It’s not looking good for the Atari VCS that’s now years behind schedule
It seems the saga that is the Atari VCS console continues as the console begins to fall on the vaporware side of the spectrum. The console, now several years behind it’s proposed launch date, has run into a new roadblock. It seems that the architect behind the console has quit the project, as per The Register, saying that he has not been paid for his work for the last six months.
Speaking with The Register, Atari system architect Rob Wyatt stated that “As of Friday, October 4th, I have officially resigned as the architect of the Atari VCS.” He went on to say that Atari has not paid his consultancy team at Tin Giant for the last six months.
This is yet another issue that isn’t going to do Atari any favors. It’s currently unclear how or if Atari can complete the console for launch without the work of Wyatt. The company only received an early prototype motherboard in the last several weeks with Wyatt and his team being in the middle of debugging the unit before calling it quits.
“I was hoping to see the project through to the end and that it wouldn’t come to this, but I have little choice other than to pursue other opportunities”
Rob Wyatt – Atari VCS system architect
It is unclear what the issue is at Atari, but we know that the financial situation isn’t looking all that great. Atari has been operating at a loss of nearly three million dollars per year in the past two years. Company statements reveal that the 3-person outfit currently has around six million in the bank moving forward.
The Atari VCS was announced back in December of 2017, then known as the Ataribox. In December of that same year, the company allowed people to pre-order the console before missing its first release window. In early 2019 Atari announced the console would be appearing at GDC showing off prototype units, but instead brought along empty shells and not playable units. It was later revealed that no progress was made on the console itself in the nine-months since it was announced.
Wyatt and his team were hired to actually create the unit in June of 2018, only days before the crowdfunding campaign was set to end. This was nearly one year since the console was announced and months after initial pre-orders kicked off. A new release date of June of 2019 was pegged but since you are reading this srticle it’s safe to assume that they missed that by a mile.
Atari then went to E3 in June of 2019 and we didn’t get to see the console, mostly because it still didn’t exist in any form outside of some shells and pretty renderings. Atari used the convention to get more money from potential investors as well as opening up yet another pre-order campaign for the system. All this without even a working prototype.
It’s safe to assume that Atari is either scamming people or have no idea how to run a business. They’ve become the laughing stock of the gaming world, a position they seem to like to put themselves into every few years. After E3 the team announced yet another launch date, this time March of 2020. Chances are they aren’t going to hit that target either as Wyatt and team only got the motherboard for the first prototype sometime in September, only last month.
The Atari VCS is a joke and we as gamers should just let it and the Atari name die. The best thing that will come of this is a shoddy console releasing in 2020 that is simply an underpowered PC running Linux under the hood. With no killer apps announced and the PS5 dropping holiday 2020, the Atari VC stands no chance in the market. Your best bet is to go buy an Atari 2600 and stick a Raspberry Pi into it. Hell, there’s enough room in the original VCS to stick a Pi in there and still keep all the original Atari internals too.
It’ll also be a lot cheaper than the $250 asking price that Atari is currently asking for this stupid thing. An extra $50 will get you the Nintendo Switch Lite meaning there’s not a single person out there willing to spend $250 on a console dead on arrival.
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