Pre-orders For Ataribox Will Start December 14 – Price, release date and specs right here

It’s coming real soon!

When a mysterious website popped up back in June with a single video on it that teasing a brand new Atari console, people quickly dismissed it. Quickly assuming that it was an elaborate hoax made by some graphics student somewhere or just a person with too much time on their hands. But when Atari CEO Fred Chesnais went out in an interview during E3 2017 and confirmed that Atari was indeed working on a new console, people knew that this was real.

Atari was coming back.

He also revealed the name of this new console Atari’s working on, the Ataribox. He also revealed that the Ataribox will be based on PC technology. Pretty exciting stuff. (Well I was excited.)

Then the following month, Atari released a bunch of new images of the Ataribox and it looked pretty spectacular, with the callback design of old Atari consoles. Also it was noticeably, how should I put this? Flat. It looked more like a TV box or something than a typical console, which suggests that it might be more of a Steam Link type of console.

Also in September, Atari released the specifications of the Ataribox as well as its price. The Ataribox is powered by a customised AMD processor together with Radeon Graphics technology as well as a customised Linux-based OS on board, reiterating Chesnais’ claims that the Ataribox will be based on PC technology. Atari stated that the console will keep the system “open”, meaning you can access and customise the OS as you see fit.

Atari have yet to announce any games coming to the Ataribox though. They did tease that some “new and current titles” from various studios would be coming their way but there’s real update on that claim. The only thing we know for sure is that you won’t be restricted to just the pre-loaded Atari games as the open nature of the OS allows you to access your other games from other platforms as long as it’s compatible with the OS and hardware.

You can start pre-ordering the Ataribox this coming December 14 via Indiegogo and will cost you somewhere around USD 249 – USD 299 (RM 1015 – RM 1220) depending on the specific editions and memory configurations.

Pokdepinion: I am looking forward to the Ataribox and I want it to succeed. I really do but if their games’ lineup don’t deliver than I fear that the Ataribox will be quickly forgotten by the gaming community.