

Awesome!

The visual design of the game boxes from back then is still outstanding.

Indeed, it is. Far better than the actual games themselves. But, we were a generation raised on imagination, so, not that big of a stretch to imagine the poorly drawn pixels were what was on the box. Atari always had superior artwork on their arcade and console game packaging. But, for actual gameplay, Activision was far superior.

Intric8 mentioned control of the IP...which is the exact opposite of what happened with the original 2600. Anyone could clone the machine and make a game that ran on it, as there was no licensing scheme in place, and no piracy protection inside the 2600 to prevent bootlegging. Even Nintendo got in on the action (via Coleco and its Atari Donkey Kong cartridge), but, when Atari tried to do the same with Nintendo's NES, Nintendo sued the pants off Atari and won, since Nintendo required licensing to produce games for their machines, having realized Atari's mistake. They also added an (easily defeated) copy protection chip, and most all the other silicon was custom.