Atari's VCS games console has hit IndieGoGo

What about the hardware?

| Source: Indiegogo Author: Mark Campbell

Atari's VCS games console has hit IndieGoGo

Atari has planned to re-enter the console market for quite some time, bringing the company back into the hardware world with a design that is reminiscent of the company's classic 2100 system.



Pre-orders for Atari's new console, the Atari VCS (formerly known as Ataribox) have opened on IndieGoGo, with systems starting from $199.99 for early bird options and $299.99 for the company's wood fronted "Collectors Edition". The system is set to launch in Spring 2019 alongside 100+ Atari Classics alongside several new titles, which include Tempest 4000.



On the gaming side, Atari has stated that the game's Linux OS will allow the unit to support most PC compatible control methods, including gamepads, keyboard/mouse and joysticks. As part of this Kickstarter, Atari has created a classic style joystick and a modern gamepad for the VCS system.









Before now, not much was known about the system from a hardware perspective, with Atari's previous claims stating that the unit uses a custom AMD SoC with Radeon graphics.



With the console's IndieGoGo launch, we now know that the unit will be powered by an AMD Bristol Ridge SoC, a disappointing revelation. Bristol Ridge is a pre-Ryzen CPU architecture that uses Excavator processing cores, offering a lot less performance than AMD's modern Zen designs.



In an ideal world, Atari's compact VCS system would use more modern hardware, though Atari seems convinced that AMD's older processor architecture will be able to serve their needs under a custom Ubuntu Linux OS. On the memory side, the system uses 4GB of DDR4 memory and has 32GB of onboard eMMC storage, though external storage solutions and SD cards are supported.



The unit will support HDMI 2.0, allowing the Atari VCS to support 4K 60FPS displays, giving this unit the potential to be a dedicated media box, offering support for HDCP 2.2 and both 2.4/5GHz WiFi and ethernet internet connectivity. Controllers can also be connected to the VCS using Bluetooth 4.0.





So far, the Atari VCS has raised over $1.7 million on IndieGoGo from over 6,000 backers, shattering the device's $100,000 funding goal. Only four hours have passed since the start of Atari's IndieGoGo campaign, making it likely that the company will earn over $2 million.



More info about the Atari VCS is available on the console's IndieGoGo page.



You can join the discussion on Atari's VCS games console on the OC3D Forums.

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