Thoughts on our new forum

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JetSetIlly

It's great to see people signing up for this new forum that Andrew has very kindly set up.

When I started to become interested in the 2600 (just over five years ago) I was delighted to find a community of people who were helping each other learn about and to understand the mysteries of the 2600. Without this vibrant community I'm certain my interest would have withered away very quickly. We all do things for our own satisfaction but working inside a community is a much richer experience.

That's what this hobby is all about for me - an opportunity to learn, to share and to give back to the people who have inspired me. It's a wonderful thing and I treasure it every day.

I hope it continues for many years to come.
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Prizrak

I agree, this is what drew me to the forum and AA, the community and amazing people. I feel Atari may stifle some of the creativity within the community or they may not feel that can say what they want to. This place will give us an avenue to discuss and share these ideas and hopefully what we found endearing about the community with exist here.

Adam

I agree with everything already said.
I don't trust Atari to leave things as they are. Maybe they will, but only time will tell.
There's already been some homebrews removed from the AA store. I see bad things on the horizon if that's  how they decided to start things off.

The friendships and feeling of community are hard to find on the internet. I don't want to lose that. The 2600 has become more sentimental  because of the hombrews and the people who made them. I will never forget the people who helped me over the years. Nukey Shay did a complete recolor of a game for me so it would be easier to see. CPUWIZ did something for me that I'll thing of everytime I play my 2600. There are others who did very kind and generous things for me, but I don't think any of them would want it mentioned. I learned so much from the programmers, though I still don't have a clue how to make a game. Everyone in the community brought something to the table. The inside jokes, the game reviews, it was all amazing. I want that to happen here. I want people to get to know each other and be friends. With it being a new site, we have that chance. Add people as a buddy and if you don't already know them well, send the a private message and get to know them. We have a chance to become a great forum here, let's do our best to make it amazing!
Some of you might know me as RamrodHare. Here, I just go by my first name.

Bomberman94

First of all: many thanks to Andrew for this new place - ,,a safe house" to communicate and share information about our nice hobby.

I personally (!) have not a good feeling about the new owner simply because of its behavior in the past. But don't get me wrong: Atari tries to make money with its products and that's absolutely fine but the hardware they make and emulated things in general are not my cup of tea. Their products are for the US market and often ,,nice to see" and maybe ,,nice to have" - nothing more and nothing less. Therefore a huge and vibrant homebrew community fits perfectly in their portfolio - ,shame on him who thinks evil of it'.

So let's see how things evolve and hope for the best (and the future of Atariage).



Thomas Jentzsch

Another BIG thanks to Andrew! Not sure if this will succeed soon, but it will be an important backup for the coming future.

I also signed up to Atari.io, but that seems not a future safe place too. They seem somehow related to AA.

Anyway, I do not believe Atari's warm words a single bit. They are shareholder driven like any other company which is at the stock exchange. Which means, they have to focus on optimizing profit, optimizing shareholder value. There is nothing wrong with that. But spreading lies about how much they value the community (aside from financial interests) is terrible. And many people fall for that propaganda. Yet Atari is still sending out C&Ds for minimal reasons. They got 100 games removed from Al's store. All the ROM downloads are gone too. They do not give any credit for using Stella in their 2600+, let alone donate to the Stella project. Etc.

Actions speak louder than words!

For the record: I left all my royalties and any related profit I made with Atari programming for the last 20+ years in Albert's hands. I am sure it has helped with upfront financing multiple projects. And that was my intention. But the very day Atari and Albert announced the acquisition, I asked Albert to transfer all that money to me ASAP.

Andrew Davie

Quote from: Thomas Jentzsch on 11 Sep 2023, 06:32 PMThey do not give any credit for using Stella in their 2600+, let alone donate to the Stella project. Etc.

So what is the "legal" side of that?  Are they allowed to create a commercial product using Stella, especially without acknowledgement?

JetSetIlly

QuoteSo what is the "legal" side of that?  Are they allowed to create a commercial product using Stella, especially without acknowledgement?

To be GPL compliant, the recipient of the binary (ie. the console) needs to know that they have the right to a copy of the source code used to create the binary.

Therefore, I would say that Atari definitely *do* need to acknowledge their use of Stella.
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Adam

Atari's 2600+ never sounded good to me. The fact it's running Stella is all it really had going for it. It's limited compatibility made it a definite no for me. If Atari had made a 2600-7800 on a chip, it would have been worth looking into. However, an emulation machine with poor compatibility was a waste. When games got pulled on the store and the rom downloads were no more, I could fee that a change had come.

As for their takeover of AA, I was right there with everyone who was pissed off and disappointed.  For years AA was like a home online. It gave me a place to go and talk about what I loved, with people who felt the same. I'm glad more people are joining here. Without Andrew creating this safe place for us, we might have just scattered to the wind. I already feel a connection to everyone here and even though our numbers are still few, it feels just like my first days on AA. Thanks again Andrew.
Some of you might know me as RamrodHare. Here, I just go by my first name.

JetSetIlly

Quote from: Adam on 12 Sep 2023, 02:18 AMAtari's 2600+ never sounded good to me. The fact it's running Stella is all it really had going for it. It's limited compatibility made it a definite no for me.

I notice that the Atari2600 section of AtariAge has spawned a new prominent sub-forum for the Atari2600+. Previous devices of this nature have been discussed in the "Dedicated Systems" section so I'm not sure why the 2600+ is getting special treatment.
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MachoDrone

It's gonna fragment the 2600 discussions. The homebrew 2600 was also moved to the Stellaxyz Club.. so that'll lose visibility to non-developers.
I liked just popping into just one forum to catch-up on my interests. Lol.
But I lurk subject lines a lot and I am afraid to burn too much time, usually.
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alex_79

Quote from: JetSetIlly on 25 Sep 2023, 09:23 PMI notice that the Atari2600 section of AtariAge has spawned a new prominent sub-forum for the Atari2600+. Previous devices of this nature have been discussed in the "Dedicated Systems" section so I'm not sure why the 2600+ is getting special treatment.
I guess that's coherent with the ad campaign that depicts the 2600+ as an "updated" replacement for a real 2600 console.

As someone who, in addition to the software, is fascinated by the homebrew hardware, (new bankswithcing schemes, new peripherals, like, e.g. QuadTari, AtariVox, Pluscart, MovieCart...), I don't like the lack of transparency about what this device really is (especially when, of all places, this happens on the AtariAge forums!) and I'm very saddened by the idea that some developers will purposely limit themselves for future projects in order to target this platform.

JetSetIlly

Quote from: alex_79 on 26 Sep 2023, 06:55 PMI guess that's coherent with the ad campaign that depicts the 2600+ as an "updated" replacement for a real 2600 console.

I think it is

Quote from: alex_79 on 26 Sep 2023, 06:55 PMAs someone who, in addition to the software, is fascinated by the homebrew hardware, (new bankswithcing schemes, new peripherals, like, e.g. QuadTari, AtariVox, Pluscart, MovieCart...), I don't like the lack of transparency about what this device really is (especially when, of all places, this happens on the AtariAge forums!) and I'm very saddened by the idea that some developers will purposely limit themselves for future projects in order to target this platform.

I feel the same.
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Bomberman94

I had the same feeling: away from the "real" Atari and towards the new emulator in a new guise to be marketed.