Atari VCS is fake, Tempest 4000 developers call out Atari for lying about their game running on the system

[Master Disaster]

This is pretty dodgy behaviour from Atari IMO, for the launch of the VCS Indiegogo campaign Atari proudly showed the platform running Tempest 4000. Turns out LlamaSoft know nothing about this game being on the platform, they say they've had no contact from Atari about Tempest 4K being released on the VCS and that they haven't even developed a Linux binary for the game.

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Over the course of this year, Atari has been trying to get a new home console off the ground in the form of the Atari VCS. The crowdfunding campaign advertised a few things, and even showed off gameplay. Unfortunately, it looks like at least some of the footage shown was faked, as the creator.

 

The crowdfunded Atari VCS console showed footage of Tempest 4000 running on their machine during the campaign, but it turns out that the creator of the game has no knowledge of a port, or even how the game is running on a Linux based machine.

 

Llamasoft is well known for their work on Tempest 2000 on the Atari Jaguar. The studio has been active for a while, with their most recent release being Polybius for PSVR and Oculus Rift. They are currently developing Tempest 4000 for PC and console, with Atari as publisher.

 

In the Atari VCS trailer on Indiegogo, it shows Tempest 4000 running ‘natively’ on the Atari VCS system, but this is impossible as there is no Linux version of the game. As this Reddit investigation shows, the creator of Tempest 4000 has even confirmed he didn’t even know about the Atari VCS, and was also dark on his game being ported to it.

Atari have responded by admitting the footage shown was indeed running on PC and they updated the systems marketing to remove Tempest 4000.

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Atari has since officially responded to the developer of Tempest 4000 stating the footage used was, in fact, running on a PC, but they fully expect games like Tempest 4000 and others like it to be available on the platform.

But even worse for Atari, the second game they showed running was Yars Revenge, well turns out that footage was faked too.

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In addition to Tempest 4000, Atari also faked footage of Yar’s Revenge, with a poorly edited shot that can be seen here.

Image - https://m.imgur.com/a/sPcuIxK

https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/ryan-burgess/atari-vcs-faked-gameplay-footage-as-well-as-showing-a-port-the-creator-knew-nothing-about/

 

ColecoVision Chameleon anybody?

 

This is pretty disgusting by Atari, faking footage to sell a system that doesn't play anything yet.

 

Please don't buy this thing, at this point a Steam Machine would be a better investment.

[Jito463]

Well, this does not bode well for Atari.  I foresee this crashing & burning faster than the Hindenburg.

[Valentyn]

Not long ago they also tried entering the custom desktop marke and that web bad also.

 

At the moment the name is just nostalgia; and they can’t bank on that. Sort the product out; be honest, and release a decent product.

[JoeCoke]

Reviewtechusa gonna have a blast with this one.

[TetraSky]

Can't believe there's even a market for old Atari games.

[Master Disaster]

33 minutes ago, 2Buck said:

Reviewtechusa gonna have a blast with this one.

Yeah, Rich is gonna love this. He's currently live streaming EA Play.

[GoodBytes]

Meh not surprised. I honestly expected quick ports of the games, and another OUYA. Despite the specs and OS, I expect, like the OUYA, and hence the comparison I am mentioning, where the console is not well designed, where the software isn't great and the controller, the main thing for the console, to be really bad (OUYA faced with sticky button issues even after being "fixed" still has issues sticking and not  a good "click" sound, and featured cheap analogue sticks system, low-end parts used basically. In addition, the controller was not not comfortable to hold for many.

[Dabombinable]

Still going to be as terrible a gaming platform as the OUYA (which was somehow worse than my Tegra 3 based 2012 Nexus and Transformer Prime).

[potoooooooo]

You're a lil behind on the news cycle m8.

 

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OK FINALLY WE HAD SOME TALK

Fundamentally, I can assure people that "There will be T4K on VCS" .. that IS GOING TO HAPPEN, it will be there.

Details, does not really matter much, I mean "you'll get what you look for" and that's all that counts

Said that I can also add "glad we are finally there" so worries not, enjoy the VCS, T4K it's going to happen.

I think all that ( again ) came form some "lost in translation" or such things, overall anyway in a way or another we should be there now.

Hopes this will make some people feel more at rest now.

That's the developer of Tempest 4000, in this thread http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=87410&sid=77bcb401b566392dd951a4335128c0eb&start=240

 

This is being blown way out of proportion, think of how many times PS and Xbox games are caught demoing on PCs. A misleading demo doesn't make something a scam. It's a scam if something doesn't live up to promises, and atari still have months until the VCS ships.

[mr moose]

3 minutes ago, potoooooooo said:

A misleading demo doesn't make something a scam. It's a scam if something doesn't live up to promises, and atari still have months until the VCS ships.

I wish more people would keep this in mind, it seems these days the internet is gearing up to lynch anyone and everything for stupid reasons.   Prototype demos are just that prototype demos, they are not and have never been definitive product promises or contracts detailing what you will get, they are to demonstrate the intentions and potential of an as yet unfinished product. 

 

 

[Mooshi]

I have more faith in Microsoft or Blackberry overthrowing Apple in the cellphone market.

[The Benjamins]

4 hours ago, potoooooooo said:

You're a lil behind on the news cycle m8.

 

That's the developer of Tempest 4000, in this thread http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=87410&sid=77bcb401b566392dd951a4335128c0eb&start=240

 

This is being blown way out of proportion, think of how many times PS and Xbox games are caught demoing on PCs. A misleading demo doesn't make something a scam. It's a scam if something doesn't live up to promises, and atari still have months until the VCS ships.

They ship Q1 2019, they have almost a year.

[Derangel]

5 hours ago, potoooooooo said:

You're a lil behind on the news cycle m8.

 

That's the developer of Tempest 4000, in this thread http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=87410&sid=77bcb401b566392dd951a4335128c0eb&start=240

 

This is being blown way out of proportion, think of how many times PS and Xbox games are caught demoing on PCs. A misleading demo doesn't make something a scam. It's a scam if something doesn't live up to promises, and atari still have months until the VCS ships.

It was not a misleading demo. Both their Youtube video AND their Facebook page claimed that the T4k footage was being shown ON the VCS. So, no, Atari outright lied about the footage. Atari going "oh shit" and talking to the developer about it AFTER being publicly called out does not give them retroactive forgiveness. Atari never even talked to Llamasoft before they got caught "misleading" customers.

[Master Disaster]

5 hours ago, potoooooooo said:

You're a lil behind on the news cycle m8.

 

That's the developer of Tempest 4000, in this thread http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=87410&sid=77bcb401b566392dd951a4335128c0eb&start=240

 

This is being blown way out of proportion, think of how many times PS and Xbox games are caught demoing on PCs. A misleading demo doesn't make something a scam. It's a scam if something doesn't live up to promises, and atari still have months until the VCS ships.

No one said it's a scam, they said it's fake.

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fake1/feɪk/
adjective

    not genuine; imitation or counterfeit.

noun

    a thing that is not genuine; a forgery or sham.

verb

    forge or counterfeit (something).

I'd say being caught showing footage of games supposedly running on your system that actually are running on another system entirely matches that description perfectly.

 

The fact Atari got caught faking footage, admitted they faked the footage then talked to the developer about the port doesn't mean they didn't take it.

 

Nothing is being blown out of proportion, they raised over a million dollars based on a video showing 2 games running on the system. We now have absolute proof that both games were faked meaning they're selling the system based on a flat out lie.

[BuckGup]

21 hours ago, huilun02 said:

I said it once and I'll say it again. Atari is just milking a dead cow.

It's not even Atari. Some company just bought the naming and stuff

[Sauron]

22 hours ago, huilun02 said:

I said it once and I'll say it again. Atari is just milking a dead cow.

I'm not sure the cow was ever alive to begin with... retro game enthusiasts have been resorting to emulators for over 20 years now, partly because companies like Atari gave them the middle finger when it came to producing "official" retrocompatible hardware. If there ever was a moment to milk the nostalgia it was in the late 90's, but that bus is obviously long gone.

[potoooooooo]

8 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

No one said it's a scam, they said it's fake.

 

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ATARI VCS Footage is FAKE! SCAM CONFIRMED!

Literally in the OP lol

[Master Disaster]

2 hours ago, potoooooooo said:

Literally in the OP lol

RGT85 likes to embellish his titles, I don't agree with that but at the time his was the only video available on the topic.

[Sniperfox47]

I do want to point out that *nobody* records footage of games being played on a TV because you wind up with all kinds of visual artifacting if you do, from the camera capturing the refresh of the TV. In the vast majority of cases when you see an advertisement with someone playing a game, it's photoshopped in. Just usually they're better about making sure hands and things don't overlap the screen.

 

They also explicitly pointed out that the images of games, other than tempest 4000 were illustrative and not representative of games on the actual console itself, something Nintendo also did with their Switch launch and other console devs have done before too.

 

11 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

No one said it's a scam, they said it's fake.

I'd say being caught showing footage of games supposedly running on your system that actually are running on another system entirely matches that description perfectly.

 

The fact Atari got caught faking footage, admitted they faked the footage then talked to the developer about the port doesn't mean they didn't take it.

 

Nothing is being blown out of proportion, they raised over a million dollars based on a video showing 2 games running on the system. We now have absolute proof that both games were faked meaning they're selling the system based on a flat out lie.

If it's Ubuntu based and x86 based though that means it could very well be shown "played with a modern controller on the VCS" via game streaming via Steam In-Home streaming. There's nothing fake about that. There's no lies there. Misleading? Sure. But not fake or lying.

[Master Disaster]

4 minutes ago, Sniperfox47 said:

I do want to point out that *nobody* records footage of games being played on a TV because you wind up with all kinds of visual artifacting if you do, from the camera capturing the refresh of the TV. In the vast majority of cases when you see an advertisement with someone playing a game, it's photoshopped in. Just usually they're better about making sure hands and things don't overlap the screen.

 

They also explicitly pointed out that the images of games, other than tempest 4000 were illustrative and not representative of games on the actual console itself, something Nintendo also did with their Switch launch and other console devs have done before too.

 

If it's Ubuntu based and x86 based though that means it could very well be shown "played with a modern controller on the VCS" via game streaming via Steam In-Home streaming. There's nothing fake about that. There's no lies there. Misleading? Sure. But not fake or lying.

Atari admitted it was running on a PC under the table, it was faked.

[Sniperfox47]

3 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

Atari admitted it was running on a PC under the table, it was faked.

 

They never said it was running on a PC under the table. And they never said that it was a faked video. They explicitly said it was the *PC version* which could mean WINE or could mean game streaming. But nowhere have they confirmed or denied either of these two possibilities.

 

Note, I'm not saying it's not faked. I'm just saying we have 0 evidence or admission that it was. 

[CTR640]

This smells like Intel stinky tactics for their 28core of bullshit being 5GHz and also Intel with manipulating P4 performance.

What I'm trying to say is: those dumbasses really think they can get away with everything and they keep forgetting one thing: world wide web, aka internet. They simply cannot hide something under table and pretend no one can find out or know it.

[Master Disaster]

12 minutes ago, Sniperfox47 said:

 

They never said it was running on a PC under the table. And they never said that it was a faked video. They explicitly said it was the *PC version* which could mean WINE or could mean game streaming. But nowhere have they confirmed or denied either of these two possibilities.

 

Note, I'm not saying it's not faked. I'm just saying we have 0 evidence or admission that it was. 

And why would they confirm anything?

 

They've been caught faking Yars Revenge footage, it's clear as day. He moves his thumb left and the thing on screen moves right. There's absolutely zero reason why I should trust they were running Tempest on anything other than another system entirely.

 

Infact, imo that thing sitting on the desk is nothing more than a lump of plastic with a few wires shoved into some holes cut in the back. Notice the complete lack of any lights on the system at all?

 

[Sniperfox47]

29 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

And why would they confirm anything?

 

They've been caught faking Yars Revenge footage, it's clear as day. He moves his thumb left and the thing on screen moves right. There's absolutely zero reason why I should trust they were running Tempest on anything other than another system entirely.

 

Infact, imo that thing sitting on the desk is nothing more than a lump of plastic with a few wires shoved into some holes cut in the back. Notice the complete lack of any lights on the system at all?

 

The Yar's Revenge footage was also completely marked as an illustrative example... all of the pictures and videos on the indigogo page where, at least when I looked at the page 4 hours after it launched. When someone early in the campaign asked if it was a confirmed title they even said explicitly that it's an illustrative example of titles that will be on the platform and they cannot confirm any titles at the current time. Which again is what *every* developer does when they launch a new machine. Skyrim for switch wasn't confirmed or even a thing when it was shown as an example title for the Switch at launch. Bethesda specifically went "Uh no... We have no plans to support the Switch at this time."

 

I'm not saying you should believe it. I'm just saying that you presenting it as "It's totally fake! Look they admitted it! Here's proof." is more than a bit disingenuous.

[Lornofteup]

I’d like everyone to know that I am quite interested with the new Atari, and after quite some research on the indiegogo website, the Atari vcs will Be capable of running pc titles, in ataris reply, they said that it was the pc version, and that means that most likely, Atari was not hiding a computer under the table, but Atari was using something that it was capable of, I truly believe that yes, Atari may be doing some wrongs to get their campaign started, but I do not think that they are pulling if any sort of scam, and I do not believe that they are wasting their supporters money.