Atari and Plaion Announce the Atari 2600+ Retro Console

[TheLostSwede]

PLAION, a global leading publisher and developer of video games, and Atari, one of the world's most iconic consumer brands and interactive entertainment producers, are proud to announce today that the Atari 2600+ - a modern day faithful recreation of the pioneering console that first appeared in 1980 - will be launching worldwide on 17th November 2023 and available to pre-order for $129.99 (€119.99 / £99.99).

Launching with ten of the most recognized video games in Atari's history, including Adventure and Missile Command, the Atari 2600+ has been created using modern technology to authentically replicate the original 4-switch Atari 2600 Video Game System. For those looking to relive the gameplay experiences of the '70s and '80s, included with the Atari 2600+ is the CX40+ Joystick Controller, recreated with the same size and layout as the original 2600 Joystick Controller for that added touch of nostalgia.




"Preserving classic games is a priority for Atari, and the release of the Atari 2600+ will make the hundreds of Atari 2600 and 7800 games that have been released over the last 50 years universally accessible," said Atari Chairman and CEO, Wade Rosen. "PLAION's approach to a quality recreation of iconic Atari hardware made them the perfect partner to bring the Atari 2600+ to market."

"We're excited to be working with Atari to bring back the Atari 2600 and help meet the growing consumer demand for retro hardware," said Commercial Director of Retro at PLAION, Ben Jones. "For gamers who remember the thrill of playing arcade games at home for the very first time, the Atari 2600+ will take you right back. For everyone else, the offer is one of timeless fun and the chance to experience a golden age of video games in a way that could only come from Atari."

Key features include:

• BUILDING ON THE LEGACY: The new Atari 2600+ builds on the original machine with modern quality of life features such as HDMI output, USB power and multiple screen resolutions and includes a faithful replica of the original CX40+ Joystick.
• GO BACK IN TIME: The cartridge slot is backwards compatible with hundreds of original Atari 2600 and 7800 games. The Atari 2600+ launches with a 10 Games in 1 Cartridge which includes iconic games such as Adventure, Combat, Dodge 'Em, Haunted House, Maze Craze, Missile Command, Realsports Volleyball, Surround, Video Pinball, Yars' Revenge
• LOOK AND FEEL OF THE 1980's: The Atari 2600+ has been lovingly crafted using modern technology from the movement of the joystick to the feel of the metal switches to the authentic woodgrain front panel.

PLAION and Atari also announce the availability of The CX-30 Paddle Controller with 4-in-1 multi game cartridge that will retail for $39.99 (€34.99 / £29.99). A standalone CX-40 Joystick will retail for $24.99 (€22.99 / £19.99). Additional launch titles, including cartridges for Berzerk Enhanced Edition and Mr. Run and Jump, will also be available for The Atari 2600+ for $29.99 (€29.99 / £24.99). The Atari 2600+ will be available at Atari.com for North American customers and worldwide at major retailers for $129.99 (€119.99 / £99.99) from 17th November 2023.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[TheLostSwede]

More specs.

Featuring a Rockchip 3128 SOC microprocessor with 256MB DDR3 RAM and 256MB eMMC fixed internal storage. Wired CX40+ Joystick with DB9 connector.

 

[Double-Click]

Wired controllers with retro consoles need to stop being a thing.
Playing old games is all well and good but nobody sits 2 feet away from a tiny CRTs anymore (or wants 10ft long cables).

 

[trsttte]

More specs.

Damn, that's weak!

Wired controllers with retro consoles need to stop being a thing.
Playing old games is all well and good but nobody sits 2 feet away from a tiny CRTs anymore (or wants 10ft long cables).

That and the lame attempt at creating a market for more products with the gimped physical media. They could easily fit all the games this is designed to run and more in the internal memory, that game cartridge has no reason to exist, it's sole purpose is for the company to have something else to sell and it's bullshit!

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

That and the lame attempt at creating a market for more products with the gimped physical media. They could easily fit all the games this is designed to run and more in the internal memory, that game cartridge has no reason to exist, it's sole purpose is for the company to have something else to sell and it's bullshit!

Or, maybe its for people with original cartridges but no console?

Using your brain iz hrd.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Wired controllers with retro consoles need to stop being a thing.
Playing old games is all well and good but nobody sits 2 feet away from a tiny CRTs anymore (or wants 10ft long cables).

Get a 5 meter HDMI cable?

 

[trsttte]

Or, maybe its for people with original cartridges but no console?

Using your brain iz hrd.

Ok, I missed that it was backwards compatible

Still, no reason for the "10 in 1" cartridge to exist, make it an almost everything cartridge then

 

[Flydommo]

Interesting console but I'm wondering what new features the Atari 2600+ brings to the table in comparison to the Retron77 by Hyperkin. The only obvious novelty is the design of the casing which is pretty close to the original 2600 while the Retron77 made no attempt at mimicking the original hardware from 1977. As a big 2600 fan I already own the Retron77 but would be willing to buy a 2600+ as long as it delivers a better image on modern HDMI TVs.

 

[chrcoluk]

Wired controllers with retro consoles need to stop being a thing.
Playing old games is all well and good but nobody sits 2 feet away from a tiny CRTs anymore (or wants 10ft long cables).

No but I sit within 2 feet of my 27 inch LCD. I play with wired controllers usually or wireless in wired mode.

With that said the wire looks really short and they perhaps could offer a wireless option. As choice is always king.

 

[freeagent]

In these days of 60+ inch screens, no one wants to sit 3 feet from it

 

[Athena]

I got no idea why anyone would buy this, when you can get a emulator to play all these games and more for basically free, heck, do a retro steamdeck package and it would have been much better

That joystick was one of the worst things about the 2600, it broke so often

 

[Dr. Dro]

I got no idea why anyone would buy this, when you can get a emulator to play all these games and more for basically free, heck, do a retro steamdeck package and it would have been much better

That joystick was one of the worst things about the 2600, it broke so often

The sole purpose of a product like this is to capitalize on the nostalgia of boomers who may have liked this thing in its prime and now find themselves with expendable wealth that Atari is interested on. It was clearly not designed to be either tremendously accurate or particularly faithful, the same recipe followed by the 2017 MD by Tec Toy:

Mega Drive (2017) - Sega Retro

segaretro.org

This machine was either loved or hated, it just depends on your personal point of view. I'd personally enjoy a restored machine with the original circuit board and hardware + a flashcart, but that's me. Fun fact; this company was the licensee for Sega in the 80's and they still manufacture and sell a variant of the Master System to this day. It never really went out of style with poorer families in Brazil.

 

[ixi]

So, this is raspberry. Dear Atari, you borked last console release. It will be even worse this time... if you wanna live in console market. Release something with valve or asus rog ally spec console and new games on it too not just oldies.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Wired controllers with retro consoles need to stop being a thing.

Why?

but nobody sits 2 feet away from a tiny CRTs anymore

True! We sit 2 or 3 feet from our LCDs these days.

(or wants 10ft long cables).

Moose Muffins! You speak for yourself there tex. Most of my gaming controllers are wired. I prefer them that way. Latency, not having to worry about battery charge or batteries going bad and whatnot. Not all is rosy about a "wireless world".

 

[bearClaw5]

Atari solely exists now to monetize someone with nostalia from 77-83.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Atari solely exists now to monetize someone with nostalia from 77-83.

Incorrect, but feel free to keep thinking whatever you wish. (Hint, Atari's history extends WELL beyond 1983.)

 

[AusWolf]

Selling old consoles with new connectivity is definitely the right move, imo. Just because the new PlayStation or Xbox is out, who said that games for the old one were any worse?

If Nintendo ever does the same with the NES, so I could play Battle City or Lunar Ball with my dad, like I used to when I was a child, I'm all in!

 

[lemonadesoda]

I like retro computing/consoles. Unfortunately, these atari games were rubbish. There were much better arcade games at the time, shame they aren’t licensed for this release. Namco, williams, etc.

 

[ixi]

Selling old consoles with new connectivity is definitely the right move, imo. Just because the new PlayStation or Xbox is out, who said that games for the old one were any worse?

If Nintendo ever does the same with the NES, so I could play Battle City or Lunar Ball with my dad, like I used to when I was a child, I'm all in!

Yeah... atari last console try was really succesful... Overpriced and weak hardware, no modern games and no old games (like gta san, 4 and 5). Only old ones 2D . Look where it is now. They stopped production (last news what I heard).

They even presented it as home theatre. Twitch, jewtube and so on. Yeah, i could buy raspberry and do the same for 60 bucks...

Sadly trying to live from "that time generation" kids it is impossible to live. If they want to be relevant. Then they must have at least decent hardware and plenty of other company games.

 

[MarsM4N]

Still, no reason for the "10 in 1" cartridge to exist, make it an almost everything cartridge then

When looking at how many games where released for the Atari 2600 (520 games), the offering of 10 games is pretty shallow. But the problem today are digital rights. Tons of studios went since then out of business and it's just unclear who to contact for licensing and re-releasing those games.

It gets even more bland when you look at the "Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration" on STEAM, which includes 100+ Atari games. Clearly a better deal. The package doesn't only include Atari 2600 games, though. "The massive selection of over 100 games spans seven different platforms: Arcade, 2600, 5200, 7800, Atari 8-bit computers, and, for the first time ever on modern consoles, Atari Lynx and Jaguar!".

Atari 2600 games take very little storage space, you could fit all released games on a little USB stick. Or on a "open source" cartridge. If there where demand for it someone would surely develop & release one. But I really don't see it. Would be a very low demand product. Games from back then are also very primitive compared to what we have now, not a huge entertainment factor anymore. However I would love to get them all as a STEAM collection, for historical purpose. Just to dive in into the past I never experienced.

List of games for Atari consoles:

Atari 2600 (520 games), Atari 5200 (69 games), Atari 7800 (59 games), Atari Lynx (71 games), Atari Jaguar (50 games). Also Atari 8-bit family exclusive games (66 games).

 

[NC37]

If this was sub $50 I'd maybe consider since I have a relative's old 2600 games around but, $130...no way.

 

[ixi]

If this was sub $50 I'd maybe consider since I have a relative's old 2600 games around but, $130...no way.

Don't you want raspberry on steroids for x2 of the price?

 

[MarsM4N]

Atari solely exists now to monetize someone with nostalia from 77-83.

Not true. Atari acquired Nightdive Studios this year, which made themself a name for remastering older games.

"Atari plans to use the studio’s technology and publishing expertise to ‘enhance and improve’ games from its substantial back catalog." So they are pretty much back in the game.

Atari is acquiring retro game specialists Nightdive Studios

Ahead of the release of the System Shock remaster.

www.theverge.com

 

[sLowEnd]

I imagine the kind of person who'd buy this probably just wants it as a display piece. Being a functional 2600 emulator box is just icing on the top.

 

[AusWolf]

Yeah... atari last console try was really succesful... Overpriced and weak hardware, no modern games and no old games (like gta san, 4 and 5). Only old ones 2D . Look where it is now. They stopped production (last news what I heard).

They even presented it as home theatre. Twitch, jewtube and so on. Yeah, i could buy raspberry and do the same for 60 bucks...

Sadly trying to live from "that time generation" kids it is impossible to live. If they want to be relevant. Then they must have at least decent hardware and plenty of other company games.

I don't know about the generation in general, but I'd gladly overpay for a bog standard NES with a HDMI port on it. My nostalgia factor overweighs anything else in this case.