The Atari Gamestation Pro is a shining example of why mini retro consoles are literally rubbish

[Redaktion]

Not to miss the cash train, many original manufacturers have released "mini" consoles, including Sega, Nintendo, Commodore and Atari. However, of all the retro consoles, the latest Atari Gamestation Pro is a short lived nostalgia trip at best and e-waste destined for landfill at worst.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-Atari-Gamestation-Pro-is-a-shining-example-of-why-mini-retro-consoles-are-literally-rubbish.827700.0.html

[Bizarro_NikoB]

Good think I have terabytes of MAME and retro console roms and iso files collected over the past 20 years that I can play at my whim before retro gaming went mainstream!

 

[dadukium]

I'm not against 'mini replicas' per se but I agree, this one appears to be a strange thing. My main critic point is that it misses many famous 2600 games (looks like most if not all of the Activision games are missing)
For me, if games like Beamrider, Enduro, H.E.R.O. and Robot Tank are missing, then it's a show stopper.
Even the list of 7800 games is more than poor.
What has caught my attention is the list of Pico games, this adds indeed some value to the console.
The 2.4 GHz controllers are nice too, no lacky Bluetooth sticks. And yes, sticks were popular and most of the games were made for joysticks, so I'm fine with this controller choice.

[Joe]

I mean, my 11 year old was able to quickly compile a microSD with just about every 2600, 7800, and NES game ever made, as well as some choice arcade games, and play all of them on this thing, but when your intent in writing an opinion piece is to just dump on everything and be an edgelord, you're probably not going to do much actual research. Kinda pitiful that you can't match the technical level of an 11 year old, but tout yourself as some OG rooting guru.

Take, for example, the joystick. It has (hope you're sitting down) THREE GAMEPLAY BUTTONS!! NOT JUST ONE! OMG!!...

It's like you're some troll who never even touched the product you're crying about... How tf I stumbled across this tripe is beyond me, guarantee I won't make this mistake again.

[AtariApologist]

Did you even test the Gamestation Pro?
The Nintendo and Sega minis have held or exceeded their value.
As another commenter said, it has 3 buttons (and a built in paddle).
The Atari GS Pro does not come with Pitfall!...the only Activision game is Boxing.
You can use XBox or PS controllers (albeit plugged in).
You can also load game roms from multiple systems on an SD card.
Also, you wanna talk about landfill material?  My local retro game store is loaded floor to ceiling with unwanted copies of PS3 and XBox 360 discs...
I guess no one wants to play those consoles in 2024.
Meanwhile, Atari is experiencing a great revival...even loose carts for the 2600 are increasing in value!

[SmarterThanYou]

Nearly (if not every) mini console has been hacked and able to play more games than they shipped with, and the Gamestation Pro is no different. People have had good success adding 7800, NES, Genesis, SNES, PCE, Master System, and some MAME arcade games.

Relax, magazine writer, and take a look around.

[Samsquanch]

The "point" is fun. An instant plug and play, hdmi ready system that anyone can pick up and get in to. It's far from perfect and we all know it. This article is a shining example of someone with little appreciation for the 2600 and the joy it brings people my age (30) as well as my dads generation (55+).

[Steve172]

Gez. Hope the author doesn't see the 2600+. From this articles prospective it's a way worse value proposition, given it costs more and ships with zero games. But I think it's fantastic for someone with a bunch of 2600 and 7800 games and controllers and either a broken console, or you don't want to risk the breaking og hardware.

[Funkball]

It's an opinion piece, not a review...I get that. I still think it would have been helpful to also discuss the features  rather than just opine on the games. How's the interface? How are the quality of life improvements? Any extras that make it worth considering over finding an original (and figuring out how to hook it up to modern tvs)?

The system is expandable. That would have been a good discussion point. You already mentioned batocera, so if you're playing in that arena, might as well discuss. While it would have been better to include the best of the best Atari games, it can be remedied to some extent.

The controller has multiple buttons and includes a spinner/paddle knob. Many who played the original 2600, like I did, might appreciate a callback to the original joystick and paddles. I certainly recall wanting a better joystick back then. Is this one better? And if you want a more reminiscent experience, wouldn't a joystick be more time period accurate?

Just seems like this opinion piece went hard disparaging the simplicity of the nostalgic games while ignoring other important value proposition discussion points.

[Jay7777777]

I'm going to swim against the current and applaud the author of this "review" for being honest. There are plenty of reviews that give the details of the system, functionality, features, playability, etc., but none are this brutally honest. Retro is cool, but the nostalgia quickly wears off and is replaced by the realization that these games were good for their time, but boy have times changed.

I have built Retro systems for people based on the Raspberry Pi that played everything from 2600 to PS1 and they were very excited and amazed to be able to play the games of their childhood on a modern TV with wireless controllers, but virtually every one of those systems ended up on a shelf never to be touched again in less than a month.

I could definitely see a mini system that has a limited selection of games for one of the weakest consoles ever made ending up as clutter and eventually E-waste. The 2600 was fun adjacent in the late 70s and early 80s, but I still remember what a godsend the NES was by comparison and even that feels very limited and antiquated compared to modern gaming systems.

[SATAN CORP.]

Take the black dildo out of your a**, it's $100 of genius workmanship!

IT'S THE LAW THAT WE GET THE LATEST NEW GENERATION OF ATARI POSSIBLE WITHIN 7 YEARS AS A 7 YEAR PEACE COVENANT.