The news is now officially official; Atari and My Arcade are releasing three new console collaborations!
We had a bunch of hints dropped on their Twitter accounts in the past week, and we knew the pair were going to be announcing at least three new consoles at the CES 2023 event.
Some of those Twitter posts made it pretty obvious what was coming. But they hadn’t actually said anything about the consoles besides the photos.
So now that the three console releases are official, let’s take a look at what is coming from Atari and My Arcade in their exciting collaboration.
Table of Contents
My Arcade Atari Micro Player
The first console from Atari and My Arcade is the iconic Micro Player, one that we have seen from My Arcade many times in the past.
We knew that My Arcade and Atari were working together, and we saw a bunch of dark photos of a small arcade cabinet. So this one was pretty obvious.
Admittedly, these mini arcade consoles are more for collectors and display purposes than to actually play them.
But if you’re a big Atari fan or somebody who spent a lot of time in real arcades, this is a cool throw-back to those memories.
Actually.. now that I put it that way.. I might want one too. Dang. See how they get you?
We anticipate the Atari Micro Player to come in at $59.99usd and have 10-20 games.
My Arcade Atari Pocket Player
You know we love our handheld consoles here at Retro Dodo, so we were eager to see the new portable console collaboration.
Based on the not so elusive photos, we knew it would be one of My Arcade’s Pocket Player devices.
These are pretty neat looking handhelds, and are perfect collectible display pieces while also being actually playable. And they come loaded with a small number of games for a fair price.
The Data East Pocket Player came loaded with 8 officially licensed Data East titles and 300 additional throw-away type games. And that one was only $39.99.
We should assume that the new Atari iteration would come loaded with quite a few classic games, and would likely be a premium-price model.
All of My Arcade’s Pocket Player consoles are $39.99 except the Contra Pocket Player which is $59.99.
Safe to bet that the Atari Pocket Player will also be $59.99usd. Fingers crossed that it comes with more than 10 games (can we at least get a top 20?).
Update January 12, 2023: In a Jan 12 post from Atari on their Twitter, they clarify that the new Pocket Player will have "100 games in the palm of your hand". Great news!
My Arcade Atari Gamestation Plus
The most exciting console collaboration from Atari and My Arcade was the new Gamestation Plus. This thing is ab-so-lutely gorgeous!
Like the other announcements, there wasn’t a lot of info given. But this is the only console that Atari posted on their own twitter. Clearly it’s the one they are most proud of.
Atari did clarify that the Gamestation Plus will include a collection of games from the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, and Atari Arcade.
So this is gonna be the definitive way to play the best Best Atari 2600 Games And Best Atari 7800 Games on a real Atari console (besides an original, if you have it).
It is technically not Atari’s first entry in the “mini” market. But this is certainly the ultra premium entry we’ve been waiting for.
If you’re a fan of mini consoles, check out our list of the 13 Best Mini Games Consoles.
Atari VCS
It is also important to address the Atari VCS console that was released in 2021.
Because a lot of people had assumed that this would be the way Atari intended us to play their classic games on a new Atari console.
But Atari has not turned the VCS into a full fledged retro game machine, and they have only released fourteen Atari 7800 games for the console through the online store.
It does not seem like the Atari VCS will be receiving a full library of digital games available for download. Not yet, at least.
And some Twitter comments expressed their concerns about this. Like maybe the Atari VCS is being overstepped or entirely replaced.
It is also why we had guessed that the new home console announcement would be some sort of second iteration of the Atari VCS (maybe an Atari VCS 2).
Conclusions about the Gamestation Plus
We can assume that we would see some of those Atari VCS game entries repeated on the Gamestation Plus, in addition to many more classics that were not available on the VCS.
(If my investigation skills are of any use: Looking at the main image posted by Atari, there are about 54 games shown on the table top below the console.)
I’m not anticipating that the new Gamestation Plus will have any sort of online game download function like the VCS. Seems to be a preloaded device that is what it is when you buy it.
Because most of the best Atari games are available on many other platforms, we should not measure the value of the Gamestation Plus in what games are exclusively available on the device.
The value of the Gamestation Plus is in its beautiful design, the premium build quality, those gorgeous built in LED lights, and the classic style joystick controllers.
It’s all about a return to that unique and magical experience of interacting with the console.
This just so happens to be the most beautiful modern release from Atari.
