2023 Atari 2600

[syzygy]

Atari 2600+ review: Gaming like it’s 1977 again​

https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/reviews/atari-2600-plus

edited to add the Atari site with some specs - https://atari.com/products/atari-2600-plus

Available tomorrow (Amazon, US), if I am to believe the review and adverts. At $130, they may be successful. Note the HDMI port. I wonder how "hackable" this thing will be.

 

[jafir]

That’s pretty cool. I have a 7800, so I probably don’t need this, but I like that they made it play original cartridges.

 

[seat safety switch]

I hope this leads to more popularity for the 7800. That system is great, and lots of good homebrew games are coming out for it.

 

[NeXT]

Ah yes, this turd.
There was a talk about this on the KLOV forums and it's an existing 2600 emulator in a new case. One of the reasons why some titles are not included or are available is because when you plug a genuine cartridge in it's pretty much dumping the rom, loading that into an emulator and off it goes. Any external logic beyond the ROM (so a supercharger) is not part of the emulation.

 

[Plasma]

It's a Rockchip RK3128 SOC, running Stella on Linux. If it had an FPGA with hardware emulation, then nearly every cartridge would work. But that would eat into their profits...

 

[NeXT]

I also find the dip switches to be HORRIBLY tacky.
That's the kind of crap you had in the 80's for switching out ROM banks in a multicart.

 

[syzygy]

I think it is an interesting development. Retro mainstream. I have no intention of getting one, but I admit that I am impressed by the processor specs and, especially, the price point. It will be interesting to see if it gets a popular aftermarket buzz.

 

[Timo W.]

Retro mainstream.

Which is the whole issue. Retro (for me) means to cope with original hardware and all the issues that brings. But that does not go together with "mainstream", so all you get is an emulation box. For me, this is e-waste at its best.

 

[NeXT]

It falls under "Hipster" for me.

 

[syzygy]

Which is the whole issue. Retro (for me) means to cope with original hardware and all the issues that brings. But that does not go together with "mainstream", so all you get is an emulation box. For me, this is e-waste at its best.

I think that maybe you are being a bit harsh, but I do not, necessarily, disgree with you at at all. Nevertheless, I think it is an interesting (to me) development and, as I said before, I am curious to see if they have accurately judged the market - I am thinking that they have, but may be wrong and we should know in a few months.

cope with original hardware and all the issues that brings

Yeah, I know, but after having coped with an ST225 for my xt clone resuscitation, I was faced with more than I cared to cope with and bought a 'modern' CF replacement which outperforms 4X of that particular HD and makes backing up (with the help of a modern computer) an absolute breeze. But, I digress and we have lots of those kinds of discussions on here.

Whether you think it is e-waste or "a hipster turd" [I am combining there @NeXT but I am definitely going to use the phrase in conversation because it is descriptive and funny], is ok with me. I just get hooked on trying to predict what works and what is a flop....now where did I put the keys to my Edsel?

 

[NeXT]

I mean there is a need for some classic products to get reproduced because it's either something brand new that just plugs in and works, or fighting a 45 year old game console to make it work on a modern TV from Costco.
Traditionally though, I've seen a lot of these modern reproduction products are phoned-in schlock. There is the ability to make it something nice for the price they are going to sell it for (looking at you, 1-Up Arcade) but they cut corners and you end up with something that looks the part but really does not play the part.
I'll use for example the re-release Speak and Spell. Went 90% of the way, The LCD rather than a VFD is fine, it uses easier to source batteries in 2023 but opt instead to sample an entirely different synthesized voice rather than the classic TI chip, nullifying the nostalgia.