History of video games/Platforms/Atari VCS

History

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Atari VCS logotype.

Development

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The Ataribox was announced in June 2017.[1][2]

The Ataribox was renamed to the Atari VCS in March 2019.[3]

The new Atari VCS lead architect Rob Wyatt quit the project in 2019, claiming that invoices had not been paid for the six months leading up to his leaving.[4][5]

The system was demonstrated at CES in January 2020.[6] A March 2020 launch date for the VCS was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

Launch

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The VCS began shipping to crowdfunding backers in December 2020.

Technology

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Compute

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The 2020 VCS uses an AMD Raven Ridge 2 Ryzan R1606G APU.[8][9] The system shipped with either 4 or 8 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM, and could be upgraded by the user to use up to 32 gigabytes of RAM.[10] The system shipped with 32 gigabytes of eMMC flash storage, and contained an M.2 slot. 7 gigabytes of this storage was open for user use at launch.[11] On early systems this slot is hard to access due to use of excess adhesive.[11]

The VCS runs a modified version of Debian Linux called AtariOS.[11] The Chrome browser is used by the system for running web applications.[10]

Hardware

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The system contains a number of communication subsystems. Radios are included for Bluetooth 4.0, as well as dual band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n. The system also has a Gigabit ethernet port for wired network connections.

The system has 4 USB 3.1 ports, distributed evenly between the front and back.

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External Resources

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References

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  1. "How Much Will Atari's New Console Cost You?". Fortune. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  2. Kastrenakes, Jacob (12 June 2017). "Atari teases a mysterious new console, or something". The Verge. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  3. Statt, Nick (19 March 2018). "The Ataribox gets an official name, with preorder date to be announced in April". The Verge. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  4. Francisco, Kieren McCarthy in San. "Game over: Atari VCS architect quits project, claims he hasn't been paid for six months". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  5. "VCS architect Tin Giant suing Atari over 'unpaid invoices'" (in english). Destructoid. https://www.destructoid.com/stories/vcs-architect-tin-giant-suing-atari-over-unpaid-invoices--586106.phtml. 
  6. "Hands On With the Atari VCS, a Strange, Streaming Slice of Nostalgia" (in en). PCMAG. https://www.pcmag.com/news/hands-on-with-the-atari-vcs-a-strange-streaming-slice-of-nostalgia. 
  7. "Atari seeks new cachet with crypto — and a return to hardware". Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  8. Vincent, Brittany (October 30, 2020). "Atari VCS release date, price, games, specs, and pre-orders" (in en). Tom's Guide. https://www.tomsguide.com/news/atari-vcs-release-date-price-games-specs-and-pre-orders. Retrieved 1 November 2020. 
  9. "2021 could be a great year for 'alternative' consoles" (in en). Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/alternative-consoles-analogue-playdate-intellivision-atari-2021-140044860.html. 
  10. a b "Atari VCS review: Atari’s first console in 28 years is all style, no substance". VGC. 3 March 2021. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/reviews/atari-vcs-review/. 
  11. a b c "The Atari VCS: A simple review". GBAtemp.net - The Independent Video Game Community. https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-atari-vcs-a-simple-review.579373/.