Atari Unveil New Hardware @ E3!!!

[TL]

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[size=140]In some (not very) exciting news from E3 Atari have revealed the new hardware that was hinted at in recent interviews with their CEO Fred Chesnais. But don't expect something revolutionary like the 2600 VCS or the Lynx, this new range is nothing more than a selection of Android tablets and smart phones. We don't have a copy of the actual catalogue yet but we do have some photos that a eagle eyed E3 attendant Tim Trzepacz, who works for SoftEgg and created the awesome music software Rhythm Core Alpha 2 for Nintendo DSi and 3DS, took with his phone.[/size]



[size=140]Each system variation seems to just be a cheap Chinese Android device with the Atari name slapped on it and pre-loaded with a bunch of Atari's sub-standard mobile games. Despite the announcement there really is anything new about this, Atari probably should have done something like like before the OUYA came along - an Atari branded system like that could have worked. But this is nothing more than another cheap attempt to cash in on the name and legacy of Atari. We await to see what the actual quality of these products is like. [/size]

   

   

   

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[Lorfarius]

If you can get something as amazing as the JXD tablet for around £100 there's no excuse for them to come out with something rubbish.  They could do so much with Android and the back catalogue.

[TrekMD]

If they do this right, and that's a big if, it may be a cool concept but there are so many Android gaming systems already that they need to make these special for them to be successful. 

[Shadowrunner]

Didn't expect this! I can see an Atari branded tablet doing okay if done right, but not sure about a smart phone. Looking forward to hearing more about this anyway.

[Greyfox]

Now If the Atari AT-P700 is even close to the JXD s7800b , then this is an instant hit, so I'm sure when it surfaces it will be expected to be compared to the others out there on entry level, and if it can handle what the JXD can do and priced at the right margin (which I doubt) having a branded Atari product after 20 years nearly carrys buying one alone for that experience all over again. But they so very much need to be brand pacific on this, and need to make this existing technology have its own Atari Indenity via its interface and presentation, regardless of the shitty games.

If I were them , I'd begin talking with devs why have produced emulators for there games and platforms about official licensing the emulators to bring their back catalogue to the new generate under official emulators via the permission of the devs for their source code or better still reverse engineer them and release it themselves as an Atari package,

So at present emulation wise we have the Atari ST, Atari 8-bit and Atari lynx are available on android and Atari arcade roms via Mame4All, so there is an unbelievable opportunity it to clean up here and could be what Gamegadget tried to be. At least Atari have over 300 IP's to play with that they don't have to pay royalities too.

[TL]

Some more info has been found online:

http://www.hktdc.com/fair/proddetail/hkelectronicsfairse-en/1X6DFK48/1X1G12YW/HKTDC-Hong-Kong-Electronics-Fair-Spring-Edition/Atari-Game-Tablet.htm

[TrekMD]

Hmm, based on the information on this page, these things have outdated hardware.  For something that is supposed to be new, not very encouraging.  The CPU's are A9 cortex and the screen resolution is low by today's standards.

[Greyfox]

Yes it's incredibly under powered and would have allot of trouble with 3D games like batman or modern combat. So I would suspect they are hitting the 59.99 dollar mark with the p500 above, the 700 wasn't listed, but yes these are indeed Hong Kong manufacturers that have being employed by Atari to produce a branded device, this is not uncommon, I have dealt with companies before running their own brand of devices, its work by submitting your product branding and them placing it on specific agreed upon hardware and spec.

This is exactly what Atari has done I'm guessing, so I'm taking a personal judgement that their research came back with allot of information about disposable android devices rather than a focused one, aiming for quality and performance and build quality, the smart phones will fair out better I reckon. I supect market research turned up that young children have intoduced to these are such a young age, Atari handhelds can cater to this market, while parents whom remember the Atari Brand will buy it for the old arcade games via Atari's Greatest Hits app along with all its in app purchases which I have btw. So I reckon this is the logic behind this..anyone else throw a sideways view on this?

[TL]

[align=center:1kfvo0ub]Some more photos for you from the rest of the catalogue:





   

















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[zapiy]

Whats really concerning to me is the lack of new on the web.. I can't find a thing about it?

[TL]

Whats really concerning to me is the lack of news on the web.. I can't find a thing about it?

Even better for us!

[zapiy]

Agreed but not for Atari lol..

[Shadowrunner]

Whats really concerning to me is the lack of new on the web.. I can't find a thing about it?

No kidding! I've watched and read a lot of E3 coverage this week and I never saw one mention of this other than here!

[TrekMD]

This is just for cashing on the brand.  Sadly. 

[guest5175]

Since I saw nowhere aside from forums discussing the hardware, I've broken it all down for my blog. Yeah, not mainstream but it's something I guess, I also have some info about Sega and Namco doing the same thing and what it has done for them:

http://arcryphongames.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/atari-hardware-shown-at-e32014/