Atari 400 Mini - Hands-On First Impressions

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I don't have nostalgia for Atari 400 but was curious to check out the Atari 400 mini to see what types of games I missed out on as so many of these classics are still fun today, even if playing for the first time. Here's my hands on first impressions of the Atari 400 mini.
Thank you to Atari and PLAION for sending me one of these in advance for the purpose of this video. Thank you much!
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[@SNESdrunk]

Wow, Yoop actually looks fun despite the awful title

[@JohnRiggs]

It was a visual treat. I could have seen this on GBA

[@jeremygreen2883]

Riggs and SNES Drunk, together in the comments... It's a red letter day for retro gaming on KZbin.

[@kumarp3074]

The Atari 400 was my first game system. I think my sister convinced my parents to buy one because it was a computer and we could use it for school. But really we just wound up playing games on it. I have fond memories of being seven years old and playing Super Cobra on that thing.

[@JohnRiggs]

Atari 2600 games released AFTER NES was released kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2ezi52ZltCFnLs

[@bryanjensen2614]

Hey John, The Atari 5200 was basically an Atari 400 stripped down. I had both and if you play the Atari 400 games like Berzerk you're playing the same version that was on the 5200.

[@joshjohnson6891]

I was starting to accept that the minis were done being made. Theres a market for them. They just gotta work on loading games on them that people want to play otherwise they just become rom players with classic console designs.

[@EgGu-l9y]

They should've made the Press kit available for a few extra bucks.

[@mperry0913]

Love watching your videos from open cart surgery to reviews like this one. I knew you are a wrestling fan, and as a wrestling fan for over 40 yrs, love the inserts of wrestling you put in there at times. like the nWo style shirt and of course, Who's House? Henry's.. It said it right there, Henry's house..... 😆

[@DB-ek5kd]

Big John Riggs is consistent with the content. Much love and continued success!

[@nearvanaman]

"Bristles" was great. I had that on my Atari 800XL. I obviously had "Flip and Flop" too because you have just awakened memories that have been dead for almost 40 years.

[@JGKingCrusher]

I have quite a few of these minis. I REALLY need this one!!!

[@DB-ek5kd]

You NEED food, water, shelter and love. You only WANT this.

[@JGKingCrusher]

In the world of gaming, this is a NEED. If you want to talk real life, you wouldn't be on KZbin looking at... video game stuff. @@DB-ek5kd

[@datacipher]

@@DB-ek5kdthat type of expression is called HYPERBOLE - you’ll learn all about it in grade 3.

[@datacipher]

⁠@@JGKingCrusheryes… it actually turns out that most “needs” are not: need to survive. See Maslow’s hierarchy. But when you’re a dullard 7 yr old you don’t understand that (a bright 7 yr old certainly would. 😂😂. Just ignore the troll.

[@Palalubong]

Looks very cool. Might have to get it.

[@Christophersanchez1326]

No Oregon trail! 😮

[@mikedl1105]

I preordered, hope it's at least decent

[@righty-o3585]

I like how they made everything that faded 80s beige 🤘

[@kjhoskins]

Great stuff, John. Thanks for the video!

[@retropowerit]

$119.99.. would have preferred an atari st mini for that budget!

[@andromedaone3640]

So would i

[@krathoon2338]

I am getting the impression that the joystick is buggy. I don't know if they can fix it with firmware or someone hacks it.

[@danestegman155]

Good video! I got a notice from Atari that my Atari 400 mini will ship out on Friday! Looking forward to taking a look at it!

[@rohralan]

"Sounds like lube from the 80's" Funny as hell LOL!!!!!

[@DB-ek5kd]

80's lube was the best

[@JohnRiggs]

gotta slide in jokes every once in a while (no pun intended)

[@Marc_Araujo]

Wish RetroGames would've released more than just two firmware updates at release for the A500 mini.

[@DTM-Books]

This will be a great mini console for all the retro gamers out there who have never experienced the Atari 8-bit home computers back in the day. You are in for a wonderful surprise, as this is a wonderful machine that captures the height of the Golden Era of arcade videogames, as well as the early days of computer adventure games, simulations and RPGs. This could become your main home console for the rest of the year, hah. Imagine that. For the record, MULE and Seven Cities of Gold are the best. Those are the all-time masterpieces. Better start practicing now for the inevitable 4-player MULE tournaments.

[@BBfanfun]

the 400 came out in dec'79 (the 800 in jan'80), the 1st 8-bit "mass consummer" computer for the '80s too bad is was so tough programming our own games in BASIC (without the bugs)

[@davidgoldstein729]

Star Raiders II started as a draft of a game for The Last Starfighter, but they ended up losing the license before the game was completed. They eventually released it as Star Raiders II. I've unfortunately never played it, but I remember the original Star Raiders _very_ fondly. Note that Star Raiders *requires* the keyboard. So either the membrane keys on that keyboard actually work, or you'll need to plug in a USB keyboard... I'm curious how they handled the differences in the symbols, seeing as Atari put some of them in different places from IBM or Apple, as well as Atari's small number of unique-to-them keys.

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

That is so retro 70’s.

[@dionelr]

My cousin had one of those Atari 8bit computers (can't remember which) and I had fond memories of Miner 2049er and others. The opening screen when you powered on the machine looked a lot like my old Atari 5200 startup screen.

[@chriscox72]

You can also play other Atari 8-bit games via a USB stick

[@unixgod13]

Very cool! The Atari 400 was my first computer and I still have it. Can this Atari 400 run Atari Basic and did you try to connect an external keyboard via USB? Signed up to be notified when it’s available to purchase.

[@jaysmith2858]

According to a review I watched a bit earlier, yes it can run Atari Basic.

[@battlenerd8179]

My bro used to have a shirt that said yoop there it is. Lmao😂😂😂

[@MichaelYates]

"FULL SCREEN ?" , does the unit run in full screen as I can not find one review showing games in full screen as this would be a downer

[@MrPoestyle]

Mine will be here Friday and I will be making a video too . But , like you , I have no nostalgia for the 8 bit line . Still excited . I do love my 5200 .

[@tancar2004]

I had the XEGS and eventually got the disk drive. Loved both the star raider's games and Microprose games especially "F-15 strike eagle" and "Crusade in Europe".

[@jakepyrett1715]

Best 400 mini review . Gold star

[@Teachermook]

Little upset there is no Atlantis in this complilatiin.... then i remember that is an imagic game ...

[@steammachine3061]

Hover bovver. Used to have that for my 800xl. Great game and a very similar style of game was released on the ps vita and ps4 as well. Grass cutter. Very much a spiritual successor to hover bovver

[@stonedmelodic7918]

Dude I’m cleaning my place and the song for airball came on. I started dancing..

[@sideopsdiecast8181]

Wow. I actually got an Atari 400 for Christmas when I was a kid. (Yes, I'm that old). The keyboard was crap and it was obviously inferior to the 800, but the games were fun for the time. Also how I learned BASIC.

[@EuSouRCS]

How you're feeling? I got this Atari 400 mini. PERFECT!!!

[@TravisKershaw]

Whoomp! There it is.

[@carrito1981]

I needed that JayZ gif when Yoomp! came on

[@john2001plus]

16:18 As a former video game programmer, can somebody explain how the Atari 400/800 can produce these 3D graphics? I was thinking of a rotating palette to produce the illusion of motion, but that would require many background updates to change the tiles. Otherwise, the game would have to redraw polygons on every frame. The 3D perspective math can be worked out in advance, but it would still be CPU-intensive. Technically, the game would only have to draw the difference from one frame to the next, but that would require a great deal of information calculated in advance. The resolution appears low, and this helps, and the tunnel does not take the whole screen.

[@ehouse33householder74]

Yoomp's music is a banger!

[@mcorleonep]

Loved Bruce Lee on the Apple II. Funny they brought the game over but without the license. Wavy Navy was great too. Not too familiar with the rest other than the arcade ports…

[@paisleyboxers]

This is the greatest review!!!

[@istrasci]

1:36 - John Riggs, I don't think I've ever seen you NOT in a good mood! 😁

[@Windsail7]

Bristles looked interesting. Was this before Wrecking Crew?

[@qster]

Kudos to the Run DMC reference🫡

[@funkalicious2002]

I have their fullsize version of the c64, I'm waiting for the full size Amiga 500, and I'm pretty sure I saw that they were going to release a full size version of the atari also.

[@salar7735]

🤣 The way the video ended was brilliant, in the coming soon?

[@robertt955]

Was there anything on the usb stick they sent you?

[@JoesBlows]

Escape from the mind master for the vcs,by Starpath, had the same 3d point of view as that capture the flag game,and yes those graphics were mind blowing in '82

[@griveros25]

Is there any way to add Atari 800XL games into this mini?

[@JoelRodriguezJROD81]

Pretty cool review, Mr. RIGGS 👍 hopefully atari makes a 5800 mini, and that's the system I remember growing up.

[@antispiral1159]

Then a 7800 and then the jaguar with the cd games

[@duanefrancis9769]

My issue with this is that I am not particularly nostalgic for the form factor and the games can be played on any number of other systems.

[@clintonlewis1261]

Looks cool !

[@Tinmancr1]

Cool video yeah I bought one when they came out really like it..but it made me get an XEGS and play the real games physically so that's gonna be expensive.

[@c64konami96]

Once you get know how to play M.U.L.E. it gets addicting. Not a game to judge by just trying it between 1 to 30 attempts. Once you 100% understand it it’s good to review. I know on Commodore 64 you can play up to 4 players at once and is fun but not sure about the Atari 400 version. Maybe the best title on this mini.

[@jacobbaranowski]

Yoop there it is

[@bisnaut2751]

What is the usb stick for? Roms?

[@JohnRiggs]

Not sure, it was empty. Sometimes they'll send something like that with photos and videos to use for the video but this didn't have anything.

[@tonyah.960]

Hello

[@karlgeesaman5504]

luv that NWO style tshirt John

[@masterchiefer]

I can’t find a Tetris world order shirt 😢

[@Mahdy89]

That NWO tee though 👌

[@DinobotTM2]

"I don't really drink coffee" oh, John, I used to respect you... EDIT: Loved the "whose house" post. I see what you did there.

[@Retr0gam1ngR0cks]

The in-game volume is too high 😖 we can barely hear you talk while you are playing

[@Wheels8504]

Would love a 2600 mini to hack

[@michaeladams9807]

👍👍™️

[@josephfrye7342]

Seen you on metaljesusrock thing but you’re just into computers now

[@MudSluggerBP]

Atari had nothing to do with this beside license the name and games out 🤦🏻‍♂️ Retrogames made this, would’ve been nice if you shouted them out instead of Atari.

[@RottenPopReviews]

It would be nice if people could have just enjoy the video and not get hung up on semantics. But yeah there you are. I thought the video was great.

[@ClownNaround]

@@RottenPopReviewsit would be great if we can enjoy videos without having to tell people to just enjoy the video. I thought his comment was great.

[@RottenPopReviews]

@@ClownNaround to each their own

[@DB-ek5kd]

This sort of nitpicking in video comments usually indicates and underlying need for love from one's father.

[@MudSluggerBP]

@@DB-ek5kd I’m sure retrogames are happy not getting recognition for their product. Besides my Dad is in hospital recovering from a stroke and I’m more than happy with the way I was brought up. Sounds like you got to much love from your father 🤫

[@maniaque37]

atari 400 is crap you better get an atari gametstation instead.

[@steveedwards243]

I don’t really like the way these games look or play, a few aren’t bad, when I play NES games I still enjoy them, Atari games just too dated, I think they should try to update these games with better graphics, and game play, to see if it would draw more interest

[@joesshows6793]

I dunno man. I want to like these games as I grew up with them but they are just garbage

[@DB-ek5kd]

That's just like your opinion man.

[@eviljigglypuff2254]

Nailed it. Atari had maybe 4 good games that still hold up

[@simonnomis5302]

TOO SMALL

[@andromedaone3640]

I just wish they would have done the Atari ST, this is back too far and is not very appealing, its like a poor mans Coleco vision and that wasn't very appealing either. Only the shape is nice but its so small it's like a toy. Ime going to pass the shelf mites.😮