The Atari Reborn 2600+ console supports old cartridges • Record

Upcoming video games like Starfield not your cup of tea? Would you like something more retro? You’re in luck: Atari just teased a “faithful remake” of the 2600 console model launched in 1980.

Atari, or rather what remnants of it today, description yesterday The 2600+ is designed to mimic everything it’s missing, from the original’s quartet of toggles and wood panels to the movement of the joystick itself. The console is said to be USB powered, and we were promised that it will have HDMI output and will support multiple monitor resolutions, which means it will likely work with a modern AV lineup.

Along with these hardware updates, and a few other features, the 2600+ also comes with a 10-in-1 game cartridge that includes favorites like Missile Command and Adventure, and also accepts older Atari 2600 and 7800 games into its cartridge slot.

“Preserving classic games is a priority for Atari, and the release of the Atari 2600+ will make hundreds of Atari 2600 and 7800 games released over the past 50 years globally available,” said Wade Rosen, Chairman and CEO, Atari Corporation.

Atari has released an extensive collection existing (PDF) Of the games that are said to be supported by the new system, with only a few of them unable to run on newer hardware. And luckily for fans of all things terrible, ET the Extra Terrestrial, it is said Worst video game Of all time… by anyone who hasn’t played Superman 64, it’s supported on the new system.

There are some noteworthy upgrades. For example, instead of the 1.19MHz 8-bit MOS 6507 microprocessor, the system is powered by a quad-core Arm Cortex-A7MP-based processor. Rockchip 3128 System on a Chip – Simple step up, as we say. The 128 bytes of built-in RAM in the Atari 2600 was upgraded to 256 MB, and 256 MB of internal eMMC storage was added, presumably to house the emulation software.

The Atari 2600+ is available for pre-order now, and could begin shipping to the US and internationally in November. that it reasonable prices At $129.99, or £99.99 in the UK, it’s less than the $239.99 non-functional Atari VCS replica set from Lego released last year.

This recreated console is said to be produced by PLAION, which owns a group of game development houses and publishers.

What about that last Atari retro project?

You might be forgiven for withholding your enthusiasm about these promises of another flashback to retro games given the history in the field, and if you’re a regular gamer reg reader.

Also known as the Video Computer System, the 2600 was a crowdfunded small console version announced by Atari in 2017, but early on it looked like a big box of nothing.

The new VCS finally got out In 2021, unlike the 2600+, which was designed as an updated re-creation of the original, the VCS mini console was pre-loaded with games and allowed users to install additional titles downloaded from the Internet without cartridge support.

VCS nearly fell through after system engineer Rob Wyatt left the project in 2019, alleging that Atari had failed to pay over six months of bills worth $261,720.

White, who was the principal architect of Microsoft’s original Xbox console, sued Atari in 2020 over unpaid bills, and issues over where to file his lawsuit — White filed his suit in Colorado, but his contract with Atari required complaints to be filed in New York – eventually led to the judge to reject (PDF) Case in early 2022 with permission to file a new claim in New York.

It is not clear whether White filed a follow-up case in New York, or whether he and Atari settled some other way. Questions to attorneys for Atari and Wyatt were not answered. ®