Update [Thu 16th May, 2024 13:10 BST]: An Atari representative has responded to reports that two titles in its $1000 50th-anniversary box set are defective.
The posts on Atari Age read as follows:
We have two reported instances of a Haunted House cartridge not working. We cannot confirm why these two carts did not work, it could have been an assembly issue (the XP carts are all hand assembled) or a faulty PCB. Contrary to some speculation, the PCBs were not installed backwards (not really possible on the Limited Edition carts). So this does not seem to be a wide-spread problem. One customer had their cartridge replaced, and we are in contact with the remaining affected customer and will sort this out. That said, it has taken too long for us to resolve that last issue so we deserve some criticism for that.
I do suspect that there might be a larger issue with the Crystal Castles cartridges. The nature of the reports we are getting suggests that a larger number of those carts may indeed have a problem. The code is fine (we double-checked the ROM), but the game is behaving erratically for some users. We haven't been able to isolate the issue to our satisfaction yet, but we have a working theory and we expect a more concrete answer soon. Once we know what we are dealing with we will figure out next steps.
The article and some of the videos that have been posted on this topic have an expected mix of accurate and inaccurate information. Our customer service team has replaced non-working cartridges (not many frankly). Unfortunately that wasn't a useful solution for some people with wonky Crystal Castles cartridges. When we ran out of stock they offered refunds. But we understand that collectors would prefer to hold onto their special editions, especially when it means keeping a complete set together, so a refund isn't a great resolution. We are continuing to work towards a better solution.
Original Story [Sat 11th May, 2024 20:00 BST]: Back in 2023, Atari released a 50th-anniversary box set which cost $1000 and included 10 Atari VCS / 2600 carts: Adventure, Missile Command, Warlords, Super Breakout, Crystal Castles, Haunted House, Yars’ Revenge, Centipede, Asteroids and Gravitar.
As you can imagine, with a pack with that kind of value, many people who picked it up decided to keep it sealed and place it on the shelf – but those who decided to open it up and actually play the games were in for a nasty surprise.
According to Scot 'Cear Dragon' Clark, the copy of Crystal Castles which ships with the collection is "totally bug-ridden and unplayable", while some copies of Haunted House have the PCB installed backwards – an issue which previously happened with some of Atari's other stand-alone XP releases.
"This is insane," adds Clark. "A collection costing over $1000 shipped with 1 to 2 broken games. Worse still, Atari's official statement via customer support is that fans can never have working carts, and to get their money back, have to ship back the two middle boxes for an incomplete collection."
He adds that Atari's response to this issue has been poor, to say the least. "No one seems to care. Atari's CEO is deaf on Twitter, customer support has taken almost a year just to tell us they will never ship working cartridges."
Another Twitter user adds: "The whole XP cartridge thing has been extremely frustrating. Waiting up to a year after payment for the finished product (it took OVER ONE YEAR for me to receive Adventure) and 2 defective games that will never be fixed… seems more like an amateurish Kickstarter campaign."
Comments 13
Never fully trust anyone!!!
That is the kind of practice that can and should get them sued but won't because it's not going to be a big enough nature for a lawyer to care.
But what do you expect when the CEO was clueless enough to encourage people to play Pac-Man on that new VCS without Bandai-Namco authorization?
Silly rabbits! Expensive collectibles are for hoarding, not for enjoying!
@UK_Kev Indeed, this company that carries the Atari trademark has absolutely nothing to do with the original company. Its there to milk the brand for the last little bit of value it has left it in... and they are doing a damn good job of destroying the little bit of positive name recognition that was left.
I dont know why but most of the companies in this space like Limited Run Games for example, are just all horrible companies. They try to cash in on nostalgia and always do it in the worst ways possible. Its very sad.
Well somebody definitely got kicked.
That's some major BS, but also it's kind of what you get for buying collector garbage.
Don't buy Atari's physical releases. Got it.
the most ironic part is that the atari is probably the cheapest console to collect for. if your local game shop doesn't have 2600 games for sale, yes it does- you're just gonna have to look under a shelf in the corner to find a milk crate covered in dust. lower yourself to the ground with your knees, not your back. it'll have a post-it note with a 3 for 2 buck or something bargain on it. there are gonna be a few colecovision games mixed in and the cartridges look very similar so make sure you read the label! it might be the only console where a flash cart and sailing the high seas is less economical than getting original cartridges. but sure, i'll buy a ten-pack at a hundred bucks a pop
The problem with Atari anymore is that they're just an IP holding company. Everything is licensed out willy nilly, and they obviously don't care if the licensees do a good job or not.
All this new Atari has done is burn the goodwill of their superfans. They could have purchase those games for $5 - $10 each (or less) on eBay, but instead paid $1000. Atari should be overnighting them replacements and including a copy of E.T. The video game dug out of the landfill as an apology.
Nu/zombie Atari considering the proud Atari tradition of being a dumpster fire then.
@KingMike What on earth do you mean "the Atari 2600+ isn't allowed to play Pac-Man"?!?!
@KingMike If they own the PAC-Man VCS cart, why would Bandi-Namco (or Namco-Bandi, can’t keep track of their swapping) care? Granted it is a piece of crap version of the game, and while there are much better homebrew versions my understanding is they don’t work well with the 2600+.
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