Ataribox

Atari’s brand new console cannot realistically compete with the current generation. To think that it can or should, however, is to miss the point. One of the innovators of the video game console is poised to make a comeback on the market. This summer, the company that unleashed Pong on the world has revealed that it is developing the Ataribox, a unit that will contain modern inputs such as HDMI and USB ports and have multiple designs (including the classic wood-paneled version that hearkens back to the classic Atari 2600). The Ataribox also promises to deliver both classic and current gaming content. And... that’s pretty much it for now.

Though short on juicy information, the company has been very open about how they want to roll out their new product. “We know you are hungry for more details; on specs, games, features, pricing, timing etc.,” says the company in a recently released newsletter. :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 Ataribox to life, and to listen closely to Atari community feedback as we do so.”

Although Atari was once the class of the video game industry, the company has seen their share of hardships. For one, it doesn’t technically exist in its original form; the fabled Video Game Crash of 1983 sunk the original firm before a radical restructuring that included the sell-off of some of its major departments. Even as late as 2013, Atari was filing for bankruptcy to help them separate from the French parent company propping them up before being taken over by a new CEO. Here we are, then, staring a comeback effort by one of the video game industry’s legends in the face. Okay, so we haven’t been blessed with a wealth of information regarding the Ataribox. Is it too early to start speculating on how it might compare with the Playstations, the XBOXes, and the Nintendo Switches of the world? That question is irrelevant because some have already started. Any potential answer to that question is also irrelevant because here’s the thing: it doesn’t need to.

Why? A new market for video game consoles is slowly emerging. In the past couple of years, the gaming market has seen a rollout of repackaged classic consoles. Nintendo released the NES Classic Edition in the fall of 2016, which was a replica of the original Nintendo Entertainment System with games pre-loaded into the hardware. The console sold like hotcakes, with 2.3 million units exchanging hands. Stocks were in short supply, but Nintendo did not expand production before discontinuing the console the following spring. The company followed up this move by announcing the Super NES Classic Edition, similarly designed to emulate the Super NES, for release this coming September.