Atari’s forthcoming ‘Ataribox’ retro mini-console will play current and classic games

“Atari, in the hope of emulating the success of Nintendo’s Mini NES and Mini SNES, has unveiled the Ataribox — a modern console inspired by the legendary Atari 2600, which was first released in 1977,” Mark Walton reports for Ars Technia UK. “While technical details on the Ataribox are slim, Atari—or at least, the company that now goes by the Atari name after the original Atari went bankrupt in 2013—has revealed that the console will come in both red/black and wood editions, the latter paying homage to the 1977 original.”

“Atari, in a newsletter to fans, promised that the Ataribox will feature SD card support, an HDMI port, and four USB ports (the teaser image also shows an Ethernet port),” Walton reports. “In a deviation from the emulation-based retro games of the Mini NES and SNES, it added that the Ataribox will play ‘classic’ and ‘current’ games.”

“Information on pricing, release dates, game content, or even full specs aren’t on the cards right now,” Walton reports. “Creating a console that plays both retro games and more modern titles, even if they only turn out to be Android-based, is certainly a ballsy move given the failure of most microconsoles. The Mini NES succeeded, in part, due to its simplicity and cheap price, both of which would be difficult in a more capable console.”

MacDailyNews Take: Just ship ’em with real Atari CX40 joysticks (updated to USB from 9-pin connectors) and we’re sold!

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