Atari Announces an Official Portable 2600 System

Bill Kendrick writes: "Infogrames (the folks who now own Atari) have just struck a deal with another company to produce a 10-in-1 video game system based on the Atari 2600. It'll be joystick-shaped, plug into a TV set, cost only $20, and include games like Combat, Asteroids, Missile Command, and my favorite, Adventure! It won't replace my Atari 2600 Jr and 60 cartridges, but it's a step in the right direction!"

Hell Yah

Now if only I could get games for my lynx :)

Re:Hell Yah

Now if only I could get games for my lynx :)

If you live in the UK, head on down to your local Game [game-retail.co.uk] store. Mine's still selling Lynx and Jaguar games (and indeed, Jaguar consoles!).

I really cannot see it being "take anywhere".

I mean, imagine having a joystick-like thing in your pocket, walking to a friends house down the street?

Original?

It's amazing how Atari are constantly heard to resurrect itself only to push out the same games again and again, only to surprise itself when it doesn't pay off profitably... even in this instance, cheap many-in-one tv classic games systems have been sold so it's not even first with this strategy...

Re:Original?

Here is what happened with Atari.

It got split into 2 seperate entities.

Atari. (Home Entertainment)
Atari Games (Arcade Entertainment)

Warner Communications sold Atari to JTS i think, which sold it to Hasbro Interactive which Hasbro sold off to Infogrames of France.

Warner Spun off Atari games as a subsiderary of them. Warner sold the Division to Midway.

So that's why there is a little confusinon here.

Hope this clears this up.

In related news....

Sony reacted to the new product as expected. Effective Friday, the price on all PS2's will be dropped to $19.95....

Mega Joy 2

There's something like this already available in the mega joy 2 [firebox.com] - since the games are all unlicenced, they all have different names, but you get three-times the names.

Atari 2600 schematics and details

Does anyone have the Atari 2600 schematics and details of its consruction and roms? Every year the third years have to create something as a part of their third year project and its allways something that never gets used anyway. So making all the chips in hardware on an FPGA might be cool.

Re:Atari 2600 schematics and details

Yes, we have schematics of the 2600 on our site, you can find them here:

Atari 2600 Schematics - NTSC [atariage.com]
Atari 2600 Schematics - PAL [atariage.com]

As for details of its construction and roms, there are quite a few knowledgable people who visit our message boards [atariage.com], and they can probably answer any specific questions you have.

One thing missing...

It would be perfect (in my book) if it had an actual 2600 cartridge slot. Both joysticks for my 2600 are pretty much dead, the console itself may be too. But I have a bunch of games I miss playing, and emulation doesn't cut it for me.

That said, it's still cool. :) Too bad it doesn't have River Raid built in. Oh well.

Sad really

It's sad to see Atari's legacy being abused by yet another company who just lives on Atari's fame.

Atari used to be a great systems manufacturer as well as a gaming company. Their ST line was very good and could compete with the Amiga in it's days. Their STacy an STBook were great portables where the STBook was way better then what any company could offer as a portable. It took years for the industrie to reach the same kind of portability as the STBook offered.

Alas, Atari is no more. The companies diverse owners just broke it into little parts and sold them to the highest bidders.. There are few companies which have had a change of ownership so frequently as Atari has.

Take a look at http://www.atari-history.com for some background information on Atari and it's products

Re:Sad really

Let the ST vs Amiga flamewars commence! :)

It's NOT an Atari 2600 -- don't be confused

I believe, until I'm corrected, that this is not actually an Atari 2600 (or anything even vaguely similar) but rather Jakks existing hardware system with classic Atari games ported to it.

(Just to clear up the comments about "wish it had a cartridge slot).

-marc

Portable?

It'd be cool if someone brought out a colour, handheld Atari system. It wouldn't cost much, I mean, compared to something like the NeoGeo handheld or gameboy.

Just imagine it, sitting on the train, and people start hearing the classic Asteroids noises coming from your handheld.

Within minutes everyone will want a go. Nostalgia at it's best!

Portable? I think not

It's a bit deceptive to refer to it as a portable system considering you need to plug it into a TV to actually to use it. By using the word portable I thought something along the lines of Puma the portable Atari 2600 [tripoint.org] where a Sega Game Gear has been converted into a portable Atari 2600 complete with its own display.

There is a whole site dedicated to Atari 2600 portable conversion projects [classicgaming.com] that has been discussed in this [slashdot.org] and repeated in this [slashdot.org] Slashdot article.

What, again?

This is just like the Activision/Toymax dealie [spacecast.com] from last year.

Why can't I have one with _ALL_ the commercially released games? Connected to some compactflash card or whatever? Think about how much space your old atari carts are taking up. And those 5 million E.T. carts in the landfill.

Same goes for NES, SNES, SMS, Genesis, and PCE and I'm set for life.

Sorry, it's late/early and I'm rambling.

Thinkgeek

This is something that would *so* fit ThinkGeek's product line. I hope someone from there keeps an eye on the status of this product and gets them in stock when they are finally availabe.

Re:The point being?

I'm sorry, would someone please enlighten me a bit on this matter?
Who on earth wants to play atari 2600 games?

Think of it this way..
Playing atari games is kinda like bringing back good memories really cheaply.. hell if it comes with pit-fall i'd pay 20 bux to be able to plug into an rca jack anywhere and play.. it's fun..
Think if it this way..
Its the same thing as wanting or going back to an old gf(or bf i suppose.. dunno not, gay) ya know what your getting, when your getting, know where and how to hit all the right buttons and since you've played it alot before you can just shut it off when your done :)

Replayability?

"Name one single atari 2600 game that actually has a decent plot, good replayability, long shelflife and non-repetitive gameplay."

Plot: Do you complain when your game of checkers doesn't have any love interests in it?

Replayability: the name of the game with these old Atari games. You never really beat them- you're mostly competing against yourself.

Shelflife: Witness the plethora of 2600 emulators out there. Geez.

Non-repetitive gameplay: See "plot", above. What are you looking for, final fantasy?

Old Atari games may not have beautiful, amazing graphics, but many of them are unbeatable in the arena of actual gameplay.

Re:Replayability?

Agreed. Now if only Nintendo would release an NES controller with the original Donkey Kong and other Game and Watch remakes built in.

Or, a similar system to this Atari deal, but with Commodore 64 titles built in. Oh to play Raid Over Moscow or the original ChopLifter 2 (I know, I can get an emulator to do it all, but it's just not the same... it feels hollow)