Atari VCS Review for 2023 - Should You Buy One?

[@FamilyGeekery]

Do you have one of these? What's your favorite game on it?

[@b.o.4492]

Just got mine today. What a headache getting it setup. Been playing with vault and Berzerk 2600 mostly. Sounds like an airplane taking off often.

[@braillynn]

I would love to see an upgrade video on this as well as the track ball controls working(or not) on it.

[@markbrown8097]

Me too, i have a trackball and a spinner. Would love to see those reviewed. Maybe they're new 9 pin interfaces to the atari 2600+ can be interfaced to usb.

[@gorillax48]

Great video, bro! I am about to purchase my VCS in a few days.

[@Martin-gf1hh]

I wish Atari would team up with Nintendo and release a hybrid game system

[@gorillax48]

I think that would be great

[@ΔημήτριοςΜπακάλης-η5ω]

Well, i bought the old one last week, why not buy the new one?

[@redleader7988]

Great review and guide. I'm really enjoying mine so far. I did the ram and ssd upgrade and installed windows 10 (used Gabe Heller's youtube guide to install Win10 to an external SSD, then moved the SSD to the internal M.2 slot, using BIOS to select either Win10 or AtariOS currently 'till I find a better way). It's much better/faster than expected. So far, all my Windows games work, even Death Stranding is very playable. I was lucky not to have any of your initial troubles requiring a BIOS reflash. I also had a little trouble using the spinner at first, but something clicked, and I can beat arcade pong almost every time now. Might be my favorite spinner now.

[@metronome8471]

Its a fun hobbyist computer in a 2600 shell.

[@FamilyGeekery]

Absolutely! It might not be a necessity, but it’s a great way to play some retro games, and still do some “normal” pc stuff too!

[@lorensims4846]

This looks like an ideal alternative to something like a PlayStation or X-Box. I'm REALLY not interested in first-person shooters. We never had an Atari 2600 VCS so I'm not interested in those games. My Atari 800 Home Computer System was a computer that was also a game system, this Atari VCS 800 is a game system that is also a computer. The arcade games look terrific and VERY faithful to the originals that I spent so many quarters playing back in the day. That's enough for me. Everything after that is gravy. If I add that Atari 50th Anniversary Collection I should be golden. The original Atari paddle controllers weren't "spring-loaded." They do sell a $30 USB thumb drive with Debian and LibreOffice.

[@alivenumber5]

The fact that I have to flash the firmware is a straight no go for me dawg. I know how to do it as I’m very technical but the entire point to buying a console is to not have to do things like this. Come on guys you were so close.

[@FamilyGeekery]

True. It’s a little off-putting. But I forgive them because it’s “Atari”, it’s not like it was Sony or Nintendo.

[@alivenumber5]

@@FamilyGeekery It’s laziness though and makes me think they built the system and then fired all the engineers. All they’d have to do is connect a server to redirect the account creation. People are basically buying bricks if they don’t have software skills.

[@DavidUrbina-gg9zx]

Excellent review very well showcased 🕹️ left a like on the video 📸

[@FamilyGeekery]

I appreciate it! Thanks for watching!

[@DavidUrbina-gg9zx]

@@FamilyGeekery No worries 🤙 you have a new viewer to your channel 🕹️

[@Xiy114]

I wish ATARI would collaborate with COLECOVISION

[@warrencdent]

Can you connect 4 controllers for Warlords???

[@markbrown8097]

Please do more videos, I just bought one for whatever reason and would love to see someone else struggling so j don't have to. 😂😂

[@gorillax48]

🤣😂🤣

[@JLundstedt67]

Nice overview. I just got my last week. I did the ram upgrade, but was unsuccessful to have atari to see my m.2 SSD. I put the m.2 SSD in a usb enclosure and installed Windows 11 using WinToUSB method. That works great. Using retroarch with stella core works great. I was even able to get the paddle games working the classic joystick. I would like to see updated steps on m.2 windows install. I think many videos are out of date, so a 2023 edition would be appreciated! Favorite games: Adventure, Space Invaders, Haunted House, Breakout, Superman

[@FamilyGeekery]

Did you use a sata m.2 or NVMe?

[@JLundstedt67]

I tried a Samsung 980 NVMe m.2 SSD.

[@FamilyGeekery]

@JLundstedt67 that’s why. The internal m.2 drive has to be SATA from what I’ve read. Not NVMe.

[@carywise6291]

Hi i was wondering if you can replace a atari vcs processor with a pc processor and the atari vcs still work? And vice versa?

[@carywise6291]

​@@FamilyGeekeryis it possible to put a pc processor in a atari vcs and the atari vcs still work? And is it possible to put a atari vcs processor in a pc and the pc still work?

[@Xiy114]

I wish there was TRON videogame

[@Green6969]

Very good device but tooo expensive !!!

[@Xiy114]

You have a great sounding voice.

[@MarcKloos]

And then Atari announced the 2600+ !

[@markbrown8097]

Seems like a 2600/7800 cartridge player😢

[@CameronPerreault-lw6in]

Hi I bought actually two of these and had the same issue with both of them they would not set up correctly because the wouldn’t go through the updates correctly do u know what I could do to fix that issue is there a link thank you

[@FamilyGeekery]

I thought I covered that in the video. Here’s a link I just found that should help. forums.atariage.com/topic/346985-problem-with-my-new-vcs/#comment-5195189

[@Xiy114]

Would the paddle controller work with this console?

[@onetotalloser]

I was wanting to know the same

[@Xiy114]

Could you use MAME on it?

[@Vaskomyr]

Snagged one during the fathers day sale. My modern controller had dead triggers, but didn't know till months later. Customer service was great, sent it in and they sent me a completely new boxed one. I've only snagged the new Haunted House which is pretty good, mostly want to buy just the Atari specific games or exclusives for it. I do like that most of the games are more than reasonable in price, just a few higher priced games but even those are pretty reasonably priced. Swapped the ram for a 32gb kit that was cheap, still need a m.2 drive though. Kind of surprised that no one has made a vcs themed cart reader/sad caddy.

[@Xiy114]

On your upper right side there was a "SYSTEM" tab to try. Maybe try that and see what happens. See what options you have there.

[@gilbertlynds3930]

would have loved one but at $900 here its just too expensive

[@shadwell749]

Too bad they make you have to flash the hard drive in order to play

[@ByroManiac]

Win11 runs fine on it BTW

[@catgarcia2238]

does the sega genesis controller work

[@cnk9822]

No without some adapters.