Hold onto your keyboards; this is gonna be a long one.
If you know me personally, I am a wanderer of almost any retro stuff. This especially includes the Speccy computers, Atari consoles, and GameBoy handhelds. So, in this post, I'll be taking the time to talk about Atari as a company, both in positive and negative lights.
Let's get the negatives outta the way: They still occasionally make questionable investment and business decisions, such as that recent time when they put Asteroids in the blockchain (keep in mind that the only part that directly connected was a scoreboard). That what I can think of at the moment, besides their lack of contributions to the Atari 8-bit computer scene.
Now, the positives...which surprisingly enough, there are more of: one of their biggest accomplishments since 2023 was revitalizing the Atari consoles homebrew scene and helping some indie devs get started. Not to mention, they're finally making a sequel to Yars' Revenge that isn't just a generic WayForward game (with all due respect to WayForward of course). Also, they're currently improving the firmware on their latest console, the 2600+
Now...this part is gonna be tricky since I'll be talking about the future for a moment:
Atari is probably gonna be offering some stuff in the future (obviously). I predict that they'll release a system-on-chip Atari 7800, a console that should have a 2nd chance in the first place. After all, failing to compete with the NES is a bad look despite continuing where the 2600 left off in a proper manner (unlike the 5200 of course).
Another thing I want to happen is a US distribution of the ZX Spectrum Next by Atari. I don't have any idea why I want Atari to do that, but since Timex as a computer company doesn't really exist anymore and the fact that I think the Speccy homebrew scene needs more attention along with the other parts of retrogaming homebrew community, you'll probably figure it out.
In conclusion, while Atari might have its flaws, I think I can see why their 2600+ was a success. Plus the fact that some of the employees been chummy with their fans (see the AtariAge forums for proof) as of late. However, they have a long way to go...and they still need to be held accountable.
So, with that said, please hold corporations accountable and always choose people over profit.
Thanks for reading and I'll see y'all in the next two months. lmao
Love y'all!