Sponsored By

Atari reveals its nostalgic 'Ataribox' game console as the Atari VCS

Atari’s shadow-shrouded return to the hardware business has been detailed this week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Alissa McAloon, Publisher

March 20, 2018

1 Min Read
Game Developer logo in a gray background | Game Developer

Atari announced its plans to once again dive into the video game hardware world last year with the bare-bones announcement of what it first called the Ataribox. Though details have since been few and far between, the company has now renamed the console as the Atari VCS and offered devs a look at the retro-inspired console itself.

The Atari VCS follows Nintendo’s line of NES and SNES classic console, but Atari’s take can notably play a range of modern PC games in addition to classic Atari titles, putting the company’s hardware revival on a different level than other classic consoles. 

According to VentureBeat, the Atari VCS boasts a custom AMD processor, Radeon graphics, and a Linux-based operating system. The system itself is paired with two controllers: one similar to a modern gamepad and another mirroring the joystick controller belonging to Atari’s classic system. No release date has been announced as of yet, but Atari plans to share a preorder date next month. 

Right now, that’s about Atari has disclosed about the upcoming console, though it does note that it is in the process of working with game developers, content creators, and other partners to finalize details at the moment and is showing prototypes of the system off at the Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco this week. 

Read more about:

2018event-gdc

About the Author

Alissa McAloon

Publisher, GameDeveloper.com

As the Publisher of Game Developer, Alissa McAloon brings a decade of experience in the video game industry and media. When not working in the world of B2B game journalism, Alissa enjoys spending her time in the worlds of immersive sandbox games or dabbling in the occasional TTRPG.

Daily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inbox

You May Also Like