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Atari Flashback
The Atari Flashback is a line of dedicated video game consoles produced since 2004, currently designed, produced, published and marketed by AtGames under license from Atari SA. The Flashback consoles are "plug-and-play" versions of the 1970s Atari 2600 console with built-in games rather than using ROM cartridges. The latest home console model, Atari Flashback 12 Gold, was released in 2023 and has 130 games.
The first version, designed by Atari veteran Curt Vendel, was modeled after an Atari 7800 and contained 20 games, of which five were 7800 titles. Each subsequent home console in the series is modeled after the 2600 instead; the Atari Flashback 2 was released in 2005, included 40 built-in games, and was the only one with a 2600 hardware SoC. In 2011, Atari, Inc. stopped producing the Flashback in-house and licensed it to AtGames, who continued from there on beginning with the Flashback 3, including a handheld version, Atari Flashback Portable, in 2016. Several variations of the Flashback 8 were released in 2017, including the Gold edition, which introduces scan line filtering, a gameplay rewind feature, and HDMI output. Since the Flashback X in 2019, the exterior designs have been more faithful near-replicas of the original Atari 2600 in miniature forms.
The original Atari Flashback was released in November 2004, with a retail price of $45. The console resembles a smaller version of the Atari 7800, and its controllers are also smaller versions of the 7800's joystick controllers, but with the addition of "pause" and "select" buttons. The controllers are not compatible with the original 7800 console. It was designed by Atari veteran Curt Vendel and his company Legacy Engineering Group, which designs other home video game and video arcade products.
The console lacks a cartridge slot, making it incompatible with 7800 games. Instead, the console features 20 built-in games, including 15 Atari 2600 games and five 7800 games. Some of the games originally required analog paddle controllers and were made to work with the included joysticks. The Atari Flashback runs on famiclone, rather than Atari hardware. As a result, its games do not match their original counterparts entirely. The game library includes Saboteur, a game that went unreleased for 20 years.
The Flashback sold approximately 500,000 units. Craig Harris of IGN was critical of the game conversions and opined that original copies of these games were superior, writing "it's just horrifying to see Atari, a company that outright owns these games and the original hardware, produce such shoddy renditions of the classic 2600 and 7800 games." Harris complained of problems such as flicker, poor collision detection, and missing sound. He praised the controllers for their reduced size, finding them more comfortable to use, but he was disappointed that they are incompatible with the original 7800.
The Atari Flashback 2 was released in August 2005 as an improved version of its predecessor. It retailed for $30 and included 40 built-in Atari 2600 games. It is a small near-replica of the 2600, about two-thirds the size of the original. Its controllers are also replicas of the 2600 joysticks. The 2600 and Flashback 2 controllers are compatible with both systems.
Instead of switches, the Flashback 2 console has several buttons, some of which are used to adjust power and reset it. A "select" button is used to choose between single-player and multiplayer modes, for certain games that offer the latter. Two other buttons are used to adjust the joystick difficulty for the left and right controller respectively. An AV cord is hardwired into the back of the console. The back also has a switch to toggle games between color and black-and-white.
Vendel and Legacy Engineering returned to develop the Flashback 2. In designing it, Vendel relied on materials from his Atari History Museum. He recreated the original Atari hardware on a single chip, allowing games to run as they originally did. The console's hardware makes it easy to mod. The Flashback 2's motherboard can be altered to accept 2600 cartridges, a concept that the console was designed around.
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Atari Flashback
The Atari Flashback is a line of dedicated video game consoles produced since 2004, currently designed, produced, published and marketed by AtGames under license from Atari SA. The Flashback consoles are "plug-and-play" versions of the 1970s Atari 2600 console with built-in games rather than using ROM cartridges. The latest home console model, Atari Flashback 12 Gold, was released in 2023 and has 130 games.
The first version, designed by Atari veteran Curt Vendel, was modeled after an Atari 7800 and contained 20 games, of which five were 7800 titles. Each subsequent home console in the series is modeled after the 2600 instead; the Atari Flashback 2 was released in 2005, included 40 built-in games, and was the only one with a 2600 hardware SoC. In 2011, Atari, Inc. stopped producing the Flashback in-house and licensed it to AtGames, who continued from there on beginning with the Flashback 3, including a handheld version, Atari Flashback Portable, in 2016. Several variations of the Flashback 8 were released in 2017, including the Gold edition, which introduces scan line filtering, a gameplay rewind feature, and HDMI output. Since the Flashback X in 2019, the exterior designs have been more faithful near-replicas of the original Atari 2600 in miniature forms.
The original Atari Flashback was released in November 2004, with a retail price of $45. The console resembles a smaller version of the Atari 7800, and its controllers are also smaller versions of the 7800's joystick controllers, but with the addition of "pause" and "select" buttons. The controllers are not compatible with the original 7800 console. It was designed by Atari veteran Curt Vendel and his company Legacy Engineering Group, which designs other home video game and video arcade products.
The console lacks a cartridge slot, making it incompatible with 7800 games. Instead, the console features 20 built-in games, including 15 Atari 2600 games and five 7800 games. Some of the games originally required analog paddle controllers and were made to work with the included joysticks. The Atari Flashback runs on famiclone, rather than Atari hardware. As a result, its games do not match their original counterparts entirely. The game library includes Saboteur, a game that went unreleased for 20 years.
The Flashback sold approximately 500,000 units. Craig Harris of IGN was critical of the game conversions and opined that original copies of these games were superior, writing "it's just horrifying to see Atari, a company that outright owns these games and the original hardware, produce such shoddy renditions of the classic 2600 and 7800 games." Harris complained of problems such as flicker, poor collision detection, and missing sound. He praised the controllers for their reduced size, finding them more comfortable to use, but he was disappointed that they are incompatible with the original 7800.
The Atari Flashback 2 was released in August 2005 as an improved version of its predecessor. It retailed for $30 and included 40 built-in Atari 2600 games. It is a small near-replica of the 2600, about two-thirds the size of the original. Its controllers are also replicas of the 2600 joysticks. The 2600 and Flashback 2 controllers are compatible with both systems.
Instead of switches, the Flashback 2 console has several buttons, some of which are used to adjust power and reset it. A "select" button is used to choose between single-player and multiplayer modes, for certain games that offer the latter. Two other buttons are used to adjust the joystick difficulty for the left and right controller respectively. An AV cord is hardwired into the back of the console. The back also has a switch to toggle games between color and black-and-white.
Vendel and Legacy Engineering returned to develop the Flashback 2. In designing it, Vendel relied on materials from his Atari History Museum. He recreated the original Atari hardware on a single chip, allowing games to run as they originally did. The console's hardware makes it easy to mod. The Flashback 2's motherboard can be altered to accept 2600 cartridges, a concept that the console was designed around.