Atari — one of the world’s most iconic brand in gaming that keeps trying to come back when it should just give up already — today announced a partnership with N-Dream AG to bring their cloud-based gaming platform AirConsole to the upcoming Atari VCS PC/console entertainment thing “launching” this fall.
The custom AirConsole app for the Atari VCS will unlock a library of more than 150 original single-player and local multiplayer party games, where there’s always enough controllers for everyone in the room, as friends and families can play together locally using their iOS and Android mobile devices as VCS gamepads. Popular AirConsole titles coming to the Atari VCS include 8Bit Fiesta, The Neighborhood, Fling to the Finish, Burning Rubber Air, and Go Kart Go among others.
Designed to recreate the casual and social gaming experiences of yesteryear, before online gaming was the standard, AirConsole is a lag-free cloud-based virtual game service that will be accessible via the Atari VCS dashboard. A single “virtual console” screen is shared to the TV by the Atari VCS, with users’ smartphones functioning as game controllers, so that anyone can play without additional hardware.
A wide variety of titles and genres are completely free to play, with more games and additional content available through the inexpensive AirConsole Hero subscription (US $4.99/month). Families and friends can get together to play from a perpetually growing selection of over 150 games.
Many AirConsole games use the advanced features unique to smartphones, including displaying secret information (each player has their Poker cards on the phone, the big screen is the poker table), the gyroscope is used to play golf, the touchscreen to draw things, swipe gestures and more.
AirConsole for the Atari VCS will be available as a launch app in fall 2020, with all Atari VCS owners given one free month of AirConsole’s Hero premium subscription, which unlocks enhanced functionality and access to the full library of 150+ original games. A free version of AirConsole includes access to eleven free games and limited multiplayer features.
My question is why the hell would you buy an Atari VCS for $500 to then get a subscription for a bunch of junk games that you don’t even need the VCS for. I know the team thinks this is a big get but people are going to only think of this expensive box as a home for crap games years behind where we are now.
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