The Atari VCS retro console can now be preordered from GameStop and Walmart

The long-awaited Atari VCS retro console is up for preorder starting today from GameStop, Walmart, and the company directly. It’s still months away from shipping, mind you: Indiegogo backers are scheduled to get it first beginning in December. Retailers won’t be shipping out their units until March 2020 — assuming this timing actually sticks, that is. Atari’s Indiegogo campaign raised over $3 million.

The Atari VCS is an oddball machine with retro styling and powerful guts inside. It features an AMD processor and is capable of 4K gaming with support for HDR and 60 fps frame rate, according to the company.

It will be offered in several different configurations:

  • Atari VCS 800 “All In”: $389 (includes joystick and controller)
  • Atari VCS 800: $279.99 (8GB RAM)
  • Atari VCS 400: $249.99 (4GB RAM)
  • Atari Classic Joystick: $49.99
  • Atari Modern Controller: $59.99

And to complicate things further, each reseller will be offering the Atari VCS “All In” edition in a different color. If you buy from Atari directly, you can choose the black walnut design that’s most closely matched to the Atari 2600. (That’s the one in the lead image above.) Walmart is getting a “Kevlar gold” version. And GameStop will only carry all-black “onyx” hardware.

Image: Atari
Image: Atari

Atari has said the console, which costs a good bit more than similar nostalgia grabs like the NES / SNES Classic and PlayStation Classic, will ship with an Atari Vault software compilation of over 100 classic games. “Switching to the unique Atari Sandbox Mode unlocks an open and expandable multimedia PC for freedom and versatility you can’t get with any other home game system,” the company claims. Sandbox Mode will let users boot into other operating systems on an external drive.

Image: Atari

The Atari VCS will be showcased to press this week during E3, according to the company. I’d probably wait for firsthand impressions and more proof that this thing is actually getting out the door before putting in your preorder, but in the meantime, Atari is chronicling the VCS’s development on Medium.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/11/18661879/atari-vcs-gamestop-walmart-preorders-price-available