Ataribox Pre-Order Launch Begins December 14

The Ataribox is going to be available for pre-order starting December 14, just in time for the holidays. CNET suggests that the prices are going to be around $249 to $299 depending on the configuration.  The price sounds considerably high, although apparently those who have signed up for email alerts are eligible for discounts. This however is limited to the first few only, and does not guarantee discounts for all with subscription.

Capitalizing on the Retro Craze

The modernized classic console is taking advantage of the current retro craze. With Nintendo’s success with their SNES and NES classics, one can hardly blame Atari for trying. Even Commodore64 is trying to cash in on it.

Atari’s CEO first made the announcement back in June during E3. Since then, the company has been teasing their Ataribox on social media, even posting photos of the redesigned controls. Aside from modernizing the console body, Atari also updates the joystick. It actually resembles the classic Atari joystick with a single button on the side. What is different however is that it has a home and a back button built-in. They also included a photo of a person holding the joystick so that we can estimate its size. The base of the joystick itself is the size of an AppleTV with slits across the edges like on the console body.

The Ataribox machine itself uses a custom AMD processor with a Linux OS, capable of running classic Atari titles and even mid-tier PC games.