Is the Atari VCS Still Good in 2024? Deep Dive Review of Two Years with the Modern Retro Console

hello and welcome to the geek battle gaming YouTube channel today we are going to check out the Atari VCS this is after 2 years of me having the console what do I think of it I did a review 2 years ago do I like it more or do I like it less let's find out [Music] BOS I've had my Ari VCS for over 2 years at this point and it's actually been one of my favorite consoles to follow and use in the last couple of years it's just kind of different and it's like a scrappy little dog that's trying to win a big dog fight but doesn't really know that it's a Chihuahua and I don't say that as an insult on the VCS because I truly love it but there is just something that really doesn't fit about this console when compared to the likes of the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo switch a couple of years ago I did my review of the console and I had it for a few weeks at that point now I figured it was as good a time as any to revisit atari's modern era Wonder Atari is on something of a role recently the game station Pro and the Atari 2600 plus were both well received and the Atari 50th Anniversary Collection was highly praised we're about to get a new batch of Atari 78 800 carts released for compatibility with the 2600 plus and there will be the Atari 400 mini so with all this stuff happening and so many Hardware releases it could be easy to forget that the Atari VCS is still the new Atari console on the Block it has the most impressive Hardware in terms of capability out of anything that Atari have got out currently and is a combination of both old and new whether you're like me and had an Atari VCS for a while or you're new to the console or you don't actually have one but are thinking about jumping on board soon this is the Deep dive that will tell you everything you need to know about the Atari VCS for 20124 and Beyond the Atari VCS is a console which started life with a crowdfunding campaign and was finally Unleashed to the general public in 2021 alas the console still has never been released in Europe so after a few months of the console being out I decided to get an imported one from eBay this was at the very start of 2022 and considering it's more than 2 years later and still no signs of a UK release I feel I made the right decision to jump on board when I did if you're considering getting a VCS it's important to understand what the console offers and also understand what it it doesn't offer the VCS isn't a good alternative to something like the PlayStation 5 Xbox series X or Nintendo switch if you don't have one of those and are considering just getting one console for gaming I don't think the VCS should be the choice most people should make it's not a primary gaming platform but rather it's something for those who like classic and indie games so if you already have a PS5 or Nintendo switch your Xbox well maybe not the Xbox but we'll get onto that soon the VCS may be a good companion to it in a sense there hasn't really been anything like the VCS before but these days we live in a different era of gaming than what has ever existed in the past the VCS is kind of like the evercade in that its main focus is retro games but has some indie goodness thrown in just to bulk out the library it's a console which I'm not sure was ever intended to compete with the mainstream consoles and can most be likened to a mini console with the added benefit of some new and more modern games seeing a release on the platform there is a continually growing App Store on the VCS and the app store has about 150 games on it that you can download at the time of making this video and the console also has access to apps like Xbox cloud gaming and antstream arcade which between the two give you access to loads and loads of games like hundreds of modern games and retro games that can be streamed through the console when you add on to this that the VCS also has PC mode and you can use the system as a fully functioning PC complete with access to emulators and steam suddenly the VCS has access to more games than any of the mainstream consoles out there and whilst this sounds good there are ups and downs with the VCS and these points are important to go through in more detail the VCS almost is the perfect example of potential for what an awesome all-in-one games console could be but with a bunch of areas that are underdeveloped or in other ways let it down it's still got some way to go before you'll want to Chuck out your PS5 just for the VCS to start with the system comes with the fantastic Atari vault which gives you a large selection of Atari games that range from arcade and Atari 2600 games and then you'll even get some Atari 5200 and 7800 games in there as well the amount of games on offer here was awesome 2 years ago and it's still pretty awesome today if you want more though you can pay a small price to get Atari Vault 2 which will give you even more arcade and console games these fulfill the role of the VCS being a mini console I mean it'd be an expensive mini console if this was all that was on there but whether any other games were ever released on the console these alone would give you a ton of play time and value to get out of your purchase now one thing that is worth noting is that at the end of 2022 we got the release of the Atari 50th Anniversary Collection and there is a huge amount of crossover between this and the Atari Vault games the presentation of the two collections is somewhat different though so if you like having multiple ways to play the same Atari games on one console well the VCS has you covered and I really do mean it has you covered in this regard if we were to take the 2600 game Adventure as an example it is available both in the Atari vault as well as as an individual download on the VCS app then you can also play it on the Atari 50 collection add on to this that a game like food fight culinary combat also has a bunch of arcade games that you can play and you might find that there are four different ways to play Pong or breakout on this one console the Atari Vault isn't the selling point it may have been a couple of years back as the Atari 50 collection is available on a bunch of platforms like PC switch and Xbox and to rub salt into the wounds the VCS version was released a little while later after it was already available on other platforms first but that doesn't matter in this day and age cuz you can get it on the VCS as well and you have the added benefit of paddle support the VCS store does give you access to a bunch of classic games including 2600 and 7800 titles but disappointingly it's not the absolute all-in-one Atari box with access to any Jaguar links or St games as downloads well not as individuals outside of what's available on the Atari 50 collection this has been the biggest point of error that I would say needs addressing on the console in the future Atari did recently buy the company that developed Atari 50 which emulated some of those systems so hopefully more of those games will be available in the future the VCS is also powerful enough so it has been home to all of atari's modern efforts with its recharged series and other games this is one of the best things about the VCS as it Bridges the gap between old and new compared to a couple of years ago there are a load of new Atari recharged games on the platform pong breakout Black Widow bazark and a bunch of others are all on there that have received the recharged treatment now as good as these are and most of them have received positive reviews Atari are now starting to evolve Beyond just the neon reimaginings of their classic IP as the recharge series and are starting to take franchises in New Directions the recent haunted house and food fight culinary combat games have shown that they can make new games that have unique art styles and modern gameplay Styles and aren't just the recharged neon light versions as well as the Atari games on the platform the system has become home to some great Indie titles donut dodo has quickly become one of my favorite games of all time you'll often hear me talk about it on this channel and is a great example of a modern game made in a classic style BPM boy is a 3D game which kind of has a Super Monkey Ball 3D Platformers kind of vibe if I could compare it to anything and it's not one that I'm actually sure is available on other systems there was the recent firstperson shooter game Madness beverage and whilst it may not have been the greatest game ever and is is a budget title already released on other platforms a couple of years ago it is a show that the VCS is capable of modern gaming Styles and 3D games likewise there's doodle taxi which is a fun Crazy Taxi like game with a unique art style is from met gang games who have produced a slew of other Indie titles on the console again the VCS isn't a platform that looks likely to get the latest Grand Theft Auto Tekken or EA Sports title but it's clearly more capable than what we've generally seen out of it so far some have speculated that the VCS could end up abandoned by Atari at some point but over the last year there have been a bunch of new games and there is no sign that these are going to stop in 2024 so I think it's just a little bit of Scare mongering at this point but my hope is that they'll keep it going for a long time Atari after all are the company that just released the Atari 2600 plus so clearly it knows the value in keeping old Hardware platforms alive if Atari just keep going at their own pace there is no reason why the VCS couldn't be kept alive and active for the foreseeable future something that is a bit of a bummer about the VCS is that it is a digital only console if Atari had had the foresight to combine everything that is the VCS with the ability to use actual carts as seen on the 2600 plus I think it would have been the ultimate Atari experience and ultimately I think that would be a selling point that would make it a lot more successful but say you're okay with getting games from a download store and you aren't fussed about collecting old or even buying new cartridge games there still has been a massive problem with the VCS being all digital for many in the community and this has been a little bit of an elephant in the room for many so let's just tackle it straight on throughout a lot of 2023 many users complained that a glitch would occur whereby the VCS App Store didn't like your postal or zip code and wouldn't allow you to purchase downloadable games on this download only system so perhaps because I'm in the UK something may have been different but I never had any issues purchasing games from the App Store it would be ironic if the issue not being an issue for me is because I have a UK post code when the system itself isn't available in UK now that would be funny to say the least still as it is I believe the ZIP code error has been resolved for many now I did have an issue at one point where the App Store would let me buy games but then wouldn't let me download them and this only happened a few months after I got the console but fortunately it wasn't a longlasting issue and atari's tech support was excellent to get this fixed quite quickly as things are I have about 50 games on the VCS and many of these I got in Black Friday or New Year's sales when these do occur they are usually quite generous with their discounts we'll talk more about the games you can play and access on the system shortly as truthfully we're just scratching the surface on that front but let's focus on some other areas for a little while the console isn't exactly quiet when you switch it on and I've always noticed the fan noise since the day I first switched it on it's nothing outrageous but does make me wonder if it's ever overheating the system starts with a asteroids inspired logo sequence and then you get a rainbow of colors like you would on the old Atari as it transitions to your dashboard you can have user profiles but these aren't anything super special as other than high scores here and there online play isn't a big thing on the VCS also there are no achievements which is something Atari should really think about implementing soon and as a priority okay so let's talk about the controllers when you get the system you can either just get the console or you can get the console with the classic and or the modern style controllers the modern style controller is very much an Xbox style control pad and feels somewhere between an Xbox 360 and an Xbox One pad it has a micro HDMI port which is now fairly old school compared to everything else being USB type-c but a lot of people still have these cables so it's really no biggie I'm not the biggest fan of the flat disc d-pad on the modern controller and the Atari button does feel like it weirdly dips in with sharp edges but otherwise this is a nice game controller when I did my review 2 years ago I didn't actually have the modern controller and just made do with an Xbox One joyad for the VCS after about a year of doing so I decided to bite the bullet and get an official VCS modern controller from Amazon in the US this was expensive to do but it had a sale on it at the time and if memory serves me it did say there was only like one or two left in stock so I decided to jump on board and not risk missing out I've only ever used it as a wired controller because I'm old school in that way but I think the idea is that the official game pad will work better wirelessly than if you use a third party pad the more intriguing controller is the classic one having recently used an old school style joystick with the Atari 2600 plus I can say that atari's modern design is an improvement in many ways but it's not perfect it's a bit Bland looking but it is functional the stick doesn't feel as stiff as it does on the old 2600 design which is a good thing but for some players that old stiff stick matron will be part of the Nostalgia the cool thing about this joystick was and still is that this stick doubles as a paddle controller and you can rotate it round for games like pong or breakout it's really quite ingenious how they combine the two in one here Beyond this it's nice that the controller has rounded edges which make it comfortable to hold and it features more buttons than you'd get on the 2600 joystick this doesn't mean that you'll be able to use it for modern games though sure you can use it just fine for certain Indie titles but with just two action buttons a home button and two menu buttons this won't be your go-to for playing Halo on Xbox cloud gaming I do like the innovation of having the second action button almost like a shoulder button on the joystick this is much more natural and comfortable position for a second button than the trigger button on the Atari gamestation Pro joystick speaking of Xbox cloud gaming the VCS is a useful second device if you have an Xbox series X or S and want this plugged into a different TV in another room I'm sure if you didn't have an Xbox console at all and just had signed up to their cloud service this would also be a good way to experience Xbox games and you get access to around 100 games at a time this way but this is a paid subscription service so you just have to be aware of these things but it is a way to play the latest console releases on the VCS so arguably with this option does it matter that the VCS doesn't get the same games ported to the console natively I mean yeah I mean yes it does it it would be better if you could play the modern games directly on the VCS and that developers were supporting it with them but because one day the Xbox cloud service will probably not be supported on the BCS or maybe on anything in the future these games as with all streaming services could once day disappear from you but still it is great that Atari provided a path for players to experience a lot of the best of Xbox on the VCS although there are constantly rumors that Xbox cloud service will come to PlayStation or Nintendo consoles until that day is a reality it means the VCS has something that PlayStation and Nintendo don't Xbox cloud gaming isn't the only Cloud streaming service available on the Atari VCS console and alas this is where I must mention stadia Google's cloud gaming service was something I covered in my previous Deep dive on the VCS and in the time since then stadia has gone the way of the donut dodo and is no more this does prove as a warning to people who rely on cloud gaming and is a sign why physical G James will always have an advantage another service which I don't feel is what it once was on the VCS is antstream arcade this cloud gaming service features hundreds if not a couple of thousand of classic computer console and arcade games for you to play and whilst this service is still a great way to play a ton of old games my recent dabblings with it show that it has changed somewhat it used to be that you would have a certain number of daily credits or Gems or whatever the currency was on it so that you could play whatever games you like and you also had the option to pay for a subscription to get full access to play as many games as you wanted for as long as you wanted for a year or whatever the time period was I think it's still the case that you can do that with a subscription but the option just to play whatever you want with daily credits seems a bit more limited now it's like you can only play daily challenge games or something like that maybe I'm wrong let me know in the comments but for me this doesn't seem like what it used to but maybe my memory is different the VCS also has Amazon's Luna app on there but beyond me noting this it's not something I've ever used so I can't really comment on on a similar note the console also has apps for productivity things like spreadsheets a web browser and uh yeah these are things that I've never really dabbled with either so I can't particularly comment on them I can't imagine that the VCS would be the best way to access your Google calendar and stuff like that but as the VCS is technically a Mini PC I'm sure that some people would get into doing it this way and it may be worth the time if you bother but uh I've got so many other ways of doing those things I don't think I'd be doing it on my VCS there are a total of 26 non-game apps on the App Store and these include Google Docs calendar Gmail and then things like Apple TV kick peacock twitch Netflix Amazon Prime video YouTube and Disney plus there is also the Chrome browser I guess in theory you could use this as a streaming box and have Netflix and Disney plus as your go-to apps on here but I don't think I would run down the life of my VCS by burning this thing out which already makes a lot of noise with its fan just by streaming Disney plus so as I mentioned the VCS is a Mini PC and whilst the specs are very humble you can choose to go into PC mode and use the device as an actual personal computer this isn't quite as straightforward as it sounds though and if you want this feature they do make you do a little bit to work for it to begin with you'll need a keyboard and a mouse and the console doesn't come with them these can be bought cheap enough and let's face it many of us will have spare mice or keyboards laying around anyway the big thing though is is that you'll need to have a thumb drive or a USB hard drive with a PC operating system on it I have an old external hard drive so I put Windows 10 on there just to get the system up and running to see what it works like and it worked great there are instructions available online on how to add windows or Linux or whatever other operating system you want onto the VCS but if you want to check out my previous Deep dive into the VCS I show you the process I did a couple of years ago to put Windows on there it might be slightly different nowadays but I doubt it using the VCS as a PC is great if you want another location in your house to have a PC or something at a second location like a relative's home where you could just have it set up ready just to jump in and access your Word documents or other simple tasks or just play some simple games you're not going to get this thing to run Elden ring or Resident Evil 4 remake well well at least not well anyway but you certainly can use this for accessing your steam library of games and other libraries like the epic game store games or just putting games onto your PC natively without it being through an app store imagine that it'll be useful for using word and other basic programs but things like Photoshop and video editing may not go as well that said you can use stuff to beef up your VCS it's always been public ized by Atari that the console is upgradeable and without much effort you can put in a new hard drive to add more space to the humble amount they give you you can also upgrade the RAM and having had a look at the process to do this it certainly isn't something I felt was super easy and considering I have a gaming laptop and a steam deck I figured I didn't need to risk messing up the VCS just for the novelty of getting a few more games to run in PC mode for me the VCS is is a console that I'm mostly happy to use for The Unique games that you get released on the VCS App Store at the time of writing I own just about 50 of these games although included in this number are a couple of collection-based titles like Atari 50 and Atari Vault so this considered I can play a few hundred games on this thing as it is right now add to this Xbox cloud gaming and antstream and PC mode and you could have unlimited hours of play time with a near infinite amount of games that you can play on it but no switch games sorry there are a bunch of things I'd like to see Atari do to improve the VCS console experience achievements would be the main one maybe being able to create folders for your games on the dashboard would also be good I don't think you can do that currently the App Store could also use improvements they started showing a little for sale or on sale sign or a little update logo on the games on the App Store which is good to know but it would be useful perhaps if you were able to go to a discounts page like you can on other consoles or maybe just get a list of games that have available updates for it without having to scroll through all of the games I'd also like to see a few bigger name developers or games on the platform now I don't think Atari should be paying money out for exclusives or striking up any big money deals just to get developers on the platform but imagine if Sega or Capcom just one day started putting their classic games on the VCS that would be awesome you know with a limited user base and a limited amount of competition of games on the system it would just be the perfect excuse to play something like some old Dreamcast games or Sega Mega Drive or or imagine if you got some classic arcade games on there like Street Fighter 2 or stuff from Namco that would be awesome like the only way to play Pac-Man on the VCS at the moment is via antstream arcade I mean yeah you can play it in PC mode but I want the Atari version of Pac-Man officially playable on this console you know the 2600 one that got the Wafers and was flickery and people didn't like but I really like it I think Atari also needs start to release Atari Jaguar links and St games on the platform I half imagine that Atari may be cooking up a new version or SQL to the VCS where they will release this in the next couple of years hopefully if they do because I know that they ended their production agreement with the people that were actually producing the VCS hopefully they will pick it up again themselves or even if it's that they release a new one I hope it's just a continuation where even if it runs faster it's more like a Atari VCS Pro and not just an absolute sequel to it so if you do have the original you can still get a crossover of all of the games that continue to come out they've had too many Hardware releases based on classic systems for Atari not to also be cooking something up based on the VCS and most importantly I'd like to see the system come to the UK they had the Atari 2600 plus as a Amazon UK exclusive and this seems like it would also be the perfect way to get the VCS out here too so there we have it this is my review of the Atari VCS in 2024 and I'm still just as happy with my purchase as I was a couple of years ago it's definitely had a bunch of games on here which I've liked to go in and play and there's something about playing Indie and retro games in its own space without the distraction of oh I could jump into a modern game on the same platform that makes the experience all the better it definitely does feel like it's a console for The Underdogs to support and and I really really do like it I really hope that we see lots of new stuff from Atari and maybe some other Publishers and developers on the console going forward and with that that's going to wrap this up let me know what your thoughts on the Atari VCS are in the comments what your favorite games are and that I will do another video another day where I'll go over all of my library of games that I've got currently and say which ones I think are the best and which ones are worth getting or avoiding so that going to wrap things up for my deep dive into the Atari VCS 2 years after I first got it and I'm still really enjoying it let me know what you think of the console in the comment section and as always if you haven't done so already please smash that subscribe button here on the geek battle gaming YouTube channel do check out www. extreme. TV for the written version of this discussion and until next time stay safe always stay extreme and CIA now for now boom and we're off the [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] air I understand what I want to

Channel: Geek Battle Gaming

Views: 3,514

Keywords: Retro Gaming, Gamer, Geek Battle Gaming, xstreamed, video games, handheld gaming, games console, Gaming, VideoGames, Gameplay, GamingCommunity, GamingLife, gaming Channel, Game Review, Gaming News, Gaming Clips, Atari, Atari VCS, Atari VCS 800, BPM Boy, Kombinera, Pong, Breakout, Antstream Arcade, Atari PC Mode, Atari Classic Controller, Atari Modern Controller, Madness Beverage, Food Fight Culinary Combat, Mr Run and Jump

Id: zGfxTWEz73A

Length: 29min 33sec (1773 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 13 2024