Atari VCS Q&A With System Architect Rob Wyatt

cageymaru

cageymaru

Fully [H]
Joined
Apr 10, 2003
Messages
22,132
Atari VCS System Architect Rob Wyatt revealed new details about the upcoming console. He announced that the console is going to ship with 8GB of ram and still uses an AMD Bristol Ridge due to price and thermals. He announced that most controllers will be compatible with the machine and can be fully remapped. He pledged to keep the machine open to user modifications by keeping the AtariOS secure on boot and while browsing or playing games from the Atari Store. The user has the option to install an OtherOS onto the machine and do anything that they want with the hardware as it is their machine. This is in stark contrast to when Rob Wyatt was designing the original XBOX for Microsoft.

We won't have dedicated development hardware. You won't need it. Any Atari VCS device can be a development kit. All you will have to do is sign up to our developer program, download the SDK and start creating. If you don’t want to develop in native code then common game engine platforms will be available for the VCS. If you have an application in mind you can start today, make sure it runs on Linux at HD resolution using standard runtime libraries, the changes from this to the AtariOS will be minimal and mostly related to application startup and application packaging.
 
are they offering "Streaming services"... as in the "platform of the future"?

it wont work like failed android devices... but if it has a solid streaming service of AAA games it could.
 
If they had done this from the very beginning, it would have given them a lot more credibility.
I don't know why they waited this long for the interview, and have been so cryptic as to what the system is based on or what it can or will even do.

On paper this doesn't sound that bad, but taking that with a heap of salt, lets just hope they do actually deliver for all of the backers and not be Ouya 2.0.
 
Wondering how much of the crowdfunding money is going to this guys salary; I suspect a respectable chunk of the three million has been spent here.

Whatever they say, they will have to work overtime to show, first, that they are working in good faith, second, that they are competent enough to release it, third that the hardware can satisfy the lofty expectations (at least partially), and lastly that they can convince more than the initial 11000 scalpers and enthusiasts that it is a system worth buying.

Already at the first point there is a problem: on the indiegogo they claim the device is in the prototype stage, i.e.

Campaigns in the "Prototype" stage have a working version of their physical product that successfully demonstrates the key features and functionality of the final product.
Click to expand...

(from the official indiegogo product stage desciptions at: https://support.indiegogo.com/hc/en-us/articles/221613968)

During the campaign it surfaced that what they have does not fit this description, but is actually only at the concept stage.
 
Kind of, sort of, sounds like a pre-configured Linux box. I like the idea of it. Hope it delivers and performs well. If it succeeds it might actually shake up the console ecosystem a bit. I know steambox pretty much failed but this might be in the right direction. Judging from the hacks of the switch there definitely seems to be market waiting to be tapped.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top