Atari today announced plans to release a new version of their retro console system, Atari Flashback. The Atari Flashback 2.0 will include 40 bundled games and all of the necessary hardware to play them on your decidedly non-retro plasma TV screens.
The press release is thin on details, but here’s what we know about this 0th-generation console system compared to the first version of the Flashback:
- Flashback 1.0 vs. Flashback 2.0
- 20 titles vs. 40 titles
- $44.95 MSRP vs. $30 MSRP
- Nov 22 launch vs. Launch “this summer”
- 7800-style console vs. “wood grain paneling”
- Redesigned joysticks vs. “classic joysticks”
At least four of the titles to be released with Flashback 2.0 were released with the 1.0 launch in November 2004, but Pong is new to this year’s launch, in part because it’s supposedly the 30th anniversary of Pong (according to Pong-story.com, however, “November 1972 saw the first production PONG games rolling off the assembly line.” (Bad marketers, bad!)
Only time will tell if Atari learned from the launch of Flashback 1.0, which suffered from extraordinarily bad emulation. According to one Amazon.com reviewer:
Apparently, this console was a rush-job, developed in only ten weeks, and it shows. Instead of running on the original hardware, these games are being emulated. This leads to all sorts of graphical glitches and gameplay problems. Desert Falcon has so much flicker that it’s all but unplayable. I was unable to select different tracks/surfaces in Sprintmaster. The ship in Asteroids doesn’t drift when you fire the thruster. There is no gravity in Gravitar. The list goes on…
Also no word yet on whether Microsoft and Sony will be bumping up the release dates of the Xbox 360 and PS3 to compete with Atari’s stealth attack.
Read also:
Joystiq-exclusive coverage of the Flashback 1.0 launch
Atari Announces Flashback 2.0 Launch and Titles
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