Atari 2700

[onthinice]

Ouch again!

A wise man said if you have to ask the price, then you can't afford it. So I will not ask but would wire-less controllers make the games any better?

[TrekMD]

Watch the video when you have a chance.  Lots of good info in it. 

[onthinice]

Watched the video but it led to more questions. 1981 seems off for a production year. Yes, the features seem similar to the 5200 but way better.  We all know they canceled the 7800 and released it later. Seems like this could have been the same thing. Going back to the features, none of these were ever used in a standard Atari system. Why would Atari waste the resources in 1981 to make such a system and never use any of the features in later models?

Did anyone else notice how quickly the guy tried to hide the broken antenna on the one controller?

[TrekMD]

Yes, they did hide that controller quickly.    After watching the video I kept wondering why Atari never used the tech on other consoles. It would have been cool to see some of that implemented on other consoles.

[onthinice]

Not sure either. The answer could be why Atari failed as a company. Too many projects like this eating up money for research and development. Poor management?

[retromod]

according to history the remote control was a very high integrated device. As in final testing stage the remote also influenced door opener etc. the FCC was not given. A complete re-development was required so the project was ditched.

Atari's main problem at this stage was that they started too late to use their already existing technology for new products. Finally customers asked for new features and better technology. The 68000 projects together with the upcoming chipsets were the answer - but plug was pulled with Tramiel. It was also the lack of people management to keep talented guys. Marketing was the evil on the other side blocking new systems.

[Carlos]

Found this on twitter, apparently there are only 12 known to be built .

[JoeMusashi]

Pioneering wireless controllers there!

What year was this?

[zapiy]

Did Retromod not have one of these?

[TrekMD]

Looks like someone found the box for this!  As elusive as the console itself!  These were posted by Curt Vendel for the Atari Museum...