Atari released more details about its Ataribox game console today, disclosing for the first time that the machine will run Linux on an Advanced Micro Devices processor and cost $250 to $300.
 
 
  In an exclusive interview last week with GamesBeat, Ataribox creator and general manager Feargal Mac (short for Mac Conuladh) said Atari will begin a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo this fall and launch the Ataribox in the spring of 2018. The Ataribox will launch with a large back catalog of the publisher’s classic games. The idea is to create a box that makes people feel nostalgic about the past, but it’s also capable of running the independent games they want to play today, like Minecraft or Terraria.
The new box will have an AMD custom processor with Radeon graphics. It will run the Linux operating system, with a user interface it’s customizing for TVs. Mac said that the machine will run PC games, but it will also be capable of doing streaming, running apps, browsing the web, and playing music. As far as games go, the machine will run the kind of games that a mid-range PC can do today, but it won’t run Triple-A games that require high-end PC performance.
 
https://venturebeat.com/2...ill-cost-at-least-249/

This is going to flop. For $250 I can get an Xbox One S and then for $50 get the Atari Classic Collection 1 and 2 so I can remember how Atari almost killed gaming in 1984 with bad games.
 
I had a lot of hope for Atari to release something magic but it needed to be under $100 and play the classics with maybe the ability to run Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu and Amazon video. The streaming would be more of to make up for Atari having a lot of classic games that have short arcade playtimes that have the game just get faster or never ending games that you play for high score and often didn't have an ending. The other option would be to list developers working with them and go directly after Sony and Microsoft on a console like the PS4 and Xbox One but it's kind of late in the life cycle for current gen to do that. Also the open source with no store front really kills it as something that as he says "kids could hook up and play independent games they can't find on consoles". Some kinds will be able to load content onto it but the majority of people who would be interested in casual gaming are not going to want to do all that without the storefront.