A sleek nod to their previous console, what does the Ataribox have to offer?
Atari have finally announced their intentions to produce another console. The French based company stated that the “Ataribox” is in the works and will presumably be similar to that of the NES Classic. A collection of the best Atari games made available on one console.
The console itself will come in two styles. The wood grain version as seen above, and also the black and red version. Atari as a company stated that they wanted to “create something new, which appeals to both new and old Atari fans”.
As far as reports go, the console itself will supposedly have a HDMI input, along with SD support and four USB slots. Along with this, the console will feature “modern internal specs” so it can deliver both new games and older classics. Full specs are still yet to be announced.
Atari has stated that the console itself will feature a number of classic games but also some more recent content. It is unclear whether or not this means popular Atari games such as Rollercoaster Tycoon will be available, but it is definitely possible.
In an official statement, Atari stated: We know you are hungry for more details; on specs, games, pricing, and timing. We’re not teasing you intentionally; we want to get this right, so we’ve opted to share things step by step as we bring this to life, and to listen closely to the Atari community feedback as we do so.”
What’s interesting about this statement is Atari’s intention to work closely with the community of Atari console fans. Presumably from this they can get a greater understanding of which games should be carried over and which games should stay forgotten.
After the disaster that was the Atari Jaguar in 1993, we can only hope that this new Atari console is what the fans truly want. 1993 was the year we saw Atari exit from the console market and specifically focus on video games, so it’s nice to see them return after so long.
Although the Ataribox does not have a release date, a similar console is scheduled for release in September of this year. The SNES Classic Mini, similar to the NES Classic, is scheduled for release in September. Nintendo have reaped the success of porting older classics to the new age, so Atari will hopefully have the same luck with their new console.
There is of course a feeling of scepticism over the new Atari console. Not just because of the use of emulators, which can provide anyone with access to any Atari game, but also because of how Nintendo has handled releasing these similar consoles. Demand will most likely be high, let’s hope Atari can meet that demand head on, otherwise they’re going to have a major problem on their hands.
