The Ataribox aka Atari VCS – It’s coming together…slowly

Remember last year when we first broke this awesome news? Well it turns out the company is still working on bringing us this updated, yet nostalgic piece of gaming.

Atari COO Michael Arzt apologizes for all the things he can’t tell us, like when, where, how much, how powerful, etc. the Atari VCS might be. But he still paints a picture of a interesting product: a fairly tiny, full-fledged Linux desktop computer that also comes with a boatload of their games. Over 100 classic titles and a “handful” of “reimagined” Atari games too. Check out the updated Atari VCS.

Since the it is basically an Ubuntu Linux computer, it may also be able to play games distributed on the Linux version of Steam — though Atari says it doesn’t yet know how well games like Borderlands 2 for Linux might run.

While Atari’s building a custom interface for games and media options like Netflix and YouTube (which you’ll access through a web browser, not dedicated apps) there’ll also be a sandbox for you to play around with Linux, too.

Execs say you’ll be able to hook up a mouse, keyboard, and any bluetooth or USB XInput controller if you like, but Atari will have a couple of dedicated gamepads on tap as well. One’s a modernised Bluetooth version of Atari’s classic joystick — the joystick rotates to double as a classic Atari paddle — and the other’s a dead ringer for Microsoft Xbox one gamepad.

Excited? We are! Team Yuppie Gadgets will keep you updated on all developments.