Conuladh said that he was inspired to create the unit after seeing players connect laptops to televisions to play games, that had were not available for consoles, on the larger screen, and then use social media platforms outside of the games, but via the same laptop, to communicate with friends.

The console in its current rendition would function as a sort of hybrid between a home video game console and a gaming PC , two branches of electronics Atari has operated in previously.

Conuladh took lessons learned from the commercial failure of the Ouya , a similar crowd-funded microconsole. One was to use the Linux operating system directly, rather than through the limited version offered through Android , as to be able to provide more capabilities and a more open system to developers and users.

Instead, the Ataribox hardware configuration will remain fixed and controlled by Atari. In December , just prior to opening for pre-orders for the Ataribox, Atari recognized there were still several issues they needed to address with the hardware, and decided to postpone the pre-orders.

At that point, Michael Arzt, the head for Atari Connected Devices, took over production while Conuladh left Atari, though the two had been coordinating on its development previously.

According to Atari CEO Fred Chesnais, this period gave them time to review what they wanted the Ataribox to do, and revise the unit's specifications and hardware without sacrificing the core elements of being a Linux-based system that would be able to run classic Atari games along with newer titles.

Atari first teased Project Ataribox in June during E3 , releasing images of the box but did not call out any technical specifications.

As this followed Nintendo 's November release of the NES Classic Edition , a dedicated console that supported a number of pre-loaded Nintendo Entertainment System games, journalists believed that the new Atari system was developed in kind, to provide a way to play classic Atari games on a dedicated platform.

Further information released in September provided more technical specifications, details on the software approach including the plans to use Linux and provide an open platform for other compatible software to be installed, and a planned release in the second quarter of The announcement also stated some of the funding for the unit will come from a planned Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to be launched before the end of Pre-orders for the system were expected to start on December 14, , [15] but Atari announced a temporary delay that day, stating "it is taking more time to create the platform and ecosystem the Atari community deserves".

Wyatt and his company Tin Giant had been working with Atari for months to define hardware and operating system requirements. About joining the project, Wyatt said, "Who wouldn't want to be part of bringing Atari back?

In the article, The Register reporter questioned the VCS project's legitimacy after Arzt was unable to answer certain questions about the project.

In July , Atari announced that they would be providing more information about the product's mass production and game content to be available for the system in summer By the end of summer , no functional version of the AtariVCS meeting the product description has been shown publicly, and additional details of gaming content have not been forthcoming.

On October 4, , Wyatt stated that he resigned from the project in a statement to The Register. Wyatt cited non-payment by Atari as a key reason for his departure.

In wake of this news, several of those that had backed the Indiegogo campaign took to the project's Reddit forum to ask about the state of the project, but Atari subsequently took down these posts.

Atari VCS's COO Michael Arzt stated in December that they were in the final stages of pre-production of the unit, with plans to ship the console to those that pre-ordered by March before the units were then sent to retail.

Arzt explained that the lack of communications over the previous year was due to limitations with their partnership contracts, but promised that they would try to provide more regular updates moving forward.

At launch, the Atari VCS system will be available in several configurations and cosmetic designs. An Atari-designed dashboard will offer a variety of game and entertainment content, as well as access to a customizable PC Mode.

Additional games and content will be available, with details to be announced prior to launch. Technical specifications are available on AtariVCS.

You will be able to upgrade the hardware, customize your gaming experience and make the system your own.

If you preorder from AtariVCS. If you preordered on Indiegogo. The hidden costs of owning a PS5 continue to rise as the pricing of potential compatible SSD drives is revealed.

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