The Atari Gamestation Go Launches Next Month, Costs $180 - And You Can Pre-Order It Now

the mini console trend was neat but basically any device can throw an emulator up on a TV now. bespoke hardware like mini arcades and handhelds at least to me are much more interesting, especially when you throw unique arcade controls like paddles and trackballs into the mix. with this and that dockable mega drive handheld back to back it really does feel like we're in a golden age of handheld gaming

That thing is pretty slick. I've always wanted to get the paddle attachment for ds, but it's pretty cumbersome. Marble madness with a thumb trackball sounds sweet.

Is MyArcade owned by AtGames? If so, that would explain the Ms. Pac-Man stuff.

Definitely an interesting concept with the pad (for Breakout, Night Driver etc. and, yeah, Circus as well as I quite like that one) and the track ball (for Centipede, Millipede etc) plus the numeric input as well. Could be the ultimate handheld Atari games device. But it all depends on what games it will come with (have access to).

These folk release the cheapest rubbish. Gutted that OutRun will be confined to a mini running MD roms.

Marble madness would be damn amazing on this.

Paddle makes it neat but these retro handhelds just aren't nearly as appealing as they once were, especially when it's so easy to just buy one of the many retro handhelds already on the market that will play anything from Atari to PS2.

I wondered if any Atari consoles ever used X or Y buttons.
Then I forgot that the Jaguar did get a controller with six (proper) buttons, but pretty late I can only imagine few games used it.

Start and Select buttons as well... I don't think any Atari consoles used those labels? Didn't Lynx and Jaguar have "Pause" and "Option" buttons?
(well, I suppose Atari arcade machines would've used a "Start" button)

Wow an actual retro handheld with authentic d-pad, roller, and paddle controls complete with action buttons, bumpers, triggers, and keypad supports. That will make playing Pitfall, Breakout, SEGA Sonic the Hedgehog Arcade, Smash TV, Doom, and Ikari Warriors quite natural. Now if only Atari could get those games on there.

@KingMike I think only a few of the fighting games for Jaguar used it, Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls is probably one of them since that game used the 6-button setup similar to Eternal Champions, Samurai Shodown, and Killer Instinct, four fighting games that are not made by Capcom but used Street Fighter's 6-button setup anyways.

I'm guessing this is why Blaze Evercade lost the Atari licence. 🤔

I feel like Atari is putting the cart before the horse here. They’re revealing and launching way too many hardware products when anything and everything under the sun (including a plethora of their own licensed products) can and does play basically the entire Atari library of games already.

What Atari needs to focus on right now is polishing their brand after it’s been passed around like a… well, best not to say. That comes in the way of putting their heads down and really focusing on delivering solid, polished SOFTWARE experiences to build up a fan base first. These aren’t the 80s when there’s little competition in the console space anymore. You need to do more than make a shiny video about some new retro handheld.

I mean do we really need 3 new ways to play Pac-Man?

It really feels like they’re trying to flood the market with Atari products, and we all know what happened the last time Atari flooded the market.

@breach187 This is for the Christmas market, specifically the "what do we get dad/uncle bob/other unspecified male relative of a certain age" Christmas market. They'll sell pretty well, I'm sure.

Gamestation is such a generic name.
Cannot hear it and not think of the King of the Hill episode. Will Atari offer us the best price they can?

If it can get a RetroArch based custom rom working as well as say the myoo mini and the build quality is good I might get one.

I am more interested in the later Atari/Midway stuff. I wonder how big this iteration of Atari would need to be in order to get WB to license that stuff.

I'd buy that paddle/spinner controller pad if it works with Windows/Linux and use it for Tempest 2000 and the other paddle/spinner games. If they sell it seperately i predict it will sell out in a week. I already have a retro linux handheld these things are low priced Linux based mini pc's. If you buy the right one, you can get a well built handheld with every game from atari up to psp/dreamcast/ps1/n64 era and spend about 60 bucks including shipping (plus the time it takes to put the roms on the sd cards..). Thats like getting 100,000 games for less than what it costs to fill your gas tank up. i dont think Atari's handheld is for people like me but more for the casual gamer or a great Christmas present for you dad, grandad etc.. who loves Atari. After all these years and changing hands Atari is finally giving people what they want.

@Zybex242 I am suddenly extremely hoping they sell the paddle controller separately for Tempest 2000!

pre-orders are live - https://atari.com/products/atari-gamestation-go

I do like the control options on this thing, but as stated before, every emulation handheld out there can play Atari 2600 games. I'm not even sure how these things make a profit for any company. There must be over a thousand different devices out there now with 10 new ones coming out daily it seems like.

As for the idea of a separate paddle game pad with the roller ball as well, I'd buy that.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant “ (is it super goofy and ugly or is it just me? 🤔)”

I wouldn’t say you were goofy…. but yeah it reminds me of the West Germany football kit and I’ll never be able to unsee that.

@nparkhouse thank you. Now I'll wait and see if they ship stuff to Costco early, and then delay shipping out pre-orders. That's been my experience in the past. I never learn. Pre-ordered and can't wait... but well...

@The_Nintendo_Pedant Its plenty ugly. Probably going to cramp my hands playing it... or like these other things, I order it get it way later than promised, play it about 20 minutes (you know scratch that itch). Carefully put it back in the box and never think about it ever again. Sound about right. I've got so many of these things packed up or never opened. Good stuff.

@breach187 Yes I need more ways to play Pac-Man. Especially if they are ever so slightly different... that's the best.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant I dunno, I kinda like the style, it's refreshing to see a solid variety of colors on a console that aren't black, white and a miniscule amount of a primary color.

I kinda want this for what it is. But, I can tell just looking at the photos that it's not ergonomic at all. I prob couldn't play on it for more than 30-45min before I'd need to take a break. But, then again, for these games, that's how you're supposed to do it. Pick-up-and play for a bit and then put it back down. Price isn't unreasonable either. If they're still around close to Christmas, this might end up on the list. But, the controls better work well so best to wait a bit anyways.