@legendsflashback Most Atgames products acctually give you the option to bring your own games, so you dont have to hack most of em. Just gotta add roms yourself.
@@bigbabatunde1218I’d be too in this case, basically AtGames bought out seven of the original share holders (GCC?) who only held royalty rights, and tried to use those royalty rights as creative license/ distribution rights, which rightfully belong to NBEA. But the judge awarded all rights to AtGames. I feel like this was sparked by how AtGames had garnered a fairly negative rep for lying to its consumers, and repeatedly offering lackluster consoles, and NBEA saw this as coming back to reflect on them by proxy, so they chose to try to stop it. Which a company their size could easy shake such a thing off if it were really only about optics tbh. Could be wrong.
@@jbasher94 I heard something about AtGames collecting outstanding debts for Ms Pac Man, so ended up owning the rights. Doesn't make any sense if that's true. Just goes to show that in US court cases, money talks regardless of who's right or who owns what. See Trip Hawkins and EA and how they won their battle with Sega when they reverse engineered the Mega Drive to forcibly cut Sega out of their own console's cartridge manufacturing strategy.
Yeah, they'd planned to include a cartridge port but they ended up pulling the feature last minute to lower production costs. But the inner circuit board still has the pinout for where a cartridge slot would go - you just gotta solder one in and cut a hole in the case so games can go in. lmfao
This Flashback is a product of the old AtGames. You should see the incredible pinball and game cabinets they produce now. They have a new 4k line now too as well. It's been a sea change in the mindset, creativity and execution over there.
I've heard good things about the AtGames legends pinball machine and arcade cabinets, haven't tried them. I wish I reflected on these when I made this video
Even if that's true, I'd not trust AtGames nor support them based on their arrogant, shady business, and cheapskate methods. They went through so many Sega Genesis consoles and did a horrible job... Disgraceful.
@@PhilipMarcYT Admittedly, the Genesis consoles were not up to snuff, but that's the same timeframe roughly. Look at the new Flashback 50 Gold. It's a very solid setup that you can add games to via OTG and the firmware allows you to do this. Like I said, a different company now.
This company deserves to go outright bankrupt. They also have a history of abusing their employees and having a poor work environment, according to reviews of their HQ by former staff on glassdoor. The hate is MORE than well deserved.
AtGames had nothing to do with the Atari Flashback and Atari Flashback 2, which means they don’t deserve the credit for the only two that were worth anything. AtGames only took over with the Flashback 3, which was the first emulation version. So, yeah: AtGames’ Atari Flashback products were emulation from the very start.
AtGames really wound up a lot of the retro community by going on a huge blocking spree on twitter too. Any criticism of them there lead to a block. But atm, the last (and possibly final) official ms pac man product is the numskull ms pac man quarter arcade.
AtGames did not make the Atari Flashback 1 or 2 devices. AFB 3-7 were okay plug-and-play emulation-based units with composite video. The AFB 8 was first to feature HDMI and had some decent RF wireless controllers. AFB 9 also had wireless controllers, hdmi and added an SD card, uses the Stella emulator but paddles did not work correctly. The last 2 iterations, AFB X and AFB 50th Anniversary edition, are very similar but with updated aesthetics. They also use Stella 3.9 and have HDMI, but no more wireless controllers or SD cards. Paddles work, but not wonderfully. The last three or four models especially are generally pretty nice to get your 2600 fix without a lot of fuss.
I was specifically coming here to say this. The first two Atari Flashback consoles were done by Atari with the help of Legacy Engineering. Legacy Engineering even came up with the Atari 2600-on-a-chip used for the Flashback 2/2+. Additionally, the Atari Flashback 2/2+ is intentionally designed to where you can mod in a cartridge slot. You have to provide your own cartridge slot but inside the console. There's a silkscreen diagram of how to wire in the cartridge slot. Also a fun fact, the Atari flashback 2 actually was illegally cloned at one point. In the late 2000s, Kroger was selling some Atari Flashback 2s. Which was a surprise to the person who ran Legacy Engineering. Because Atari never reached out to him to do another run of Atari 2600-on-a-chips at that time. Atari and Legacy Engineering ended up suing Kroger over the sales of illegal clones.
This was a very shallow representation of AtGames. They have released MANY more products and there have been many more controversies, examples of misleading advertising, corner cutting, poor performance, and solid products alike. Their issues with securing licensing continue to this day. Take a look at their AtGames Legends quarterly announcement videos... Comments are turned off because they hate receiving honest criticism about their cheap and often times crappy decisions and products. And that's coming from someone who loves one of their little SMS/GameGear handhelds as well as a modified AtGames Legends Pinball machine.
Namco still owns the publishing rights, and At@ames owns the copyright. So At@ames can't make a penny of their license until Namco decides to publish a Ms.Pac-Man game or toy. And Namco has no intention of ever doing so.
Does AtGames also own the rights to Ms. Pac-Man's game design, levels and code? If yes, then Namco couldn't publish Ms Pac-Man with Ms. Pac-Man herself replaced
Considering the flood of illegal Android boxes coming out of Amazon, and the fact that this story is a few years old already, AtGames has more than made up for this early mistake with their arcade cabinets.
hate to tell you man but its not illegal if the emulator isnt using the same source code as the console,I while back there was a website letting you download all the AAA games and I looked at the DMCA(Digital Management Copyright Act) and they are letting you download the games that arent updated and not the ones being sold on steam etc so for instance if steam is selling a v 1.05 and they have v 1.04 on the site its legal to download...looked around a little more and saw the ROMs and it said its been deemed legal for "testing purposes" as long as the emulator isnt using the same source code.If you look into those companies websites they strictly say they are selling you the work they put into those little boxes and not the roms because it is illegal to download roms and sell them as roms.I know its a gray area but you cant be taken to court over it.its still illegal to download music and movies though lol I looked that up as well
It really does make you wonder about Sega and Namco systems…considering the unlicensed emulation consoles were able to emulate genesis games nearly perfectly at the time….and given the age of the Namco arcade games emulation of the arcade games should have been easy. (Never mind the fact that most of them ran on the same hardware in the arcades.)
to be fair, genesis emulation is hard to get the sound right, you would need to do a little more than slaping an open source emulator on a single board computer,
For all they kind of sucked at and mistakes they made in the past, the At Game Ultimate Arcade is awesome. Probably the bets Mulli-cade for under $500 and easily mudded to play every arcade game imaginable.
Would be interesting to check out their later products. I have read that they have got their act together the last 3-4 years and the emulation they are using are all around better the reputation suggest. Think they even hired some noteworthy guy from the retro game scene at some point.
they now sell virtual pinball machines and mame arcades... they are probably the best priced ones out there and quality is more than fitting the price. all you have to do is search for atgames and you can see what they do now.
I find it real odd how you summarize the video at the end, we just watched it so why do we need that. I did buy an At games sega and it was crap, being officially licensed I thought there would be some quality control.
they now sell virtual pinball machines and mame arcades... they are probably the best priced ones out there and quality is more than fitting the price. all you have to do is search for atgames and you can see what they do now.
AtGames had nothing to do with the Flashback 1, the Flashback 2, the Flashback 2+. There were designed by the legendary (and late) Curt Vendel of Legacy Engineering on the behalf of ATARI Interactive, Inc. in New York City (Curt was NY state based as well). The Flashback 2 went through a few revisions including one that fixed the missing speech in QUADRUN. Both the Flashback 2 and the Flashback 2+ recreate the 2600 via an ASIC specifically designed by Curt Vendel (with assist from others). At Games, Inc. took over with the Flashback 3. Most ATARI collectors stick to the Flashback 2/2+ and even, in a surprising fashion, to the Flashback 1 (despite being a NES on a chip) because of the 7800 inspired case.
You didn't mention (or know?) That ATgames is actually a console publisher/developer too. Thier Atari flashback collection (including games from all 3 collections) were released on Vita, ps4, switch.
I had been working a 2nd part time job for a few years for Dollar General around the time AT@Games released the awful mini Genesis console with the cart port, and wireless IR controllers, and corporate had us trying to push those like crazy over the Christmas season, and we could not keep them in stock, but yep right after Christmas about 80% of what we had sold was returned to my store with pissed off customers, as 1/2 the advertised games on the thing where not even original SEGA Genesis games, but weird no name filler titles made in some Chinese sweatshop with sloppy QC, not mention the other issues, so for that alone AT@Games gets all the hate they deserve along with the whole Namco Pacman, and Ms. Pacman debacle. So I say 🖕'm!!!
How in the world do you make an "objective" video about Atgames showing only products that were released in 2018 or earlier? Yeah, the earlier stuff was hit and miss, and some of it was absolute garbage. But the Legends series is top-notch and there is a very dedicated AtGames community. I own several of the older AtGames offerings (usually picked up on after Christmas sales) and rarely plug them in. But my Atgames Legends Ultimate arcade and Legends Ultimate Pinball are fantastic machines. I was skeptical due to their reputation back in the early 2010s, but the past 5 years have been a different story. You seem to have purposely left off right at the last "bad" product they made and pretended they haven't turned things around.
Having bought an AtGame Legends Pinball and Legends Ultimate, I can attest to both arrogance/ignorance of their sales and tech crews. Sending me wrong parts and getting an attitude about it pretty much sealed it for me.
I've heard some stuff about their crappy work with Sega plug'n'plays, but somehow I missed that big of a story with Bandai Namco.. thanks for the enlightening!
Your right about the plug and plays but people don’t hate them no more, they released amazing products after that. They released legends ultimate, legends pinball, legends pinball mini, legends mini which are all amazing machines
Great video! I wish you’d included some of the audio from the AtGames Genesis just so people could understand how crazy bad it is. It may actually sound worse than the Sega Smash Pack emulator on Dreamcast.
@@legendsflashback...yes some call it hacking...but it's just adding games to a folder you create on the SD card...ATGames knew what they were allowing the community to do unofficially...play every MegaDrive game in Europe and every Genesis game in north America...mine says MegaDrive but the software is Genesis...if i kept it standard MD i could only play the built in games and the cartridges...instead i have the lot...when the mini came out around the same time...there was no point to buy it...the ATGames does the same and cartridges...i'm fine with the sound
@@legendsflashback i suppose it is hacking..the community had to update the firmware for us by rewriting it to unlock the SD card option which was greyed out if i recall..then we wrote the new firmware to the onboard chip..i can't remember where i downloaded it from..whoever did it i'm grateful..if only i could figure out how to grab Boxart for all the ROMs..that's my weakness with all emulation..
I find the court cases around Ms. Pac-Man pretty interesting. Like, how can courts not award BNEI the rights to their own product? I know Namco didn't create Ms. Pac-Man, but it's obviously based off their property, created off their license of Pac-Man to Midway who then sub-licensed to GCC. From how I understand it, by all accounts, BNEI should own Ms. Pac-Man outright! Then again, the courts who decided BNEI doesn't own their own characters are the same ones who decided SEGA doesn't own their own characters and allow one man to destroy an entire series! (Two if you count Sonic Chronicles!)
US courts have history making unbelievable decisions on some cases. Just look at the Fighters History rip off of Street Fighter 2 case and how EA reverse engineered the Mega Drive to cut Sega out of cart production for games to be released on their own system. Two cases where the courts favoured the copyright infringing wrong doers. The US court system is an unregulated mystery.
If I hear M2 products, my $$$ goes to them. Genesis minis Castlevania collection Contra collection Castlevania advance collection Mega Man, X and battle network collection Darius collection More... If I hear Atgames, trashcan.
3:59 AtGames also re-released the SD version of the Sega Genesis Classic Game Console with an addition of stereo sound, instead of mono. Despite it being a stereo console, the audio still wasn't fixed.
Some Russian Sega bootleg consoles that were made in China in the early 2000's ran on the same FireCore software that was in the AtGames Genesis classic. I have the Atgames version and the sound emulation is horrible. It also gets extremely hot when playing certain cartridges. (Street Fighter 2 for sure) It was the first time I've ever burned myself while removing a cart from a system. 😂🔥
I imported the Activision Flashback Blast as a present for my sister; it has that exact same genesis type controller and works really well. She was particularly impressed with the rewind feature.
My problem with AtGames is with the Atari Flashback Gold paddles. Impossible to play Kaboom! as it was on the OG 2600. There has been a recent firmware update, but still has some work left. The paddles have potentiometers so there continues to be an issue the the emulator interpretations.
You talk about the Atari atgames flashbacks But you showed the Atari flashback 2 The Atari flashback 2 was not from atgames but an actual recreation of the h/w in the original 2600. In fact you can mod it with a cartridge and play original games on it You have to make sure if you're going to show and talk about these things. You're using the right footage for the item being displayed Also the Atari flashback 1 was also not from At-games The series began in November 2004, with the release of the original Atari Flashback, designed by Legacy Engineering Group. It features 20 games, including 15 that were originally released for the Atari 2600 and five that were released for the Atari 7800. The Flashback was designed to resemble a smaller version of the 7800. Each subsequent home console in the series is modeled after the 2600, and the original Flashback is the only one that includes games from the 7800 library. The Atari Flashback 2 was released in 2005, and includes 40 built-in games. The Flashback 3 was released in 2011, and was the first in the series to be manufactured by AtGames
AtGames had nothing to do with the original Atari Flashback and Atari Flashback 2. Those were made by Legacy Engineering. AtGames involvement didn't start until the Flashback 3.
You're going to have to do a correction video. AT Games did not manufacturer the Atari Flashback and Atari Flashback 2. Legacy Engineering Group developed and manufactured the first two units. AT Games acquired the right to them and started manufacturing the Flashback series on their own starting with the Atari Flashback 3. So I'm afraid you got some of your information very, very wrong.
Looking at their product evolution up to the Namco Debacle, it sounds like some transition in management control occurred midway. My guess is a new CEO with shady business practices.
Thanks POJR. AtGames is capable of making good products, but that one little screw-up with the Namco handheld forever tarnished their reputation. Had I been the judge is the case of Namco vs. GCC, I would have given Namco complete rights to Ms. PAC-MAN and told GCC to go screw themselves.
AtGames deserved every ounce of hate, think of it this way; with the Arcade machine pitch to Namco, the “suped up” console they gave/sold the YT reviewer, and the Atari Flashback console, they clearly showed that they have talented, skilled devs working for them. This is their two sins in that regard; 1.) They were cheapskates, selling handhelds that didn’t even emulate Genesis/ Mega Deive properly, and I don’t mean 25FPS in some titles, I mean horrible sound emulation, input lag, and many many dropped frames. Plus, with the arcade lie, they didn’t want to put in the budget, or effort into delivering on promises they made. 2.) Since they were cheapskates, they made these otherwise talented devs work on dumping NES roms on a NES on a chip. If they’re willing to lie to customers, and skimp, they most likely micromanaged their team to death, and underpaid them for it. So yes, AtGames, the corporation and its upper brass deserves all the hate they get imo. Decent video, I can tell you just need more experience, specifically in how to making a closing segment, as not to be harsh but that was the weakest point of it, it lasted no longer than a minute, and didn’t end on a conclusive note. Subbed!
How the Hel did AtGames wind up winning royalties from Ms. Pacman?!? I don't know copyright laws well but AtGames didn't even exist when Ms. Pacman was made.
They definitely redeemed themselves with the legends ultimate, legends ultimate mini & the legends pinball! I have all 3 and they are beyond fantastic!!!!
I feel a compulsion to offer some counterpoint- at games did do some things that were really important, including proving the business model that compilation systems can be commercially successful and including a working cartridge port on their genesis(not needed to sell compilation system, but a welcome addition to newcomers to the system). A lot of the mini consoles, no doubt, took lessons from what did and didn’t work from atgames releases. At games also has a pretty incredible product with their legends pinball ecosystem… arguably, besting arcade 1up. I’m not a fanboy, but I think they are a company that at least deserves partial credit for what they’ve done
I love your videos and watch them regularly. One technical suggestion/question it seems like the mic setup for your intros is either different or maybe you’re processing the audio differently than the rest of the narration? The majority of the video sounds great but the intros have a bit of an unnerving or ASMR thing going on where you hear all the tiny movements of your mouth. I can literally hear you smile. Ha. Maybe a different mic setup could fix that? I’m not a sound technician but I’m guessing there must be an easy solution since the rest of your videos don’t have the same problem as the intros.
You state that AtGames utilized emulation on their later Genesis model because they couldn't handle hardware. ? To correct you the original AtGames Genesis is also emulation. It's an old emulator called Firecore. Known for its bad sound. Their later Genesis system used better sound emulation. But they've always been using emulators, never hardware. From what I've known. Thx. But please correct me if I'm wrong!
This video would have made sense before 2020 but they have been making arcade and pinball machines that are some of the best out there for the price level.
Easy to be "the best" when there is effectively no competition in their price range. If we're being honest here, the ALP and most of AtGames' arcade cabs are cheap pieces of you know what. The ALP doesn't perform anywhere near as well as a proper VPIN. Granted, it's about a quarter the price, but you get what you pay for. It's still janky af. And that's coming from someone with a heavily modified and upgraded ALP who regularly uses it for OTG VPX.
What are you talking about? They are the same price point as anything coming out of Arcade1UP and absolutely blow all that away. Seriously, are you on heavy drugs? Do you think AtGames and Arcade1Up are the same? "Most of Atgames arcade cabs..." MOST"??? There are TWO - the Legends and the Legends mini. Even if you want to say that 1 is good and 1 is bad, that's still HALF. It's statistically impossible to get "Most" from a total of 2. Come on man, you're reinforcing drummer stereotypes 🙂@@Tamarocker88
I knew about GCC owning the rights to Ms Pac Man and Pac Jr but I didn't know about the controversy with AtGames or that being a catalyst that reignited the conversation. I wonder if AtGames legitimately has a deal with GCC or if GCC is being held hostage contractually with AtGames? If it's the latter, then couldn't GCC take AtGames to court for fraudulently entering into contract with them under false pretenses? The whole replacement of Ms Pac Man with Pac Mom just doesn't sit well with me and feels weird as hell especially since she's been part of the whole Pac Man lore now for 40 years. It would be like if something happened with Minnie Mouse where Disney replaces her with Lindsey Mouse who wears a checkerboard dress instead of polka-dots lol 😂
Hi POJR, Thanks for the video! I had heard of AtGames and their poor sound emulation in the past, so I've always avoided them. Thanks for the summary about Ms. Pacman too, that is so weird about the copyright situation. I know this is off topic, but I was wondering, do you intend to do a video on the Atari 2600+? I really enjoyed some of your videos on Atari compilation games for other consoles, so I was curious if you would do a video on the 2600+. You were the first person that came to my mind when I heard about it a couple weeks ago. Thanks, and keep up the nice work!
I need to address this. We know the chips or emulation weren’t good on the AtGames Genesis consoles. However, I still need to say this. In 2018 (probably when the Sega’s own Genesis Mini was in development) AtGames revised their HDMI flashback. THIS WAS THE ONE YOU NEEDED! Fixed the emulation, I’ve even heard it’s on par with the Genesis Mini, PLUS 2 wireless 6 button controllers. Best part!, SD card slot for Roms!!! Every official Genesis game rom works and most unofficial games too
That's the mythical one that no one can get a hold of now, so everyone else just has to take the word of those who do have it as being better. Probably is though as the frame rate issues on their first HD model made some games, including Sonic 1 and 2 unplayable due to the levels of on screen jerkiness, a jerkiness that wasn't even there on the older wired controller models. Plenty of other games did play well on the original HD release though such as Kid Chameleon, Eswat and Baku Baku Animal.
@@bigbabatunde1218the revised one, the one I have, the sd card feature was also implemented for software updates, though was only the one for enabling accessing the Roms. Wouldn’t play them until that update. I noticed a slight lag in sound, by like a couple frames, maybe even less. But I do noticed when playing Sonic. You’ll pick up a ring THEN you hear the “chime” is slightly delayed. This is FAR from being a problem. And I am aware at how small the window was to get the console in the first place. I got mine as the Sega model was out.
@@Metal-Josh Some units pop up on eBay but deemed to be too risky buying that way as there's a whole bunch of the previous HD models out there and some sellers may have the updated version's photo up when it's not that model they're selling. Be very hard to argue that it's not what was purchased when the two models are almost identical in small uploaded snaps and descriptions. Maybe one day I'll pursue it but as of now I have a load of other retro gear to get through.
I remember as a kid owning a Sega Genesis plug and play made by At games and loving it, dispite it being garbage with audio issues and a really bad UI.
I have a PAP Gameta II Plus, which is a handheld which looks like the PSP. It plays 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit GBA titles as well as arcade titles; it also has audio recording, a camera, a TF-CARD slot, and TV in/out. It even has E-Book support. Okay, okay: it is Chinaware, but it is kinda neat. I have a couple complaints about it, however, the first being that the buttons are too closely placed and are kinda loose. The second is that some of the games (like Golden Sun, which I really like) run slow. Still, it has everything but the kitchen sink and is kinda neat. I also have a ZX Spectrum Vega, which isn't that great because it doesn't have a full keyboard, but the games are fun.
I have the later version of the Megadrive (Genesis) flashback, the one with the SD card slot. So I can still use original cartridges and now I can add tons of games via SD card too. For £80 I think it's pretty good.
I have really been appreciating your content. Walks the line between being actually informative & stimulating but still easy to digest quite well. Keep it up, please don't drop the quality to appease the need to make more content.
If you don't know, the Atari Flashbacks from AtGames, like the Genesis Classic Game Console, had incorrect sound emulation, which would be fixed on the newer Atari Flashbacks. But I wonder if anyone didn't mind the Atari Flashback's sound emulation issues, unlike the Genesis Classic Game Console from AtGames?
Honestly, AtGames getting the rights to "Ms. Pac-Man" seems like their attempt to get back at NAMCO for the shady false advertising on the Arcade Blast plug-and-play. They deserve all the hate and them obtaining ownership of "Ms. Pac-Man" seems very unfair. I just hope one day NAMCO will obtain FULL ownership of "Ms. Pac-Man", maybe when AtGames goes out of business.
Just picked up the 2019 Atgames Flashback Legends unit with 100 built in games used at a local game store and I am very happy and impressed with the quality of the emulation. Did a software update, and all of the games I tried play and sound great! The controllers are surprisingly accurate with no noticable input lag and I even put my entire SEGA Genesis collection (that I obtained from Steam) and the SNES version of Super 3D Noah's Ark (also from Steam) and all of them run great! Very happy with my purchase! It makes me wonder if their arcade machines live up to the hype as well?
There were several other plug and plays AtGames made that were positive to a degree those were the Colecovision & Intellivision Flashbacks while they were not perfect on some games (a couple of games did not play at correct speeds) they did contain some very popular commercial homebrews that made them a great deal. However even though they sold well they never followed up with any new of them nor made anymore then that initial run.
I didn't talk about the intellivision or colecovision ones because I haven't played them, but I've always been curious about them. Might be a cool video to do.
One unintended side note: the controllers on (some of?) the Atari flashback consoles work on vintage Atari, and considering the old Atari 2600 controllers are notorious for being glitchy and wearing out, you can get pretty good replacement controllers by buying a used flashback online. That’s what I did. Ha.
I agree that during the Flashback and the Blast mini consoles Atgames was terrible. They've done amazing though with their Legends Ultimate series. I own both the Legends Ultimate Arcade and Pinball cabinets. They give a more realistic arcade feel and are super easy to add new stuff to. Worth checking out if you get a chance.
Despite using roms of Nes games, I actually have no problem with them. I was gladly I gotten to play Pacman even though it was a Nintendo version and not the Arcade version.
Say what you want about atgames but I picked up an atgames Atari Flashback a couple years ago at a Dollar General for $25, and for playing games like Jungle Hunt and Haunted House? It works fine. The only complaints I might have is the Space Invaders was the NES not 2600 but it plays fine and it was RCA only but I was fine with that for such a cheap price.
They're a mixed reputation, their Intellivision, colecovision and numbered Atari flashbacks are good bang for the buck. Their smaller ones in controllers/joysticks are the shadier ones. So its hate is more towards the modern and cheaper stuff. They don't contain every game but the flashbacks can probably be modded to contain the entire library (especially ones with the sd cards slots) And as far as originals, you can get a better picture by avoiding the original manual AV switches and going with a adapter from RCA Jack to a Coaxial adapter (physically the same as a composite or component but). Especially on a CRT tv (not certain how well that'd work on hdtvs though but many still contain coax as a option, hard to find one that doesn't). Technically any console that ever had a RF box option can do that (but most support better options even without modding like composite). Combine that with a Coax A-B box (preferably one that can do multiple inputs or a multi in coax splitter and you've got a good cheap setup for the pre-nes generation.
and that blast plug n play has different versions that look identical some are actually the arcade version. If they had advertised the nes version instead of just having arcade games it wouldn't be a issue.
I actually have the Atari Flashback, and it's actually decent. Finding a 2600 and a compatible TV would be near impossible, so it's nice to see the they were capable of bringing back all those great title to a home console. In the end though, it is just a cheap novelty toy but was actually fun for $25.
The AtGames Genesis model 1 ok its got a Rom cap and it wont play everything but most games do work and the controllers work fine so is it junk or for what you pay is it up to expectation ? i think people got there moneys worth i know i feel at 80? dollars theres something thats going to be sub par im a realist 😂
i believe the main reason atgames never fixed the genesis sound is because the hardware they used wasn't actually made by them. i believe the hardware is some form of genesis on a chip hardware used in bootleg clone consoles that atgames bought up a surplus of and packaged them in varying shapes and forms. and it's impossible to tweak the sound manually because the chip is covered by epoxy
After a quick look in the comments, I wanted to point out that AtGames did not produce, manufacture, or distribute the Flashback 1 or 2 (and the 2+). Kurt Vendell I believe did a lot of the work on those specifically at the behest of Atari at the time. The first was a NES on a chip system, so the games were trash. The second was an impressive 2600 on a chip, or VSC on a chip. The motherboard was intentionally designed with enough space, and the leads to add in cartridge support for those that wanted to modify it to play original games on, what boils down to be, original hardware.
I bought an AT Games Genesis which I was looking forward to playing and as soon as I started Sonic I knew something was very wrong, I never bought another AT Games product.
I came across your channel some time ago and i gotta say you keep knocking it out of the park. You are criminally underrated, and every video you make ends up being fascinating and entertaining. Keep it up!
Is he? He is making a claim that atgames is hated but even in the comments you can see that isn't true. He click baited you and then tried to convince you to believe a reality that he was creating... you are pretty daft if you think what amounts to propaganda to get clout and money is a good thing.
I think you might be confused about what emulation is. Atariflashback 1 is a perfect example of an emulator. It emulates the atari on a NES SOC. The emulation in that console was terrible, but it was emulation. Same deal is happening when you play the switchonline retro releases. Your switch is emulating the hardware of the NES via coding. This is actually how we determine a machine is touring complete. Can it pretend to be another machine? Yes, or no? If it can it's complete, if it can't it's not.
Companies owning the rights to characters they’ll never use will always be immensely dissatisfying. No benefits to any party involved, just pure unnecessary agony for creators and fans.
AtGames is like the predecessor to DotEmu. They get the rights to a lot of stuff, and then butcher it. DotEmu got some great licensing deals over the years, but constantly released it all with subpar emulation (SNK and Irem collections really showed this, as did the Raiden Legacy collection). And worse still, when the issues were pointed out by those who bought their products, DotEmu would only release one or two patches that fixed nothing with the emulation, and then abandon the project. Raiden Legacy had four different releases, and none of then ran right. AtGames was the same way, but worse. They'd just abandon one product and then make a followup that you had to pay full price for again... and again... and again. They released updated consoles so quickly, that there were times you could find multiple versions of the same retro collection on store shelves (I remember seeing three different Atari Flashbacks being sold on Walmart shelves more than once, and two different Genesis collection systems). So yeah, AtGames deserves the hate it gets when it comes to the quality of their stuff. 90% of their output is garbage, and the 10% that isn't is only because the games are so old, that it's hard to screw up the emulation (though they sure tried at times).
i got the sega 1 because i was at a yard sale and got a bunch of games for cheap so i got them to wait to get a system as im a collector and seen the sega at a walgreens for 30 bucks so i got it for the port talk about bad emulation it played my games so bad i throw it out and got a real 1 they suck how could they not know their emulation is so bad
I'd have to say that AtGames deserves all the hate. Especially because they killed off Ms. Pac-Man.
2018 AtGames products were A+ once hacked
It also depends on what part of the market you look at.
@nunyabaznus7851deez nuts 😅
We get Pac-Mom, & Pac-Kid as Lame Replacements of Ms. Pac-Man, & Jr. Pac-Man.
@legendsflashback Most Atgames products acctually give you the option to bring your own games, so you dont have to hack most of em. Just gotta add roms yourself.
I like how Namco wanted people to get what they ordered. That is the sign of a company that cares about its customers.
Namco were pisssed that their IP went to someone else.
@@bigbabatunde1218I’d be too in this case, basically AtGames bought out seven of the original share holders (GCC?) who only held royalty rights, and tried to use those royalty rights as creative license/ distribution rights, which rightfully belong to NBEA. But the judge awarded all rights to AtGames.
I feel like this was sparked by how AtGames had garnered a fairly negative rep for lying to its consumers, and repeatedly offering lackluster consoles, and NBEA saw this as coming back to reflect on them by proxy, so they chose to try to stop it.
Which a company their size could easy shake such a thing off if it were really only about optics tbh. Could be wrong.
@@jbasher94 I heard something about AtGames collecting outstanding debts for Ms Pac Man, so ended up owning the rights.
Doesn't make any sense if that's true.
Just goes to show that in US court cases, money talks regardless of who's right or who owns what.
See Trip Hawkins and EA and how they won their battle with Sega when they reverse engineered the Mega Drive to forcibly cut Sega out of their own console's cartridge manufacturing strategy.
What is going on with his teeth?! They look rotten!! 😮😢 🦷 👄
@@cpman1987 I wouldn't know.
Atgames did not make the first two Atari Flashbacks, the first Atari Flashback they released was the Flashback 3.
Something interesting about the Atari Flashback 2 is that it can be modded to allow the use of real Atari 2600 cartridges.
Yeah, they'd planned to include a cartridge port but they ended up pulling the feature last minute to lower production costs.
But the inner circuit board still has the pinout for where a cartridge slot would go - you just gotta solder one in and cut a hole in the case so games can go in. lmfao
@nunyabaznus7851 You want to take a card slot from a Coleco Gemini and soldier it on the AtGames? Don't do it. Old hw should be kept and maintained.
@@louistournas120I crammed a flashback 2 into a light sixer. I had to saw off some of the switch controller board, but I did pull out the ICs.
@nunyabaznus7851 You can buy an actual connector you don't need to sacrifice a console.
@nunyabaznus7851I know Ben Heck used to make makeshift game card slots out of old floppy IDE cords
This Flashback is a product of the old AtGames. You should see the incredible pinball and game cabinets they produce now. They have a new 4k line now too as well. It's been a sea change in the mindset, creativity and execution over there.
I've heard good things about the AtGames legends pinball machine and arcade cabinets, haven't tried them. I wish I reflected on these when I made this video
@@pojr It'll give you a great topic for another video. AtGames Redemption!
Even if that's true, I'd not trust AtGames nor support them based on their arrogant, shady business, and cheapskate methods.
They went through so many Sega Genesis consoles and did a horrible job... Disgraceful.
@@PhilipMarcYT Admittedly, the Genesis consoles were not up to snuff, but that's the same timeframe roughly. Look at the new Flashback 50 Gold. It's a very solid setup that you can add games to via OTG and the firmware allows you to do this. Like I said, a different company now.
Their "incredible pinball cabinets" literally rip you off if you try to buy games for them and support will not help at all.
This company deserves to go outright bankrupt. They also have a history of abusing their employees and having a poor work environment, according to reviews of their HQ by former staff on glassdoor. The hate is MORE than well deserved.
AtGames had nothing to do with the Atari Flashback and Atari Flashback 2, which means they don’t deserve the credit for the only two that were worth anything. AtGames only took over with the Flashback 3, which was the first emulation version. So, yeah: AtGames’ Atari Flashback products were emulation from the very start.
AtGames really wound up a lot of the retro community by going on a huge blocking spree on twitter too.
Any criticism of them there lead to a block.
But atm, the last (and possibly final) official ms pac man product is the numskull ms pac man quarter arcade.
My only issue with the @tGames products was that there were so many two player titles on the flashbacks that only had one controller
Yeah that seems kinda backwards 😂
AtGames did not make the Atari Flashback 1 or 2 devices. AFB 3-7 were okay plug-and-play emulation-based units with composite video. The AFB 8 was first to feature HDMI and had some decent RF wireless controllers. AFB 9 also had wireless controllers, hdmi and added an SD card, uses the Stella emulator but paddles did not work correctly. The last 2 iterations, AFB X and AFB 50th Anniversary edition, are very similar but with updated aesthetics. They also use Stella 3.9 and have HDMI, but no more wireless controllers or SD cards. Paddles work, but not wonderfully. The last three or four models especially are generally pretty nice to get your 2600 fix without a lot of fuss.
I was specifically coming here to say this. The first two Atari Flashback consoles were done by Atari with the help of Legacy Engineering. Legacy Engineering even came up with the Atari 2600-on-a-chip used for the Flashback 2/2+.
Additionally, the Atari Flashback 2/2+ is intentionally designed to where you can mod in a cartridge slot. You have to provide your own cartridge slot but inside the console. There's a silkscreen diagram of how to wire in the cartridge slot.
Also a fun fact, the Atari flashback 2 actually was illegally cloned at one point. In the late 2000s, Kroger was selling some Atari Flashback 2s. Which was a surprise to the person who ran Legacy Engineering. Because Atari never reached out to him to do another run of Atari 2600-on-a-chips at that time. Atari and Legacy Engineering ended up suing Kroger over the sales of illegal clones.
This was a very shallow representation of AtGames. They have released MANY more products and there have been many more controversies, examples of misleading advertising, corner cutting, poor performance, and solid products alike. Their issues with securing licensing continue to this day. Take a look at their AtGames Legends quarterly announcement videos... Comments are turned off because they hate receiving honest criticism about their cheap and often times crappy decisions and products. And that's coming from someone who loves one of their little SMS/GameGear handhelds as well as a modified AtGames Legends Pinball machine.
The first 2 flashback consoles were not by @tgames. They were by Legacy Engineering with license from Atari Interactive( Infogrames). R.I.P. Curt.
If I had any love for at games even the smallest amount it was completely lost when they bought the rights to Ms Pac-Man out from underneath Namco.
This company still has the rights to Ms.Pac-Man but they haven't done anything thing with her yet, they might be a fraud.
Namco still owns the publishing rights, and At@ames owns the copyright. So At@ames can't make a penny of their license until Namco decides to publish a Ms.Pac-Man game or toy. And Namco has no intention of ever doing so.
@@thinkhector So in theory Ms. Pac-Man is now in limbo. Sad indeed.
Does AtGames also own the rights to Ms. Pac-Man's game design, levels and code?
If yes, then Namco couldn't publish Ms Pac-Man with Ms. Pac-Man herself replaced
@@vincenzomottola7778 That's right. Namco could not publish Ms.Pac-Man by just replacing her sprite with Pac-Mac. The code belongs to At@ames.
AtGames didn't make the Flashback 1 or 2. They didn't get involved until Flashback 3.
Who made 1 7800 and 2 2600?
Considering the flood of illegal Android boxes coming out of Amazon, and the fact that this story is a few years old already, AtGames has more than made up for this early mistake with their arcade cabinets.
Exactly. I couldn't believe this video wasn't made in 2018. To completely ignore the past 5 years just seems intentionally dishonest.
Yep. Love my Legends Pinball machine.
Yeah if I could do the video again, I would have reflected on their recent achievements
hate to tell you man but its not illegal if the emulator isnt using the same source code as the console,I while back there was a website letting you download all the AAA games and I looked at the DMCA(Digital Management Copyright Act) and they are letting you download the games that arent updated and not the ones being sold on steam etc so for instance if steam is selling a v 1.05 and they have v 1.04 on the site its legal to download...looked around a little more and saw the ROMs and it said its been deemed legal for "testing purposes" as long as the emulator isnt using the same source code.If you look into those companies websites they strictly say they are selling you the work they put into those little boxes and not the roms because it is illegal to download roms and sell them as roms.I know its a gray area but you cant be taken to court over it.its still illegal to download music and movies though lol I looked that up as well
It really does make you wonder about Sega and Namco systems…considering the unlicensed emulation consoles were able to emulate genesis games nearly perfectly at the time….and given the age of the Namco arcade games emulation of the arcade games should have been easy. (Never mind the fact that most of them ran on the same hardware in the arcades.)
Near perfectly based on what though? Every revision of the original Genesis had differences in sound quality, video quality, or both.
to be fair, genesis emulation is hard to get the sound right, you would need to do a little more than slaping an open source emulator on a single board computer,
For all they kind of sucked at and mistakes they made in the past, the At Game Ultimate Arcade is awesome. Probably the bets Mulli-cade for under $500 and easily mudded to play every arcade game imaginable.
2018 AtGames products were A+ once hacked
Latest firmware has messed up the BYOG function on the legends....no longer what it was. Best to not update if you haven't already.
@@smallspacearcade8158 the 2018 legends was the best imo after 1 update
Would be interesting to check out their later products. I have read that they have got their act together the last 3-4 years and the emulation they are using are all around better the reputation suggest. Think they even hired some noteworthy guy from the retro game scene at some point.
they now sell virtual pinball machines and mame arcades... they are probably the best priced ones out there and quality is more than fitting the price. all you have to do is search for atgames and you can see what they do now.
There's some audio lag in the AtGames Legends Ultimate's emulation of Atari arcade titles, but otherwise it's pretty good.
Agreed. Wouldn't mind checking them out, and I wish I talked more about them in this video
7:25 Wasn't Nintendo going to sue AtGames when they're using NES emulator for this?
Aah AtGames - the LJN / Blast Entertainment of the mini consoles realm 😅
I find it real odd how you summarize the video at the end, we just watched it so why do we need that. I did buy an At games sega and it was crap, being officially licensed I thought there would be some quality control.
I would love to read from someone working at AtGames. How things work inside, what’s the CEO like and why they make the decisions they make, etc.
they now sell virtual pinball machines and mame arcades... they are probably the best priced ones out there and quality is more than fitting the price. all you have to do is search for atgames and you can see what they do now.
the catch for GCC royalties for Ms. Pac-Man were written as "Coin Operated" games only
AtGames had nothing to do with the Flashback 1, the Flashback 2, the Flashback 2+. There were designed by the legendary (and late) Curt Vendel of Legacy Engineering on the behalf of ATARI Interactive, Inc. in New York City (Curt was NY state based as well). The Flashback 2 went through a few revisions including one that fixed the missing speech in QUADRUN. Both the Flashback 2 and the Flashback 2+ recreate the 2600 via an ASIC specifically designed by Curt Vendel (with assist from others). At Games, Inc. took over with the Flashback 3. Most ATARI collectors stick to the Flashback 2/2+ and even, in a surprising fashion, to the Flashback 1 (despite being a NES on a chip) because of the 7800 inspired case.
You didn't mention (or know?) That ATgames is actually a console publisher/developer too. Thier Atari flashback collection (including games from all 3 collections) were released on Vita, ps4, switch.
I had been working a 2nd part time job for a few years for Dollar General around the time AT@Games released the awful mini Genesis console with the cart port, and wireless IR controllers, and corporate had us trying to push those like crazy over the Christmas season, and we could not keep them in stock, but yep right after Christmas about 80% of what we had sold was returned to my store with pissed off customers, as 1/2 the advertised games on the thing where not even original SEGA Genesis games, but weird no name filler titles made in some Chinese sweatshop with sloppy QC, not mention the other issues, so for that alone AT@Games gets all the hate they deserve along with the whole Namco Pacman, and Ms. Pacman debacle. So I say 🖕'm!!!
How in the world do you make an "objective" video about Atgames showing only products that were released in 2018 or earlier? Yeah, the earlier stuff was hit and miss, and some of it was absolute garbage. But the Legends series is top-notch and there is a very dedicated AtGames community. I own several of the older AtGames offerings (usually picked up on after Christmas sales) and rarely plug them in. But my Atgames Legends Ultimate arcade and Legends Ultimate Pinball are fantastic machines. I was skeptical due to their reputation back in the early 2010s, but the past 5 years have been a different story. You seem to have purposely left off right at the last "bad" product they made and pretended they haven't turned things around.
Having bought an AtGame Legends Pinball and Legends Ultimate, I can attest to both arrogance/ignorance of their sales and tech crews. Sending me wrong parts and getting an attitude about it pretty much sealed it for me.
Doesn't surprise me, but sad to hear. I have heard their new stuff is pretty good though.
I've heard some stuff about their crappy work with Sega plug'n'plays, but somehow I missed that big of a story with Bandai Namco.. thanks for the enlightening!
Your right about the plug and plays but people don’t hate them no more, they released amazing products after that. They released legends ultimate, legends pinball, legends pinball mini, legends mini which are all amazing machines
Great video! I wish you’d included some of the audio from the AtGames Genesis just so people could understand how crazy bad it is. It may actually sound worse than the Sega Smash Pack emulator on Dreamcast.
2018 AtGames products were A+ once hacked
There may be a sound fix for the genesis emulator @tgames uses. This was easier to use to patch on the portable they made years ago on the sd slot .
@@legendsflashback...yes some call it hacking...but it's just adding games to a folder you create on the SD card...ATGames knew what they were allowing the community to do unofficially...play every MegaDrive game in Europe and every Genesis game in north America...mine says MegaDrive but the software is Genesis...if i kept it standard MD i could only play the built in games and the cartridges...instead i have the lot...when the mini came out around the same time...there was no point to buy it...the ATGames does the same and cartridges...i'm fine with the sound
@@markianclark9645 indeed
@@legendsflashback i suppose it is hacking..the community had to update the firmware for us by rewriting it to unlock the SD card option which was greyed out if i recall..then we wrote the new firmware to the onboard chip..i can't remember where i downloaded it from..whoever did it i'm grateful..if only i could figure out how to grab Boxart for all the ROMs..that's my weakness with all emulation..
I find the court cases around Ms. Pac-Man pretty interesting. Like, how can courts not award BNEI the rights to their own product? I know Namco didn't create Ms. Pac-Man, but it's obviously based off their property, created off their license of Pac-Man to Midway who then sub-licensed to GCC. From how I understand it, by all accounts, BNEI should own Ms. Pac-Man outright!
Then again, the courts who decided BNEI doesn't own their own characters are the same ones who decided SEGA doesn't own their own characters and allow one man to destroy an entire series! (Two if you count Sonic Chronicles!)
US courts have history making unbelievable decisions on some cases.
Just look at the Fighters History rip off of Street Fighter 2 case and how EA reverse engineered the Mega Drive to cut Sega out of cart production for games to be released on their own system. Two cases where the courts favoured the copyright infringing wrong doers.
The US court system is an unregulated mystery.
If I hear M2 products, my $$$ goes to them.
Genesis minis
Castlevania collection
Contra collection
Castlevania advance collection
Mega Man, X and battle network collection
Darius collection
More...
If I hear Atgames, trashcan.
3:59 AtGames also re-released the SD version of the Sega Genesis Classic Game Console with an addition of stereo sound, instead of mono. Despite it being a stereo console, the audio still wasn't fixed.
Some Russian Sega bootleg consoles that were made in China in the early 2000's ran on the same FireCore software that was in the AtGames Genesis classic. I have the Atgames version and the sound emulation is horrible. It also gets extremely hot when playing certain cartridges. (Street Fighter 2 for sure)
It was the first time I've ever burned myself while removing a cart from a system. 😂🔥
I imported the Activision Flashback Blast as a present for my sister; it has that exact same genesis type controller and works really well. She was particularly impressed with the rewind feature.
The controller is alright from what I remember. I believe AtGames did release a module that has the arcade versions too. Mine had the NES ROMs.
@@pojr The D pad felt really good on it; ironhically, I bought a PC compatible Genesis type controller and the D pad is pretty poor.
What's your high score in Ms pacman? I've been practicing that game a lot lately.
My problem with AtGames is with the Atari Flashback Gold paddles. Impossible to play Kaboom! as it was on the OG 2600. There has been a recent firmware update, but still has some work left. The paddles have potentiometers so there continues to be an issue the the emulator interpretations.
It is always a good day when POJR drops a video. You can rest assured that it will be unique.
That day is called Wednesday. :)
*Thursday
@@Callum-M. Pretty sure it's Wednesday when he releases his stuff..
I love hearing that, thank you!!
What are the last two themes that play at the end of every video?
You talk about the Atari atgames flashbacks
But you showed the Atari flashback 2
The Atari flashback 2 was not from atgames but an actual recreation of the h/w in the original 2600. In fact you can mod it with a cartridge and play original games on it
You have to make sure if you're going to show and talk about these things. You're using the right footage for the item being displayed
Also the Atari flashback 1 was also not from At-games
The series began in November 2004, with the release of the original Atari Flashback, designed by Legacy Engineering Group. It features 20 games, including 15 that were originally released for the Atari 2600 and five that were released for the Atari 7800. The Flashback was designed to resemble a smaller version of the 7800. Each subsequent home console in the series is modeled after the 2600, and the original Flashback is the only one that includes games from the 7800 library.
The Atari Flashback 2 was released in 2005, and includes 40 built-in games. The Flashback 3 was released in 2011, and was the first in the series to be manufactured by AtGames
AtGames had nothing to do with the original Atari Flashback and Atari Flashback 2. Those were made by Legacy Engineering. AtGames involvement didn't start until the Flashback 3.
I'm getting the Atari flashback 50th Gold for Christmas. I hope it's good after I do the firmware update for the paddles
You're going to have to do a correction video. AT Games did not manufacturer the Atari Flashback and Atari Flashback 2. Legacy Engineering Group developed and manufactured the first two units. AT Games acquired the right to them and started manufacturing the Flashback series on their own starting with the Atari Flashback 3. So I'm afraid you got some of your information very, very wrong.
Looking at their product evolution up to the Namco Debacle, it sounds like some transition in management control occurred midway. My guess is a new CEO with shady business practices.
At games is the reason why we don't have ms pacman in smash, nor remakes of the 3d games, nor rereleases of her character
6:22 Are you really kidding me on importing NES versions, not console ones?
Thanks POJR. AtGames is capable of making good products, but that one little screw-up with the Namco handheld forever tarnished their reputation. Had I been the judge is the case of Namco vs. GCC, I would have given Namco complete rights to Ms. PAC-MAN and told GCC to go screw themselves.
AtGames deserved every ounce of hate, think of it this way; with the Arcade machine pitch to Namco, the “suped up” console they gave/sold the YT reviewer, and the Atari Flashback console, they clearly showed that they have talented, skilled devs working for them. This is their two sins in that regard;
1.) They were cheapskates, selling handhelds that didn’t even emulate Genesis/ Mega Deive properly, and I don’t mean 25FPS in some titles, I mean horrible sound emulation, input lag, and many many dropped frames. Plus, with the arcade lie, they didn’t want to put in the budget, or effort into delivering on promises they made.
2.) Since they were cheapskates, they made these otherwise talented devs work on dumping NES roms on a NES on a chip. If they’re willing to lie to customers, and skimp, they most likely micromanaged their team to death, and underpaid them for it.
So yes, AtGames, the corporation and its upper brass deserves all the hate they get imo.
Decent video, I can tell you just need more experience, specifically in how to making a closing segment, as not to be harsh but that was the weakest point of it, it lasted no longer than a minute, and didn’t end on a conclusive note. Subbed!
How the Hel did AtGames wind up winning royalties from Ms. Pacman?!? I don't know copyright laws well but AtGames didn't even exist when Ms. Pacman was made.
I still have my 10-game plug-and-play from over 20 years ago. The Pole Position is very good.
They definitely redeemed themselves with the legends ultimate, legends ultimate mini & the legends pinball! I have all 3 and they are beyond fantastic!!!!
I feel a compulsion to offer some counterpoint- at games did do some things that were really important, including proving the business model that compilation systems can be commercially successful and including a working cartridge port on their genesis(not needed to sell compilation system, but a welcome addition to newcomers to the system). A lot of the mini consoles, no doubt, took lessons from what did and didn’t work from atgames releases. At games also has a pretty incredible product with their legends pinball ecosystem… arguably, besting arcade 1up. I’m not a fanboy, but I think they are a company that at least deserves partial credit for what they’ve done
I love your videos and watch them regularly. One technical suggestion/question it seems like the mic setup for your intros is either different or maybe you’re processing the audio differently than the rest of the narration? The majority of the video sounds great but the intros have a bit of an unnerving or ASMR thing going on where you hear all the tiny movements of your mouth. I can literally hear you smile. Ha. Maybe a different mic setup could fix that? I’m not a sound technician but I’m guessing there must be an easy solution since the rest of your videos don’t have the same problem as the intros.
You state that AtGames utilized emulation on their later Genesis model because they couldn't handle hardware. ?
To correct you the original AtGames Genesis is also emulation. It's an old emulator called Firecore. Known for its bad sound.
Their later Genesis system used better sound emulation.
But they've always been using emulators, never hardware.
From what I've known.
Thx.
But please correct me if I'm wrong!
We all know Atgames is a hated company
This video would have made sense before 2020 but they have been making arcade and pinball machines that are some of the best out there for the price level.
Easy to be "the best" when there is effectively no competition in their price range. If we're being honest here, the ALP and most of AtGames' arcade cabs are cheap pieces of you know what. The ALP doesn't perform anywhere near as well as a proper VPIN. Granted, it's about a quarter the price, but you get what you pay for. It's still janky af. And that's coming from someone with a heavily modified and upgraded ALP who regularly uses it for OTG VPX.
What are you talking about? They are the same price point as anything coming out of Arcade1UP and absolutely blow all that away. Seriously, are you on heavy drugs? Do you think AtGames and Arcade1Up are the same? "Most of Atgames arcade cabs..." MOST"??? There are TWO - the Legends and the Legends mini. Even if you want to say that 1 is good and 1 is bad, that's still HALF. It's statistically impossible to get "Most" from a total of 2. Come on man, you're reinforcing drummer stereotypes 🙂@@Tamarocker88
I knew about GCC owning the rights to Ms Pac Man and Pac Jr but I didn't know about the controversy with AtGames or that being a catalyst that reignited the conversation. I wonder if AtGames legitimately has a deal with GCC or if GCC is being held hostage contractually with AtGames? If it's the latter, then couldn't GCC take AtGames to court for fraudulently entering into contract with them under false pretenses? The whole replacement of Ms Pac Man with Pac Mom just doesn't sit well with me and feels weird as hell especially since she's been part of the whole Pac Man lore now for 40 years. It would be like if something happened with Minnie Mouse where Disney replaces her with Lindsey Mouse who wears a checkerboard dress instead of polka-dots lol 😂
Hi POJR,
Thanks for the video! I had heard of AtGames and their poor sound emulation in the past, so I've always avoided them. Thanks for the summary about Ms. Pacman too, that is so weird about the copyright situation.
I know this is off topic, but I was wondering, do you intend to do a video on the Atari 2600+? I really enjoyed some of your videos on Atari compilation games for other consoles, so I was curious if you would do a video on the 2600+. You were the first person that came to my mind when I heard about it a couple weeks ago.
Thanks, and keep up the nice work!
2018 AtGames products were A+ once hacked
Good deal, thanks for letting me know! I was unaware that they could be hacked.
@@James-cf2mr yeah they grade A unhack but gbatemp forum has thread how hack 2018 Legends 50 and 2018 Genesis legends makes them A+
Hi James. Really glad to hear! I just made a video on the 2600+ today.
@@pojr indeed great video
I need to address this. We know the chips or emulation weren’t good on the AtGames Genesis consoles. However, I still need to say this. In 2018 (probably when the Sega’s own Genesis Mini was in development) AtGames revised their HDMI flashback. THIS WAS THE ONE YOU NEEDED! Fixed the emulation, I’ve even heard it’s on par with the Genesis Mini, PLUS 2 wireless 6 button controllers. Best part!, SD card slot for Roms!!! Every official Genesis game rom works and most unofficial games too
That's the mythical one that no one can get a hold of now, so everyone else just has to take the word of those who do have it as being better. Probably is though as the frame rate issues on their first HD model made some games, including Sonic 1 and 2 unplayable due to the levels of on screen jerkiness, a jerkiness that wasn't even there on the older wired controller models.
Plenty of other games did play well on the original HD release though such as Kid Chameleon, Eswat and Baku Baku Animal.
@@bigbabatunde1218the revised one, the one I have, the sd card feature was also implemented for software updates, though was only the one for enabling accessing the Roms. Wouldn’t play them until that update. I noticed a slight lag in sound, by like a couple frames, maybe even less. But I do noticed when playing Sonic. You’ll pick up a ring THEN you hear the “chime” is slightly delayed. This is FAR from being a problem.
And I am aware at how small the window was to get the console in the first place. I got mine as the Sega model was out.
@@Metal-Josh Some units pop up on eBay but deemed to be too risky buying that way as there's a whole bunch of the previous HD models out there and some sellers may have the updated version's photo up when it's not that model they're selling. Be very hard to argue that it's not what was purchased when the two models are almost identical in small uploaded snaps and descriptions.
Maybe one day I'll pursue it but as of now I have a load of other retro gear to get through.
If i remember right, the flashback 2 was $180 in Canada, too expensive back in summer 2008.
I remember as a kid owning a Sega Genesis plug and play made by At games and loving it, dispite it being garbage with audio issues and a really bad UI.
I have a PAP Gameta II Plus, which is a handheld which looks like the PSP. It plays 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit GBA titles as well as arcade titles; it also has audio recording, a camera, a TF-CARD slot, and TV in/out. It even has E-Book support. Okay, okay: it is Chinaware, but it is kinda neat. I have a couple complaints about it, however, the first being that the buttons are too closely placed and are kinda loose. The second is that some of the games (like Golden Sun, which I really like) run slow. Still, it has everything but the kitchen sink and is kinda neat.
I also have a ZX Spectrum Vega, which isn't that great because it doesn't have a full keyboard, but the games are fun.
I have the later version of the Megadrive (Genesis) flashback, the one with the SD card slot. So I can still use original cartridges and now I can add tons of games via SD card too. For £80 I think it's pretty good.
Good point, I should have mentioned this in the video. Plus you could play carts on it, unlike the genesis mini.
I have really been appreciating your content. Walks the line between being actually informative & stimulating but still easy to digest quite well. Keep it up, please don't drop the quality to appease the need to make more content.
If you don't know, the Atari Flashbacks from AtGames, like the Genesis Classic Game Console, had incorrect sound emulation, which would be fixed on the newer Atari Flashbacks.
But I wonder if anyone didn't mind the Atari Flashback's sound emulation issues, unlike the Genesis Classic Game Console from AtGames?
Pingas
Just wanting to say that the Atari blast that wasn't mentioned in the video has the same audio problem as the genesis ones
By the way i grew up with those genesis stuff and ended up liking the bad sound as it didn't bother me in the first place
@@Thehauntedbubos-so3zosame. You could get ones with wired consoles and I don't actually mind it
Honestly, AtGames getting the rights to "Ms. Pac-Man" seems like their attempt to get back at NAMCO for the shady false advertising on the Arcade Blast plug-and-play. They deserve all the hate and them obtaining ownership of "Ms. Pac-Man" seems very unfair. I just hope one day NAMCO will obtain FULL ownership of "Ms. Pac-Man", maybe when AtGames goes out of business.
I love atgames. You can mod almost every device they make
Just picked up the 2019 Atgames Flashback Legends unit with 100 built in games used at a local game store and I am very happy and impressed with the quality of the emulation. Did a software update, and all of the games I tried play and sound great! The controllers are surprisingly accurate with no noticable input lag and I even put my entire SEGA Genesis collection (that I obtained from Steam) and the SNES version of Super 3D Noah's Ark (also from Steam) and all of them run great! Very happy with my purchase! It makes me wonder if their arcade machines live up to the hype as well?
AtGames had nothing to do with the first two Flashbacks. They started with Atari Flashback 3.
There were several other plug and plays AtGames made that were positive to a degree those were the Colecovision & Intellivision Flashbacks while they were not perfect on some games (a couple of games did not play at correct speeds) they did contain some very popular commercial homebrews that made them a great deal. However even though they sold well they never followed up with any new of them nor made anymore then that initial run.
I didn't talk about the intellivision or colecovision ones because I haven't played them, but I've always been curious about them. Might be a cool video to do.
@@pojr If you do try to get either them make sure you get the Dollar General exclusive versions they got the bonus games.
One unintended side note: the controllers on (some of?) the Atari flashback consoles work on vintage Atari, and considering the old Atari 2600 controllers are notorious for being glitchy and wearing out, you can get pretty good replacement controllers by buying a used flashback online. That’s what I did. Ha.
The Flashback 2 can also have a Cartridge Slot soldered in.
Dont think of it as hate... just some heavily well deserved criticisms
i had a fucking nightmare that AtGames made a fake sonic 1 copy thats just a rom hack they made with their logo splastered all over the box.
I agree that during the Flashback and the Blast mini consoles Atgames was terrible. They've done amazing though with their Legends Ultimate series. I own both the Legends Ultimate Arcade and Pinball cabinets. They give a more realistic arcade feel and are super easy to add new stuff to. Worth checking out if you get a chance.
Despite using roms of Nes games, I actually have no problem with them. I was gladly I gotten to play Pacman even though it was a Nintendo version and not the Arcade version.
I remember seeing those Sega Genesis flashback consoles at either CVS or Walgreens. They never interested me.
Say what you want about atgames but I picked up an atgames Atari Flashback a couple years ago at a Dollar General for $25, and for playing games like Jungle Hunt and Haunted House? It works fine. The only complaints I might have is the Space Invaders was the NES not 2600 but it plays fine and it was RCA only but I was fine with that for such a cheap price.
They're a mixed reputation, their Intellivision, colecovision and numbered Atari flashbacks are good bang for the buck. Their smaller ones in controllers/joysticks are the shadier ones.
So its hate is more towards the modern and cheaper stuff. They don't contain every game but the flashbacks can probably be modded to contain the entire library (especially ones with the sd cards slots)
And as far as originals, you can get a better picture by avoiding the original manual AV switches and going with a adapter from RCA Jack to a Coaxial adapter (physically the same as a composite or component but). Especially on a CRT tv (not certain how well that'd work on hdtvs though but many still contain coax as a option, hard to find one that doesn't). Technically any console that ever had a RF box option can do that (but most support better options even without modding like composite). Combine that with a Coax A-B box (preferably one that can do multiple inputs or a multi in coax splitter and you've got a good cheap setup for the pre-nes generation.
and that blast plug n play has different versions that look identical some are actually the arcade version. If they had advertised the nes version instead of just having arcade games it wouldn't be a issue.
I click for the information and stay for the smile
I was happy with my Ultimate until a few days ago, the 5.70 firmware update borked about 90% of my BYOG games, pissed.
Can't you downgrade? PlayStation consoles tend to work better on lower firmwares for more "access." 😅
@@PhilipMarcYT they don't provide access to the firmware, it's OTA/Online only. Without the 5.68 firmware, there isn't a damn thing anyone can do.
I actually have the Atari Flashback, and it's actually decent. Finding a 2600 and a compatible TV would be near impossible, so it's nice to see the they were capable of bringing back all those great title to a home console. In the end though, it is just a cheap novelty toy but was actually fun for $25.
The AtGames Genesis model 1 ok its got a Rom cap and it wont play everything but most games do work and the controllers work fine so is it junk or for what you pay is it up to expectation ? i think people got there moneys worth i know i feel at 80? dollars theres something thats going to be sub par im a realist 😂
i believe the main reason atgames never fixed the genesis sound is because the hardware they used wasn't actually made by them. i believe the hardware is some form of genesis on a chip hardware used in bootleg clone consoles that atgames bought up a surplus of and packaged them in varying shapes and forms. and it's impossible to tweak the sound manually because the chip is covered by epoxy
Tectoy seemed to use the same tech.
@@metronome8471 definitely
@@metronome8471 i presume the tech is extremely cheap (hence why bootleggers use it)
After a quick look in the comments, I wanted to point out that AtGames did not produce, manufacture, or distribute the Flashback 1 or 2 (and the 2+). Kurt Vendell I believe did a lot of the work on those specifically at the behest of Atari at the time. The first was a NES on a chip system, so the games were trash. The second was an impressive 2600 on a chip, or VSC on a chip. The motherboard was intentionally designed with enough space, and the leads to add in cartridge support for those that wanted to modify it to play original games on, what boils down to be, original hardware.
I bought an AT Games Genesis which I was looking forward to playing and as soon as I started Sonic I knew something was very wrong, I never bought another AT Games product.
Who is worse? Arcade1up or ATGames?
I came across your channel some time ago and i gotta say you keep knocking it out of the park.
You are criminally underrated, and every video you make ends up being fascinating and entertaining.
Keep it up!
Is he? He is making a claim that atgames is hated but even in the comments you can see that isn't true. He click baited you and then tried to convince you to believe a reality that he was creating... you are pretty daft if you think what amounts to propaganda to get clout and money is a good thing.
I think you might be confused about what emulation is. Atariflashback 1 is a perfect example of an emulator. It emulates the atari on a NES SOC. The emulation in that console was terrible, but it was emulation. Same deal is happening when you play the switchonline retro releases. Your switch is emulating the hardware of the NES via coding. This is actually how we determine a machine is touring complete. Can it pretend to be another machine? Yes, or no? If it can it's complete, if it can't it's not.
AtGames. I have zero nice things to say about them, so I'll just leave it at that :)
I love their arcade machine.
Companies owning the rights to characters they’ll never use will always be immensely dissatisfying. No benefits to any party involved, just pure unnecessary agony for creators and fans.
Reminder that AtGames didn't make the first 2 (technically 3). Before that Atari INC was in control
2018 AtGames products were A+ once hacked
AtGames is like the predecessor to DotEmu. They get the rights to a lot of stuff, and then butcher it.
DotEmu got some great licensing deals over the years, but constantly released it all with subpar emulation (SNK and Irem collections really showed this, as did the Raiden Legacy collection). And worse still, when the issues were pointed out by those who bought their products, DotEmu would only release one or two patches that fixed nothing with the emulation, and then abandon the project. Raiden Legacy had four different releases, and none of then ran right. AtGames was the same way, but worse. They'd just abandon one product and then make a followup that you had to pay full price for again... and again... and again. They released updated consoles so quickly, that there were times you could find multiple versions of the same retro collection on store shelves (I remember seeing three different Atari Flashbacks being sold on Walmart shelves more than once, and two different Genesis collection systems).
So yeah, AtGames deserves the hate it gets when it comes to the quality of their stuff. 90% of their output is garbage, and the 10% that isn't is only because the games are so old, that it's hard to screw up the emulation (though they sure tried at times).
I love their arcade machine.
It's like the quote that I made recently. That quote being: "Everybody Hates AtGames".
i got the sega 1 because i was at a yard sale and got a bunch of games for cheap so i got them to wait to get a system as im a collector and seen the sega at a walgreens for 30 bucks so i got it for the port talk about bad emulation it played my games so bad i throw it out and got a real 1 they suck how could they not know their emulation is so bad