One time video game giant Atari may be plotting a return to making consoles with something called the Ataribox. This has emerged with a website teasing it along with the description of being “a brand new Atari product years in the making”. The Ataribox teaser shows off fake woodgrain and black plastic, hallmarks of its classic consoles.
And if you were thinking the Ataribox to be a hoax, it’s not. The company has confirmed to The Verge that it indeed is real. Though its not stating when you can expect it.
“But a representative for Atari confirmed to The Verge that the Ataribox is real. However, an announcement isn’t planned just yet, so it sounds like the product won’t be unveiled at E3 this week, despite the timing of this teaser video,” writes The Verge’s Jacob Kastrenakes before claiming that Atari itself is involved in the Ataribox’s creation one and above just the use of the Atari brand.
In recent years, Atari has licensed its name to other companies resulting in the likes of the Atari Gameband Smartwatch or simply publishing games based on its IPs such as Roller Coaster Tycoon. Neither endeavour has been met with much success.
In its latest avatar, we've seen Atari release a few games based on franchises it still owns, most notably Alone in the Dark: Illumination and Asteroids: Outpost. Both were met with largely negative reviews for their derivative nature making us skeptical of what to expect with the Ataribox.
We discussed everything we expect from E3 2017 on our weekly gaming podcast Transition. You can subscribe to it via Apple Podcasts or RSS or just listen to this episode by hitting the play button below.
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