Against All Odds: Atari VCS Mini Ryzen PC + Console Review
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Date: 2021-02-21
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Comments and reviews: 10
Sudos
Still gonna buy one when I can. Why? it fits a niche... it's basically a lower-end laptop with Radeon graphics, but in set-top box form. If you don't need ALL THE FRAMES and you're playing titles like Elite Dangerous, or older FPS titles, this would make for a very nice box to set up with a spare 1080p TV or the like, and also provide media access otherwise, assuming you are running Windows and not the built-in software which is inherently going to be not-very-polished at the current. This is still very early on in the product's life, things will get cleaned up and optimized with time, but I'd be more interested in running Windows on it more than anything else, due to the low amount of space it uses compared to a similarly-spec'd box, and the amount of upgrade options they DID give it. Hell, I'd get two and set one up as a normal basic-use computer, considering the power consumption is actually very good.
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Still gonna buy one when I can. Why? it fits a niche... it's basically a lower-end laptop with Radeon graphics, but in set-top box form. If you don't need ALL THE FRAMES and you're playing titles like Elite Dangerous, or older FPS titles, this would make for a very nice box to set up with a spare 1080p TV or the like, and also provide media access otherwise, assuming you are running Windows and not the built-in software which is inherently going to be not-very-polished at the current. This is still very early on in the product's life, things will get cleaned up and optimized with time, but I'd be more interested in running Windows on it more than anything else, due to the low amount of space it uses compared to a similarly-spec'd box, and the amount of upgrade options they DID give it. Hell, I'd get two and set one up as a normal basic-use computer, considering the power consumption is actually very good.
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AlienRenders
Do they not have the source code for these games? If they do, they could easily add more sprites for this console specifically. It'd be an easy fix. Otherwise, it'd also be easy enough to write some machine learning code to detect if sprites should stay on screen for each game. There's a limited number of games and I'm guessing there are many games that show no problem. So it'd be only for a limited number of games and because the screen size is so small, this would be easy to do. Also, most processing time is in the learning phase and the game speed doesn't matter there. At runtime, executing machine learning code is just a few matrix multiplications and the GPU they have should be more than adequate.
Heck, I think even doing boolean XOR on previous frames and caching them could tell you which sprites to keep on-screen at the cost of a few frames delay.
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Do they not have the source code for these games? If they do, they could easily add more sprites for this console specifically. It'd be an easy fix. Otherwise, it'd also be easy enough to write some machine learning code to detect if sprites should stay on screen for each game. There's a limited number of games and I'm guessing there are many games that show no problem. So it'd be only for a limited number of games and because the screen size is so small, this would be easy to do. Also, most processing time is in the learning phase and the game speed doesn't matter there. At runtime, executing machine learning code is just a few matrix multiplications and the GPU they have should be more than adequate.
Heck, I think even doing boolean XOR on previous frames and caching them could tell you which sprites to keep on-screen at the cost of a few frames delay.
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Catriona
I said it last time, this thing is not positioned badly, compared to other such projects like the spectrum Next. Nostalgia is a factor and having this thing decoratively in your living room to spark a conversation and maybe sit down with a friend for reliving a few childhood memories definitively adds value.
Sure, something like the MiST or der MiSTer are hugely more versatile or you could - as you stated - set up your own pi or NUC with emulation and stuff, but there is always going to be fiddling with input lag and setting and whatever - while the VCS gives you exactly what a console is all about - a perfectly working out of the box experience.
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I said it last time, this thing is not positioned badly, compared to other such projects like the spectrum Next. Nostalgia is a factor and having this thing decoratively in your living room to spark a conversation and maybe sit down with a friend for reliving a few childhood memories definitively adds value.
Sure, something like the MiST or der MiSTer are hugely more versatile or you could - as you stated - set up your own pi or NUC with emulation and stuff, but there is always going to be fiddling with input lag and setting and whatever - while the VCS gives you exactly what a console is all about - a perfectly working out of the box experience.
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KingNosser
I can understand a collector wanting this, at a push as a streaming device, but tbh this just doesn't seem worth it at all. even if you don't want to use an emulator, there is the option i took which is Atari Vault with DLC on steam, really wouldn't personally buy this and the Atari 2600 I remember fondly afterall it was my first console and games that i'd ever played, crystal castle was one of my faves as a kid nice to see it get a mention :)
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I can understand a collector wanting this, at a push as a streaming device, but tbh this just doesn't seem worth it at all. even if you don't want to use an emulator, there is the option i took which is Atari Vault with DLC on steam, really wouldn't personally buy this and the Atari 2600 I remember fondly afterall it was my first console and games that i'd ever played, crystal castle was one of my faves as a kid nice to see it get a mention :)
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Blahorga
On one hand I desperately want this machine. On the other hand I absolutely do not want to play any of the old Atari games. I had the original console, I played the games and I have fond memories of them. I do not need to have those memories destroyed by playing the games again, and no, they are not particularly good games compared to what is available for the PC today.
And yet I still want it? Why? Sometimes I drive myself crazy...
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On one hand I desperately want this machine. On the other hand I absolutely do not want to play any of the old Atari games. I had the original console, I played the games and I have fond memories of them. I do not need to have those memories destroyed by playing the games again, and no, they are not particularly good games compared to what is available for the PC today.
And yet I still want it? Why? Sometimes I drive myself crazy...
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Randy
They made a product for last gen people who aren't aware of where technology is today. You're paying for a low power computer with some basic preconfigured emulators and apps. If you install your own software, like installing windows on a mac, you have defeated the purpose of buying it in the first place, the unique software.
This is for selling to old people based on nostalgia.
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They made a product for last gen people who aren't aware of where technology is today. You're paying for a low power computer with some basic preconfigured emulators and apps. If you install your own software, like installing windows on a mac, you have defeated the purpose of buying it in the first place, the unique software.
This is for selling to old people based on nostalgia.
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proCaylak
A SUGGESTION FOR APRIL FOOLS(Attempt 3):
Perform some thermal testing for a very old computer(preferably 80s microcomputer or even an IBM PC compatible) with one twist: pretend that they are some new stuff(maybe a collaboration with LGR).
Alternatively, those notoriously hot Pentium 4 PCs could be tested as well, provided you can borrow or have one of them.
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A SUGGESTION FOR APRIL FOOLS(Attempt 3):
Perform some thermal testing for a very old computer(preferably 80s microcomputer or even an IBM PC compatible) with one twist: pretend that they are some new stuff(maybe a collaboration with LGR).
Alternatively, those notoriously hot Pentium 4 PCs could be tested as well, provided you can borrow or have one of them.
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Krunk
Unrelated comment open to all PC enthusiasts should I build my new pc right now out of DDR4 RAM,pcie 4 ssd,Intel 11000 cpu, maximus hero xiii mobo? Or should I wait until next gen? I recently purchased some of these things on Amazon but am wondering if I should return them all,save, and wait for next gen everything?
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Unrelated comment open to all PC enthusiasts should I build my new pc right now out of DDR4 RAM,pcie 4 ssd,Intel 11000 cpu, maximus hero xiii mobo? Or should I wait until next gen? I recently purchased some of these things on Amazon but am wondering if I should return them all,save, and wait for next gen everything?
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JETWTF
That barely resembles a 2600.. the fake wood and black is all there is. They would have been better off recreating the old 2600 case with functional switches and a slot in the top that could accept original cartridge's or at the very least a USB thumb drive game library in a cartridge shaped plastic box.
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That barely resembles a 2600.. the fake wood and black is all there is. They would have been better off recreating the old 2600 case with functional switches and a slot in the top that could accept original cartridge's or at the very least a USB thumb drive game library in a cartridge shaped plastic box.
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Catpirate
-Atari designs an emulation box for old Atari games
-Creates emulation box that isn't especially great at playing games that even THEY created 30 years ago
-Sells said emulation box for more than an ORIGINAL Atari would cost on ebay
Basically Atari's business model for the past 10 years.
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-Atari designs an emulation box for old Atari games
-Creates emulation box that isn't especially great at playing games that even THEY created 30 years ago
-Sells said emulation box for more than an ORIGINAL Atari would cost on ebay
Basically Atari's business model for the past 10 years.
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