It’s been a mystery wrapped in an enigma covered in secret sauce since it was announced but the Atari VCS, the first new Atari since the Atari Jaguar and Lynx in over 20 years just launched on Indiegogo and within the first hour was already 500% funded (now 1600%). So now that you can order one for yourself, should you?

We say the new Atari has been a bit of a mystery because, well it has been. Pictures and specs emerged as part of the announcement last year of this wood grain love letter to the original Atari, but past this we really had no idea what the new console was going to actually do. With the Indiegogo launch a lot more details are now available such as the initial gaming titles and some clue of what to expect out of the latest retro gaming system.

Originally we had expected this new console to work like a steam box with the Linux based console open to developers. However, information suggests that it will end up being Atari’s own platform with developers being signed up to develop for this console specifically. Even including details for developers on how to apply for their games to be right on the console at launch.

You can expect gaming on the Atari to consist of locally installed games, games you can subscribe to get access to and, the most interestingly be streamed to your console. The concept of streaming games for play is not a unique feature to Atari with PlayStation Now already being a notable example in the field. The concern within Australia is that most game streaming services are not available here to use due to latency.

Is this going to be the case with the Atari? Well we really won’t know until it is released in July 2019.

The new console also offers web browsing and voice commands as features listed. Combined with the ability for video streaming services (Netflix is not mentioned, no) + Smarthome Connectivity it is easy to see the new Atari as a sort of upgrade to make your standard TV a Smart TV in the same way a Google Chromecast might, minus the need for a phone or Google Home to drive it.

So should you order one? Honestly, we don’t know.

With the project being fully funded in such a short amount of time it seems a lock that the console will be delivered. We love the look of the console and would love it even more if we could use that classic Atari Bluetooth controller on other devices. With games being developed for instead of ported, it does have a ‘made for purpose’ feel over the Classic NES and SNES game emulation whose success no doubt contributed to the Atari’s return.

At $397 AUD ($299 USD) plus as yet unknown shipping costs to Australia, the new console is not cheap. If you were lucky enough to subscribe to the Atari updates you may have a code to order one of the secret perks and bring the price down to $265 AUD ($199 USD but controllers are extra). Unless you have the spare coin to risk we might suggest you may want to wait until E3 in two weeks time which might present more information about the Atari before the Indiegogo campaign finishes at the end of June.

Regardless, we are still going to be very interested in where Atari is heading with this one.