After successfully raising nearly 1.4M on IndieGoGo Atari has opened up pre-orders for their “retro inspired modern video computer system” and expected to ship sometime in mid 2019.
What was originally announced as somewhat of a mystery, the Atari VCS now has more information surrounding it, although not everything is still clear. Today a new video was released which teases some of the consoles features.
Retro Games with a Sleek GUI
The Atari VCS comes with the “Atari Vault” installed on every device, a collection of over 100 classic Atari games. Games Asteroids, Centipede, Breakout, Missile Command, Gravitar and Yar’s Revenge have all been confirmed to be in the Vault. The new video today briefly shows off the user-interface, and it looks sleek and stylish, and tile based– Almost like a blending between the good parts of the Xbox One UI and Steam’s Big Picture Mode.
Built-in Streaming Support
Atari has been watching what Sony and Microsoft have been doing with their platforms, and as such has included native streaming support for at least Twitch.Tv accounts. This should let players and streamers that used to have to depend on the greyness of emulation to have a native and official device to broadcast their arcade games easily without the need for any extra equipment or worry.
Modern Console Features and Games
Atari has partnered with AMD to give the VCS a modern Linux PC architecture. A custom processor and a Radeon GPU will let the VCS support 4k resolution, HDR and 60fps content. What that will look like is still left to be seen. It’s one thing to render games from the 1980s in high resolution, but to have modern games running at 4k60 is a whole other beast to tackle. Since the VCS is running Linux we can use Steam’s Linux library as a baseline of what games to expect. Modern games like Firewatch and Limbo can be seen briefly in the new video, and are fairly versatile games that already exist on a variety of platforms across a wide range of specs. Here is the full list of Atari VCS hardware specs, which are still “subject to change” before release:
| Specification* | Measurement |
| Unit Dimensions | 14.5″ x 5.3″ x 1.6″ |
| Unit Weight | 3 lbs. |
| Materials | Plastic, Metal, Wood |
| Operating System | Linux OS based on Ubuntu (Linux Kernel 4.10) |
| Compatible Systems | Linux |
| Power | Low TDP architecture – Less Heat & Noise |
| Connections | HDMI 2.0, 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, Gigabit Ethernet, 4xUSB 3.0 |
| External Inputs | Classic Joystick, Modern Controller, Microphone |
| Storage | 32GB eMMC, external HD, SD card |
| RAM | 4GB DDR4 RAM |
| Memory | 32GB eMMC |
| CPU | Bristol Ridge A1 |
| GPU | Radeon R7 |
| HDCP Integration | HDCP 2.2 |
| Second Screen (Screencasting) | Yes |
| Cloud Storage | Yes. Additional Service Offering |
| Required Internet Connection | Not for classic gaming but required to access all features |
| Cross Game Chat | Skype, Discord, etc. |
| Voice Commands | 4-front facing mic array |
| Subscription Needed? | No. Includes cloud and other services. |
| Live Streaming | Yes with Twitch.tv |
| Mouse & Keyboard Support | Yes |
Currently the Atari VCS is only available to pre-order on IndieGoGo in a few variants and bundles ranging from the Early Bird $199 price, up to $339 for the “ALL IN” collector’s edition.
For more information on the vision of the Atari VCS, check out the full announcement video below:
