The Atari VCS project continues to boot up nicely and the latest update on the endeavor has given backers of the project a tour around the chassis, OS, and electronics inside this interesting new take on home computing.
With most modern gaming releases we usually need to wait for a YouTube team with more money than the average household and tool shop full of screwdriver ends to open up a new device. This time the team behind the Atari VCS decided that they’d get ahead of the curve and break down the pre-production models of the newest box to wear the Atari logo. After unveiling the idea back in 2018, the campaign to produce a home computing system that is inexpensive and able to host a range of games seems to be moving on well.
In the most significant update to date, the Medium Term Update reveals a whole host of detail about the new device including the hardware, chassis, and OS. The pictures of the first pre-production circuit board to host the VCS might not be the very final construct, but they make a great sight and give us some confidence that the project will fulfill its goals. Powered by an AMD Ryzen APU, the board also features:
- 4 USB Ports (2 x USB 3.0 Confirmed)
- HDMI Video Output
- M.2 Solid-state Port
- Two SODIMM DDR4 Slots Holding 8GB Ram
- Custom Blower Fan Cooling System
The update has a ton of extra information on the way the VCS boots up, the housing that will sit on top of the internal components, although it skims over some of the more ingenious elements fo the Atari VCS, the OS. The system is designed to bring both old school Atari games and a custom Linux OS that could open up front room gaming for the masses. We’ve yet to see the pre-production models in action ourselves but it is great to see a crowdsourced campaign for an innovative product like the Atari VCS nearing completion. While there are still some serious concerns regarding the loss of the project’s chief architect, as reported in The Register, things still seem to be moving forward. You can check out all the detail on the Atari project for the latest update now.
